TBT: Brisbane's Litter

There were seven puppies in Brisbane's litter, he was the third born to a lovely red heeler in an oops litter sired by a dog that looked a lot like a beagle. I went to visit them when they were four weeks old.

Brisbane in my lap, two white puppies and Rebel eating my backpack.

Unfortunately digital cameras were not quite as ubiquitous nine years ago. I only have a few film pictures of Brisbane and his brothers and sisters, and some digital shots from when they were six weeks old. I don't know exactly what they looked like when they grew up, and I was unable to keep in touch with their new owners. I'm still looking for them though, and every time I see a dog of the right age and coat color I have to look at these pictures again to compare markings.

Brisbane and all three white puppies.

There were three white puppies with markings on their faces, two blues and one red. The red-freckled white puppy had a patch over its left eye. The blues each had a spot or seriously freckled spot over their left eyes too. All three white puppies had heavily ticked ears and noses. Purebred heeler puppies are born white with solid markings, and then all their white areas begin to develop ticking right away. These dogs are probably still predominantly white rather than ticked all over.

Rebel at four weeks.

That heavily ticked blue puppy is Rebel, he was given to his breeder's daughter. He had a full black mask, tan points, and a black spot at the base of his tail. Rebel had very heavy, floppy hound ears and a domed skull that made him look very houndy despite his heeler markings.

Savannah was the only solid-colored puppy. She had the same domed skull and floppy ears that made everyone suspect that the father of the litter was a beagle mix.

Savannah at four weeks.

Savannah was a red puppy with white on all four feet, her chest, muzzle, tip of her tail, and a spot on top of her head. The white went further up the right side of her face than the left. She had ticking on her little white feetsies and probably developed freckles on her face and chest. The white on her left front foot went up higher than on her right front foot. Savannah went to a school teacher in Santa Barbara County somewhere.

Savannah and Rebel had much shorter coats than any of the other puppies. The white puppies had the longest and fluffiest coats.

I don't think I ever scanned my only picture of the seventh puppy. She was a lot like Brisbane, same curly medium-length coat, white in the same places, but she was black with tan points rather than sable.

Brisbane had a lot more white on him as a puppy than he has now as an adult. The white streak on his head separated into a white spot and a ticked blotch on the back of his neck. I suspect his brothers and sisters also got a bit more color and a bit less white as they grew up.

I know that Brisbane's breeder and her family moved to Idaho not long after the puppies went to their new homes. Rebel and the tricolored sister probably moved to Idaho as well. Savannah and the three white puppies may still be living in Santa Barbara county. If so, they would be nine years old now, and depending on the care they received they could look as youthful as Briz or much older. I would love to see them.