Just over two months ago, our dog Bitsy had a litter of puppies! Bitsy sure is a special dog. She’s a Great Pyrenees and came to us from Lizzy Lous Family Farm in South Carolina. She was born ‘en caul’ in her amniotic sac, still breathing through her umbilical cord. She protects our livestock and our home fiercely but she’s a cuddly teddy bear to anybody she knows.

She gave birth to her 9 puppies on a Saturday night as a big storm blew in. Right away she was just the best momma. We were right there for all of it after she started whelping. I shared a bunch in my instagram stories (you can still see them on my highlight too!)

The girls slept out in the barn taking turns helping the new puppies nurse and making sure Bitsy was okay as a first time mom. The last puppy was born late, almost midnight and had a malformation of its intestines coming through her umbilical opening. That little girl didn’t make it sadly, but she was warm and loved until she died Monday morning.

The litter was 7 girls and 2 boys in total – just our style!

Bitsy’s puppy daddy is a Bernese Mountain Dog named Bentley who belongs to Amy, our shop manager. He’s a handsome fellow and this combination with a Great Pyrenees makes these pups Great Bernese! They will be great family dogs with the guardian gene in there too.

The girls named them all ‘B’ names in honor of the parents! They are Boone, Betty, Brindle, Banjo, Brisby, Becky, Birdie, and Bitty.

The puppies grew SO fast! I needed a couple puppy shoots because everyday they seemed to double in size 🙂 Their days were spent outside in the little puppy yard and Bitsy would (somewhat reluctantly) wander in to feed them a few times a day. She always cuddled them inside the barn all night. Amy would whip them up a special mash of puppy food that they would crawl all over each other to lap up.

The puppies started heading to their new homes at 8 weeks old – most of the families are local, so we’ll still get to see them grow up! It wasn’t easy to say goodbye to them… but they started roaming around the ranch and driving Bitsy kinda bonkers! 😉 But don’t worry – we’re keeping one of the girls, Brisby, here with us on the ranch!

They are seriously the cutest, chunkiest fluff balls ever and it’s been so much fun to raise puppies. Boone, Betty, Brindle, Banjo, Beckly, Birdie, and Bitty… we will miss you running around the yard and following Bitsy everywhere she goes but can’t wait to watch you keep growing with your new families!

Bitsy is much happier with only one baby, Brisby, following her around. But, motherhood calmed her down a lot (she used to be much more aggressive with the other dogs) and I think she’ll train Brisby to guard and protect like she does.

The girls voted Bitsy and the Blind Lamb’s mom the real VIPs on Mother’s Day this year and I could agree more!