Eli x Penny: Puppy Number Two Grows Up

Evaluation of Puppy Number Two at 11 weeks:

Puppy Number Two reminds us somewhat of her older half-sister, "Ellie" (CH Foxglove Ashburton Elegy -- Janey's litter sister) as a puppy, although she has more muzzle and better finish of underjaw than Ellie had at the same age. Although this puppy and Puppy #1 are both tri-factored, this one is darker in color, smuttier in the face, and just a bit harder to appreciate at first glance. When one goes over her, it's easier to get past the coloring and appreciate her very nice head and body. She appears to have less neck and elegance than Puppy #1, but at least part of that has to do with the fact that she is not "using herself" in either of the photos above (though, by 11 weeks of age, at least she no longer needs her head "propped up" with a finger!). She may not be as photogenetic as Puppy #1, but, boy, does she turn it on when the show lead goes on and the bait comes out. She's a very happy showgirl-to-be, and she loves to move.

Ellie and Janey matured quite differently, and it will be interesting to see if these two bitch puppies do the same thing. Ellie grew up all in one piece -- she got prettier (and less smutty), grew more coat and filled in more during her first year, but she never fell apart or "went off." At seven months, while Janey was hidden in the backyard (and while nobody was taking pictures of her!), Ellie was winning huge puppy classes at specialties (click here to see two photos of Ellie at seven months). Ellie finished her championship at age three -- at the point when we were just starting to think about maybe taking her sister to her first few shows.

Six weeks

Eleven weeks

Evaluation of Puppy Number Two at 19 weeks:

Virtually everyone who saw this litter between six and twelve weeks of age considered Puppy Number One to be pick bitch. Puppy Number Three, the little male, was also considered quite promising. And then there was Puppy Number Two -- an ugly duckling if there ever was one. A few people agreed that she was worth growing out for a bit, but I don't think even those optimistic souls thought she'd amount to much. Two months later, we're very glad we hung in there to see what she would do, because this puppy just gets prettier and prettier. Her eye, a bit on the round side at eleven weeks, is now a beautiful size and shape. Her expression is sweet and feminine. Her head detail is lovely. She has a beautiful full muzzle, excellent underjaw, flat and parallel head planes and a well-defined stop.

Her bodily proportions can be seen more clearly in the photo at right, in which she is standing better. We love her outline and balance. She is not as well-angulated as Puppy Number One, but her angulation is sufficient and balanced front and rear. There's not much we don't like about this one, and we think she'll only get better. We are expecting her to mature at about 15 inches, maybe a bit less.

Evaluation of Puppy Number Two at 24 weeks:

Puppy Number Two has spent the last five weeks growing adult coat. Otherwise, there isn't a lot of difference between these photos and the ones taken at 19 weeks. Her basic outline is the same; it's just covered with a little more hair.

We'd give this puppy a bit more neck if we could, but we do like her balance. This is a very sturdy little bitch. She's very solid and muscular... and surprisingly heavy as any unsuspecting soul who decides to give her a little lap time will discover. Her markings, as well as the angle of the photo on the left, make her front look somewhat straight or short of upper arm -- an optical illusion that would be quickly shattered with a hands-on exam. Her very good front angulation and long upper arm is more evident in the the photo at right. She single-tracks beautifully with no wasted effort. For a few weeks recently, she looked like she was elbowing out just slightly, but that seems to have been a short-lived developmental phase. This puppy moves like a dog who could do a day's work and then some.

Evaluation of Puppy Number Two at 13 months:

We think that Puppy Number Two is well on her way to becoming an outstanding adult bitch. Of course, she's still got a lot of growing up to do. This is a puppy who we think will be a spectacular three-year-old, maybe four-year-old. And we think she'll be well worth the wait.

We like her balance and outline now. Full-grown at this point, she measures about 14-3/4 inches at the shoulder and now appears to have plenty of neck, something she seemed to be lacking at some earlier ages.

At this age, she does not have as much bone as we'd like, but this seems to be universal among Penny children at this age. They typically have plenty of bone by age two and a half or three and continue to "bone up" even after that age.

We love her head and expression. She has a very sweet eye, and most of the tri-factored "smuttiness" has now disappeared from her face. She has lovely head planes, stop, and underjaw. She has fallen off a bit in muzzle -- a change that is obvious even in comparing her earliest photos with those taken at 24 weeks -- but it has already started to fill in again, and she never reached the point of looking snipey.

Her movement is still excellent. She single-tracks front and rear, and has tremendous reach and drive with a very purposeful stride.

---

NEXT puppy

PREVIOUS puppy

BACK to litter evaluation

SEE Puppy #2 as an adult

Send us e-mail by clicking on the stack of letters below:

Return to Foxglove title page by clicking on our kennel sign below: