Summer 2026 Litter

3.27.2026 Luna & I headed down south to meet Dallas. Luna will stay there for a few days and we'll be excited to have her back home.

5.19.2026 While the kids were at school, Logan and I picked up a large watermelon box that will become Luna's first whelping box. Why cardboard instead of wood? One of my favorite breeding books recommends cardboard because it's simple, sanitary, and easy to replace. After the litter is raised, the entire box can be discarded, eliminating concerns about carrying germs or disease from one litter to the next. It's also surprisingly practical to clean and maintain during those busy first weeks with newborn puppies.

5.23.2026 Luna is very noticeably larger. This past week it feels like the puppies doubled in size. Her favorite place to lie is on the cold tile.

5.26.26 As Luna's due date gets closer, I decided it was time to finish preparing her whelping box. We added pool-noodle pig rails along the sides and topped it off with a washable, waterproof bed liner to create a safe and comfortable space for Luna and her puppies. Pig rails serve an important purpose: they help prevent puppies from becoming trapped between their mother and the side of the box, reducing the risk of accidental suffocation during those critical first weeks of life.

5.29.26 Today was a whirlwind. I spent much of the day helping with 5th-grade promotion activities at our local elementary school, while it was also the last day of school for both the junior high and high school. With six children and so many end-of-school events happening at once, I had been hoping Luna would wait just a little longer before going into labor. Right before bed, I took Luna's temperature as part of our daily monitoring routine. To my surprise, it had dropped nearly two degrees from her normal baseline. For breeders, that's an exciting milestone because a significant temperature drop often indicates that labor may begin within the next 24 hours. After weeks of planning, preparing, and waiting, it looks like the puppies may finally be on their way. Tonight, we'll be keeping a close eye on Luna and making sure everything is ready for her big day.

5.30.2026 As you can imagine, I didn’t get much sleep the night of the 29th. Luna was restless and pacing through most of the night, and I was up frequently letting her in and out to go to the bathroom. Eventually, she settled in her crate and rested for a while, which allowed me to get a bit of sleep as well. An hour so so later our son called out, “A puppy is here!” The first puppy arrived at 9:45 a.m., with nine more to follow. Luna’s maternal instincts were immediate and strong. She carefully opened the sac and began cleaning her puppy right away. As a first-time mother, I wasn’t sure how quickly she would understand what to do, but she took to it instinctively from the very first moment. It was truly remarkable to watch her transition into motherhood so naturally.

5.30.2026 Luna had it her way. She decided she didn't like the whelping box in the garage and moved the party into the living room. We adjusted everything to keep it safe, warm and clean for her and the puppies. Over the course of the next hours, 9 puppies were born. The longest gap was about an hour. After puppy 9 I wondered if we had miscounted. I looked at the x-ray over and over counting skulls and spines and kept coming up with 10. 1.5 hours later puppy 10 came and we were so relieved and happy. Luna was a champ and all 10 puppies we born with vigorous energy--a great start to life.

Day 1 Puppy Images

Luna and the pups spend a lot of time in their box. The pig-rails are great and I replace the liner every day (Luna is still post-partum and also tracks things in)