Pup Update

OK, here they are at 17 weeks. Getting bigger by the day. Already interested in coursing things, mostly my terriers which I have to get after them about. Pups are already over 40 lbs and it is getting hard to tell them apart from the adult hounds at a first glance.

Deerhound Pups @ 5 Weeks

Here we go. Have moved into the outdoor run and eating me out of house and home. Pups are consuming more than an adult terrier already. Energy to burn and wanting attention around the clock!

American Deerhound Pups @ 3 Weeks

Pups at 2 Weeks

OK. Here are the little monsters at 2 weeks of age. Sitting up, growling at you when you walk in.  Starting to hear more things. Eyes opening and nearly 4 lbs in weight for the males. Females about 3.5 lbs.  All of them looking good

American Deerhound Pups -Kingston x Mace-

Here is the pile of pups. At just a week of age there is not a lot to look at.  I can tell you that the litter is thriving very nicely.  The puppies are all fat and content.  Their coats are in excellent shiney condition. They rest peacefully most of the time but when Mom arrives they are all quite active. Couldn't ask for a better litter.

Do You Remove the Dew?

Well we removed the dew claws on the litter of hound pups when they were just over a day old. There is a large difference of opinion on whether or not to perform this surgical procedure. Some breeders have their puppies dewclaws removed at 3-5 days of age. At this age, the dewclaw is adhered loosely so it is very easy to remove. The veterinarian will clamp at the base of the dewclaw at the joint and this is often enough to allow for manual removal. Surgical glue or sutures are then used to close the wound and prevent bleeding, although there is little bleeding associated with this procedure.  Seems the majority of people that run hounds just do not bother with this. There are the folks that believe that the dew claws help give the hound additional traction when making a hard turn in pursuit of quarry but it has been my experience that after a hard course my hound's dew claws are often torn, broken and bleeding, so I have taken to removing dew claws when they are young pups. With my terriers, I will remove the dew claws when the pups get the tails docked usually at 3 to 5 days of age.  I did this with my last litter of hounds and it proved to be a real ordeal for both my wife and I as well as the pups. The hound pups are much larger as well as stronger than the terrier pups at this age and for some reason they tended to bleed much worse than the terriers did. When we performed this procedure on this litter at 1 day of age to the 9 pups and it went significantly better. Virtually no bleeding and the pups acted like it was merely an inconvenience and were back to nursing and taking a nap within minutes. Whatever your decision, I wish you good luck with your future litters and good hunting.

American Deerhounds

I kind of have to laugh about this as we are in the age of designer dogs.  Well I guess these are designer hounds. Outcrossed to perform a specific type of work.  I guess most every breed started out this way.  Nearly every person that sees these hounds comments that they look just like Deerhounds and my response is "Think of them as American Deerhounds"  and then they just seem fine with it for some reason. The Staghound explanation just seems to confuse people.

Well here they are. 9 all together.  4 males and 5 females.  All seem to be doing well and Mace is the best mother ever. Going to drag her away from them this afternoon to wash the green off her white leg.  Most are a dark brindle color.  I was shocked this morning to see one of them actually standing, although kind of wobbly but standing none the less and then walking around the whelping box.  A few people have asked what the actual mix of this group of hounds is. Mace is 3/4 Staghound and 1/4 NGA Greyhound. Kingston is 100% Scottish Deerhound. Talk about a possible combination that might take down some of these feral hogs that are over running the Southern part of our country. Speed, size and power. At any rate these pups will be a full 1/2 Scottish Deerhound from the Sire, 3/8 Staghound and 1/8 NGA Racing Greyhound. A very interesting pedigree makeup.  A quick comment on the timing of this litter.  The past litter was unplanned as it was in winter. Would have tried it at some point but winter time puppies are difficult.  The current litter is the one that was planned as I would not breed a bitch again normally in just 9 months. Mace is still recovering from a hunting accident where her leg was injured so it just seemed like the right time for this one.

Sadie

This is Sadie. Another resident of Ontario, Canada.  Just over a year old now, has grown up to be a beautiful adult hound. Should be spectacular coursing Snowshoe Hares and the occasional coyote

Moses

This is Moses. An exceptionally nice male pup approximately 6 months old in this photo. Already 28" tall at the withers, he will probably finish at 30" +/-
A wonderful example of a real running machine. He resides in Ontario, Canada fairly close to a half sister, Sadie who is also a fine hound.