​The "Spring" Litter
                         2 Black Girls, 3 Liver Girls & 3 Liver Boys
                                          Born March 18, 2020

        GCH CH Acadia's Chocolate Diamond CGC CGCA CD "Mocha"
                                                           X
​                                 Affinity Firelight Over Quinag SH "Becket"

Mocha - GCH CH Acadia's Chocolate Diamond CGC CGCA CD

Becket - Affinity Firelight Over Quinig SH

     We could have called this litter the Covid 19 litter but had already settled on Spring before the virus struck. We had gone out to stock up on the 17th since we knew we would be staying home for the next 2 weeks. Little did we know it would be a lot longer! Mocha was due on March 20th but she pulled a fast one on us and gave birth in the early morning of the 18th. She had not given us any indication that she was close to whelping when we went to bed. The only difference was she decided to sleep in Jet's crate which is in a corner. Around 2:00 AM Jet woke us up with a bark, John went check on him and when he heard a little cry from Jet's crate he discovered 4 newborn puppies. While we were getting set up to move Mocha and the pups to the whelping box she delivered 2 more. By 5:00 she had delivered the last 2. Mocha was a wonderful mom; very nurturing and protective of her babies.

Day 1 - A very tired Mocha with her newborn pups.

5 days old. The puppies are all comfy in the warming box while the whelping box is being cleaned. Next is weigh in and a little check up.

1 week old - the puppies are doing well. Everyone is eating and gaining weight. They spend their time either eating or sleeping.

The 2 black girls at 1 week old.

The 3 boys, all liver, at 1 week old.

The 3 liver girls at 1 week old.

The pups at 2 weeks - they still spend most of their time sleeping and eating. The eyes are opening and the pups are beginning to react to sounds. They are also exploring the whelping box. Mocha is taking excellent care of her babies.

Week 3 and the pups are starting to interact with each other. Bitey Face starts young and will be a life long game if there is another dog to play with.

The third week we introduced comfy beds and toys.

At 4 weeks the whelping box has been divided into 2 areas - one for sleeping and play and one for potty. They haven't gotten the hang of it yet but they will by the time they go to their new homes.

The pups are beginning to interact with each other and toys. Now that they are 4 weeks old their individual personalities are beginning to develop.

Yellow Girl has discovered that there is a world outside of the whelping box.

Week 5 brought some changes. We started inside by taking down the whelping box and turning the dining room into a puppy pen. They now have a comfy sleeping end, play area in the middle and potty area with 2 litter boxes and lots of newspapers.

Spring finally arrived in upstate NY that week, too. We had a very cold April so we weren't able to get the puppies outside until the 3rd week in April. Once we were able to get the puppies out we could now have visitors and start socializing the pups with kids and grown ups.

The puppies' first day in the new pen. They loved all the room. Of course it didn't look this neat for long!

The weekend after the puppies were 6 weeks old was very busy. Our granddaughters were finally able to come for a visit. We had not seen Abby & Jasmine since the first weekend in March and they had been anxiously waiting to see the puppies.

The Belbase family came from Ithaca to meet the puppies. They own Kona, Mocha's brother, and will be bringing home another boy in a couple of weeks.

One of our oldest Flat-Coat friends, Lisa, flew her plane from Buffalo to Penn Yan to meet the pups. It was good to see her. Luckily we live across from the airport.

Our first visitors were our friends from across the lake who we hadn't seen since early March. We had stayed in touch with virtual Friday afternoon happy hours.

The puppies loved all the special attention.

On Sunday our youngest granddaughter Winter came to visit. This was her first time meeting a litter of our puppies. Gems, the puppies' grandmother was their dog.

After 2 days of fresh air, play and lots of cuddles and attention we had 8 very tired pups.

At 7 weeks the pups are getting big and have been enjoying their time outside. They will play until they all collapse and nap in the sun.

Purple Girl sleeping Flat-Coat style.

Playtime!!

The 7 week old pups are taking up a lot of space inside. The boards around the top are not just to strengthen the pen but to keep Purple Girl in!!! She was the only one that consistently climbed out to find Mocha or just to see what was going on outside the pen.

8 weeks old and the pups will be leaving for their new homes soon. They are getting very big. We had just finished the morning cleaning - it won't take long for the pen to look like a tornado struck.

When the puppies came in from outside they literally crashed and slept for a long time. I don't know how the bricks made good pillows but they didn't seem to mind.

