LITTER #2- BORN AUGUST 3, 2026!
READY TO GO HOME SEPTEMBER 25
This is where we’ll post news and photos about Hank & Sadie’s second litter all the way until the puppies go to their new homes. Check back often for updates!
July 25- Sadie is enormous and uncomfortable! She spends a lot of time resting, and that’s good. Sadie’s unofficial due date is August 2nd, that’s a week from tomorrow! Last year’s litter was born two days after her calculated due date, so August 2nd is just a best guess. Anyway, we’re getting close to having photos of little baby puppies to share, so keep this page open in your tabs and come back often starting a week from now!
August 3, 4:27 AM- Hank & Sadie’s first puppy of litter #2 has been born! Mr. Blue came out weighing just over one pound. Please check back throughout the day for more updates!
August 3, 9:50 AM- Sadie is probably almost done delivering puppies. She is exhausted, but is a very dedicated mommy. Hank is doing his best to just stay out of the way. Sadie has had eight puppies so far, five boys and three girls. All of the puppies so far have been similar in weight, right around a pound apiece.
August 3, 11:30 AM- Barring any surprises, the litter has all been delivered. We have nine little baby puppies, six boys and three girls. The boys are Mr. Blue, Mr. Black, Mr. Red, Mr. Green, Mr. Gray, & Mr. Brown. The girls are Miss Yellow, Miss Pink, & Miss Purple. Just a few minutes ago, Sadie went outside for a break and had a much needed brunch. She’s now back to caring for the puppies.
August 3, 9:45 PM- Hopefully Sadie got some sleep today because I sure didn’t. Sadie had a nice supper and the whelping box is cleaned with a fresh blanket. Puppies will latch onto Sadie and spend the night alternating between eating and napping. Goodnight Sadie, goodnight puppies, goodnight everyone.
August 4- This is what we’re going to be seeing for a few weeks until the puppies open their eyes. Sadie is doing very well. All of the puppies have gained weight except for Miss Yellow, so I took the other eight puppies out of the whelping box for a while so that Miss Yellow could get some feeding time alone. You can already see the variations in color between the babies. None of the puppies will be as light as Sadie and none will be as dark as Hank.
August 5- Some very sad news to share this morning. Miss Yellow died last night. We could not get her to eat, and after I fed her canned dog milk replacer using a syringe, she died within two hours. I’ll call the vet later and see if she’s available to talk about what happened and possibly speculate as to a cause. My assumption is that Miss Yellow was born with some kind of defect. This is something that has never occurred for us as a breeder. Out of 53 puppies in five litters, we’ve had one stillborn, but this is the first one to die while under mommy’s care. I’m very sorry to share this news with you today.
August 5- We just completed morning weigh-ins here for the eight healthy sisters and (mostly) brothers. Every puppy has gained weight going into both yesterday and today. Miss Purple remains the smallest, but she’s gaining as much weight as any of the others. Sadie is getting more comfortable leaving the whelping box after feedings while puppies are napping. That’s a good thing because we want Sadie to be able to go outside and exercise, eat as much as she wants (so much of Sadie’s energy goes to milk production right now), and get love and attention from her humans.
August 5- Congratulations to Ben & Jen from Freedom! Ben & Jen have reserved their own baby boy puppy and will have the #1 pick in the 2026 Boy Puppy Draft!
August 7- One of the funniest things about little baby puppies is that they’ll just eat and eat and eat, and then pass out wherever they happen to be laying. Miss Pink had her fill and just sort of rolled over on top of her brothers and sisters and crashed.
August 7- Congratulations to Brian & Mary of Kaukauna! They have reserved first choice of the girls in the 2026 Girl Puppy Draft!
August 9- Congratulations to Katie & Richard of Great Lakes, IL. Katie & Richard have reserved the second pick of the boy puppies in the 2026 Boy Puppy Draft!
August 9- Sadie is starting to spend more time outside of the whelping box getting attention from her people. This is a great sign. It means that Sadie doesn’t think the puppies need constant care. If a puppy starts to whine a little bit, though, Sadie is right back in the whelping box to let the babies feed!
