They've grown so much!

They most certainly know how to eat! 

The International Candies are all proficient eaters. It might sound weird but this isn't always how things go. We've had litters where there are one or two who don't know how to get enough food from Mom to put on the desired amount of weight. The danger in not eating is called a "failure to thrive". It happens every once in a while so we have strategies and tools to put the weight on when we see this and get everyone healthy if needed. Right now it's not needed.This bunch is a whole lot of milk sacks.

There are other concerns about eating too much that we watch for as well. Heavy puppies can have "Swimmer Syndrome" and need remedial training when learning to walk. This lot likely won't have any of that to worry about.  They will all be runners by four weeks and we are already seeing a lot of pushing each other around as they learn to use their legs.

We will weigh everyone on Saturday, at one week old. We expect them all to have doubled their birth weights and continue doubling every week. until weening at four weeks. We expect to see eyes and ears opening at the end of the second week, give or take a few days. This is when pictures start being taken.  This is about the time when we take the whelping pool out of the puppy pen and they will start running around. Four weeks is when Mom can't possibly keep up, so we start putting mushy puppy chow into the mix. From that point on it is a smelly pandemonium around here and people visitors begin to handle them.

Summer is the best time for puppies. they get a lot of outdoor time and start interacting wth our pack of hounds. This is going to be fun.

Dewclaw Day

Not a Basset Foot

 Very early in every litter we remove the "Dewclaw" to make everyone's life easier. Ann does most the work. Though I am a tough, I simply have a hard time watching. My job is to hold each puppy with my eyes closed and that's enough involvment for me.

The dewclaw is a thumb on the foreleg and it can be something of a problem. It performs no function for pets and can get caught on things and injured.And it makes makes trimming the nail more difficult, so the nail is often neglected since the other nails wear down through use and this one doesn't. Bassets are huggers and wrap their fore-legs around you in different ways, the dewclaws can make this less fun. So taking them off is a good idea and best done when the babies are only a few days old.  Ann does the deed and before you can carry them back to the Whelping Pen the momentary bleeding is stopped and the puppy feels just a second or two of pain the entire time. 

Today, while I went for supplies (mostly the junk food we eat during the long hours when the babies are very young) Ann called my brother in to hold babies and I came home to a peaceful, and Dewclaw free, house. Hurray for me!

Morning for our International Candies

Click for a bigger picture

 The Candies are doing very well. Eight beautiful Basset Babies have their cute little tails on the ground. Lilly is eating well, as are the Candies.  There's enough of everything, sleep schedules are being maintained, and nobody needs to run into town for anything. Even the weather is in sync. The days are lovely and the nights are cool with a light Summer breeze. I could go on and on. All is well.

We will be posting new pictures and weights pretty soon. Right now there isn't enough change to make our first pictures different than what we see today. But things progress pretty fast and the first six weeks go by quickly.  We weigh them weekly to make sure they are thriving. If someone doesn't eat well we find a way to get them growing. The milestones for growth are pretty well known. At six weeks we do a final evaluation and can say pretty definitively what each puppy will become. They have personalities right now and characteristics show up early on. But everything else is in flux and nothing is certain until about six weeks. The only thing that doesn't change is the boy/girl question, but even that can be read wrong at first. Laffee  Taffee's first Bubblegum girl (Bubbalicious), is the best boy Basset (Bubba / Stanley) we have seen so far. . . 

We've had a few people coming out to meet our family in hopes of finding a new baby for theirs. We really encourage people to come meet the hounds prior to committing themselves to spending money on their project. It is hard to keep the scammers out of your pockets and the most certain way to protect everyone involved is to do things old school. Visit your breeder, read the contract, and trust your gut. We will certainly earn your trust and deliver on the promises we make.

One family has chosen a puppy (not out of the ordinary to have early adopters). Pending my sending them a deposit invoice Toblerone will no longer be available. We don't encourage such quick decisions but we do things on a first come and first served basis and deposits are never returned if minds change. Take your time deciding as best you can, that is the best way. If you have preferences as to who or how many of what, we will try to accomodate your desires if it is possible. 

So far this entire year has gone along as if we planned it. This is strange because we've been doing this for twenty years and so far nothing has gone along as if we planned anything. Who and when we paired Lilly and Rocky was planned years ago. The pregnancy went very well and Lilly was very happy right up until the final act played out. The babies took their sweet time finding a way into the world, but we had everything in place to handle a seige of any length. In truth, we made it look easy this time. I suppose experience counts after all, but it might be that we didn't have crops to plant so time was on our side. However occurring, even the food we did plant went easier and is doing better. So life is better than good here and even the fruit tress are cooperating. Would that the length of our long lives had always gone so smoothly during the difficult bits.

