Garrett's Dobermans Puppy Site

Ella's 2nd Litter SOLD OUT

Born July 27, 2015

Number of Puppies: 3

2 Black/Rust Males & 1 Red/Rust Male

Started off with an eventful beginning. Our kids were dropped off at camp and hours later, Ella had first pup in the corner of my daughter's room. After 5 hours of being in labor post the first pup, I decided it was time to go see the vet...which was about to close as I loaded them up ...so, off to the ER we went. Short story, Ella had a c-section and I left the ER about 3 a.m. with three healthy male pups (they were all she had which is probably why things never progressed).

Only having 3 pups has been a fun, easy experience. They had no trouble finding a meal which meant they were rolly polly and very advanced. Eyes opened about 4 days sooner than what is typical, ears several days after eyes and early; they walked and I mean WALKED on all fours a week earlier than normal. This is one of the most relaxed litters we have ever had. Everything comes easy to them.

Since there were only three puppies, it was easy for us to identify which pup was which. However, to make it easy to differentiate between the two black males, we tagged them with yellow and purple collars. Nicknames for the pups were as follows:

Black & rust male with Yellow - Peeta
Black & rust male with Purple - Severus
Red & rust male (no collar) - Finnick

Can anyone guess who nicknamed the pups? Yes, our daughter with the help of friends. Ended up being a well thought out and big discussion among them! Oh, and for those that aren't familiar with these names, Peeta and Finnick were characters in the Hunger Games while Severus was our daughter's favorite Harry Potter character. As we were going to giving a puppy to a grandmother, Taylor became attached to Severus based off the initial collar color and nickname choice. Regardless, after a lot of hard thought and discussion among our three kids, Peeta was the one ultimately chosen who later became Buster and living with us as it did not work out with the grandmother. Taylor and Buster became very, very close. It was a union meant to be!

Ella with Severus & Peeta

Severus & Peeta

Peeta with Finnick who was nursing

Ella with three puppies snuggled up in the dog bed

Crazy enough, the puppies would just hang out in the bed and not wander around. They were very content with the snuggles and attention mom gave them.

Once the pups got a little bigger, the dog bed was a little cramped. We then placed a blanket or towels on the floor wherever we were hanging out. For the most part, the pups stayed in that area and mom was happy to nurse them. This was by far one of the most spoiled litters. The kids had friends over all the time. The puppies were constantly handled and around us the majority of the day.

We have a very curios bird named Merlin:

Our son introduces Severus to his little feathered friend

So.. the pups can't always be with us. We all have to sleep. When that time is upon us, we have them set up in the shower area. Given that there were only three puppies in this litter, these guys were able to stay in this set up longer than most litters.

As would be expected, the puppies reached an age where solemnly hanging out in one area of the floor wasn't going to be sufficient. When the real puppy energy kicked in, we moved them outside during the day to a large penned area just off our master bedroom.

Severus

Next 5 pictures of Peeta:

Even as the pups grew bigger, Ella still very much wanted to be with them, play with them, and happily allowed them to nurse, although in a standing position at this stage of development. This litter actually nursed longer than most because they didn't have to fight for a spigot which meant they weren't hurting mom. She stood because it was easy access for the puppies to latched on.

Peeta & Finnick nursing

Playtime with mom:

Severus in complete submission

Severus with Finnick in background

Finnick playing with Severus

Peeta loves water

Severus

Peeta

Finnick

Finnick tackles Peeta

Peeta & Finnick

Another advantage to the puppies being small in numbers, they received a lot of grass playtime in the big yard. When you only have to keep an eye on three puppies, you find it more enjoyable and less hectic because you always know where they are and what they might be getting into. Let's mention confidence - these pups were so incredibly confident. Probably because there really was never any kind of struggle for them. All desires were totally fulfilled. Notice the strut of Peeta in the next picture:

Severus & Finnick

Once we had pretty much decided Peeta was going to be the puppy we gave to the grandmother, Taylor really became attached. If Peeta was missing from the pen, it wasn't hard to figure out where he was.

More outside pictures - We were blessed with good weather throughout the time we had these puppies set up outside and they continued to love playing, romping and rolling with mom always nearby.

Next four pictures of Severus:

Finnick

Severus

Peeta

Severus and mom

Finnick and mom

Finnick

The happy ending to this litter's time with us:

Finnick and Severus were brought home by the McCrary family in Princeton, Texas. They have lots of acreage and two homes on their property. These boys, now named Cash and Dash, went on to be just as spoiled by their family as they were with ours. In 2018, being so happy with these boys, the McCrary's decided to obtain a female from us out of Blue's first litter.

As mentioned above, Peeta was originally kept by us to live with the grandmother. In all honesty, this was something we wanted for the grandmother more than it was something she actually needed in her life at the time. A puppy just did not fit her lifestyle and the time spent with her was just a few days. The kids were not disappointed when we decided to go ahead and keep him as our own.

Peeta was named Buster as the name just fit his happy go lucky personality. Buster quickly became attached to Taylor which was fitting as he was her Ella's baby boy. God had His hand in all this. After the two puppies left and Buster grew, Ella changed. She really became a loner and started detaching from the family and actually caused fights with the other dogs that she never won. We decided to try her as a property dog. This worked out wonderfully. Ella loved the independence and oddly enough, thoroughly enjoyed welcoming guests onto the property. She also ended up bonding with our male head figure, Todd, as he is the one that cares for the property. She loved spending time around him as he worked. Buster was able to fill the void for Taylor as it wasn't easy on her when Ella started ignoring her. This was definitely a first that really can't be explained except that maybe Ella's bonded too strongly to her puppies.