We’ve had a good weekend of visitors. On Friday, a neighbor down the street and her daughter came over to see the puppies. On Saturday, big sister came home from camp and little sister told big sister all about the adorable little puppies, so they both came over to visit again! Socializing the puppies around lots of humans is important to us, so we’re usually very happy to have visitors. After the puppies have their vaccinations, they’ll spend a lot of time outdoors, and we’re working on plans for some sort of event (last year it was a pool party) to get the puppies a lot of human interaction.
August 10- The puppies are now one week old. Isn’t amazing how much they’ve grown in just a week?
August 10- Congratulations to Carol & Peter from Gladstone, MI, who have reserved the second girl puppy! There are still four boys remaining to be reserved.
August 15- Look how big these puppies are getting! As you can see from the picture of Mr. Blue here, the puppies are starting to open their eyes. After that, it won’t be long until they can walk. That’s when the real mischief begins!
August 17- The puppies are two weeks old today and they have already outgrown their little blue swimming pool. Pretty soon, they’ll outgrow their little enclosure and we’ll have to double it in size for them to have room to play. But we aren’t quite there yet. They still mostly crawl over to Sadie to eat, then crawl into cuddling and napping positions.
August 20- Today is a big day for little puppies! The little furballs have outgrown their tiny elastic collars that we put on them to identify them at birth. Now they have their big-puppy collars so it’s easier to tell them apart! The puppies are entering the stage that we call “maximum cuteness.” Maximum cuteness is that stage of puppy-hood where they can walk, and start to play and interact with each other and with us. Maximum cuteness lasts from about three weeks of age to seven weeks of age. At seven weeks old, puppies start to enter the “adorable terror” stage, and that means it’s about time for them to go live somewhere else!
August 21- Joe & Karen from Clintonville have reserved boy puppy selection #3 in the 2026 Boy Puppy Draft. Congratulations to Joe & Karen!
August 21- Mr. Blue fell asleep with the fence in his mouth. This is maximum cuteness!
August 23- It has been a big weekend for these puppies, who won’t even be three weeks old until tomorrow! On Saturday, we expanded their whelping area into a full puppy playpen! Now they have lots of room to roam around, wrestle, and of course take naps. Today we gave them real puppy food for the first time! This is normally something we do starting at closer to four weeks of age. But yesterday Sadie started to let us know that the puppy teeth HURT when she’s feeding them, so we decided to introduce them to puppy food a little sooner. The puppies will still get milk from Sadie, but they’ll also get a little bit of puppy food every day so they can develop a taste for it and the skills to eat!
Miss Pink was the first to stick her face in and try the puppy food, probably because she’s just the first puppy I grabbed and held next to the plate. Pretty soon, all of the others caught on.
Mr. Brown developed his own technique for eating puppy food stew. It’s a very hands-on method.
There is no dedicated location for nap time. Nap time happens where ever puppies are when they fall asleep.
August 23- Braxton & Josephine of Waupun have reserved the fourth selection in the 2026 Boy Puppy Draft! We’re excited to have another wonderful new home for one of these adorable babies! Only two boys are left to be reserved!
August 23- Boy Puppy #5 has been reserved by Rebecca & Brian of Waukesha! They’ll have the fifth selection in the 2026 Boy Puppy Draft! Only one boy puppy is in need of a new family now!
August 24- All eight puppies are now reserved. Eric & Megan of Antigo have secured the remaining boy puppy! Thank you and congratulations to Eric, Megan, & Family!
August 25- We’ve reached the point where the three-week old puppies can feed while Sadie is standing up. Occasionally, Sadie will still lay down while the puppies feed so she can clean and care for her babies. You’ll also see in the background where we made a puppy play box out of an Amazon box. The only question is whether the puppies will learn to play hide and seek in it before they learn to tear it to pieces.
August 27- Around 3-4 weeks of age, the puppies start to notice and absorb the world around them. This time of their development is critical for socialization with each other, with people, and with other animals. This is the time when the puppies learn to not be afraid of new things, but to explore and interact. We got a good photo of Miss Purple and Mr. Green waking up from nap time for a wrestling match, and one of Mr. Red getting checked over by Hank, and a rare family portrait of Hank & Sadie with Mr. Red going in for a snack!
