 Sandhill Chinooks
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News
10.30.07
And now it's the end of October?! I truly can't believe how much
time has passed since I felt I could sit and type up some news without
falling woefully behind on something vital. I'm still not at that
point, but I must take a moment to report that all of the puppies
are doing well.
Since I last wrote, they've met dozens of people, in fact we've now
officially exceeded our goal of having them meet 100 different
people. With the three puppy parties, the Halloween party,
and trick-or-treaters the next day, it was a breeze. We took the
pups to Madison yesterday for their CERF exam, and the medical students
said that these guys must be well socialized. Apparently they see
a lot of puppies there, and normally a puppy will squirm when held by a
stranger in a lab coat. Not our boys and girls! They were
so relaxed during the exam. We were proud--and grateful for all
the help of our families, friends, and neighbors, who have all been
rallying around the cause of raising these puppies right! On the
other hand, They did howl so while sitting in crates waiting to be
examined. It was deafening! Not sure what to make of
that. We've been introducing them to crates with so far positive
results. It might have been too much to bear after two hours in
the car. The good news is they slept soundly for the two
hours there and back, and that was in crates, so our fingers are
crossed that they will travel well when the time comes. I think
they will.
The results of the CERF were excellent. Seven of the eight pups
were totally normal, with one puppy, Mr. Pink, having some retinal
folds in his right eye. Retinal folds appear as tiny lines on the
retina and are caused by creases in the cell layers. They do not
affect vision at all, and In the Chinook breed this is typically not
associated with any vision-affecting conditions later in life
either. In Chinooks they are sometimes seen in young puppies and
may be related to normal changes in the eye as it grows and
develops. (Some doctors refer to them as "puppy folds.") My
understanding is that the majority of Chinooks with retinal folds at
this age outgrow them within a year or two, and when they are CERF
examined again, none are seen. We will send the results of the
exam in to the Canine Eye Registration Foundation and wait on their
official determination. It's possible that this puppy will be
considered normal due to his young age at the time the folds were
seen. If not, it's likely he will be designated "Breeder's
Option," which is not a failing CERF either. So, we're thrilled
about the whole thing!
I have posted a ton of new pictures to Snapfish.
My apologies for the sheer number; I wish I had time to take more
thoughtful or carefully composed pictures. I hope you'll think
this is better than nothing. By the way, there are now two
separate albums for the litter pics, and I've added an album for the
pics of the breeding as well as one for pictures I have of the litter
Io was born into, Meadowbrook Chinooks of 2004. All are here.
10.16.07
How in the world did it get to be the middle of October
already?!!! So much has happened in the last few weeks that
finding time to post news just hasn't happened. I hope you'll
forgive the delay. Here are the highlights...
On October 4th, In the middle of the night, Io came down with an
infection most likely brought on by the stress of whelping and
nursing. The good news is that she responded immediately to the
antibiotics, and the puppies are not affected at all. It was a
scary few days, though, with numerous vet visits including a late-night
trip to the emergency vet. We're relieved that she's going to be
just fine, and that this hasn't interrupted her nursing the pups.
Weaning cold turkey would have been so hard on everyone.
The puppies are now officially little dogs. No longer do they
resemble little newts and salamanders. Their eyes and ears are
wide open. They still sleep a lot, but when they're awake,
they're wide awake, running, bounding, pouncing, wrestling, growling,
barking...it's fascinating to watch them and even more fun to get in
the playpen with them and join in their games. Of course, with
all of this development comes a shocking increase in food intake
(and--ahem--output). Keeping the playpen clean is at times a
monumental undertaking. We're finally starting to perfect a
system for dealing with the volume of laundry we're generating, and if
I'd known in advance what this would entail, I would have bought stock
in bleach and baby wipes!
We've started hosting puppy parties, and the pups have met at least 30
people by now. Our goal is to introduce them to 100 different
people before they're 8 weeks of age, and we're on track to achieve
that. We'll see. We're having a big Halloween costume party
on the 27th, and I know they'll be handled held and played with
by dozens of very odd looking folks!
