The pups at 10 days old

So fun to see shiny glints of reflection as tiny eyes begin to open.

Here is the "Evening Star" litter, named for both the constant, steadfast nature of their sire "Steady", but also a nod to mama Star's legacy as she retires from breeding. The Even Star or Evening Star was known as a guiding light, a point for navigation, and "pointing the way"

The Evening Star refers to the planet Venus, which appears at twilight as a constant bright signal to both sailors, and in ancient times, to shepherds... It was a surprise to find that the Evening Star was once called the Shepherd's Star, which signaled time for shepherds to move their flocks back into the fold.

Litter names are just for fun. Most often, the names given by their new families in a few weeks will not be the same. But, it can be quite a feat of creativity to come up with a theme, and choose names that bring a smile, and fit the thought process.

Introducing Tara. She is the first born, a shaded sable girl with traditional white blaze. Tara was an ancient term for Star.

Second born is Beacon, a black and white male pup with the most white on his front paws of all of his siblings.

Next, we have the very vocal Gale. Gale is also short for galaxy... I liked this reference for "lively". Gale has the most white of any pup, with the wide white blaze and the zig zag of white on the back of her neck.

Fourth on the scene is another dark boy, "Cole". His name obviously is a reference to "coal", very dark or black. It made me smile to think of all the tiny bits of coal that have surfaced here from 100 years ago. Every storm seems to bring more tiny bits of history to the surface of our soil. Cole is a large pup, with very minimal white.

Spark/Sparky (or Clancy) is fifth born. Spark fits our theme... bright, constant, a beginning... Clancy is simply because my earliest childhood memory of a big dependable dog is Clancy, the black lab type who ambled over to our playground every day at recess, to be loved on. We'll see which name fits. Our fifth born male is nearly identical to his 4th born brother Cole. His back feet have just a touch more white.

Vesper made her appearance after a bit of a wait. Sixth born, shaded sable, female. Vesper (or Hesper) is the Latin word for the Evening Star. She seems to be a spunky little thing like her mama Star.

Promise (or Stella) is a lovely black/seal female pup, one of the larger pups at birth. I like the name Promise for her, but Stella has it's own appeal for movie-based exclamations (Stellaaaaaaaaaa!) We'll see which name fits her personality. Promise has the added distinction of being the first with both eyes opening.

Eighth born was this lovely male pup, whose color keeps changing. At birth, he almost looked slate blue. It has deepened to what seems to be a dark shaded sable with a black mask, but could still be "seal" with minimal white. Naming him has proved a bit difficult. There are a few choices... "Sable" as a name, "Shep", meaning faithful friend, "Shadow" (faithful, by your side), or "Bear" are all possibilities.

At 9th born, we have this lovely female, another black with minimal white. "Lyra" (alternate name choices "Luna" or "Nova") is glossy black and just beautiful. She is one of the smaller pups.

When the tenth pup was born, he surprised us all, with his dark sable color and the size. After so many pups which appeared black or dark at birth, "Gage" was a definite shaded sable with presence! I have wanted to use the litter name Gage again, since 2017. Star's littermate, the pick of the 2017 litter, was a gentle, large male with soft eyes and a sweet big-brother personality. I am guessing that this boy will be the same.

And last but not least, this 11th-born beauty who arrived right on the dot of midnight, so it is fitting that she be named "Midnight"... I could also see "Zenith" or "Zena" for this one.

Her distinguishing feature is that she has no white on her back paws... When they are nursing, I can always pick her out of the line-up.

It's a truly beautiful litter with all the dark tones and lovely shades of sable and black. Steady put his mark on all of them, in one way or another. And mama Star is a champ, nursing 11 babies just as easily as she did in her younger years.

Thanks so much for joining in on this adventure with us!