I got an email update this week from Mike regarding his Bella puppy. He has been reading the book “Bird Dog” by Ben O. Williams that I sent home with him when he picked up the puppy. Mike reports that Bella is adjusting well and is turning out to be quite the little firecracker. She is full of energy and loves to get outside and run. Mike can’t wait for the snow to melt so they can get serious about bird dog training. Bella is pictured below locked up on a point while Mike was working her with the wing and a string. It is amazing how deeply engrained the pointing instinct is with these young brittany puppies. Bella should be a fine hunting dog come next fall when she can really get after some birds.

We got these pics via email of Bailey and her holiday adventures. Bailey spent christmas with her family in Kansas City where she got her first introduction to snow. Anita says Bailey is settling in nicely and loves to play outside. She mentioned a problem about biting. It is important for puppies to have chew toys that they are encouraged to bite and chew on. Anytime a puppy tries to bite a person or something they are not allowed to chew, a correction should be made. They key is to set your puppy up for success not failure. We know that when puppies are excited they are more apt to bite or play rough, this is when we should have their chew toy handy to direct their attention and sharp teeth.

Bob had to wait until Christmas to find out what his daughter had purchased him. This little Brittany female was my personal favorite of the litter. She had a lot of prey drive when I put her in front of some quail and chukar. But, she was still enough of a people lover to crawl up into your lap for a nap. We are excited for her to be in her new home in California where she will be a hunting/companion dog. We hear that their are some decent quail populations near where Bob lives. It is always a joy to see our brittany puppies placed in just the right homes. We recommend that new gun dog owners subscribe to the excellent magazine titled “The Pointing Dog Journal“. Steve Smith and his team publish the most respected magazine geared specifically to hunting upland game with pointing dog breeds like the american brittany.

This weekend the pic of the litter went home to her new family in Wyoming. Forrest (Necha’s Father) drove more than 20 hours in a weekend to surprise his daughter Necha with the new puppy. The liver and white puppy was the pic of the litter and Necha decided to name her “Maple”. We are thrilled that she is in a loving home where she will be with a family who enjoys hunting gamebirds. Necha is getting ready to take hunters safety and is excited about hunting next year with her own pointing dog. This puppy seemed to be the most well-balanced of the litter. A real people lover but also quite adventurous and bold.

We took another puppy to meet her new family this week. They have chosen the name of Bailey for this fine little brittany puppy. She will be living in Arizona with the Perez family and I have a feeling she will be spoiled rotten. We look forward to seeing Bailey’s progress and have been promised pictures and updates from her new owners.

The first puppy went home this week to a happy hunting home. Mike and Mary lost both of their older brittanies last year and were waiting for some time to heal. Nothing can feel the void of losing a good hunting buddy like a young puppy full of promise and thoughts of many days afield. They decided to name the puppy Bella and she took to Mary quite quickly. I was not envious of their position, picking just one pup from this bird dog litter is no easy task. Bella had the most and largest freckles on her face and seemed to be the most people-oriented of the litter. We look forward to hearing about Bella’s progress and training with her new family. Mike just got back from a week of bird hunting in Colorado and commented that it was pretty empty hunting without a brittany dog.

The puppies are really starting to get their personalities and develop into individuals instead of a swarming mass of cuddly fur balls. The puppy pictured below is our little explorer and is always hovering outside the other pups range of motion. She is not the most dominant female but simply the most adventurous of the bunch. She is doing well and comes back when we call her in. We got all the puppies their first shots today also and a de-wormer. They were a big hit at the Vets office and loved the ride in the dog truck.

Between 3 and 4 weeks the puppies will have their teeth coming in enough to start eating solid foods. At first I add a cup of hot water to make a kind of mush with out of their high protein puppy food (I feed Black Gold 30/20). I am always amazed at how they know just what to do. The only problem is they seem to eat with both front paws in the food dish. This can be a very messy part of raising puppies but it is fun to watch. They are getting around pretty good and starting to venture out of the whelping box during the day. Now that the pups are starting to eat they begin to poop and momma quits cleaning up after them. I line the whelping box with newspapers and change them out daily, if not more often.

Part of what makes for great pups is proper socialization when they are young. At 3 weeks old the pups are pretty helpless so I make my kids sit down to hold the puppies. This helps avoid any accidental dropping of the pups and it gets them down on the same level. At three weeks old these american brittany puppies just need a lot of gentle petting and handling by people. They learn early to like the sound of humans and it won’t take long before they hear you coming and meet you at the gate/door. Below my nephew Jake is giving this liver/white female a good loving and squeezing. Kids and puppies are about as cute as it gets.

Blue girl – Female American Brittany Puppy – 1 Week Old

Liver and white girl – Female American Brittany Puppy – 1 Week Old

Purple girl – Female American Brittany Puppy – 1 Week Old

Tan girl – Female American Brittany Puppy – 1 Week Old

Pink girl – Female American Brittany Puppy – 1 Week Old