09.25.07
I'm curious to know how Snapfish
is treating you all. I've heard from many that the pics look
great, so I have high hopes that it's working for all of you. If,
however, you've followed that link and experienced any problems
or confusion, please shoot me an email
and describe the issue.
09.24.07
Every pup's eyes are at least partly open now, and some are nearly
completely open. The ears should open any time now.
Today I noticed that whenever the puppies are not nursing or sleeping
they're essentially running all over the place. Most can take 2-3
steps at a time before falling over in dramatic fashion. I think
they find running easier than walking for the momentum it gives
them. Hilarious business.
Against our better judgment we have succumbed to the temptation to give
them temporary names. When we realized that falling in love with
them was unavoidable no matter if we referred to them by number or
collar color, we finally let the names happen. Puppy owners will
surely change the names of these pups, but here are their "just for fun
" names in the meantime. In birth order:
1. Light Green (female): "Gretel"
2. Yellow (male): "Yeller"
3. Pink (male): "Mr Pink"
4. White (male): "Sounder"
5. Blue (male): "Bruiser"
6. Red (female): "Luna"
7. Light Blue (male): "Grunt"
8. Green (male): "Otto"
Yeah, Mr. Pink was Mr. Pink from the start. Somehow that just
fits, or at least makes us laugh, especially considering how big and
solid he is. He's always seemed man enough to wear his color
proudly.
09.23.07
Eyes have started to open! No more flash photos for awhile.
They all continue to grow like crazy. At birth their weights
were between 8.5 ounces and 12 ounces. Now the range is 1 pound,
13 ounces and 2 pounds, 10.5 ounces. We have no concerns about
any individual pup as they all seem strong now and completely capable
of kicking any other pup off of any teat they choose. We're still
sleeping right by the box, but haven't had to intervene for days
now. That's not to say that we don't jump in there with them and
hang out. The nightly weighing and stimulation is more and more
like play time for all of us.
09.22.07
Oh my goodness. They're starting to walk. From day one
they've been mobile, and every day their scooting has grown more
expert. Have you ever noticed how fast a seal can move despite
its obvious anatomical disadvantages? We've been amazed at how
quickly they can traverse the length of the whelping box without
raising their bellies off the floor. Last night, though, it
seemed that all of them were starting to take their first wobbly
steps. I just had a vision of them busting out of there.
It's time to start thinking about how we'll configure their playpen!
Eyes are not open yet, but when you pick them up and start clicking and
cooing around their faces, you get all kinds of responses out of
them. They point their faces right at you and seem to try to
look. Their eyes will be open any day now; the ears should open
shortly after.
Nearly every puppy has doubled its birth weight. This is right on
schedule! And Io continues to be a super mom. She needs
time away, but always finds her way back to them to nurse and
clean. It's a labor of love.
More pics have been posted to the Snapfish
photo album. Enjoy!
09.19.07
Well, we've made it through the first week! All eight puppies are
thriving, and Io is turning out to be a "super mom," tending to her
little ones like an old pro. So far, each puppy has gained
consistently and none has required supplementation. Keeping Io's
caloric intake high enough will be a major priority over the next
few weeks, until we start weaning them. By that time she'll be
consuming between three and four times her normal intake of food!
She's a nursing dynamo, but we're giving her lots of
breaks. Even the shortest walk around the neighborhood seems to
do her a world of good.
So, we're still sleeping in the whelping room to keep an eye on
everyone, although the danger of Io lying on them and suffocating them
seems to have passed. She developed a sense of that pretty
quickly. We're also having a lot of fun cuddling them and
stimulating them every day, watching them grow, listening to them
squeek and squeal.
