Well, Luna was a full day late.

For our punctual girl, we were very surprised! But then a drop in her temperature told us that birth would be in the next 24 hours. And sure enough, that night at 10:53 PM her water broke! All down Kelsey’s back since she was sleeping with her!

A change of clothes later, and we were sitting around the whelping box in the dark of the living room, giving Luna massages and waiting for the appearance of our first baby.

And waiting

And waiting

And waiting.

But finally at 4 in the morning, her body said, “Okay, let’s do this thing!” and started popping out babies.

Before we knew it there were three pups out and it was only nearing 5 AM. We knew there were more puppies in there, but Luna’s body said “let’s take a break!” And since it was safe to let her rest, we did. She dozed in the dark with three healthy puppies nursing away.

She napped for a good hour and then got up out of the box and went to the door, signaling that she needed to be outside. We followed her lead, threw on a fuzzy pink bathrobe and grabbed a towel to catch any puppies, and followed her out into the early morning air.

The sun was still sleeping but a street lamp lit the yard in a soft yellow glow. Luna paced around the yard, went to the bathroom, and then crouched again, bearing down. Yep! A puppy born outside! We let her lick him til he squeaked and then grabbed him up with the towel before he got too cold on the dew covered grass. We rubbed him clean as Luna raced us up the front porch steps, and when we got inside we found we had a tricolor little boy this time!

Juliet had been sent to bed before Luna’s water even broke (although she kept coming back into the living room to check on Luna’s progress long after she was supposed to be asleep!) but our little red head with bed head came out of her room rubbing sleepy eyes at 5:30 AM because she heard the front door open and close when we let Luna out. She said it woke her up and she just HAD to come check on the puppies!

We showed her our four healthy boys and told her she got to name the newest addition- the little tricolor boy. She decided on “Hershey” and it was perfect! Hershey he was- the only tricolor in a basket full of blenheims.

Hershey’s early days were spent snuggled up to his siblings and mama. Luna kept him warm and clean and well fed and as the warm little bodies of his brothers and sister wiggled against him, he started to learn how to move his legs and head and, best of all, open his eyes!

In this stage of life, what’s called the “Neonatal” stage, we began our Neurological Stimulation Exercises to help his little body activate so he could be a brave strong dog; we gently rubbed his soft pink paws with a little q-tip. We showed him what cold and warm feels like. And, most importantly, we humans snuggled him every single day.

Once he grew a little bigger, and started walking and playing, it was time to begin his Big Boy training! Our goal with all these exercises is to help a puppy learn how to be calm and confident even when they face new or scary situations. So we began playing loud sounds suddenly just for a little bit. Hershey was very surprised! But after he realized that nothing bad was happening to him, he had learned an important lesson: Just because something startles you doesn’t mean you will be hurt.

Now he was on his way to being a confident little puppy!

Of course, all work and no play makes Hershey a dull puppy, so we made sure that outside of his training (which was only one or two of these small exercises a day) he got lots of time in the Garden to play with his brothers and sisters in the sunshine.

Since Hershey was our only tricolor in the whole bunch he was easy to spot!

Well, with all that physical and mental and emotional exercise it wasn’t too long before Hershey was a grown puppy- ready for his forever home!

Hershey was chosen by a music lover, in fact a close personal friend of the famous Bellamy Brothers here in Texas! His new name reflects his owners passion for music: Charlie Mack!

Our little Hershey-ahem!-I mean, Charlie Mack, is bound for a life of stardom.

He gets to STAR (well, okay, not star, but he may be in the background in some scenes) in the Circle Network’s hit reality TV show: Honky Tonk Ranch! And he has a food bowl with his name on it onboard the Bellamy Brother’s TOUR BUS!

But don’t think his life will just be adoring fans and endless treats- this little guy will also be trained in some very important work: to be a service dog for his owner!

It’s gonna be a great life for our little tricolor hershey bar, full of fulfilling work and lots of love and good music. What better life could a pup ask for?

Swipe through the gallery to see pictures of Charlie Mack’s life now!