August 30- The puppies have already progressed from eating blended puppy food soup to eating whole kibble that has been thoroughly soaked in water. They DEVOUR the puppy food, so we’ve started feeding them twice per day. We have just depleted our first 34 pound sack of puppy food. Most of that was used to feed Sadie. But from now until the time the puppies go home in four weeks, we anticipate we’ll use at least two more 34 pound sacks of puppy food. In the center photo is Mr. Black, who has really turned on the personality lately.
August 31- We’ve had questions lately about what food the puppies will be eating when they go to their new homes. This is covered on the FAQ page, but we thought it would be helpful to post it here.
Purina makes somewhere around a dozen different formulas of Pro Plan Puppy, so that definitely causes some confusion, even for us.
To try to keep things simple, we feed the puppies the varieties of Pro Plan Puppy that are most commonly found at Fleet Farm, Tractor Supply, or your local pet store.
Right now, the puppies are eating Pro Plan Puppy Chicken & Rice Formula with a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy on the bag.
When the puppies go home, we’ll have transitioned them to Pro Plan Puppy Chicken & Rice Formula SHREDDED BLEND with a Golden Retriever puppy on the bag. The two formulas are the same, but the shredded blend provides different shapes and textures for the puppies to learn to eat. Also, it’s much easier to remember to buy the puppy food that has a Golden Retriever on the bag.
September 1- We’re at four weeks, so the puppies are becoming more aware of the world around them. They are thinking less “Oh there’s Mom, let’s go eat!” and more “Hey where’s Mom? I wonder if I can get to her?” A couple of days ago, we mentioned that Mr. Black had really turned on the personality. Well, his personality is “escape artist.” A few days ago, we came home from an outing and discovered that Mr. Black & Mr. Gray had escaped their kennel. We figured they had probably stayed latched onto Sadie after a feeding and when she leaped out of the kennel, the two pups went for a ride and found freedom. Well, it turns out that Mr. Black is actually very smart, and Mr. Gray is smart enough to watch and learn from his older brother. Mr. Black even learned to simply push the gate open with his snout if it wasn’t latched. With a lesson learned about underestimating the brain power of our nemesis, Mr. Black, we’ve started latching the gate unless the puppies are asleep or Sadie wants to go in with them. As you can see from the last photo, Mr. Black is less than happy with his incarceration.
September 2- UPDATE! After another escape, Mr. Black has been apprehended and is currently in custody.
September 5- The puppies are still growing and developing very quickly. It’s amazing how much bigger they look every few days that I post photos. We’ve switched from soft, comfy blankets for the puppies to thick, disposable cardboard because there’s just no way to keep that many blankets clean considering the messes that are made. Sadie doesn’t feed the puppies as often. She’s starting to wean them, which means it’s time for us to step in with more puppy food. When we first introduced the pups to puppy food a little over two weeks ago, they were getting one cup per day. Now, we’re giving them three cups four times per day. In the next three weeks that the puppies are with us, we’ll go through at least another 35 pound bag of puppy food. The puppies are all starting to show more personality. Mr. Black, of course, is still dedicated to his quest for freedom from the kennel. Mr. Green and Mr. Brown love to snuggle. Mr. Blue still falls asleep with his face smushed into the wire fence, for some reason. Miss Pink and Mr. Gray are the most curious about the toys that we have in the kennel, and are often the first to initiate playtime. Mr. Red and Miss Purple (pictured together starting a game of face-lick) are smart, attentive and eager for attention from people. All of the puppies are getting more comfortable being held by humans. Each of the puppies gets individual snuggle time and pets with a person every day.
September 7- Happy Labor Day, everyone! The puppies are now five weeks old today. Our labor today included cleaning out the kennel and changing the cardboard. When the puppies were little babies, we’d snuggle them into a laundry basket to cuddle while we changed their blankets. When they got bigger, we’d pile them on top of each other in a cardboard microwave box. Now, they’re just too big for all of that, so we open the gate and let them have a few minutes of freedom! Some of the puppies enjoy their free time by playing with Hank’s zebra, or by getting some extra snuggles. Some of them like to play “wrestle with Dad.” And others like to just kind of hang out together, like they would if they were still in the kennel!
In a week, the puppies will have their first vet visit, their first shots, and their first wormer. After that, they can play outside! We’d like for the puppy draft to begin at about six weeks of age, so if you have one of the early picks, start choosing your favorites! We’re happy to answer questions.