Still more to do?

Update: Lilly has stopped laboring, panting, and having solid contractions, so we are assuming there are no more than the eight we have lounging around on blankets right now. We do everything naturally so we really don't know.  Any last babies are taking their own sweet time showing themselves. Right now there are five boys and three girls. This is a pretty good litter and easy to count. One more girl puppy would be nice, but another boy is certainly welcome too. So long as everyone is happy and healthy we are good with whatever the day brings. Eight is plenty.

Being able to count puppies easily is important because until their little eyes are open and they are up on their feet they are always in danger of bigger things. When they are very new they wander under their mom pretty easily and she doesn't notice. We will count them a lot and stay within close hearing range (twenty-four-seven) to avoid accidents. After they can keep themselves safe we will still count them a lot, but not because we're worried about accidents.

We are now accepting deposits from those people who wish to choose their new baby(s), but there is no hurry. People's preferences are being considered as we go forward and we will let you know if your preferences are in conflict with others. 

The International Candies Litter: Milka

10:20 a.m. Male Caramel Red and White named Milka. After five hours of waiting he came out with no note explaining his tardiness. 14.6 ounces and quiet.

The International Candies Litter: Kinder Bueno

4:55 a.m. Female, largely black, tri colored. Her kennel name is Kinder Bueno. Lilly is pretty tired out but she's still working on the project. 12.5 ounces of pretty little girl.

The International Candies Litter: Cadbury

4:20 a.m. Male Tri-colored named Cadbury. It took him quite a while to show up and it worried us a bit. But eventually he came through. He has a tremendous sucker and already shows off his boy bits, which is sort of rare. 12.3 ounces and walking with his feet under him.

The International Candies Litter: Ferrero Rocher

2:50 a.m. Female Mohogany and White, with black trim, named Ferrero Rocher. A quiet little girl. 13.9 ounces and superb coloring.

The International Candies Litter: Hapi

2:40 a.m. Female beautiful Mahogany and White named Hapi. Came out a bit rougher than we like but sparked right up with a bit of toweling and twirling. She's quiet and more about breakfast than anything else. 14.3 ounces and very wriggly, very hungry. Her tail has the tiniest little white tip.

The International Candies Litter: Reisen

2:15 Male Mohogany Red and White. Kennel named Reisen. 11.5 ounces, hungry and headstrong.

The International Candies Litter: Pocki

2:05 a.m. Male Tri-colored male. He has a cute little Yin-Yang thing on his butt. 13.5 ounces and wriggly, very wriggly, puppy. But quiet (like a ninja).

Mother and baby

I don't do many pictures during whelping. It's a messy business so waiting for linen changes make for better family pictures.

The International Candies Litter: Toblerone (Pending Deposit)

1:50 a.m. Male Mahogany Red and White male. Kennel named Toblerone. 15.7 ounces. At 3:30 we took him off his Mom. He ate for an hour and a half and we didn't want to see him pop. :-)

He's lovely, wandering around looking for Lilly, and vocal, though not too noisy. 

Tonight is the Night

 Lilly is in her whelping bed and laboring pretty hard this evening. All is well and progress is steady. I am seeing Lilly push right now and Ann is in there with her with gloves on to catch the first thing that comes out of this. We've been fooled before, but this looks pretty serious.

Crowning could happen at any moment. . . 

Working the Midnight Shift

Starting this evening we are beginning to cover the late night hours to keep an eye on Lilly and she gets closer to the big day (night). I usually take the eight to two shift, Ann works the two to eight. Things can happen very quickly once they get going. Not all of the girls needs the help. Abba Zabba and The Cinnamon Bear both prefferred whelping alone.  It is currrently one-thirty A.M. on Thursday, so it can happen at any time, but tomorrow night through Saturday is the due date and it is never very far off the day. Things usually start when the night gets dark and continues until day break. 

We accomodate the mothers as best we can but are not very far away at any point in the process. For the most part the girls like having us help out. Ann gives the babies a tug if it is needed and I keep them calm and quiet. If there's a problem I usually step in. But my role has always been support. I get the coffee, make the omlettes, bring fresh towels, all that. I also do the writing, photography, weighing, and naming.

Lilly is panting a bit, but not too serious abou it yet. She is eternally happy and really looking forward to getting this all out of her way. We are walking her outside on a leash because Bassets can be tricksy and hard to dig out of wherever they decide to dig under. Lilly dislikes the leash but trusts us and let's us have our way.

All is in readiness.

Almost time! Poorbaby is getting so round! She is eternally happy about this, constant tail wagging and a big silly grin on her face.

The Last Week

 Lilly is in the last week and she seems to be looking forward to shedding some of the burden. She know we are there for her and relies on us heavily where she can. 

This morning she went out to hunt rabbits in a spot on the other side of our vegetable garden. The rabbits are looking forward to the free food and our plants are growing well. We're looking forward to seeing our hounds protecting the garden. Lilly went out at five in the morning and came back in around seven. It's a perfect early Summer day for all of us but it is time to get ready for puppies.

We've done this before. A chain of events we've improved steadily over the years. We put down a moving blanket pad on our heated floor and cover it with a new blue tarp that the whelping pen holds down flat. We will bring one of the kiddie pools we use for whelping down from the attic and santitize it, but don't actually put it into the pen until we're only a day out. We've already brought out the stacks of towels and boxes of equiptment to check for completeness. We'll be ready but the night of whelping is always a surprize.

From this point forward we'll go outside when Lilly does to try and keep her from finding a private spot where she can make a whelping den of her own. The girls usually pick some sheltered place under the blackberries or our steel shipping container, but we also have many trailers here which might make suitable spots. None of these places is easy to get into and the urge to find a private den increases every day. But we're careful. In the last few days we'll leash her whe we go outside. 

Poor Lilly looks like she's smuggling a basketball. Almost dragging the floor and not happy to climb stairs. But smiling all the same.

Almost Done

Lilly has seven to ten days left. Poor girl is almost dragging the ground but she is eternally happy and lovable. Her milk is starting to fill.  We have her spending nights in the house with ClarkeBar. She would rather be out in the doghouse, but it is safer in the house and we don't have to worry about her so much.

Lilly is Showing a Baby Bump

 A two sentence post. Lilly is showing a baby bump, right on time. I'd post a picture but is wouldn't show you anything. This is one of my favorite pups from Lilly's first litter . . . 

Week One for Otterpup

Two weeks

Four Weeks

Six Weeks for Otterpup
Just a lovely little dog.

The End of the Silly Season of Spring 2026

One of Lilly's first litter. 
This was at two weeks old.

We are finally coming to the end of the Spring Season and returning to reason. But the past four weeks has become quite a drag on our general happiness.

There's a lot of good stuff in the breeding business. Puppies are always great. Having too many Basset Hounds is a bunch of joy. But there are a lot of horrific stuff too. A lot of Bassets is a mess. They make a lot of noise. On balance it works for us. But if there were one thing I would have written out of the script it would be the Silly Season that happpens twice a year. Girls making ready, and being ready, for breeding, is terrible. Especially when there's four viable girls and one boy absolutely dedicated to his work.

It starts off easy enough. One of the girls show signs of coming into season. . . . A little bitchiness, some backside swelling. . .  We know the score and have seen this movie before. We start being careful with our boy Rocky at this point but he's not that interested. Then we see another girl starting into the process and so forth. We usually have one girl on deck for each season, a rotating schedule of two year breaks between litters, and we start putting Rocky and whichever girl is on the schedule together at night and segregating the non-scheduled girls elswhere so that we don't have any accidents. 

What a face! A little beauty.
This was the Ice Cream Specialties Litter.

A week later in the Sillly Season we effectively have three seperated groups. We have the older dogs who have been to the Vet and are not in the breeding program; we have the non-breeding group, all girls wanting to be mothers and all of them crazy; and we have the two Hounds involved in our next litter. They hate being seperated, but at first things go along as if their world is still fairly normal.

A week goes by and Rocky is doing his job with, in this Spring effort, Lilly (in her second litter). Whichever girl is involved doesn't seem to like the idea for a day or so and Rocky fumbles around like he hasn't done this before. After a few day we hear a yelp and the girl gets super happy about it. Rocky goes crazy at this point. He wants more. 

The other girls all begin wondering out loud why they aren't involved in this whole Rocky is my boyfreind thing. They let everyone know they are unhappy and the farm gets pretty noisy.  We have to start using a leash to shift groups around. One group will be inside the house with us for a few hours or so. Rocky and Lilly are in the segregation kennel out on the porch. The older dogs are in the yard. We rotate them every few hours so that everyone has a chance at people time, yard time, and bed time. But none of them are happy for very long. This works for a few days. Then it gets even more crazy.

Look at those ears!

This morning I have had all three groups singing to each other since four in the morning. Rocky, who has done his job thouroughly is now more interested in the other girls, makes a mooing sound and sings the blues. This starts the breeding aged girls to baying in their group. And the older dogs inside the house join into the singing because they want to. This happens three or four times a day. There's no stopping it.

For all the ears our combined tangle of hounds have in total inches of ear, none of them will listen at this point. Nobody is a good girl or good boy. The best we can hope for is to not have someone attack another someone viciously for looking at them wrong. Rocky is a strong boy, so leashing him only works if there's nothing he really wants within his reach. The girls are all clever so they test fences and run toward any open door. The old dogs are not helpful either. It is pandemonium. But it is beginning to slack off a bit.

They had quite a mixed bag in their first outing. 
We can't wait to find out what comes next.

Lilly is probably pregant now, so her Silly Season has come to an end. The younger girls are all beginning to wind it down a bit, at least they aren't as bitchy today as they were yesterday. Lucy, who started this whole thing, is finally returning to her normal but impossible self. We still have a dangerous little Pixie testing our fences and patience every minute. And Rocky, who hasn't eaten for a week, is still super interested in finding out who can come out to play, but he's not really being playful.

In three or four days the Silly Seacon of Spring 2026 will end and we will put our dogs back together and wait for Whelping Day (about seven weeks out).  Then a different set of crazy things will add to our days for about ten weeks. 

Breeding is a wonderful job and having a breeding kennel is rewarding and often quite fun. But it's a labor of love. There's so much joy and fun, some sadness at times. But today it's a lot of craziness. 

Summer Puppies are on the Way

One of the Ice Cream Specialty Litter
This girls was true image of her mother.

It seems strange to write this, most of our projects and predictions are off by a bit as a matter of routine, but our breeding calendar is actually going along as we thought it might. Though everything is still subject to change without notice given . . .

Dolce DeLeche (AKC) and Rocketdog Rockford Rhoades (AKC) came together this morning to begin the process of bringing therri second litter to our farm.  This next litter should come around the Fourth of July for delivery to new families in the first week of September (at the earliest).  Here are the articles written for their last litter. The articles for all the pups continue from there.

More to follow. . . 

From Rocky's fourth litter
The great looks of the Father

This is an exceptional pairing.

 

The Candies are Leaving (starting today)

 The Penny Candies are beginning to leave for their new families today, three today, a few more tomorrow, perhaps one on Sunday. So it will soon become a lot less noise and laundry around here. But we will miss them. 

The life of a breeder is one of some sorrow and great joy. But, as I've always said, having a litter of puppies is like having a favorite excentric aunt come to visit for a few months. Lovely to anticipate the visit, wonderful to have the day arrive (though it's a lot of work and little sleep), and very nice to see her go home because she can be exhausting at times. (I once used the Yiddish Proverb of the Goat, but the Aunt visiting is a bit more on target.) The bottom line is that they come to us and go away, a sort of bitter sweet thing throughout.

Since their evaluations we have seen quite a bit of development in the pups. We have had three days of relative warm weather and cool early Spring sunshine. So the Candies have been able to go outside for a few hours a day. At first none of them could do stairs and spent most of the time close to the front door, this morning there was a stampede of fur flying through the doorway and out onto the front porch. On day one the hens would come in and intimidate them, this morning one hen was brave enough but three puppies frightened her away.  

We had one minor health thing. The Vet. sold us flea drops called Revolution and many of the pups had allergic reactions (hives). There was nothing too worrisome about this and we used a bit of Cortizone10 on the spots to clear them right up. We lost some hair where the meds were placed, but nothing to visible for the most part. One of the pups had a farily severe reaction and we had to use one-quarter dose Benedryl tablets in some peanut butter for a few days. The problem is fading away slowly and the Vet has seen the puppy three times since (just for the sake of the new family). We recommend and usually use Capstar chewables if there is any signs of fleas in the puppies. Capstar kills the fleas in just a few minutes but does nothing for the longer term. We will go back to the chewable for safety's sake. We do use K9 Advantage in all our dogs about twice a year for those looking for a good recommendation. The K9 Advantage hasn't given us any trouble at all, but we only use drops on the adult dogs too, so there is a difference. 

Everyone has doubled in weight since the last weighing at six weeks. We have reduced feeding to two larger meals and some snacks to bring them into line with their family feedings.  You never experience anything like it when nine hungry puppies dive into dinner.  Of course what goes in must come out and yesterday we washed five loads of laundry. We do one cup of food at morning and evening meals in our adults dogs and this is usually enough. A puppy might eat too much, but never get full at the same time. Bassets can have sour tummies so we try to keep the intake to the right level to avoid having to watch them recycle their dinner.

We will treasure the peace and quiet, but we will definetly miss them, those that go. Two of the pups  will be staying with us for the advanced Basseting Course which goes on for a few more weeks. This is good for the Mother and great for the pups, and not too bad for us as well. We will miss them all and cannot wait to get started missing them. 

All of our Puppies are Taken

Our Penny Candy Littler is completely taken.
Thanks to all who were interested. 

Since out girls go into the "Silly Season" at about the same time every year, and we have a planned schedule where the girls take turns, our next litter is expected to be from Lilly and Rocky, and happen in the July, with deliveries to new family around late September.

Lilly is our best female and her pups are often of very high quality. When Rocky puts his two cent in the results are very good and the ears extra long. This will be Lilly's second litter. 

See you then.

One Little Indian (All are taken)

 Our last little Indian has a home in Southern Oregon. Sorry if you missed out, but there will soon be more.

There is just one puppy left needing a home this morning. Chic-O-Stix remains available but has one family looking at her seriously. 

Chica doesn't want her pictures taken. 

The Penny Candies Litter: Six Week Evaluation : Mary Jane (Taken)

 Pricilla  Pixie Stix (AKC) (AKA: Pixie, Princessa Silly, Pretty Silly) and Rocketdog Rockford Rhoades (AKC) (AKA: Rockzilla, RockandRolla) paired up to give us a wonderful nine puppy litter that has come to the sixth week. This is the time when I spend just a bit more time looking critically at their form and personality. All nine pups will be good pets quality dogs when fully grown, but even at this young age there are subtle differences which make each on a person all on their own. 

Generally speaking, all of the pups are in good health. The Banks Vet.  found no bite or bone issues and all have been vaccinated, worm, and flea protected. We will give one more vaccine at seven weeks and all of this is documented in the puppy packets that come with every one of them individually. 

Mary Jane arrived on January 30th and came out ready for the world weighing 12.6 ounces. Today she weighs in at 4.9 pounds, still a bit smaller than the rest.  But being small doesn't mean having less of anything. Mary Jane is a dynamo and has personality. Personality goes a long way.

Structurally speaking, this is a very good example of the Basset Hound at six weeks. Good foreleg bone thickness and hefty paw size, and very good hip setting and stance. Stance is how the dog stands when at rest and Mary Jane has the strong hip stance indicating good hip development and bone health. She also carries her forelegs well and the package looks agressive and solid when she is at  play. And she is always at play.From her shoulders to her hips she tapers smoothly, with not flanged ribs, down to her well proportioned hips. A strong body to start off with. Her head shape is adequate, but not highly domed, and her snout is a bit diminuative as well. Her jaw setting is good. Her ear settting is not quite all the way back of her skull. Overall she is a Basset more of her Dame's type than her excellent Sire, with little of the European traits present. 

What she lacks in size she makes up for in personality. Mary Jane is brave and sure footed. She never shirks a fight or misses a meal. She loves to cuddle, but can be a bit of a handful in trying to keep her on your lap. She wants to go see things. 

We expect there will be more brown showing up in her fur coloring as she grows, eventually becoming a true tri-colored hound. She has wonderful ermine spotting and great facial symmetry. 

Of the six point in our evaluation Mary Jane gets all five for form and half a point for beauty. She will make a fine companion and freind for whoever is lucky enough to get her. I always say there is one in each litter I would keep if I could, this was my pick on day one and is still the one I would want in my Tangle of Hounds if I could have just one more.

The Penny Candies Litter: Six Week Evaluation : Chic-O-Stix (Taken)

 Pricilla  Pixie Stix (AKC) (AKA: Pixie, Princessa Silly, Pretty Silly) and Rocketdog Rockford Rhoades (AKC) (AKA: Rockzilla, RockandRolla) paired up to give us a wonderful nine puppy litter that has come to the sixth week. This is the time when I spend just a bit more time looking critically at their form and personality. All nine pups will be good pets quality dogs when fully grown, but even at this young age there are subtle differences which make each on a person all on their own. 

Generally speaking, all of the pups are in good health, with one minor exception in one puppy. The Banks Vet.  found no bite or bone issues and all have been vaccinated, worm, and flea protected. We will give one more vaccine at seven weeks and all of this is documented in the puppy packets that come with every one of them individually. 

Not an easy picture to take. 
This one is wiggly.

Chic-O-Stix was the first of the Candies to arrive. She came to us at the beginning of a rare daylight whelping weighing a healthy 13.5 ounces and was hungry upon arrival. SInce then she has gained a bit and now weighs 6.2 pounds, about in the middle of the pack for size. Chica is a go-go and runs everywhere. But she doesn't spend too much time looking before she leaps. This makes her fun to watch, but watching is a good idea since she will jump from high places if you don't stop her.

Though a bit light in the foreleg bones, she is showing good development and is an all American styled girl Basset (as is her mother).  We expect she will become a thrity-five pound adult with a coat that is a bit tighter, a snout that is a bit slimmer. Her shoulders are slender, but her body tapers back to well formed hips and her stance is agressive and strong. Her stance is great and shows us that her hip development is good. She flows from front to back smoothly and has no rib flanging. She has a thick neck, good head shape, smallish snout and adequate jaw setting. Her ears are well back on her skull too, though ear size is a bit small.

She is an agressive player and a healthy eater. She is very happy sitting on a lap and is often found playing with toys when she is not being attacked by siblings. She seems patient and calm for the most part. Not a part of the party, but not afraid of dancing either. 

Of the five AKC derived points in our six point system, Chica recieves four and a half points. There is nothing wrong with her at all, just not a strong showing of European heavy styling. She willl develop into a wonderful pet. She gets one half of the point we allow for aesthetics simply because she is so darned cute. We expect she will eventually show quite a bit more brown in her coloring, especially in the head and ears. She is a worthy little girl who gets five of the six points available. 

The Penny Candies Litter: Six Week Evaluation : Bazooka Joe (Taken)

 Pricilla  Pixie Stix (AKC) (AKA: Pixie, Princessa Silly, Pretty Silly) and Rocketdog Rockford Rhoades (AKC) (AKA: Rockzilla, RockandRolla) paired up to give us a wonderful nine puppy litter that has come to the sixth week. This is the time when I spend just a bit more time looking critically at their form and personality. All nine pups will be good pets quality dogs when fully grown, but even at this young age there are subtle differences which make each on a person all on their own. 

Generally speaking, all of the pups are in good health. The Banks Vet. found no bite or bone issues and all have been vaccinated, wormed, and flea protected. We will give one more vaccine at seven weeks and all of this is documented in the puppy packets that come with every one of them individually. 

Some puppies don't sit still for pictures.

Bazooka Joe arrive on Jnauary 30th and was a bit smaller than most. But he was also a bit quieter too. Since then he has developed well, but is still a bit smaller at 4.9 pounds. The Vet found a slight heart murmer during his well puppy check and called it out. The murmer is not likely going to be an ongoing issue, but we have to call them out when found. Otherwise Bazooka Joe is a good example of the breed. Though smaller than some, Joe is well developed with good bone size in his forelegs. He is a bit slender in the chest, more of his mother's shape in many respects. His hip stance is good and he flows from front to back smoothly, so we don't expect any bone development issues going forward. His snout is smaller, more of the American styling than the European blockiness. Overall he favors his Dame's light characteristics than those of his Sire. 

Joe has always been a bit quieter than most. He likes the lap, loves his supper, and adores being on the bottom of the pile when they pile up to sleep. He likes his comforts. Joe has a wonderful little bark, but seldom uses it. He will go to his new homw with his brother Hubbba Bubba and they will be fun duo for life.

Bazooka Joe received three and a half of the five AKC derived points for structure and so should not be bred even though he is an attractive member of the breed. He loses half a point for foreleg bone thickness, half a poiint for feature size generally, and half a point for the heart mumer (even though it may be no issue at all). He does receive one half point for easthetics. He is a pretty little boy with great coloring and we expect there is a lot more brown coming into his coat as he grows.  Joe gets four of the six points available.