News Archive
5/20/2010 - I'm planning on updating this website adding perhaps an RSS feed, a forum for the A-litter families (and just Hovawarts and other topics in general). I'm using Dreamweaver
5/18/2010 - Samba is with her new family in New York, Asta's Halo with her berners in Washington and Ace of Hearts is in Michigan with other pups leaving soon. It has been wonderful meeting all of the families and it's nice we still have a bit of a pack left so we've got a transition period too (even though Aurora on Appalachia is staying!). We did a portrait session Sunday and I've got a backlog of pictures I'll get posted as soon as I catch a breath. We do have one male and a couple of females that do not yet have new families; if you think you may want one in your home feel free to contact us.
5/15/2010, 13:45- Samba, the first whelped and with a yellow collar is now driving home with her new family to New York. We had a great time with them and are sure Samba has a great home and they will add to each others lives. Still, it wasn't easy to see her go. Best wishes to Samba and her new family!
5/15/2010 - The pups are 8 weeks old today, and Allegro Samba will be traveling with her new family to her new home in 12 hours give or take. We have very mixed emotions about this. She has a great new family and I'm sure she will mean to them what Addy and Tango meant to us when Susan and Kees gave them to us. At the same time you'd be amazed how you can get attached to every individual pup in a litter of ten in two short months.
The pups have been to the vet and she commented on the great health and strength of the litter ... genetics, diet, and exercise I suppose ...
I've been talking with my brother about our pups and plans and our "online presence". He's had a lot of great suggestions -- such as recording a video explaining our breeding philosophy and our insistence on quality. Which we will do ... as time allows.
He also suggested that since we were producing such great dogs and there seemed to be a market for them that we keep two females from our litter for future dams. I explained to him that two pups from the same litter would bond to each other and be difficult to socialize to us and other people/situations. Also, two from the same litter wouldn't add any meaningful genetic diversity. Though the puppies are not inexpensive quality breeding and care for the pups is not as lucrative as it might seem. Which leads to the most important point: some sources of puppies focus on minimizing costs and maximizing volume. The popular term for such an organization is puppy mill, and Amber Coast Hovawarts will never will be anything like one. We breed healthy well tempered dogs that meet AHC breeding requirements. We have no intention of breeding the same dam and sire twice. We provide the highest quality species appropriate real food we are able to our dogs and pups. We vet the families that will be homes for our pups (and expect them to vet us) to be as sure as possible the pup and family with thrive together for years.
5/10/2010 (PM) - I have to thank Hedda and Susan for their obvious dedication to dogs; initially we had planned to do some non-dog things, including visiting the US Holocaust Memorial and Great Falls but all the time was canine. Our deep thanks to both Susan and Hedda; it was really important to have other experts look at our pups with an unbiased eye and we learned a great deal over the past few days. On a less serious note, today the pups got another nail clipping.
5/10/2010 - The past few days have been very eventful! We have a suggestion for any future breeders: it may well seem like a logical thing for puppy poop to get flushed down the toilet, but with 10 pups that has it's own risks. I won't elaborate and let you use your imagination. Susan arrived uneventfully and the four of us had great discussions Friday night. On Saturday Susan and Hedda interrupted their regularly scheduled program to save two frightened dogs that were loose on a 4-lane road. They ran under a car on the side of the road and were scared to death. Apparently due to the "help" of several well meaning but inexperienced passers by this took several hours to resolve. Yesterday as planned we did the individual puppy temperament testing and some extra testing to see if one of our pups would be a good candidate to work as a service dog for a family that has a need for the drive, intelligence and independent thinking of a Hovawart. This morning after the kids are off to school we'll reassemble to do the physical and pack testing of the pups. For families that have reserved a pup, expect to hear from us late today about which one we think will be the best fit for you. I came across an interesting item, the Planet Dog Cozy Hemp Adjustable Collar
5/5/2010 - One of our new families asked about grooming. We like to use the furminator, which we've been using happily since early 2008 and is much nicer on the dogs than long pronged rakes. A member of our club (Bea) reminds us that nesting birds would love to repropose extra fur for their nests.
We are also planning to include the books Living with Kids and Dogs ...Without Losing Your Mind
5/3/2010 - We're going to need to order some more Top Quality Dog Food the pups are eating it so fast! The pups are getting a lot of socialization and stimulation and play and we're starting crate training with them. Pictures and videos are on the Week 7 page. Susan is due in later this week and we will be doing the Puppy Character testing this weekend to best match the pups with their future homes. We are looking forward to putting a face with a name and a voice of all of our new Hovawart Families!
4/25/2010 - We picked up our 2nd 100lbs of Top Quality Dog Food yesterday and the pups just love it! The puppies are, of course, growing and they are starting to get the Hovawart wavy fur. They are still as soft as anything, though. Well, except for their teeth and they are all discovering the joy of chewing. Several of you noticed that I missed one of the pups in my previous puppy portrait sessions so I did another today, this time with all ten of them. The portraits and other pictures and a video can be found on the Week 6 page.
