Welcome to VIRTUS and BRENDA’s litter page!

Litter Pedigree

Parent Photos

Growth Updates 0-8 Weeks

Pregnancy

Brenda is our newest import female. We are pleased to announce Brenda has the sweetest personality. She is very social and loves to interact with people. We have learned she is OBSESSED with balls. We actually have to hide them from her. LOL. But overall, we are very pleased. She is stunning to look out, sweet to be around, and has an amazing pedigree. This last week of pregnancy, we have seen her slow down a lot. Brenda just wants to sleep and rest, and we are perfectly fine with that! We can’t wait for “D” day!

Week 1 Update

Hello DKV Family!

The babies are finally here. My goodness, that was a LONG delivery for Brenda. After a full day of pushing, and 8 puppies later, we were sure we were done. We cleaned up the whelping box, put down some fresh blankets, and Brenda quickly fell asleep. About an hour later, while nursing, we see another puppy begin to push out! Wow, 9 puppies. If you never whelped a litter, it’s quite a messy ordeal. So, we decided to clean the whelping box again, so Brenda can be dry and warm. Brenda ate her food, begin nursing her babies, and fell quickly asleep once again. Two hours later… was that a contraction? No way…. 5 minutes later, yep, it was. We now have 10 puppies. Geesh, with only 8 nipples, we are now hoping she is done. LOL. We clean her whelping box again, do a load of laundry and take her for a walk to make sure she is completely done! She walks around, even wants to chase a ball which must have rolled into our yard. Three hours later, after rotating, bottle feeding, and cleaning, Angel and I are ready to take a power nap. We take one last look into the box before we rest our eyes, and no way… did I see another contraction? You have got to be kidding. Yep, Brenda delivered 11 puppies!!! To say this first week was a tiring week, is an understatement. By the time we finished nursing, bottle feeding, and cleaning, it was time to start over. Angel literally slept in Brenda’s whelping box the first week, making sure all babies were fed every two hours. That is the DKV difference.

Week 2 Update

Hello DKV Family!

Your babies are doing amazing. Tails have been docked and dew claws have been removed. If you don’t know, puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed. So, the first two weeks consist of eating, pooping, and sleeping… and they all do it well. LOL. Brenda is turning out to be an exceptional mom. She does her best to keep all of her babies close and warm. Puppies are unable to regulate their body temperature the first few weeks of life, so this is an important skill for the mom to learn. We also keep the whelping box nice and toasty, to help her out with her 11 babies.

We pray you all have a blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year. We will meet back, same time same place, in one week.

Week 3 Update

Hello DKV Family!

Your babies are turning three weeks old this weekend. As you can see from the photos, they are all strong and healthy. Thank goodness Brenda has an amazing appetite, because it allows her to produce a large amount of milk for her large litter. These babies eat all day long. LOL. I am serious. Every time I take a peak into the whelping box, the puppies are nursing. They have learned to rotate so everyone gets a feeding session. It’s quite a symphony.

Most exciting, the puppies eyes have all cracked and their ears are opening. This is the first big change, as it allows you to finally see these beautiful babies. It will take them all some time to start reacting to new sights and sounds, but everything is definitely on schedule.

Overall, the litter is doing what they are supposed to. They are nursing and sleeping. They all stay pretty close to mom and Brenda is doing a great job and keeping them warm and happy.

In the next week, puppies will begin to venture further away from mom, once they are able to start regulating their own body temperature. That is when we will begin to really start handling these beautiful babies more actively. Then, the week after, personalities will begin to show and we will begin to see the playful side of each puppy. Until then, enjoy the photos of these precious babies.

Male Puppies…

Female Puppies…

Week 4 Update

Hello DKV family!

We have made it to week four y’all. All of the eleven babies are doing wonderful. They are growing very well and they still have amazing appetites. Poor Brenda, she get’s attacked at feeding time. I don’t know how she can produce enough milk for all of these monsters, but she does. Angel has also introduced our puppy milkshake to the babies, just to add an extra meal to keep them fully satisfied. Usually puppies this young, may not care to eat any puppy food, but this litter loves it. They are always happy when it comes to feeding time. Sometimes, they get too excited and end up wearing most of the food.

Now that the babies are able to regulate their body temperatures, they are beginning to wander around a little. When Angel cleans out the whelping box, he places the babies on a rug on the floor. In previous weeks, they would stay all bundled together in a pile. This week, they all begin to wander further and further, walking around and exploring the room a little. By next week, they will probably be running all around the room.

They don’t really care for their toys too much yet. They are allowing us to pick them up more, but they still prefer to be with mama. Brenda is so protective, that she starts to give us a look if we hold her babies too long. She never let’s us leave her sight when we are playing with them. She is the nosiest dog ever. LOL. It will be funny to see how this changes in two weeks. By then, she might be thinking… take them already so I can get a break. We will have to wait and see.

That’s all for now. Enjoy your baby photos below and have a blessed week.

Week 5 Update

Hello DKV Family!

This week, Angel and I were in Hawaii for our 27th anniversary. Our three sons cared for the babies this week. We were updated daily by the boys. Overall, the puppies did great. They obviously did not miss us at all. The boys could not believe their appetites and how much food the litter ate each day, on top of nursing on mama. LOL. With 11 puppies, you can only imagine.

I have to say, when we have a small litter (small number of puppies), the pups are naturally larger than usual, because they have two or three nipples to feed on for every feeding. When you have a large litter (large number of puppies), the pups are naturally born smaller, since they were born smaller due to the litter having to fit in the uterus and sometimes, we have to rotate them to take turns on mama’s nipples. In the end, all of the puppies will even out by 3 months of age, but usually you can see a difference. Well, with 11 puppies, we definitely expected these puppies to be smaller than our other litters, but their appetite is like no other. They nurse on mama, eat their kibble, and do it again two hours later. They are going to be mini horses by the time they are 8 weeks old. Get ready… LOL.

I will update everyone when I return. Until then, have a blessed week.

Week 6 Update

Hello DKV Family!

We are nearing the finish line here. Today is the day we can finally finalize our puppy selections! As you can see below, there is no bad pick. They are all so gorgeous, just as we expected from this combination!

Today, we finally started to wean mama off her babies. I think the babies are very mad at us. They are fussy and want mama back in their whelping box. Believe it or not, I think Brenda is okay with having a break. LOL. This is always a hard week for the babies, but we will get through it. We need to make sure they are 100% on kibble when they go to their new homes. It’s part of the process.

Personalities are popping out. These babies LOVE to play with ropes. I have a handful that love to play tug-of-war. It’s very cute to watch. Curiosity is the biggest change. These puppies want to check everything out. What’s over there? What’s over that way? What does that smell like? What does that taste like? Taking pictures of 11 puppies was an ALL DAY event. I think I got grey hairs just from this one day. These babies are fast, curious, and want to taste everything!

I hope you love the photos! Enjoy.