September 9- After another kennel cleaning and a layer of fresh cardboard, we introduced the puppies to a couple of new toys that we picked up at Costco. Miss Purple was the first back in the kennel, and she didn’t notice the new toys at first. Miss Pink & Mr. Gray were the first to take notice of the toys and start playing with them. The puppies wasted no time making a mess of the kennel with spilled food, and one of them (I failed to take note of which one) regarded the toy llama as more of an obstacle than a plaything. Meanwhile, Hank definitely noticed that the puppies had new toys to play with and he did not. Don’t worry, Hank. You can have the llamas when puppies are done with them!
September 13- It’s been a busy weekend, so we haven’t had time to post in a few days. With puppy selections in the 2026 Puppy Draft coming up shortly, we thought we’d start to focus in on each of the puppies and their personalities. Today, we’ll talk about the girls, Miss Pink & Miss Purple. The first two photos are Miss Pink, and the next two are Miss Purple.
Miss Pink is one of the larger puppies and is one of the three “leaders” who sort of influence what the other puppies do. Miss Pink is one of the first to get into the food, explore new spaces, play with new toys, discover new sensory activities. She was nervous about being held at first, but has developed into a puppy who loves to play and also loves to be held.
Miss Purple is one of the smallest, if not THE smallest of the pups. Miss Purple is very observant and and very loving. She’s constantly paying attention to what the other puppies are doing. She’s a very good friend. She likes to play and wrestle and snuggle. She gets along with everyone, and she LOVES her people. Miss Purple is a very sweet girl who we think will form a strong bond with her new humans very quickly. Miss Purple is generally more calm and reserved than Miss Pink, and will be well suited to a relaxed, calm lifestyle.
September 14- The puppies turned six weeks old today, which means it was time for them to visit the vet for the very first time for their first checkup, wormer treatment, and first vaccinations. We’re pretty sure that every vet clinic employee came out to have snuggle time in the lobby. When we went back to the exam room, the puppies had to patiently wait their turn. Then, each them had a chance to be weighed, have their eyes, ears, joints and tummies examined, got to enjoy slurping on their wormer treatment, and get their first shots. Then, it was back to the car and home for nap time! Later today, when they have more energy, we’ll take the pups all outside along with Hank & Sadie and let them run and play!
September 14- The 2026 Puppy Draft has officially begun! With the first pick of the girls, Brian & Mary of Kaukauna have selected Miss Purple! Miss Purple’s new name is Winter! Congratulations to Brian, Mary, and Winter!
September 14- Puppy Draft Update! With the first pick of the boys, Ben & Jen and family have selected Mr. Brown! Mr. Brown’s new name is Gus.
September 15- Puppy Draft Update! The second girl, Miss Pink, is going home to Gladstone, MI with Carol! Miss Pink’s new name is Molly, which is a very special name to us. Our wonderful Molly, along with Tucker, gave us our first three litters of Golden Retriever puppies.
September 15- This morning, the puppies got some outside time right after they woke up. OK, well, right after WE woke up. I can tell you that outside time means I’m counting to eight more often than a rodeo judge. (1) Wrestle time with Dad is a big thing right now, and Hank LOVES it! (2) I was lucky enough to get a photo of Mr. Black in mid-air lunging at Hank while his attention was elsewhere. (3) Mr. Green thought my sweatpants were a really cool tug toy. (4) Some of the puppies tried to have wrestle time with Mom, but figured out that is NOT a thing. (5) I was lining up a really cute picture of Molly (Miss Pink) when she noticed me and lunged at me, so I ended up just getting a pic of her face. (6) Mr. Gray and Winter (Miss Purple) both discovered the joy of playing with sticks & leaves.
*** September 17- IMPORTANT UPDATE. Hello everyone. I want to let everyone know that I have made the decision not to breed puppies anymore after this litter. Sadie has had two litters, and each of her two litters has been difficult on her physical health. It is honestly very difficult to keep Sadie eating enough to maintain a healthy weight. The original plan was to have three litters with Hank & Sadie, then three litters with one of the females from litter #3 and a stud dog. I’ve decided to not pursue that. Having all of you following along as the pups grow up and fly away to their new homes has been a terrific part of this experience, and I want to thank you for sharing the journey with us. THIS PART IS VERY IMPORTANT. Next time this website is up for renewal, which I think will be in March 2027, I will not be renewing the website. I will continue to post Forever Homes updates through the end of 2026, so if you have funny Halloween costumes or Christmas photos, I’ll share those on the website. IF THERE ARE ANY PHOTOS that you want to keep, I encourage you to download them to your own computers so that you’ll have the puppy pictures. I know I need to get a couple of updates out about the boy puppies and I fully intend to get that done in the next 24 hours.
