Introducing Tachi's 2023 Puppies

Hello from Russell Homestead!  It’s been many months since we heard the adorable squeaks and chitters from little puppies, but our house is once again graced with those sounds times nine.  Yes, nine!  Our sweet Tachi has given us yet another large litter of puppies, and this time it is two girls and seven boys. 
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Since this is Tachi’s last litter and we want to continue her and Cooper’s bloodline here at Russell Homestead, we will be keeping one of the girls.  So, without further ado, here are the little cuties.  Remember to click on their pictures for more photos and information.

Picket

​Picket is the largest puppy in the litter.  He is a gorgeous salt & pepper with some white on his chest.  He’s named for the main character is a book series our family enjoys called the Green Ember.  He was named by CJ, age 11.

Benny

Meet Benny – a black & silver male about the same size as his brother Picket.  Benny was named by EJ, age 6, after one of his favorite book characters – Benny in Boxcar Children.

Valentine

Next up is one of the gals – Valentine.  Valentine, named by MJ, age 7, was named for the holiday in her birth month (even though we know the real Valentine was a boy).  She’s a salt & pepper.

Violet

Here’s Violet.  Sweet violet (sweeter than all the roses, if you know that song) was also named by MJ.  Next to her sister, she has more peppering in her coat.  Both she and Valentine were four ounces at birth and have maintained about the same size.

Jo

​Jo has the honor of being the little guy on the block.  Born at three and half ounces, he is a little tot.  With Tachi’s incredible nurturing skills, even her littlest puppies thrive.  Jo, named by JJ, age 9, was named in honor of another Green Ember character, Jo Shanks, who is a famous archer.

Jax

​Alongside Jo in birthweight, there’s Jax.  Jax was named in honor of yet another Green Ember character who, in the beginning of the series, was a small baby.  We took liberties with the spelling, but pronounce it like the story.

Simon

​Meet Simon – a black & silver boy who has a teeny-tiny dot of white on his chest that helps me tell him apart from his brothers.  In every litter, we pick one Bible name because we honor God as the creator and sustainer of all life.  This litter, we picked Simon because two of our children have memorized John chapters one to six as part of MACSA Bible quizzing.  In the passage, they memorized verses about “Simon Peter.”

Theo

​Then there’s Theo!  Named by AJ, age 12, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, Theo is a black & silver boy with a white triangular shaped mark on his chest.

Oliver

Waiting patiently until last, there’s Oliver – a salt & pepper boy with a thin white mark on his chest.  Oliver is named after Oliver Vanderbeeker, another favorite character in a book series.  (Can anyone tell we do lots of family read-alouds?)

That’s our happy little crew!  We are very pleased with the puppies’ growth.  We like to see them double their birthweight by 7-10 days.  At eight days old, all but Benny has doubled their birthweight.  Benny, the second largest in the litter, is just one ounce shy of doubling his birthweight.

As with our other litters, I will be posting periodic blog posts as they grow.  I aim to blog about every ten to twelve days with pictures and information on the puppies.  As a special wrap-up to this week’s post, here are two videos that showcase puppy twitching – video 1 & video 2​.  If you’ve read my past blogs, you know that two things we look for to know the puppies are doing well is sleeping in a pile and twitching while sleeping.  Researchers are not one hundred percent sure why they do twitch, but it’s a sign of healthy puppies!  And quite adorable!

Thanks for stopping by!