Two weeks already?!?!

 Puppies are now 2 weeks old. Their eyes have opened with Yellow Girl opening hers on Dec 9th, followed by Green Boy on Dec 10th, and Blue Boy on Dec 11th. Shortly after that, everyone’s ears opened as well. It’s an interesting experience when you figure this out. My big dogs like to bark when they hear someone drive up into the driveway. They did this on Sunday, Dec 12th, and Blue Boy picked up his head, looked around for the noise, nudged his brother next to him as if to tell him to pipe down with the noise, then laid his head back down and went back to sleep. It made me smile.

The puppies have now also had their first does of dewormer. This medicine is given based on weight so all puppies were weighed for this purpose. Synnie was also dosed. Getting her weight was a bit harder. It’s a good thing she understands “table” as that allowed us to have her stand on a mail scale used to measure packages for shipping.

Here are some pictures from the puppies this week.

We are 1 week old today!

 Lizzy and her sister have come to visit again. And Savannah stays overnight on Fridays to help with the puppies. This week has been just a watch of health and weight milestones and starting in ENS, or Early Neurological Stimulation. Puppies are this age are "heat seeking milk missles", as Jane Killion says in her Puppy Culture video. I do put into play the Puppy Culture lessons as I find them the best for helping puppies develop. Jane has done an amazing job with her research and putting her findings together in a way that is easy to understand, both the how and the why.

This is the end of our first week with puppies. Every week is a "birthday" of sorts as we watch them grow. And boy do they grow quickly! Below are their theme pictures for the week, followed by their remaining daily weights. See if you can figure out who's who in the photos. 😉

• 12/03/2020 (Wednesday)
• 6:55am
• Green Boy : 1# 2.0oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 3.4oz
• Yellow Girl : 1# 2.0oz
• 5:15pm
• Green Boy : 1# 2.8oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 4.6oz
• Yellow Girl : 1# 1.5oz
• 12/04/2020 (Thursday)
• 4:45pm
• Green Boy : 1# 6.1oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 6.6oz
• Yellow Girl : 1# 3.6oz
• 12/05/2020 (Friday)
• 8:55pm
• Green Boy : 1# 9.2oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 9.6oz
• Yellow Girl : 1# 6.7oz
• 12/06/2020 (Saturday)
• 5:45pm
• Green Boy : 1# 12.4oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 13.1oz
• Yellow Girl : 1# 9.9oz

Yippee!!! The puppies have all doubled their weight in the first week! Pretty soon, it's going to get fun. Eyes should be opening next week followed by ears! Oh boy!

Lizzy comes to visit!

 Of course we all have lives outside of whelping and raising puppies, right? Lizzy is no exception and had to head back to school to finish up her first semester. But today she came back to visit the puppies and see how they're doing. She noticed that the boys are getting their pigment in around their face and ears. Synnie is a good momma and is very tolerant of us holding the puppies. She's not so tolerant of the other dogs in the house right now and they are confined out of the office/puppy room and can't even see in right now. Maybe in a week or so we'll be able to take down the fleece covering the gate across the door. 

At this stage of things, it's important to make sure the puppies are thriving and especially gaining weight. Every day we weigh them and in the case of these puppies (because it's so fun for young learners to watch them grow), we are weighing them twice a day. By the end of the first week, they should have doubled their birth weight. Weighing them every day also helps us to quickly identify when a puppy isn't doing well and intervene to help them. Here is our tracking record so far:

• 11/30/2020 (Monday)
• 10:30am
• Green Boy : 14.2oz
• Blue Boy : 15.2oz
• Yellow Girl : 12.2oz
• 7:45pm
• Green Boy : 14.5oz
• Blue Boy : 15.3oz
• Yellow Girl : 12.5oz
• 12/01/2020 (Tuesday)
• 7:00pm
• Green Boy : 15.2oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 0.01oz
• Yellow Girl : 13.0oz
• 12/02/2020 (Wednesday)
• 8:20am
• Green Boy : 1# 0.06oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 0.18oz
• Yellow Girl : 14.3oz
• 7:45pm
• Green Boy : 15.2oz
• Blue Boy : 1# 0.19oz
• Yellow Girl : 15.2oz

As you can see, the puppies are gaining nicely. My job in all of this right now is to monitor the health of Synnie and all 3 puppies, including any signs that Synnie is calcium deficient. As a breeder, we want to make sure that we address this kind of issue right away because it can affect how she treats the puppies on an emotional and physical basis.