4/23/2010 - The pups have gotten a claw clipping and were really rather calm about it. We'll continue to "manicure" them and hopefully they will accept clipping as adults.
4/22/2010 - All of pups have put on close to a kilogram in the last week and are between 550% and 650% of their birth weight. They continue to get more adorable by the day (at least in our admittedly biased opinion. We got a break in the weather and the pups spend a stretch in the back yard which gave us a chance to socialize them to our neighbors. I missed "A9" when doing portraits on 4/18 as many of you noticed ... that was the photographer's error jumping from A8 to A10 when trying to keep the sequence mentally. A8 will be in the next portrait series. We are now getting ready for puppy character testing and preparing ourselves mentally to say goodbye to the them, some as soon as 23 days from now.
4/18/2010 - I don't think an hour goes by that we don't see something new from the pups. One discovered running, and promptly several more copied. They are growing and balancing and apparently were born with the ability to use "puppy eyes" on their humans. It's a bit surprising to us to notice 10 distinct personalities in a litter from the same dogs. They have transitioned off of nursing onto an organic raw natural diet and are growing really really fast. There are more pics on the Week 4 page and today we did some "puppy portraits"; it's almost unbelievable the development that happened (and is obvious from a camera) in just a few weeks. The new portraits are on the Week 5 page. We also wrote a bit about how we chose our kennel name, Amber Coast Hovawarts.
4/14/2010 - We've posted a new video of the pup's checking out a few new things. Rick's Puppy Pan
4/12/2010 - We've updated the site with a bit more information on our breeding philosophy and of course more pictures of the growing litter. It's amazing and really rewarding to watch them grow. They are growing really quickly in their faces and legs and especially mentally. They walking pretty easily now, playing and starting to figure out the whole pack thing. By next we we'll probably be introducing them to solid food. We are increasing the complexity of the situations they face and the kinds of stimulations they get, such as toys music, loud noises, vacuum cleaning, lawn mowing and trimming (through the window), and of course our children under supervision.
4/9/2010 - The pups are now walking and playing quite a bit. We're seeing the nubs of puppy teeth through the gums just emerging. Each day the the puppies' legs and muzzle are noticeably longer. It seems after each nap they are more adept at walking. Some a new video and some new images on the Week 3 page. We've updated the breeding page to explain more about why we chose to become Hovi breeders.
4/5/2010 - The pups continue to grow at an astonishing rate. We've posted a new video and pics on the Week 2 page.
4/1/2010 - No April Fools day here! The webmaster is back from a short business trip and though the trip was very productive is glad to be home with his family and dogs. Also the cat, but that is secondary ;). All ten puppies are doing great, between 151% and 188% (!) of birth weight. And cuter and rounder than ever. You'll have to take my word for it as I've had no chance for new pics/videos yet (but expect them soon!).
3/28/2010 - A video and portraits of the 8 day old pups has been posted here!
3/27/2010 - All our thoughts and prayers are with the Garkas and Qubi (Qubi is undergoing testing)
3/24/2010 - All ten pups and the dam are doing well.
3/21/2010 - 10 New Hovis!!!
Born 3/20/2010 from the wee hours until 5:18 PM EST Addy whelped and got to be very good at it. Details on our breeding page.
3/19/2010 - 14:35 EST, Hours away from whelping.
Addy's body temperature is dropping (see the link below) and she's looking for a place to whelp (she picked under our shed; we think we'll encourage her to use the whelping box :). We expect her to start whelping tonight into early tomorrow.
I'm off to get the ingredients for puppy milk substitute - just in case, I expect most of it will end up being breakfast for us and not puppy food. We expect to have our attention not on email for the next little while.
3/14/2010 - Eeep! 6 Days to go! Our Whelping Box is in good shape (we still need to secure the seats and install the pig rails to guard the lower brackets).
We picked up our first installment of Top Quality Dog Food and it won't be our last. Peter is a real class act and the price can't be beat for such high quality food. We've moved Addy to a higher carb diet on the recommendation of the canine breeding specialists North Oatlands Animal Hospital so that it is easier for Addy to produce milk. In this case, it was mixing grated sweet potato with Peter's salmon.
3/10/2010 - 10 Days to go until the puppies are due. We're still assembling the whelping box! I promised Addy she'd have better than a kiddy swimming pool!
2/19/2010 - Addy (aka Adara vom Treuen Freund CGC, AHC ZTP, HD-A2, Thyroid Normal including antibodies, CERF) is expecting puppies March 20th, 2010. The Dam and Sire - Ch. Houwaert's Tango the Dutchdream AHC ZTP, HD-A2, Thyroid Normal including antibodies, CERF - have FCI recognized registrations and have passed stringent conformation, health, and temperament tests.
Copyright 2010 Philip Long except for content cited as belonging to wikipedia or the FCI. Images from Hovawarts vom Treuen Freund graciously consent to by HvTF. All rights reserved.