It's been four years since I wrote about Jazzy and why we decided to get her. We wanted a companion for Chowder, our Husky/Shepherd mix. We got exactly what we expected and then some. Jazzy and Chowder became fast friends. Even though he would give us tortured looks when she tugged on his tail or ran circles around him as a puppy, we would come home to find him sleeping as tightly against her crate as he could...we could tell he would have climbed in with her if he could.

When we were home and the playing was done, they would lay down and sleep together. They were almost instant companions. When Chowder passed on Memorial Day Weekend 2001, Jazzy clearly mourned for him.

In the meantime, Jazzy earned her UKC Championship, Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Therapy Dogs International (TDI) certifications. Nellie came to foster with us in early December 2001, and we decided by Christmas that she was a permanent member of our household.

Jazzy developed amazing instincts. When Martha was recovering from surgery, Jazzy would carefully climb on the bed and lay beside her, touching her just enough so that Martha knew she was there, but staying away from Martha's surgical side on her own. Nellie wasn't so attuned and would have been her usual clumsy self, but every time she tried to jump into bed aligned higher than Martha's waist, Jazzy was there to block her–not that she wouldn't let Nellie near Martha, she just wouldn't let her near Martha's healing incision.

We knew we wanted to breed Jazzy, so in late 2002, we began looking for a stud. Our first attempt to breed her in the spring of 2003 involved a trip to Rice Lake, Wisconsin and, turned into a near disaster. There was no tie, no artificial insemination and no puppies.

When we picked Biko (CH Emoyeni's Made in Sweden) as the stud for the second breeding we had great reservations about taking another trip to Western Wisconsin. We had hoped that Biko's owners would be able to meet us near Chicago, about half the distance, but as it turned out, Jazzy's timing was off and we had to go all the way to them. Almost ironically, after getting a tie the first day, we ended up at the same clinic we visited our first trip to Wisconsin...all the way in St. Paul, MN!

This time it worked. At 31 days, an ultrasound appeared to show at least five puppies.

The results are in. Jazzy gave birth to a litter of four beautiful little pups on December 4, 2003. First to arrive was a tiny, tiny little girl, weighing in (we thought) at 7 oz. She was joined by two sisters, 8 oz. each, and a brother who weighed in at a relatively monstrous 14 oz. All are ridged and in good health.

For more details on the labor and birth, take a look at the puppy journal. I will be updating it as often as I can throughout the puppies' time with us. I will also add pictures to the puppy pictures pages whenever I can.