Now for the pictures!

Being a momma is hard work!

Little sleeping bundles of love.

Synnie and Savannah love.

Going to school and sharing with classmates

The start of the puppy piles. They lined up like this on their own.

Momma and her baby girl.

Everyone taking a nap in the puppy pen.

Welcome to the Hogwarts Litter!

 After an all-night waiting session on Platform 9 3/4, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station and whisked us off to Hogsmeade station where we were able to help Synnie welcome into the world 3 beautiful puppies! 

You may be asking yourself "Hogwarts? Why this theme?" and it's a very good question. When I entered the world of dog shows, conformation, and breeding, the one underlying concern I heard from many places was "Where's our next generation? Who's going to take over when we're gone?" I made a decision along the way that whatever I learned, I was going to work hard to pass along to the next generation. That means young people who have a passion for everything dogs whether it be training, medicine, breeding, you name it. If I had learned, I would teach them. If I was learning, I would bring them along. As such, through my very good friend Renee (who has been MY instructor in all things dog and is a breeder herself), I've been introduced to several young people whom I've helped and they've helped me. Together we've grown.

Well, it so happens that during this breeding time I happen to have a very young friend whose enthusiasm for all things dogs puts mine to shame (of course she's gotten a head start from her Grandma Cheryl, who is not only a breeder but also a good friend of mine). My Synnie Bunz loves to show and she needed someone with just the kind of enthusiasm that young Savannah has. With Grandma's blessing, we paired the two up and they have excelled in their relationship together. SO much so that I am now minced meat to Synnie. Haha! With that relationship, I put Savannah's name on Synnie so she could take her in the Juniors ring where they both shine and excel together. They have received so many nice compliments from judges and other Samoyed breeders that my heart swells with love. To quickly bring us to the end of this long story, with Savannah being an owner on Synnie, that means that with this breeding, she is now a breeder in the AKC world. She has taken her job very seriously and has been with Synnie through whelping and raising of puppies. I am so excited to be a part of a team with her Grandma Cheryl in mentoring her in this doggy world.

So, enough of that. I know you want to see puppies. So here are some pictures from the whelping day. You will also see in here another Junior I've been mentoring (Lizzy) who is now a freshman in college and is majoring in Animal Sciences. She's not sure yet if she's going to take her education all the way to veterinary school, but I'm sure that no matter what she does, it will be great!

Lizzy and Savannah taking care of newborn puppy

Synnie the good momma!

She loves her AJ because he spoils her!

Facts for the puppies:

• Green Boy : 14.1 oz : born at 11:47 am
• Blue Boy : 14.1 oz : born at 12:07 pm
• Yellow Girl : 11.9 oz : born at 12:17 pm

And to answer the unanswered question "Why Hogwarts?" It's because Savannah's most favorite thing in all the world right now (besides puppies) is Harry Potter. So this litter theme is picked in honor of her. Stay tuned because in a few weeks we're going to play the "name game" and brainstorm some future registered names for these beauties.

Here we go again!

 The health tests have been done. The stud has been chosen. The breeding has occurred. And now, we wait. Our little Miss Synnie Bunz (CH Bilrost's Dark Side of the Rainbow) will hopefully have some little bunz in the ovenz soon. We should know by the end of October if our breeding this week to Blizzard (CH Wintermist's Rock'N On Thin Ice) will bring us the pitter-patter of little paws around Thanksgiving time.

