Angie holds a hand full of sleeping male pup.

Sage proudly shows off her pups; four females, five males. All but one male are well marked; one male is all white, but his eyes are already shaded with grey. Sage is a working livestock guardian dog here at White Dog Ranch, but she adapts very quickly to living in the house while her puppies are tiny. She and they will go out to the barn when the pups are about four weeks old.

Fed, cleaned and contented, all nine pups sleep.

Between pups, Sage rests her head in Angie's lap.

Sage wasn't through cleaning her last (the 4th) girl before Angie picked her up for a picture.

Between contractions, Sage - her belly shaved for ease of nursing - asks for a tummy rub.

All the marked pups have symmetrical markings. This is the first female. We just photographed the females on the first night, because Debi wanted a record of "her" pup, whichever one it was going to be..

The second female has only head markings.

The third girl has a single "thumb print" on her back.

After weighing, the pup "melts" into Angie's arms and goes back to sleep.

Every litter of LGD pups needs its own bummer lamb. One of the ewes cooperated by giving birth to, then abandoning, this one. The lamb is in the house for his own protection. He seems unable to regulate his body temperature and can't handle the cold, wet weather outside.

Feeding time comes every four hours, round the clock.

Holly, the largest bitch weighs 2-1/2 lbs. She is very vocal. The most vocal bitch in a litter is usually the dominent one.

Ice Man is the smallest male. He is also very calm, relaxing when held.

"Brownie" is the most heavily marked male pup.

Sage, her pups fed and sleeping, tries to cuddle in Angie's lap. Even fierce livestock guardian dogs need love too.

Their nails were getting sharp enough to scratch Sage, so everyone got their first nail trimming today.

Steve seems to asking "Is this one mine?"

Pups are getting around the whelping box very well. The floor of the box is covered with a low-loft fleece, giving good traction.

This picture was taken about twenty seconds after the last one. Note the distance traveled by the pup in the rear. He needs a nap after all that exercise!

These two boys have identical mirror markings, right down to the little white tip on the ear - the left on Maverick, the right on Goose. This is the end of Week 1.

Brownie is considerably larger than last week. He is still a placid pup.

This female tries to focus on the light.

Do we have a future show dog?

Ice Man and X-Man

Maverick finds the low side of the box and tries to join mamma on the outside.

Maverick and Goose

Although ears aren't open yet, their eyes are and are sensitive to light; they turn in the direction of the camera flash.

Pearl and Holly

Earlier, Pearl did make it out; note the hardwood floor at the arrow.

Here he sprawls full length in the whelping box.

Tippie and Fawn

Nah - she'd really prefer a tummy rub. This is the end of Week 2.

Brownie is still a placid pup.

Ice Man and X-Man are much more active. Ice Man likes to be cuddled, but hates to be held on his back; X-Man objects to just being held.

Maverick and Goose are very mellow pups, relaxing when held.

... or Brownie melted into Angie's hands. Notice the relaxed position of the front legs.

Pearl, in particular, often sits and listens to herself barking. A vocal bitch is usually a dominent bitch

Fawn and Pearl are very active pups

Some of the pups really know how to relax - Fawn with her head on the whelping bar...

Pups' eyes and ears are fully open and functioning. They are beginning to interact with each other.

They are still very oral at this age, so their first "play" is what we call "mouth fighting". They try to suck on each other's muzzles.Note Brownie in the rear, and Ice Man upside down under the front pile.

Tippie and Holly. Holly particularly struggles to get down; she's another one that doesn't like to be held, so gets extra attention.

Two 10' cyclone fence panels attach to the 5' x 10' puppy pen to give additional room for pups to play.

Debi and Karen cuddle armsful of pups

Angie holds Brownie, the largest male

Angie rolls Brownie over, and the other pups come to pile on.

Shoes make a wonderful chew toy

Fawn and Pearl; Pearl is the largest bitch

Ice Man and X-Man

Although their food is still softened, a bowl of dry puppy kibble is available, and the pups nibble that throughout the day. Mamma's feed is in a bucket above their head level.

Maverick and Goose

Debi gently rolly Maverick on his back and rubs his tummy. This gets the pups used to being put in a submissive position.

They drink from the bowl easily, but haven't discovered yet how to play in the water! Good thing - it's too cold outside for wet puppies.

Sage lies down to get attention and pups take advantage of the milk bar.

Tippie and Holly

Belly up to the milk bar!

Goose and Maverick - they are so heavy that this is the last week Angie will be able to carry two at a time.

Pup licks mom's face - in the wild, and some domestic dogs, this is a signal for her to regurgitate her food for them. Sage isn't too hot on the idea; she figures they have enough food in their pans.

Still the biggest male. Brownie is a relaxed, kissy pup; nothing bothers him.

Holly and Tippie - what's to say, except they are getting big!

All the pups can't fit under Sage at one time now - but they still try.

Pearl and Fawn - Pearl is still the biggest bitch. They have outgrown the scale, so we don't know their actual weights. Angie says "Heavy!"

Sage comes out of the pen to investigate what we are doing with the pups; not concerned, just wants her share of the loving.

Pups in the barnyard.

Brownie relaxes and watches.

Brownie and Xman enjoy the sun.

Fawn and Mavrick try to talk an adult pyr into playing with them.

Goose couldn't be bothered to sit…we had to get him on the run.

Group of pups with Shiner (adult male).

The pups venture outside into the barnyard. Holly poses nicely for her picture.

Ice Man…on the move!

Meeting Bernard (adult male) through the fence.

They tend to travel in packs…

There they go again…

Evaluating puppies is a process that we go through to determine which dog would be best suited for which applicant. By using a mirror we get to see the whole puppy at distance and with better perspective.

Brownie stands nicely for his evaluation as long as a snack is provided.

Fawn gets her "front" examined for proper angulations.

Checking the "rear" on Goose.

Holly stands nicely when it's her turn.

Tippie likes the look of the bait used to distract the puppies during the evaluation.

Xman decided he wanted the whole thing (thank you very much).

After waiting 8 weeks for her puppy to grow up and go through the evaluation process Debi finally gets to know which puppy is hers to take home….it's PEARL soon be named Elura. You can continue to watch this puppy grow up by visiting her website.