Hazel × Bodie: six puppies, seven weeks old

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  Boulder

  Black male · Red collar · 11 lb 0 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Reserved

  The steadiest pup in the litter, and the first to swim: he walked into the pond on day 42 and came out wanting more. Firstborn (2:10 pm) and still the biggest. Weeks 5–6: steady and unbothered — sleeps through the vacuum, walks straight across the wobble board. That's him wet in the photo. Week 7 evaluation (October 5): 5 of 5 retrieves, brought the paper ball back to the tester every time; startled at the dropped pan and was back sniffing it within two seconds; average touch sensitivity. Our read: a powerful, steady dog for a waterfowl hunter who wants one dog to do everything. Reserved — matched with a family on October 8.

• 

  Teton

  Black male · Green collar · 10 lb 9 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Reserved

  The highest-drive pup in the litter: 5 of 5 fast retrieves and locked on the wing at his week-7 test. Weeks 5–6: first to find the gate latch, first to the bowl, first to steal the pheasant wing and the last to give it up. Week 7 evaluation: 5 of 5 retrieves with real speed, locked onto the wing on a string, and struggled the full 30 seconds when held on his back — a pushy pup, in the good sense and the other one. Our read: a high-drive dog for an experienced trainer or a hunt test home. We will not place him as a first dog. Reserved.

• 

  Marias

  Yellow female · Orange collar · 9 lb 1 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Reserved

  The most people-focused pup in the litter — she follows Hannah's boots around the yard and turns to a voice before any of her siblings. Weeks 5–6: a watcher first and a doer second — sits at the edge of the scrum, then does the thing better than the others. Week 7 evaluation: 4 of 5 retrieves, carried the wing with a soft mouth, recovered from the opening umbrella at once, and turned to a voice faster than any of her siblings. Our read: soft, biddable, an ideal first hunting dog in a family that will train. Reserved.

• 

  Judith

  Black female · Blue collar · 9 lb 6 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Reserved

  Structurally the pup we like best, and the calmest under pressure: 5 of 5 retrieves, two delivered to hand unasked. Weeks 5–6: the balanced one — plays hard, settles fast, and was the first to sleep a whole night in the crate rotation. Week 7 evaluation: 5 of 5 retrieves and delivered to hand twice without being asked; no reaction to the dropped pan beyond a look; a short wiggle and then calm when held. Structurally she's the pup we like best. We may keep her as Hazel's successor; we'll decide at matching on October 8, and if we don't, she goes to the first family on the list.

• 

  Smith

  Yellow male · Purple collar · 10 lb 2 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Available

  An easygoing, people-loving yellow male for an upland hunter or an active family that hunts on weekends. Weeks 5–6: laid-back and sturdy, a pup who wants a lap. Last to the bowl, first to finish it. Week 7 evaluation: 3 of 5 retrieves — interested, not obsessed; recovered well from noise; went straight to the visiting kids and stayed. Our read: an easygoing upland dog or an active family's weekend hunter. He'd be wasted in a kennel run. Available because the family holding this place chose to wait for the spring litter — open to an approved home with a field plan.

• 

  Willow

  Yellow female · Pink collar · 8 lb 12 oz at 7 weeks

  Born August 19, 2026

  Reserved

  Smallest at birth at 11 ounces, now the keenest of the females: 5 of 5 retrieves and the strongest interest in the wing. We tube-fed her every two hours for the first 36 hours and weighed her twice a day until day 10; she has gained at the same rate as the others since week 2. Our vet checked her palate and heart at day 3 and again at week 6: both normal. Weeks 5–6: busy, opinionated, and the first to work out the dog door. Week 7 evaluation: 5 of 5 retrieves and the strongest interest in the wing of the three females; a little sound-sensitive — four seconds to come back to the pan. Our read: a keen, quick little hunter for a patient handler. Reserved.

Weighed on the same kitchen scale at 8 am, before the first meal — daily for two weeks, weekly after. The last row is this morning.

Willow was tube-fed for her first 36 hours; she has gained at the litter's rate since week 2.