The puppies spent more and more time outside once the weather improved. It was nice to be able to feed them outside for a couple of meals each day.

The Corona virus made puppy pick up a challenge especially for our families that were from outside of NY. Rosie (Lavender Girl) was going home to Albany and her new family generously offered their back yard as a meeting place for our two Massachusetts families. We brought the remaining 4 puppies with us and came home with one. Georgie (Red Boy) went along for the ride and we met his new family in Erie, PA the next day.

Pink Girl 1 week old

Pink Girl at 3 weeks. Her eyes are open and she is up on her feet & moving.

Pink Girl 2 weeks

---

Pink Girl 4 weeks old. She is a little cutie and very sweet.

Pink Girl 5 weeks old. She is very curious and playful.

Pink Girl sitting pretty at 6 weeks old.

Such a pretty face. Pink Girl 7 weeks old and almost ready to go to her new home.

Pink Girl is now Emma (Acadia's Younger Than Springtime). She is named after our Emma and is going home to Sunset Beach, NC with Shadow (Red Boy) from Emma's Superstition litter. Her new owner is Candice Sieben who is thinking of showing Emma.

At first Uncle Shadow wasn't too sure about little Emma but he quickly learned that she was okay.

March 2021: One of Emma's favorite places is the local woods where she likes to chase the birds and squirrels. Candice says Emma has a strong drive.

Emma 4 months old.

March 2021: Another favorite spot is on the sunporch where Emma likes to look out the window at the lake and the birds. She is doing well with her training - she earned her CGC last fall and was all signed up for rally and trick dog classes but she went into season 3 days before they started. Candice had to cancel Rally but took Shadow to trick classes instead of Emma. She'll get back to classes in April.

March 2022: Emma is doing well. She is her obedience trainer's favorite dog who has taken videos of Emma to show to her other clients. Emma earned her CGC last fall and Candice is hoping to start taking her to obedience trials this year. Emma is very ball happy and has a collection of golf balls that have come into the yard from the adjacent golf course.

Emma's Uncle Shadow (from our Superstition litter) crossed the Rainbow Bridge in August, 2021. Candice & Emma missed Shadow so much that Candice decided to adopt a rescue. Raleigh is 5 year old retriever & shepard mix. Emma loves having another dog to run & play with again. March 2023: Candice is keeping Emma busy with a brain games class. Emma has actually learned to read sit & down and is also learning to discriminate between blue and yellow. She will soon return to rally classes which she enjoys.

Green Boy 1 week old.

Green Boy 2 weeks

Green Boy at 3 weeks old. His pretty blue eyes are open and he is starting to move a little on his feet.

Green Boy completely on all fours and interacting with his littermates.

Green Boy 5 weeks old and growing fast.

Green Boy at 6 weeks old. He has a very pretty liver coat and is quickly becoming one of the biggest pups.

Rain (Green Boy) 7 weeks old and almost ready to go to his new home. He is very outgoing and playful. He's usually right in the thick of things.

November 2020: Rain and his big sister Jojo. They are only 4 months apart and have grown very close in the past few months. Rain is already twice the size of Jojo. March 2023: Rain spent his 3rd birthday running in the woods all afternoon with his dog buddies.

Purple Girl 1 week old

Rain (Acadia's Rusty Rain) went to a very special home with Ed Miley & Kathy Sainsbury. They owned Rain's great aunt Sunny from our Summer Litter. Sunny passed away in Nov., 2019. They also owned Rain's great, great, great grandfather, Blue. Rain also has a new sister, Jojo, another flatcoat.

Purple Girl at 2 weeks

Purple Girl 3 weeks old. Don't let that cute face fool you - she is already plotting her first escape.

Purple Girl at 4 weeks old. She is very active and loves the toys.

Purple Girl 5 weeks old. She quickly discovered that she could climb her way out of the pen as soon as we set it up. She immediately went to find Mocha who let us know she had escaped.

Purple Girl at 6 weeks. She is very curious about everything around her. She is also very affectionate and sweet - the first pup to give kisses. If we hadn't decided not to keep a puppy she would be staying.

Lyndee (Purple Girl) 7 weeks. We were evaluating the pups with some cheese to help. She definitely liked it!

Lyndee (Acadia Lindt Springtime Promise) flew away to Texas to live with Jim & Marcia Robinson. They had owned 2 dogs from our breeder, Sue Van Buren, including Sophie who was our Emma's sister.

