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From Yellow to Zippy to Jack: A puppy grows up
By Gina Spadafori
December 7, 2009
Faith, a/k/a FayBee, is looking so grown-up on her 8-month birthday that if she and her mother weren’t wearing color-coded collars (thanks, Patti!) I would have a hard time telling them apart at a glance. I can hardly believe this is the little pup who was the miracle of the lot, the last one born after her birth was blocked by her stillborn sister. She was the only one born at the veterinarian’s, and he was the one to give her her name. (“Have faith!” he said, when I figured she wouldn’t be born alive, and now, I do have Faith. Forever.)
Faith was the last puppy born, but Jack (right) was the first. He was also a bit of a miracle — or at least a surprise — since the puppies weren’t expected for a couple more days when he was born. McKenzie hadn’t been showing signs of labor, but suddenly I noticed she had disappeared. I found her in the bedroom, in her whelping box. I praised her for checking out the box, when I realized she was actually using it — there was a newborn puppy next to her and she was delivering another.
Most flat-coated retriever puppies are solid black, so breeders have to mark them in some way to track their progress, record their weights and make sure they’re progressing well enough. Some breeders shave fur — right shoulder, left flank– others mark the puppies with White-Out. I think most use color-coded collars made of rick-rack, and that was the option I chose.
I’d drawn colors randomly before McKenzie went into labor, assigning colors to the babies in the same order the packages came out of the bag. I will never forget the order: Yellow, Green, Blaze Orange, Pink, Purple and Red. (Three puppies didn’t make it the first 24 hours — one was stillborn, one euthanized with an unfixable birth defect and the third, a tiny, tiny little boy, died a few hours after birth — and little slips of their ribbons are still on my refrigerator in their memory.)
The Yellow puppy set himself apart right away by not gaining as quickly as the others who made it past the first day, which gained him a trip to the ER vet on Easter morning. I was probably over-reacting — the vet was kind not to say so — but after that trip the little puppy started to catch up. He soon set himself apart in a new way, with the appearance of a strip of reverse fur dead-on down the center of his nose. It’s called a “zipper,” and he was the only one of the six to have one.
As they grew more, he set himself apart in a third way, by being the first puppy to figure out how to get out of any enclosure, first to always best his siblings in wrestling, and first to vocalize — growl, bark, whine and yip.
His traits soon earned him a nickname: Zippy the Pinhead.
This morning his forever family updated me on his development and sent new pictures. They live in New Jersey, and they’re besotted with him. (A trait he shares with his siblings, who are scattered coast to coast but all in homes where they are much adored.)
His family named him Jack (The Zipper), and I think he’s darned cute. That zipper is really remarkable!
Below are the three boys at six weeks of age. Blaze Orange is now Dooley and lives in Iowa. Green is Parker and lives with his dad in Minnesota.
I’ll write about the girls another day. Want to talk about thankful? I give thanks for the wonderful people who are rising “my” puppies with so much love.
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Well, I was told that zippers were the sign of a very intelligent dog, since that’s where God put the extra brains in.
I was also told that a puppy’s zipper was probably the place where everything the puppy learned would leak right out of his head.
I guess the version one prefers all depends on their latest puppy adventure.
Comment by Patti S. — December 7, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
I’ve always found it interesting that some people who own goldens do clips and colored bands on their puppies. I’ve never seen normal-colored goldens that didn’t vary a lot in how they expressed their coats. Of course, I’ve only been around the litters of field line dogs, which really do have a lot of variation in their appearance.
I don’t look for zippers. I look for the occiput. If it sticks out a little, that’s going to be a smart dog. It’s an old English gun and sheepdog custom. It’s called the “bump of knowledge.”
Comment by retrieverman — December 7, 2009 @ 11:07 pm
You’re so totally dating yourself GS - Zippy the Pinhead? That’s puts us in the same demographic, my dear. Who but the 30+ plus crowd will know who this is?
Has he been dug up and recycled lately and I missed it?
Super cute pics, BTW - lots of ‘aawwwwwwwww’ factor!
Comment by Dr. Tony Johnson — December 8, 2009 @ 6:36 am
30+ is being very kind. I’ll be 52 at the end of this month!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 8, 2009 @ 7:08 am
Never heard it called a “zipper”. I’ve got a few Border Collies with zippers too!
