The Pups Are One Week Old

Actually, the pups were a week old yesterday. Tom sent along a few new pictures where you can see that the spots are just now starting to show through. I'll be visiting Boji and babies this weekend, and it will be fun to check them over to get an idea of their eventual markings.
As all kids who watched the Disney movie know, Dals are born white - or at least their coats are white. They actually have skin spotting at birth, so the spots are visible before the puppy is dried off. Once they are dry the spots are still somewhat visible on the ears & sometimes on the muzzle and stomach where the coat is thinner.
One of the people on my puppy list asked how we know what color the pups would be when they don't have black or liver spots yet. Dals of course have "color coordinated" noses, and hopefully there is some nose color at birth or shortly thereafter. The tough ones are the pups born with pink noses! Nose trim comes in quickly, but sometimes it take a bit of educated guesswork.
Boji is a very richly colored black, and Argus is what we call "red liver". Deep black spotting comes through the earliest, red liver is the last to show up clearly (the dark chocolate shade of liver is visible sooner). The pups should be showing most of their basic spotting pattern by the end of next week. Watching the spots come in is always so interesting!