Explanation of Shave Marks
The way that GDB staff identify puppies when they are born (prior to their receiving a microchip and leaving for their raiser homes) is to make a small shave spot in their fur with clippers.
As of November 6, 2018 the process has changed to be:
The firstborn male will be the right shoulder male, the next male born will be left shoulder and so forth. The females will be the same; the firstborn will be right shoulder, etc.
Prior to November 9, 2018 it was (Special thanks to Kathleen Fischer, GDB Staff):
After the entire litter is born, we separate males from females. If it is a litter with both black and yellow pups, the black ones go first (it’s the dominant gene). How ever many black males there are, they will get weighed with the heaviest one receiving RS then LS, RH … (Even if there is 1 black pup who is a DOA and 4 yellow healthy pups, the black pup will still receive the RS shave mark with the yellow ones following). Once all black males are clipped, then the yellow males get weighed with the heaviest yellow one receiving the next shave mark. (If there were 4 black males, then the heaviest yellow male would be a DS {double shoulder}). Then we do the same with the girls.
Here’s the shave order:
RS – right shoulder
LS – left shoulder
RH -right hip
LH – left hip
DS – double shoulder
DH – double hip
RSRH – right shoulder right hip
LSLH – left shoulder left hip
DSRH – double shoulder right hip
DSLH – double shoulder left hip
RSDH – right shoulder double hip
LSDH – left shoulder double hip