'A' Litter All Grown Up

The puppies have all departed for their new homes and are settling in nicely. I have so enjoyed the updates that I’ve gotten from the new families! I’m excited to know how all of the dogs do in their first few months of training and eventually heading into their first hunting season next fall.

The ‘A’ litter now resides in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington! I hope to see many of them at a future DL-Fest gathering in South Dakota.

We kept Acacia vom Holzbach “Abby”. It has been fun to get to know her now that her littermates are gone. It took until the last brother left before she finally looked up and really noticed us! There’s a huge difference in how the pups view the world, depending on whether they are still part of the litter, or if they are striking out on their own. One of our challenges will be building Abby’s confidence despite having mom around. We’ll be looking for opportunities to get her out on her own to build independence, whether in the field or just going to a puppy kindergarten class.

Finally, here are some pictures of the pups around the house and yard in their final days before being picked up by their new families.