BAER results

I had the litter BAER tested today and I am happy to report that all eight  puppies can hear in both ears! I thought that was the case but didn't want to say so for fear of jinxing it. I have tried my best to produce Dalmatians that are healthy and sweet. That is why I breed for the LUA gene among other things. 

Deafness is in the breed and it will crop up from time to time but the incidence of it can be greatly reduced by following good breeding practices. There are a few things that any Dal breeder can do to reduce the  number of deaf ears they have in their litters.
1. Never breed a unilateral hearing dog.
2. Never breed a dog with a blue eye.
3 Never breed a dog that has an unpigmented tapedum in their eye. (If you are unsure of what that means, look it up).
4. Never breed a dog that has lots of litter mates who are deaf or unilateral.
5. Don't discard dogs with a small patch as litters with a patch or two more often than not produce better hearing numbers.

I have been breeding Dals for many years and have followed the above practices and my hearing record is very good. I started breeding to incorporate the LUA gene in my line in 2009. This is my 4th litter and all four have been total bilateral hearing litters! 

I hope these puppies go on to bring much happiness to their new owners!

Harbor at 7 weeks

Last week when we did the 6 week photos we missed taking pictures of Harbor. I am not sure how that happened but yesterday we tried to take pictures of him. Keep in mind the person that has the skill and camera is LaDonna and she wasn't there yesterday so please forgive the quality of the photos of this gorgeous boy. 

Six Weeks

Sunday we evaluated the puppies and took pictures of all of them. Or so I thought, however when I got home and transferred the pictures to my computer there were no pictures of Harbor. So I am sad to say that the beautiful little boy is not pictured today. I am very mad at my stupidity and am going to blame it on a senior moment. I will be going to see the puppies again this weekend and will certainly get pictures of him then.  I was happy to see that all the puppies were curious but not crazy. They all wanted held and kissed. None of them displayed shyness but the most outgoing inquisitive one was Glory. Here are the pictures! Enjoy!

Day Thirty Eight

Here are some pictures of the puppies taken on day 38. As you can see they are growing very quickly. Sunday we will be taking individual pictures of them and they will be evaluated and micro chipped. I know many, many of you have expressed interest in the black puppies however there will not be enough black puppies to go around.  Some of you also expressed interest in the liver pups. So if there is a puppy that you absolutely do not want please drop me a line and let me know. I will be able to give you a much better description of each puppies personality after Sunday.  

Dee Day and Star

Glory

Harbor

Sea Bee

Star

Harbor, Poppy, Pearl and Gunner in the back