If you visited late in the summer, you would have noticed that Annie was expecting puppies.  We didn't take her to get an ultrasound so we were surprised on September 8 when Annie had eight puppies!  This was her first litter which is why we might have expected 4-6 puppies.  Annie is a great mom and tends to each puppy well.  She was bred to an Australian Shepherd--Border Collie cross.  This makes the puppies half Border Collie, 1/4 Blue Heeler, and 1/4 Australian Shepherd.  Some of the puppies are already spoken for but we still need to find homes for a couple of them.  There are six females and two males.  They are just learning how to play with each other and Annie.  Our Dachshund, Boone, was a jealous dog when we got Annie so we weren't sure how he was going to react when the puppies were born.  When the puppies were only a few days old, we introduced Boone to them (outside the whelping box) and since then, he enjoys peering into the box to see the puppies.  He was excited to play with them when they were first learning how to walk.  We even dubbed him with the name Mr. Mom.  However, as the puppies grow older and get more assertive, Boone is less and less tolerant of their "childish" behavior, and he must work a little harder to let them know who the top dog really is!  Here is a link to a video on YouTube of the puppies about 2.5 weeks of age.