We're excited to announce Bella & Maverick are expecting a litter of Australian Shepherd puppies in April 2023
Bella and Maverick have bred as of January 26, 2023 and are expecting a litter of puppies around April 5, 2023. We will be confirming the number of puppies she's having with the vet prior to her going into labor, on March 20, 2023. Once Bella goes into labor we will contact all new owners on the waitlist to begin the process of selecting a puppy. The estimated take-home date for this litter is June 2, 2023.
Please fill out our puppy application if you're interested in joining the waitlist.
Puppy Preference Accommodations
We try to accommodate all preferences when it comes to gender, coat type/color, eye color, disposition, etc. Please keep in mind some of these things tend to change as the puppy grows. For example, a coat that might appear bi-color with red and white at birth might end up showing tan markings later, making it a tri-color. Many Australian Shepherd puppies are born with blue eyes, which can change color up to 12 weeks of age. We cannot guarantee a puppy's eyes will stay blue, one can just hope for it and love them anyway!
General energy levels can be assessed in the first few weeks, however disposition in general can take longer to develop and depend greatly on the environment and exposure the puppy is subjected to during its first few months.
Our goal is to match everyone on the waitlist with the puppy they want — however, we never know things like how many of each gender or coat type/colors until she gives birth. For this reason, we don't accept a deposit on your puppy until you've confirmed with us that the puppy you want is still available. We allow selection on a first-come-first-serve basis by gender. For example, if you were the second person to fill out the application requesting a female then you would have second pick of a female puppy. If you have no gender preference, but have coat type/color preferences instead, we will try our best to meet your request by putting you in line in the order in which your application was received.
What is the Whelping Process Like?
For the first few weeks, Momma Bella does most of the work, feeding and cleaning her puppies regularly, but it quickly becomes chaotic once their eyes start to open and they're starting to walk around and figure out how to giddy-up to a run.
We spend a lot of time with our puppies — all of them! We make sure Momma Bella has her time with the puppies and is on a good routine of feeding and cleaning them. As soon as it's safe for the puppies and Bella is comfortable with it — generally after a few days — we begin handling the puppies for short amounts of time to acclimate them to human interaction as early as possible.
Around week 1, we start trimming the puppies nails, for Bella's sake because their claws can start to tear up her skin while feeding, but also so the puppy gets used to having its nails trimmed and paws and ears cleaned and handled. We recommend keeping up this habit regularly after bringing your puppy home so it can develop a comfortable attitude toward grooming.
Weeks 2-3 are still a lot of work on Momma Bella for feeding and cleaning the puppies, as they can't use the restroom on their own yet. We help her out if needed, but she's been a great mom doing most of the work until the puppies start to wean around 4 weeks old.
Weeks 4-6 are when the puppies' eyes are open, they're starting to use the restroom on their own. The puppy whelping box is expanded so they have room to run around and an area for food and water bowls, a potty training area as well. This is when they start to eat a mixture of puppy food blended with 2nd Step Puppy Formula, starting with once a day. Bella may still be occasionally feeding at this point. Keeping the puppy box clean is crucial and a lot of work at this point — it's a full-time job and a lot of it needs the help of another person to move everything around and clean. This is also when we expose the puppies to small, soft toys, new rooms of the house (as they've been dewormed and vaccinated at this point) and the other dogs in the house, if Bella allows.
Weeks 6-8 are the final weeks of weaning from Bella feeding the puppies — at this point she will be feeding only occasionally, however she still spends most of her time with the puppies and is starting to teach them how to play [nice]. We slowly work the puppies up to eating solid puppy food around week 7, making the gruel mixture less and less watery. Their little puppy teeth are sharp enough by this time to eat the puppy food, and too sharp to be feeding on Bella any longer — this means they're ready to go home! We also start bringing them outside around this time so they can explore and not be too afraid of all the new things when they first get to their new home.
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