Ruby had her first litter of puppies in April 2024. I worked with Harold McCoy to breed Ruby to a beautiful yellow lab named Oscar. Oscar is soooo handsome! He has very deep yellow to red coloring. Check out the Heather Hollow Labs website for other photos of dog style and conformation - I've included a link to the Heather Hollow website below. Ruby had her first litter without any hiccups! In just over four hours, she had seven beautiful pups - two black and five yellows.

A lot of people ask about OFA hip and elbow testing. All of Harold's breeding dogs are x-rayed and evaluated for sound breeding, but this is not through the OFA process. I did not have Ruby x-rayed - this was the result of some bad information from a vet, and though I am dissapointed that I did not pursue more information about this, I feel confident in the hip health of these puppies. Ruby's lineage were all x-rayed and their hips have stood the test of time! I met many of these dogs at Harold's farm and they are very mobile with no issues in their later years of life. I did have Ruby tested for genetic diseases and she showed no markers for any of the 17 major issues that affect Labrador retrievers (in fact, she was clear of all major genetically related dog issues). She and Oscar were a good match - these puppies should not end up with any of those issues either, based on genetic test results of Ruby and Oscar.

We followed Carmen Battaglia's puppy stimulation protocol from days three through sixteen. We also clipped their nails once a week. These puppies were whelped right in our living room and lived their full time for their first four weeks. At three weeks of age, we started to take them outside daily so they could interact with a variety of textures under them. Our sons (4 1/2 and 7 1/2) have interacted with them daily. 

When the puppy stimulation protocol finished, they were starting to open their eyes. That was a game changer! We started to interact with them a ton, exposing them to lots of smells through our farm and LOTS of noises both in our home and outside. We also have clipped their nails weekly since they were just a few days old.

When pups were six weeks old, we conducted a puppy aptitude test. We evaluated them for social attraction, following, restraint, social dominance, elevation, retrieving and play, loud noises, umbrella opening, prey drive, and overall touch and handling. All our puppies had no problems with loud noise, the umbrella, elevation, restraint, and overall touch or handling. They also all had great prey drive. Some were more social than others,  but we enjoyed the process immensely and were happy to see no red flags for our pup's personalities.

As of Sunday June 23rd, , we have one  puppy left - little Miss Judy. Please contact me with any questions!

...we were taking the puppies for 2-4 walks a day around our property. This gave the puppies ample opportunity for interacting and playing with eachother as well as additional outdoor surroundings. Most of these walks were about 1/4 of a mile. When they were five weeks old, we did this walk just once a day and very slowly. As the days and weeks moved forward, this walk happened multiple times a day! The puppies LOVED this walk and, frankly, so did we. We walked them after each feeding to allow their bodies to start to work through food digestion and get them into the habit of taking care of peeing and pooping after feeding. By the time puppies were heading to their new homes, they were used to feeding, then walking, both morning and night. These walks also allowed us to practice three basic commands: "come" - "sit" - "find a spot". At around 7 weeks old, puppies were "coming" 90% of the time we used the command and paired it with loud clapping. We rewarded them with lots of praise and affection! Whenever a puppy was peeing or pooping, we got close to them and said "find a spot" - then praising them when they finished their business. We hoped this helped kick start training when puppies got to their new home!

Also starting at 4-5 weeks old, the puppies were outside all day every day (unless weather was nasty). We had them in a large chain-link fenced in kennel. This was moved to a new location each day to avoid fecal buildup. It had shade netting and a tarp to protect them from sun and weather. When temperatures soared in June, we also gave them a sled filled with water for cooling off, which we refilled/replaced with clean/cool water multiple times a day. They loved playing in this 'puppy pool'.

Ruby was a FANTASTIC momma! She let them nurse far beyond all the puppy books said she would. Right through 7 1/2 weeks old, the puppies would try to nurse whenever they interacted with Ruby, and she would let them. At 8 weeks, we still had puppies on site (due to a slight inconvenient reschedule final puppy vet appointment) and I stopped letting the puppies interact with Ruby. The were trying to nurse and tearing up her poor belly and nipples.