1. Progesterone testing beganJune 9, 2026
2. Bred, fresh chilled AI from BodieJune 19 and 21, 2026
3. Pregnancy confirmed by ultrasoundJuly 16, 2026
4. X-ray count: six puppiesAugust 12, 2026
5. Born: 3 males, 3 femalesAugust 19, 2026
6. ENS and scent introduction, days 3–16August 22 – September 4
7. Eyes openAugust 30 – September 2
8. First vaccine, deworming, first wings and waterSeptember 30, 2026
9. Temperament evaluations and microchipsOctober 5, 2026
10. Matching callsOctober 8, 2026
11. Vet exam and health certificatesOctober 12, 2026
12. Go-home day, 8 weeksFrom October 14, 2026

1. October 7, 2026

   Day 49: weights, and matching is tomorrow

   Everyone weighed in this morning between 8 lb 12 oz (Willow) and 11 lb even (Boulder). All six are on four soaked meals a day and Hazel only checks in at night now.

   Matching calls start tomorrow, Thursday, from 9 am. We'll call each family in deposit order and talk through the evaluation sheet before we say which pup we'd put with you — you can say no, and nobody loses their place for it.

2. October 5, 2026

   Week 7: evaluations and microchips

   Day 47 is evaluation day. Our friend Dave, an AKC hunt test judge who has never met these puppies, ran each one through the same test in a room they'd never been in: following, restraint, retrieving a paper ball, the wing on a string, a dropped pan, an opening umbrella. We video it and send each family their pup's clip after matching.

   Microchips went in the same afternoon. Nobody cried except Teton, who objects to everything on principle.

3. 

   September 30, 2026

   Week 6: first shots, first wings, first pond

   First DAPPv vaccine and the week-6 deworming this morning. In the afternoon, frozen pheasant wings in the puppy yard: Teton and Willow stole them, Boulder carried one around for ten minutes, Smith slept on his.

   It was 74°F, so we walked them down to the shallow edge of the pond. Boulder swam first. No gunfire anywhere near them — that waits until they love birds, at five or six months, with your trainer.

4. 

   September 23, 2026

   Week 5: outside all day

   The puppies now spend the day in the outdoor pen — grass, pea gravel, a plank bridge, a tunnel and a kiddie pool with two inches of water — and come in to the puppy room at night.

   Visitors this week: four approved families, two grandkids and our farrier, who brought his own dog. Hazel supervised all of it from the porch.

5. 

   September 16, 2026

   Week 4: the puppy room

   Out of the whelping box and into the puppy room off the kitchen, with a litter tray of pine pellets at one end. By day 26 they were using it without being shown.

   Hazel still feeds them on warm afternoons on the lawn, lying down so they can reach. Weaning onto soaked puppy food started this week, three small meals a day.

6. September 9, 2026

   Week 3: walking, barking, first sounds

   Ears open, first wobbly walking and the first barks. We started the sound recordings — thunder, traffic, a vacuum, kids playing, a shotgun at very low volume in the background, never loud — while they eat and sleep.

   Everyone has at least tripled their birth weight. Collars changed from rick-rack to soft adjustable ones.

7. September 2, 2026

   Week 2: eyes opening

   Eyes opening from day 11 (Judith) to day 14 (Smith). ENS — five short exercises, once a day — and the scent work run to day 16: each day one new smell under the nose for a few seconds, from a mallard wing and a pheasant feather to cut grass, a leather glove and an apple.

   We do these because they're gentle and cost the puppies nothing, not because they turn out a better dog; the research on that is thin.

8. 

   August 26, 2026

   Week 1: everybody gaining

   All six close to doubling their birth weight. Willow, the smallest at 11 ounces, came off tube feeding after 36 hours and has been nursing well since day 2.

   Hazel is eating four meals a day and leaves the box only when Jodi makes her.

9. 

   August 19, 2026

   Born: six puppies on a Wednesday afternoon

   Hazel started at noon and had six puppies between 2:10 and 7:05 pm, no help needed: three black, three yellow. Birth weights from 11 ounces to a pound.

   Three males, three females. Mother and puppies are doing well; Jodi and Hannah are doing less well and are going to bed.

10. August 12, 2026

    Six on the X-ray

    Day 57 X-ray at our vet's: six puppies, all positioned normally. A small litter for Hazel, which suits her.

11. July 16, 2026

    Hazel is in whelp

    Ultrasound on day 27 confirmed the pregnancy. Due date August 20. We've written to the eight families on the list for this litter; we expect six to eight puppies.