I wish all the future owners could visit and see them at this
stage. They twitch constantly, sleep and nurse a lot, and
otherwise scoot all around the whelping box. They're a blast to
watch, even when just sleeping. I can't believe how mobile they
are already. Their eyes and ears are not yet open--that should
begin to happen next week--but their toenails are growing at an
alarming rate. Trimming all 144 of them was hilarious. If
you want to watch a newborn puppy squirm, trim its nails! Before
they go to their homes, we will have trimmed a total of 1,152 toenails!
Ha!
We've started posting tons of photos to Snapfish,
and we hope you'll
visit the site often to view the puppies as they grow. They'll be
big and fuzzy in no time.
09.12.07
The puppies have arrived, and there are not six, or even seven,
but eight! They all appear to be tawny with black
mask. For the last few days, Io has been feeling restless and
uncomfortable. None of us have slept for the last two nights, but
all of us are happy to have them out, especially Io, who has a
perpetual grin on her face. She is feeling exhausted and a little
under the weather, which is normal after a whelping, but she also she
seems totally content and is proving to be a devoted mother to her
squirming brood.
All eight puppies are normal, healthy, and vigorous. You can
check out a few pictures of the litter here. They're very dark in color
right now, which tends to produce a rich
tawny coat at maturity; Chinook coats change considerably as they
mature. We'll work on getting individual close-up shots of
the puppies up soon and more news about how they're doing.
They're already exhibiting distinct personalities!
09.05.07
Io's x-ray of today shows at least six, possibly seven
puppies. She's been eating nearly twice as much as usual
and is absolutely swollen. She looks ready to pop! She's in
good spirits, but I think she misses going out for her daily run.
She's been getting lots of walks, though, and belly rubs, of
course. The puppies are now kicking and rolling around in there
constantly, and she looks at us often as if to say, "So, when are these
guys gonna make an appearance?"
08.08.07
We've been imagining the signs for days now, but this morning Io's
ultrasound confirmed that she is indeed expecting! The puppies are
about 1.3
centimeters long right now. That's about the size of a cashew
nut! Hard to
believe how much these guys will grow in the next month.
The big question on everyone's mind is how many puppies are
there? We saw what appeared to be seven, but ultrasounds don't
give an accurate count; the sound waves can bounce off of puppies in
other areas of the uterus already explored and counted, which might
cause one puppy to be counted twice. We will have an x-ray
performed in a few weeks to give us a more accurate count.
We're triple excited, and Io is super wiped out right now. We hit
the dog park just after her vet appointment this morning. She was
thrilled to be there but didn't seem up to her normal hour-long play
fest. This dog needs more sleep than usual these days, but on top of
that the ultrasound seemed to take a lot out of her. How would
you feel if you were flipped on your back for a belly shave and then
again for a prolonged, gooey prodding?!
07.18.07
Io came into season this month, and before long her progesterone tests
indicated that she was rarin' to go! Last Thursday we piled into
the car to make the trip down to Illinois for Io's long-anticipated
date with Kodiak. Yes, we had expected Io's heat cycle in
April. By the time June rolled around, we started to imagine we'd
missed it altogether. What's wrong with July? Well,
it doesn't give us June puppies, as we'd originally planned for!
We bred Io and Kodiak twice over a two-day period, July 12th and 13th,
and from all indications it was textbook. We'd heard that Kodiak
knows what he's doing, but, truly, the boy has his charms.
Io didn't even want to resist him!
The vet will be able to perform an ultrasound on Io during the second
week of August to confirm the pregnancy. If this breeding was
successful, puppies will be due around September 13th and ready for
homes in mid-November. The next step for now is getting in touch
with our puppy applicants to announce the breeding and update our
plans.
01.08.07
We have our sire! Io will be bred to Channahon's Northern
Kodiak. Check back soon for information about Kodiak. In
the meantime, here
are some pictures and a bit of information about this handsome
fellow. The breeding is also announced on the Aspencreek Chinooks
website; browse to their Upcoming Breedings page to view additional
pics of both Io and Kodiak.
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