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!