Lyndee had a great flight and has settled in well at her new home. Here she is 13 days after her arrival.

March 2021: Happy 1st Birthday, Lyndee! Jim is still working from home so Lyndee and her sister Jesse, a beagle mix, keep him company. They celebrated with treats that Sammie, Jim and Marcia's daughter, sent from Maine.

November 2020: Jim is very good about sending monthly updates and pictures. Lyndee is doing very well - she completed her first puppy class despite the covid restrictions. In every picture she looks more & more like Mocha.

March 2022: Lyndee sounds more and more like her mother every year. She loves attention and will let Jim & Marcia know when she isn't getting enough. Lyndee is very opinionated especially when it comes to wearing her gentle lead. When she sees it come out she runs away and needs to be chased. Jim says she is hard headed, very smart and spoiled.

March 2023: Lyndee is doing very well. Jim's descriptions of her behaviors and traits are so much like Mocha's. Lyndee is always ready for a walk, a car ride or a trip to the dog park - anything that she can share with Jim and Marcia.

Red Boy 1 week old.

Red Boy at 3 weeks old. His eyes are open and he is starting to get around on his little legs.

Red Boy at 5 weeks enjoying his time outside in the sun. The sunlight really brings out the shine in his coat.

Georgie (Red Boy) during our 7 week evaluation. He has nice expression and a nice head.

Christmas 2020: Georgie is all decked out in his family Christmas pajamas.

March 2023: Georgie loves going to Puppy Playground a few times a week and when Bridget travels. When the girls are home from college he loves the extra attention. Georgie also likes to rough house with Bridget's son when he visits.

Red Boy 2 weeks old

Once he started moving by 4 weeks Red Boy quickly became one of the more active puppies.

Red Boy looking handsome at 6 weeks. He has a wonderful, sweet personality; very patient and kind. He can be quite the terror at play time though.

Georgie (Acadia's Georgie Rain) went off to Indianapolis, IN to live with Michael & Bridget Bain and their 2 daughters. We met up with Georgie's new family in Erie, PA to save them a little travel and hotel time.

March 2021: Georgie is doing well despite a stressful year for the Bain family. Mike passed away from cancer the end of January. Bridget tells us that Georgie has been a great source of comfort for the family. He is her constant companion and a security blanket for her and the kids.

Little Yellow Girl 1 week old.

Yellow Girl 3 weeks old sitting pretty. She is growing fast - becoming one of the larger pups. She is very playful and one of the ring leaders.

5 week old Yellow Girl posing in the sun. She is becoming quite a little sweetheart.

Yellow Girl at 2 weeks. She is already starting to push up on her front legs.

Yellow Girl at 4 weeks old. Although she is very active she does seem to like to pose for pictures.

Yellow Girl at 6 weeks getting some time outside the pen and in the grass while our granddaughters were visiting. They enjoyed playing with her.

7 week old Birdie (Yellow Girl) during the evaluation for conformation. She has a sweet expression and nice head.

September 2020: At 6 months Birdie is enjoying lots of adventures with Maryn & Erik. They tell us that she is doing very well with her training, is very affectionate & is a friendly, happy girl.

March 2021: Maryn tells us that Birdie was their best decision of 2020. She fits into their lifestyle perfectly and goes everywhere with them. Birdie loves her walks on the beach and ski trips to Vermont.

Teal Girl 1 week

Sleepy Teal Girl at 3 weeks. Although her eyes are almost closed they have opened and she is getting around the box on all four legs.

5 week old Teal Girl playing in the activity toy. The puppies enjoy making noise by batting and pulling on the hanging toys.

Teal Girl during the 7 week evaluation. She has beautiful expression and a very nice head. It was difficult to choose which of the 2 black girls would be going to the show home - both are very well put together.

Clover and her human siblings spent time at Martha's Vineyard this summer.

March 2021: Clover is a loving and loyal member of the Dretler family. She loves her walks in the woods and is a fan of snow. She has a BFF, Rudy, a boxer, who gives her a run for her money. Her favorite toy is a frisbee and her favorite treat is the Himalayan chew.

Lavender Girl 1 week old.

At 3 weeks Lavender Girl is sitting up and playing with the toys.

Birdie (Acadia's Birdie May) found a home with a nice young couple - Maryn Manning & Erik Gronneberg in Newbury, MA. Birdie is their first dog.

