Our New Champion! (and the story of a special puppy)
CH High Jump Nauti Picture Show (CH High Jump Shutter Bug CGC TKN X GCHB CH Nauti Pardon The Interruption ATT)
Our “Lili Bean” is our second generation bred-by Champion, born here at High Jump and all the more precious to us because we were not sure she would even make it when she first arrived! She was the first born of her litter, and practically fell out of her mom rather than being “birthed”. She was SO tiny, only a little more than half the size of her brothers. And she needed both the warmth and oxygen of our incubator for the first two days. Her mom, ZT, was not at all happy about that, and prowled underneath the incubator, wanting her baby back!
The good news is that Lili was very vigorous and suckled strongly. She was just very little and got knocked off the nipple easily by her bigger brothers. I made sure she got on a good nipple, and guarded her at each feeding to keep the boys from knocking her off, but she still needed supplemental feeding to keep her gaining weight well. She loved her little bottles each day, and gain she did!
She remained the smallest of the puppies in the litter, but she was the first to meet every milestone, and the first to try every new challenge. She wasn’t going to let those boys show her up!
Here she is with two of her great big brothers!
She was an intrepid elephant hunter when the litter moved to the weaning pen… even when the elephant occasionally got the better of her!
She was also the first one over the spice rack stairs!
She was fierce with her siblings in play…
And the ONLY puppy in the litter willing to “bob for treats” in the pool!
As she has grown, Lili has become a wonderful family pet, spending the summer weekends up in Vermont with us and being my obedience training partner. <Click here for a bit of Lili’s obedience work!>
She fell seamlessly into her job as a conformation show dog, working beautifully both for me and for her favorite dance partner, her handler Artemis Tsargarakis. (Keon Kennels in Ashland, MA)
Now, with Lili’s championship complete, it is time for her concentrate on continuing her obedience training… and if the stars align, her first litter this fall! (as well as romping in the woods up in Vermont this summer!).
We are so happy that the tiny mite that had a bit of a rough start in life has grown to be such a beautiful, bouncy, sweet and precocious young lady, and that she has blended such an outstanding female line with her sire’s lovely attributes. We look forward to seeing what she can produce for us!
