Merry Christmas everyone!  Puppies came to stay with me for a week over Christmas while my friend and co-owner is visiting family out of state.  Thought you might like to see them at 4 weeks (tomorrow).  They are starting to play and getting their little personalities.  What a sweet litter this is.  Coco is  a super mom and easy to live with too!

On a much sadder note, the owner of the sire of this litter passed away on Christmas Day after losing her battle with breast cancer.  Locklyn Guzman of Apple Acres Shelties was a long time, very successful breeder from Cashmere, WA.  More than that, she was so full of life and so much fun to be around - one of those people who has a contagious laugh and was larger than life.  She will be missed by so many.   RIP Locklyn.

My Summer litter didn't happen but there is a Fall litter on the ground!

I was really hoping that Sil would have puppies this Summer but it just didn't happen.  Coco, Lacycreek Cascades Farwest After Eight, was bred to Ch Sea Haven Etched in Silver ROM.  Coco had a nice healthy litter of 5, 2 girls and 3 boys in the late evening of November 29th.  We have 1 bi blue female, 1 bi black female, 2 bi black males and 1 bi blue male.  I do have a waiting list of more families wanting puppies than I have puppies and will be contacting those on the waiting list soon.  Here's a sneak peak at the puppies.  More to come later.

Upcoming litters

I am planning a breeding this summer with my blue female, Sil so if you are interested in a blue, tri or bi puppy this Fall, please send me an email to get on my wait list.   Please tell me a little about yourself in your email, i.e.,  Have you had Shelties before? Other breeds?  Do you have Cats?, Other Dogs?  Other Pets? Kids?  Do you have a fenced area for the puppy?  

All my companion pets are sold on spay/neuter agreements.  All puppies will have their dewclaws removed and will be up-to-date on shots before leaving and will have had appropriate wormings. Puppies leave with enough food for a couple days and a towel or toy with a familiar scent.  We recommend you have a 300 size crate, though a 200 size crate is big enough for puppies, a martingale type collar and a leash so you are ready to welcome a new puppy into your home.

Sil is pictured below

Sire will be Ch Farwest Family Ties pictured below

Little "Tink" finds her forever home

Our little female with the eating issue has found her forever home with Linda and Dave.  We are going to miss our little "Tink", but we know she will be well cared for and loved.  She's joining her sister, Emily, so they can be best buds forever.  You've seen Tink in pictures with her siblings earlier, but here she is on her way to her new Oregon home.

Tink at 11 weeks and 3.5 lbs

Update.  Tink had her surgery on 6/23 and is back home with Linda and Dave.  She's doing great and we couldn't be happier them.

Just Hanging out

Beautiful day today.  Big male leaves in a couple days so I wanted to get another picture of him.  Do you notice how tight his ear set is. They are touching at the top! Absolutely totally natural, untouched ears.

Fun in the "Grasslands" and having dogs in the yard

Both girls are on the left and the boy is on the right.  

We have a grouping of Carex "Frosty Curls" beneath a Sweet Gum tree that the dogs, both puppies and adults, love to roll and play in.  The grass doesn't look pristine, but it looks pretty darn good considering all the dogs roll around in it.  I use other evergreen grasses, sedges, and heathers to border my flower beds to make a little boundary.  I also have several temporary fences that help protect more delicate plants until they get established.  Sometimes, I'll fence off a plant if I find the dog's can't resist it (right now, that's a Princess Diana rose that is getting chewed down to the ground by the puppies).  There are so many garden plants that will make your puppy/dog sick that it's a good idea to discourage eating of plants by your puppy/dog/cat. Having sidewalks and raised flower beds also helps keep your dog out of the flower beds and out of trouble.

Also, a warning that weed killers, herbicides, Glyphosate (Roundup and generics), insecticides, fungicides, fertilizers, etc. can have very harmful effects on your dog (and kids).  If you must use these, keep the dogs out of the area for several days.  Shelties love to lick their feet and legs and ingest these chemicals when they do.  Also keep the dogs away from any slug bait (use beer in a tuna can to trap instead or go out at night with a pair of scissors and flashlight and cut the slugs in half...yuk but it works).   Use organic fertilizers on your lawn and hand pull weeds.  A healthy, weed free lawn needs plenty of sun, water and organic fertilizer (1" of compost added on top every Fall).  

Puppies are starting to go to their new homes

Our little firecracker "Star" went to her new home today.  Congratulations on your new family addition Dave and Linda!  Star will the plain faced female with lots of personality, well, they all have great personalities, but she was in charge most of the time.

Here's a picture of Star on her last day here and to the right are the rest of her litter mates.

 I'm going to keep this girl pictured below here and grow her out.  Her little sister (above) will be staying a while to keep her company.

 The male below is going to Randy in Spokane this weekend.

The  male below is going to Sue in Everett next week

Nearly 6 weeks old

We've added an Adventure Box designed by Avidog International to the puppies play routine - very easy to build and I downloaded the free plans off the internet.  The plans were for Golden Retrievers so I think I could have made it smaller.  Hang items that aren't sharp and that make noise.  You can feed the puppies in the middle of the box so they have to go through the items hanging or just put the box off to the side for them to play on their own.  We are still adding items to our box.  Suggestions are new quart paint cans, plastic putty knives, good quality plastic cups or ramekins, 6' length of garden hose, 18" lengths of 1/2" pvc pipe.

Pictured above is the larger male playing with the dowel, then left front is the other male.  The 3 on the right are the girls.

The two males are on the right in the picture above.  

Puppies at 4 weeks

This is when it starts getting really fun with the puppies.  The puppies have started playing outside a couple times a day now and I have introduced them to puppy food, though Coco is still their main meal.  They are on  grain free, Taste of the Wild Smoked Salmon with bone broth mixed in to soften it.  Bone broth is just that, bones simmered for 24 hours in water with the bones discarded.  I use chicken bones to make my broth.  Yum,  the dogs love it!

Puppies were 4 weeks old yesterday so I took a couple pictures while they were outside.

The 2 boys are on the left in this picture above.

The largest male is in front facing the camera with his brother directly behind him sitting.

 The biggest boy was the first to go check out the ball, but his brother was more interested in playing with him.  Puppies are used to sleeping in a crate now (without a door).

In this picture, the smaller male is sitting in the front with the littlest girl directly behind him, then the next two are girls and the one in the back is the largest male.

Still just babies, but growing up fast.

Thought I'd post a couple quick pictures of the puppies today.  The boys are the one laying by himself on the left and the one with his mouth over the littlest girl as they start to play.

Puppies are 3 weeks to day.

Puppies got a chance to go outside today for a little sunshine.  They are 3 weeks old today and are growing and healthy.

Boy

Boy

Today's pictures 3-25-2015

Another shot of these beautiful babies.  Their eyes and ears are open and they starting to play with each other.  Adorable!

New Litter here at Farwest Shelties

New Litter of beautiful sable puppies

We have a new sable litter!  Three girls and two boys born on March 9, 2015.  Sire is  BISS, RBIS Bronze Gch. Am./Can./BIS Int'l. Ch. Fairway One Over Par (Bogey) owned by Cindy Wilson of Chelson Shelties and dam is Lacycreek Cascades Farwest After Eight (GCH Belmark Shakedown ROM x Clan Duncan Cloud of Stars) owned by Dawn Holmberg, Sue Ann Dayton and myself.  

Here's a picture of Bogey:

Here is an ungroomed picture of Coco with her one day old puppies:

Puppies will be available to approved homes the end of April.  You may contact me at farwests@gmail.com.

3-25-2015 Update!  Here is a picture of the puppies at 2 weeks.. The two boys are in the upper right.