Synnie

Blizzard

Structure and Attitude! These little ones are going to be smashing in the ring!

Firecracker Litter - Week 2

Sunday:

Nine days old today. Can you believe it? Purple Girl had me in stitches last night. For some reason, she decided she needed to do laps around the puppy pile of Yellow Girl and Green Boy. And it wasn't just one lap but several. Definitely too funny. 😉

With today being day 9, we are oh-so-close to their eyes opening! The pigment around their eyes is coming in and I get so excited at the idea of being able to peer into their little peepers. Uncle Chewie decided he needed to bark at their squeaking this morning and had to be warned that if he didn't stop, I was going to put the fleece back in place so he couldn't see. Before too long, these little carpet crawlers are going to be running after him wanting to play. 😂 Won't be so fun to bark at them then. Haha!

Tuesday:

Whenever the little ones start squeaking, I'm turning to the sounds just to confirm they're okay. Today, I turned just in time to see Orange Girl and Yellow Girl coming right over the top of Momma Mars' neck from the back side to the milk bar side (Mars was laying on her side). Oh my goodness! Such smart little girls! They are now happily filling their tummies, waving their little tails in the air.

 Wednesday:

Every morning, Mars seems to like waking the puppies up about 5:30am. Don't know why that is, but she does. She's quiet about taking care of them in the middle of the night. Anyway, this morning when she woke them up, Orange Girl was off exploring and not squeaking about not finding momma and the milk bar. When I looked a little closer . . . I saw she had her eyes open! That's two sweet little puppy girls with their eyes open! Han and Chewie better watch out because these little ankle biters are going to want to play soon. 💝

Firecracker Litter - Week 1

Welcome to the Firecracker Litter!

This litter is special to me because it is the first litter I have done on my own in my own home with only guidance from my mentors from afar. It is also special to me because these puppies are from my heart girl, Mars (Bilrost's Out of this World).

On July 6th, 2019, after a lengthy night of labor, Mars whelped 5 puppies, 2 boys and 3 girls. They were born as follows:

4:00am - Red Boy makes his debut, feet first, ready to take on the world. Right away, he has shown us his Independent Thinker side. When offered a nipple for nursing, he turned it down. Then he turned down a second nipple offering. Putting him down next to his momma, our little man headed straight for the milk bar on his own and latched right on until his belly was full and his momma had licked him clean.

4:55am - Green Boy makes his debut, also feet first. This little guy, landing on his feet, is ready to take on whatever the world throws at him. As the largest of the litter, he was vocal from the start about things, but takes the time to cuddle up to his favorite sister, Purple Girl.

5:15am - Orange Girl comes screaming in head first! She's a confident lady, who loves the pets and isn't afraid to head out around the whelping area on her own. She loves her milk comas as much as her siblings and makes sure she has a front row to the milk bar.

6:05am - Yellow Girl, petite in appearance only, heads into the world. Her arrival was soft and sweet and while she's generous to a point, she has quickly learned the game of milk bar musical-nipples (like musical chairs only at the milk bar) and after being bounced off her nipple a few times, she now holds on tight and isn't afraid to bump one of her siblings off.

6:55am - Purple Girl, gentle and sweet, arrived with smiles and cuddles for all. Her favorite sibling is Green Boy and I often find them cuddling together, basking in their milk comas, waiting for Momma Mars to come along and wake them up with her cold nose and licks of cleanliness.

While there isn't much to see about the puppies right now, they are growing quickly. At 1 week old, they have all more than doubled their weight to over 1.5lbs. They have just started barking in their sleep and their little squeaks are just adorable. In a few more days their eyes will be open and the work that they're putting in right now of getting their legs underneath themselves (yes, you can actually seem them trying to stand on their legs instead of just pushing around the whelping area) will yield them fun romps with each other in all those puppy games that make us giggle.

For your enjoyment, here are a few photos so far: