2018 Update on The Jewels

Wow, it has been a little over two years since the last update on the Jewels. A lot has changed, and so have the puppies.

The first change is that Jasper has a new home. His previous owner passed away and he is now with Dee Dee and Jason Cohen of Glendale, CA. Here are some recent pics...

The next update is on Pearl. She also has new owners and has been doing well in the show ring and now has nine points, including one major! Her new owners are the Tischler's in Lewiston, ID. Here are some pics of her...

Flint and Ruby are still with us here at Smiling Dalmatians. Flint just needs two single points to earn his AKC Championship and Ruby is on her way with a few points of her own. Here are some photos of them. First, Flint...

And Ruby...

Ruby will be bred some time next fall for puppies due in the winter of 2019. If you are interested, please contact us for more information.

Next is Aspen, previously Opal. Aspen finished her AKC Championship in 2017 and has continued to shine in conformation as well as performance events.Aspen is half way to her Grand Champion Bronze level.

Next is Dita, formerly Amber.

Halli formerly Sapphire, is doing very well also. We are awaiting some recent pics and will post them when we have received them.

Well, thanks for taking the time to catch up with the Jewels and Smiling Dalmatians. Have a Happy and prosperous New Year! And come back and visit us again.

Jewels Update

It has been six months since I traveled to California to see Sally's puppies. The pups are eight months old now and have all been in their new homes for several months.

Flint, Smiln Dal's One More For The Road, is here at Smiling Dalmatians along with little sister Ruby, Smiln Dal's Red Letter Day. They have been growing up and Mr Flint will soon get his feet wet in the conformation ring.

 Flint

Ruby

Jasper is living the good life with owners Mr and Mrs Dickman in Beverly Hills, California.

Jasper

Amber, now Dita is Smiln Dal's Talk Of The Town, is also in southern California with The Bowman family.

Dita

Opal, now Aspen stayed with mom and the rest of the Wooden family in Bakersfield, California and has already entered the show ring earning several points towards her AKC Championship title. Along the way Aspen has earned her Canine Good Citizen title.

Aspen

Sapphire is in Idaho with the Stevens family, a fire fighter, his wife and three boys.

Sapphire

Pearl, now Libbie Smiln Dal Spotsalot Stand For Liberty, is growing up on the California coast with good friend and long time Dalmatian breed Patty LaRose and her husband Dennis.

Libbie

I hope to be able to post photos as soon as I get some good ones, it's been a little hectic here the last few months with John and I both on the road at times for work and shows. But we'll get them! Meanwhile please enjoy their eight week pics.

Seven weeks old and we all hear!

This was a crucial week for the Jewels. As a breeder you always know in the back of your mind that this is a breed with several issues and hurdles to cross as you go along. One of the biggest hurdles is hearing. The incidence of deafness in Dalmatians is highest of all breeds, with as many as 29.9 percent of Dalmatians born deaf in one or both ears. (From an article published on May of 2011). 

There are various ways of home testing, one I use is a small bell. I wait until all of the puppies are asleep and ring the bell, not too loudly, and watch for heads to pop up. I am always comforted by all the tiny heads that raise as the pups react to the sound of the bell. It is a sad thing when I don't see a head pop up. Even when I do see all of the pups react to the sound of the bell, I cannot rest until it is made official by the BAER Hearing test. BAER stands for Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response. The pups are wired up to a computer and each ear receives a sound emitted by an ear plug. We test each pup, one ear at a time. 

Good news with the Jewels, all of the puppies can hear! Six of the Seven can hear in both ears. One pup hears in only one, but he should be able to live a perfectly normal life. So we are very happy to be able to say that out of seven puppies, no patches, no blue eyes and thirteen hearing ears out of fourteen!

Next week I will travel to CA to see the Jewels and evaluate their temperment and structure. I am so excited to see them, they just get cuter every week and it is so hard to have to watch them from such a distance away!

Here are the seven week photos. Please excuse the blurry parts as they puppies were giving Marilyn and Jackie a hard time trying to stack them. 

Flint

Jasper

Amber

Opal

Ruby

Sapphire

Pearl

See you all next week!

Six weeks and looking great!

There were no pics of the puppies last week as Marilyn and Jackie had quite a bout of the flu bug! But this week's photos look pretty darn good and I cannot wait to see them in person!

Next week they pups will have their hearing tested and so we will cross our fingers, hold our breath and pray until we get those results. The pups all hear but we need to know if they hear in both ears.

Here they are, I hope you enjoy seeing them.

Flint

Jasper

Amber

Opal

Ruby aka Little Whoopi

Sapphire

Pearl

Please do come back and visit us again! And post comments if you like. Next week is the BAER hearing test so we will post those results here. See you soon...