Comment by Wendy — December 8, 2009 @ 9:51 am
FayBee is one terrific-looking dog plus being intelligent, perceptive, and confident. All those qualities are reflected in the picture of FayBee above.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — December 8, 2009 @ 10:17 am
well Gina…we have 2 things in common…52 too at end of month (my name is a good hint)and my family too is blessed with a miracle named Jack! He was the reason 5 badly saddened hearts started to heal!
Comment by Carol V — December 8, 2009 @ 11:32 am
ps…Did you ever have a BD party as a kid??? My first one was at age 40 (when I didn’t want one anymore) lol…
Comment by Carol V — December 8, 2009 @ 11:34 am
That’s funny on the birthday part front. The answer is … NO! Although my mom and dad always told me that my birthday (New Year’s Eve) is the world’s party, so really, in a way, kinda, it was for me.
And then they went out and let me with the sitter. :)
I generally don’t do anything on my birthday, but the last few years friends have made it clear that’s not acceptable and drag me out.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 8, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
OT…But FDA Webinar starting..to follow on Twitter #FDApet…3 pm EST…(NOW)
http://bit.ly/6RQ7Sl
Comment by Carol V — December 8, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
I hadn’t thought about the difficulty in telling the puppies apart. My working Border Collie, Spring, fathered a (planned)litter of puppies with a lovely working Border Collie named Jodie and six puppies were born two weeks ago. They each have slight variations in their distinctive coat patterns—in fact, I realized that after I had looked at the puppies, I really hadn’t known the shape of Spring’s white patches exactly. Funny, he is with me 24/7 and I just hadn’t paid any attention to the specifics of his markings. Now here is the tough part—the puppies are sinfully cute and I get pick of the litter for my stud fee. Several have interesting coat patterns and I am already developing preferences (especially the one with the question mark on her back). But the pup I keep will need to be a working dog and, while I can’t imagine any of these pups not having great sheep moving skills, as their parents have them in spades, I have to choose my pup based on personality and working potential, not interesting markings. This is going to be tough…..
Comment by Jan — December 8, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
My first flatcoat was a second-hand dog. He was a failed hunt-test prospect who was working in a veterinary office as a blood donor. You can’t do that work for long, so his owner (the vet, still friends with her), his breeder and the owner of the stud were working on getting him placed.
I had wanted a flatcoat for a decade, and this sweet, easy-going 18-month-old seemed perfect for me. (He was, too!) So I made arrangements for him to be flown out from Ohio.
A friend of mine said, “But you don’t even know what he looks like!”
I told her, “He’s black. All black. Head to toe black. Nothing else to know.”
His name was Miles, but I renamed him Ben. He was with me for the rest of his life, and was the best public appearance dog ever. He was also great at the veterinarian’s. When he needed blood drawn, he’d raise his head and do everything to help short of sticking the vein himself.
Lord, I miss that boy.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 8, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Sounds like zippers on dogs are like double face whorls on horses. A distinction that is considered indicative of either exceptional intelligence OR exceptional pigheadedness. I have three double-whorled horses. All three are smart; all three are pigs, too. LOL
Comment by Rori — December 8, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
That does appear to be the case with Jack The Zipper, too. Smart AND opinionated!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 8, 2009 @ 3:17 pm
The smartest dog in my household (and the least trainable) is a Lab/Golden mix with the most wonderful zipper nose. He’s in the room next to this one right now destroying an empty carton of rice milk. It makes him happy.
Hey Gina, you share a birthday with my Dash-boy. 5 years ago, his breeder and her helper said that it was the latest they had been up on New Year’s Eve since they could remember.
Comment by Deanna — December 8, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
Jack is a wonderful dog! He is currently enrolled in my Advanced Beginner Obedience Class and I am hoping that his “Dad” will continue on with him. I can see Obedience titles in his future.
Comment by Kathy K. — December 9, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
As his breeder and early socializer, not to his clicker-conditioner and first trainer, I take full credit for every good thing he does for the rest of his life.
Every bad thing is on his Forever Family.
:)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 9, 2009 @ 1:38 pm