Litter out of Anadune Great Expectations (Pip) by Sh Ch Littlethorn Manta JW (Manta) born 19 August 2022
8 weeks
7 weeks and 1 day
Today, we got used to some helicopter noise.
7 weeks
6 weeks and 6 days
We went sheeping! All of us were interested :)
6 weeks and 5 days
We all passed our eye tests! And got some carrot snacks :)
6 weeks and 4 days
We've had our hearing tests - we all passed!
6 weeks and 3 days
6 weeks and 2 days
6 weeks and 1 day
6 weeks
5 weeks and 4 days
5 weeks and 2 days
5 weeks and 1 day
5 weeks
4 weeks and 6 days
4 weeks and 5 days
4 weeks and 4 days
4 weeks and 3 days
Today, the pups were so tired out by their young visitors that they went in their pen and it stayed spotless for a long time as they fell asleep straight away!
4 weeks and 2 days
4 weeks and 1 day
4 weeks
These weren't as easy as you may think! Everyone was very fidgety and waggy, so it was hard to get anything vaguely resembling the correct position — hopefully we'll get something more like it next week!
3 weeks and 6 days
3 weeks and 5 days
3 weeks and 4 days
3 weeks and 3 days
3 weeks and 2 days
3 weeks and 1 day
Today's theme was funny sleeping positions!
3 weeks
2 weeks and 6 days
The pups went downstairs for the first time today, but still had energy to play back in their upstairs whelping box when they went up for the night.
2 weeks and 5 days
2 weeks and 4 days
2 weeks and 3 days
2 weeks and 2 days
2 weeks and 1 day
2 weeks
Big day: another pedicure for all, wormers all around, some more mouth wrestling with our mum and we found out that sheep come in all shapes and sizes!
1 week and 6 days
1 week and 5 days
1 week and 4 days
Eyes have started opening! And they're all up on their front legs, so it won't be long before they start walking properly. For now, they're enjoying their new friends.
1 week and 3 days
Definitely little bits of mouth wrestling now, and they're enjoying their new friends!
1 week and 2 days
The pups have started doing little bits of playing, so they've gained a new friend :)
1 week and 1 day
1 week
Finally a cooler day!
Day 6
Day 5
Battling the heat somewhat — all the pups started off spread around the whelping box, and when I added the cooling mat, they all snuggled up to it (possibly defeating the point, but...).
Day 4
Girl 2 demonstrating how much work it is to find mum when neither your eyes nor your ears have opened yet!
Day 4
Day 3
Our day: sleeping, eating and getting cleaned by our mum. It was a bit warm, we even spread out across the whole whelping box at one point!
Day 2
Willing the puppies to grow big enough to play with!
Birth
After a very long night of waiting for labour to start, Pip's five puppies were born between 6:23am and 7:52am. Photos below in birth order — they came so fast that there was only time to quickly check them over and weigh them before the next one arrived, so photos are after they'd dried off and enjoyed some food. As expected, all puppies are black and white.
Information about the litter
Parents (litter pedigree)
We have been looking for a male who would give us nicely well rounded puppies, i.e. one who has a lovely temperament, has produced nice working ability, and is also correct in terms of his conformation. We were very lucky to have been introduced to Manta: in fact, we were allowed to take him for a walk, where he showed us how lovely his temperament is by happily going with us (complete strangers as far as he was concerned!), being very accepting of a toddler and greeting all other dogs that we came across. His previous litters have produced puppies who are doing obedience and heelwork to music, and his conformation title confirms his nice structure.
Pip is an amazing dog to live with, I constantly feel grateful that she's in my life — she can do anything and she's such a pleasure to live with. She's had a go at many things — showing, herding and agility — and she's done incredibly well at all of them. Her Dad was a therapy dog and I'm sure that if she had the time (or more accurately, if I had the time), she would excell at that too: she is so appropriate with her behaviour. Bags of drive when it is asked for, totally calm when not. Upon meeting her at Crufts, prospective puppy owners (earlier litter) commented on her calmness and keenness to say hello. When they then visited us and saw her working sheep, the dog they saw was very driven, very focused on her job and totally unaware of any visitors!
She's very stylish on sheep, and can keep a nice pace when asked. In agility, she's a natural jumper with lots of speed over straight lines but also very nice turns. Her competing time was going to start pre-litter in 2020, but that didn't end up happening due to all agility shows being cancelled. She has been shown on a limited basis — too many other things to do! — but has done incredibly well, winning Best Puppy in Show at her very first show (champ show) and going on to winning Border Collie Club of Great Britain's Puppy of the Year.
We are expecting a fair bit of drive from the pups in the litter, although they should have an off switch (that may arrive after the puppy stage though!). Our puppies are very biddable, keen to learn, and therefore we're looking for homes where the pups will get to do something, be it agility, obedience, herding, flyball ... Puppies will be CEA, CL, TNS and Border Collie glaucoma normal by parentage. Their parents' hip scores are very nicely matched with the parents' values being 5/4 (Pip) and 3/5 (Manta).
If you are interested in this litter, please email us describing your lifestye and the plans for your Anadune puppy. We are always looking for co-own homes, so we can keep dogs in our breeding plans while letting them have a family of their own, so please get in touch if you may be interested and we can fill in the details. We are looking forward to lots of puppy visiting taking place in Sheffield from when the puppies are 4 weeks old ☺