Again, thank you all for joining us.
September 17- This is our first of two updates about the boy puppies. Today we’ll talk about (pictured first to last), Mr. Red, Mr. Black, and Mr. Blue. Today we introduced a couple of cognitive development puzzles for the puppies to work on. Unfortunately, the puppies had just eaten and/or spilled two big bowls of puppy food, so they weren’t particularly food motivated. The puzzles we have for them are a spiral puzzle, where the puppies have to learn to spin the three overlapping circles to get to each layer of treats, and a very similar one called the twister. The twister is a little more difficult because puppies can’t see the food reward with the puzzle all the way closed. Mr. Black was the first to figure out the spiral. Mr. Blue heard a noisy motorcycle and got spooked, so he went inside and never attempted a puzzle. Mr. Red was the first to fully figure out that you have to spin the spiral to get more food. And the only puppy to figure out the twister was Hank. Hey wait that’s cheating! Ultimately, Mr. Black & Mr. Blue decided they were more interested in playing with the landscaping.
Mr. Black has received a lot of attention here due to his many, many escapes. But Mr. Black is also one of those “best friend” puppies. He gets along with everyone, will play with everyone, responds very well when we call for the puppies out in the yard. In terms of size, Mr. Black is right in the middle. In terms of coat color, he’s also right in the middle. We’ve noticed that Mr. Gray and Mr. Red will both watch what Mr. Black is doing and copy him.
Mr. Blue is also right in the middle in terms of size and color. Mr. Blue loves naps. He sleeps in some pretty strange positions, usually tucked into a corner of the kennel or snuggled up with one or two other puppies. He’s very affectionate and likes to be held.
Mr. Red is kind of a noisemaker. If the pups are in the kennel and Mr. Red wants out, he’ll let you know. This is probably just a phase. The first loud puppy was Gus (Mr. Brown). Then it was Mr. Black. Now it’s Mr. Red’s turn. Mr. Red is the lightest in color of the boys, and second smallest in terms of weight. Only Mr. Gray is smaller. Mr. Red’s personality is attentive. He watches other puppies and does what they do. He learned to escape from Mr. Black. He learned to play wrestle with Dad from Molly (Miss Pink). He learned to play with sticks from Winter (Miss Purple), so he’s an intelligent little guy.
Tomorrow, we’ll attempt to get good photos and share updates about the other three boys, Mr. Gray, Mr. Green, and Gus.
September 18- PUPPY DRAFT ALERT! Richard & Katie have selected Mr. Blue! Or maybe we should have called him Mr. Bleu Cheese because his new name is Cheddar!
September 18- The pick is in! Joe & Karen from Clintonville have selected the adorable Mr. Gray! Mr. Gray’s new name is Riley!
September 19- Well it looks like the always curious Mr. Black is the next puppy to be picked, and he is! Mr. Black’s new name is Goose, and he’s going home to Waupun with Braxton & Josephine!
September 20- PUPPY DRAFT ALERT! With the fifth pick in the boys division of the 2026 Puppy Draft, Brian & Rebecca of Waukesha have selected Mr. Green! Mr. Green’s new name is Oliver, and soon Oliver will be trained to become a certified school therapy dog!
September 20- The Puppy Draft has concluded. The adorable Mr. Red will be going home to Antigo with Eric & Megan! Mr. Red doesn’t have a new name yet, but that’s great for us, since we don’t have to learn another new name! We’re so happy for Eric & Megan & Mr. Red!
September 23- As some of you know, I work part time at Fleet Farm. Everyone at work wanted to see the puppies, so before they go home, I loaded them all up in the car, then in a shopping basket, and we went to the customer service counter. The puppies were loved by all and they definitely slowed down the productivity of the Fleet Farm staff! They were all good and tired when we got home!