Pups All Doing Well

Tom reports that the pups are doing well now, and the smallest boy has started to gain weight and plump up like the others. Hope I can get over to see them tomorrow night! It's hard to be an "absentee parent" - not for Argus, but for me! Argus loved Josie's pups last spring though, so I'm sure he will enjoy playing with kids later on when they are old enough to visit.

Argus's OFA hip results came yesterday - OFA Excellent! Only a small percentage of dogs are scored as excellents, and I was delighted that BOTH Argus and Boji came back with that rating. Hip dysplasia is not nearly as common in Dalmatians as it is in breeds like Labradors, but it is important for breeders to stay on top of it, and have all breeding stock x-rayed. Argus's had a preliminary x-ray last summer, and his hips looked good, but the dogs have to be two years old to get the official rating. We've agonized with friends whose promising young Goldens and Labs were dysplastic. Some dogs become severely crippled, while others are only arthritic, but it can be very devastating, and is something we want to keep from becoming a big problem in this breed.