A very happy Birdie!

April 2022: Birdie became a big sister in November when Olly was born. She has adjusted very well - shows some interest but isn't jealous or overly protective. Birdie is loving and like her mother & grandmother she is independent and loyal. She loves chasing balls especially her extra large chuck it ball.

At 2 weeks Teal Girl was already pushing up on her front legs.

Teal Girl at 4 weeks old. She is probably the sweetest pup in the litter. She is very active but not one of the instigators at playtime.

Teal Girl 6 weeks old playing with the toys.

Teal Girl is now Clover ( Acadia Spring's Four Leaf Clover) and now lives in Natick, MA with Astrid and Dan Dretler and their 3 children.

November 2020: Astrid tells us that Clover is doing great. Her favorite things are daily walks in the woods, playing frisbee, snuggling and popcorn.

Lavender Girl 2 weeks.

Lavender Girl is growing fast!! Now 4 weeks old she is one of the ring leaders during puppy zoomies. If everyone else is asleep and she wants to play she'll wake somebody up!

5 weeks - Lavender has a very pleasant personality and is quite the character. She seems to have her great grandma Tara's sense of humor.

Lavender Girl 6 weeks old is becoming one of the biggest pups .

Pretty Lavender Girl 7 weeks old. We thought she might be going to Texas instead of Lyndee but she is a big girl and probably would not fit in the carrier to go on the plane with Jim. Instead she is going to one of our favorite puppy families in Albany.

Rosie is settling in well in her new home although she is not too sure about her feline brother Rocky who looks remarkably like our cat Luna. Chuck is already teaching her to bring the paper in just like Lily did.

Valentine's Day 2021: Rosie watching for the paper so she can run out and get it. Chuck has her so well trained that if she sees a paper in someone's driveway on her morning walk she'll try to pick it up to bring home.

March 2022: Rosie is doing great! She & Jim are best buds - they go for a morning walk before work on pavement and then a walk(?) off leash in the woods in the afternoon. Rosie plows through the woods on the hunt. When the better weather comes they will out hiking on the weekends.

March 2023: Rosie continues to do great. She shared her birthday ice cream with her friend Duke.

Little Boy Blue 1 week old.

Rosie, Lavender Girl ( Acadia's May Flower) joined the Furmans (Annie, Chuck & Amy) in Albany, NY. We met them 11 years ago when they came to visit our Summer litter and went home with Lily (White Girl). Sadly, they had just lost Lily to cancer in October, 2019.

Rosie went swimming!!

July, 2021: Rosie is doing very well. She had a great 1 year checkup at the vet and weighs 64#. Chuck tells us that she is a great hiker and leads the way while she looks for critters. She gives Chuck a kiss every morning when he leaves for work.

June 2022: Rosie followed in her great aunt Lily's paw prints and climbed Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. She also hiked up South Bubble. Chuck says she is amazing in the woods - leaping over anything in her way!

Blue Boy 2 weeks old.

At 3 weeks Blue Boy is a pretty quiet fellow. He does interact with his littermates but is a little more laid back than the rest.

Blue Boy 5 weeks old finally enjoying some outside time. He is becoming a little chunky monkey.

4 weeks old Blue Boy playing with Green Boy.

By 6 weeks old Blue Boy and the rest of the pups are eating puppy kibble. It's nice to be able to feed them outside.

Blue Boy is now 7 weeks old and has grown into a very nice looking puppy.

Maui (Blue Boy), Acadia's Vivaldi's Spring went to another of our very special families. He is now living not far from us in Ithaca, NY with the Belbase family and his Uncle Kona, Mocha's brother.

Maui is doing great. Kona wasn't too sure about his new little brother but they are getting along fine

January 2021: Maui and his Uncle/big brother Kona are best buds and enjoy walks at the arboreteum in Ithaca. Maui experienced his first snow a few weeks ago and loved it!

March 2021: Maui's big brother (and uncle) Kona has been teaching him many things including how to lift his leg like a big boy. Maui's birthday treat was a lick of the tres leches cake Brenna made for her Family & Consumer Science class. That's a nice perk of remote learning!

August 2022: Maui and Kona had a very nice vacation in Lake Placid where Maui finally started swimming! Up until then he stayed on shore and stole toys that Kona had retrieved. After the first day he and Kona had to be dragged from the water.

---

May 2021: Maui is much bigger than his uncle Kona!