Beauty and Artus's second litter arrived on January 14, 2000!

Beauty and Artus are the proud parents of 11 healthy, active pups.  This litter is the first Shiloh litter of the new millennium to include solid blacks!

Here are Tina Barber's (Shiloh Shepherd breed founder and breed warden) observations of the pups at 3 days of age

Upon examining the second litter of Beauty/Artus pups I was thrilled to note that even though she had more this time, they look even bigger in size than the first litter! Could the old adage that farmers count on regarding "first calf heifer" apply to litters too? We will certainly find out shortly!

Here's the breakdown on the pups:

Tina's update 1/29/2000

Despite the fire that burned her home to the ground a scant 4 days earlier, Tina filed her bi-weekly update as follows:

Some of these puppies are just starting to open their eyes and show a little bit of personality. As each was being carefully examined some tolerated it well, while a few struggled furiously, complaining, and others were almost like stuffed toys, happily soaking up the attention.

 I am looking forward to the final LER, since I expect this litter to shine forth with some exciting variations in temperament.

At this time it is impossible to even take a close guess as to coat varieties. Some looked very possibly plush, while several looked like they will most likely be smooths. Even the colors are still a bit tricky on one that could be a black sable or bi-colored and another that could be solid black or a true black sable!

Here are Tina's preliminary guesses on coats and colors:

2 black plush males (possibly another Taos!)	1 Big dual probably plush male
1 possible black sable plush male	1 Dark brown sable male, probably plush
1 dual male, probably plush	1 Black plush female
1 Dark brown sable female, unsure of coat	2 Black females, possibly smooth
1 Dark brown sable female, possibly smooth

Feb. 12th Update

All the pups look extremely healthy! Activity levels seem to vary with some individuals already showing little hints of personality like the Black/tan girl I dubbed the "thinker" and the light male I called the "chewer" etc. Coats are even more difficult to guess at now then shortly after birth. It will be another two weeks before serious guessing can begin. Coat colors will become more pronounced at that time too, and personality differences will be clearly visible by then--so be sure to come back to read the next update!

Here is this week's current guesses on colors.

February 27th Update

The Boys

Black Plush	Bi-color Black/Red Plush	Bi-color Black Sable Plush
Black Smooth	Black Smooth	Black/Silver Dual Plush

Our Girls

Black Sable & Cream	Bi-black Sable/cream  Smooth
Black Plush	Black Smooth	Bi-color Dual Plush

The puppies are growing like weeds, personalities are coming out much more now then at my last visit. As I prepared to take their pictures, some would comply politely, while others only wanted to run off and play! As I had suspected, this will prove to be a very interesting LER! I hope that the right working home will be waiting for those 'special' ones that are just oozing with pure confidence, ready to take on the world!

I was also pleased to see some amazing smooth coats with such nice heads and bone! Our breed sure needs to expend more in that variety, and these pups can provide some excellent foundation blood that will do just that. With their rich dark pigmentation, they will certainly be an added bonus to any breeding program. 

Of course that monster sized Black/Red boy was my favorite ... well maybe he "tied' with that huge black plush "Taos" look-alike? On the other hand that Tang double is going to be one amazing female, and her plush sister was very impressive too .. hmmmmm. Gee I am glad I don't have to choose just one! ;-)

View the Litter Evaluation Report