Watercubs & Kivisilmän
working show-quality newfoundlands
Week 3-6
The puppy blog's been lagging behind with so much having happened. Usually as the pups grow, we get busier and the first thing to fall behind is the puppy blog unfortunately! I'll try to recap everything that's happened during the last couple of weeks :-):
The pups got their vet check at 5 weeks, during which they got a general check up (including a heart auscultation), parvo vaccination, microchip and their own blue passports. The blue passports are their vaccination booklets. Fortunately everyone was healthy with good sound hearts, all testicles down, no hernias etc. Good healthy pups!
Since it's been extremely cold out even for the time of year, the pups went outside for the first time when they were five weeks. They weren't phased by the outdoors, but only really spent a good 10 minutes since we'd had snow on the ground earlier that day. Since then they've been going outdoors every day in their "enclosure", spending probably at most 2 hours out under our supervision. When the pups get tired, it's time to move them back in as we can't leave them sleeping on the cold tiles. The pups were supposed to go to their school visit at 6,5 weeks, but as it was -10C with 32m/s wind gusts, we had to postpone the visit to a date a couple of weeks later.
Ariel's surprised us with her cautiousness with the puppies. She's extremely careful when she goes into the puppy pen and knows how to carefully avoid stepping on the puppies. She is though a character and can only focus on one thing at a time, so if there's either food or really interesting toys or other people in the pen with her, we need to try to remind her to watch out under her :-D. She's best just left alone with them with us keeping an eye from outside the puppy pen :-). She loves licking the puppies (that's why they're always wet!) and she does like just being in the pen. The puppies have learnt to stop suckling when there's no more milk coming.
We have neighbours with dogs on both sides of our house who bark All The Time. To start with Ariel would warn us about the barks, but she's since learned to relax and has understood that the puppies are safe with us. She will now sleep through the barking. It is interesting though how attentive she is out with the puppies, making sure that if they go towards the barking dogs, she'll go in between and "push" the puppies to stay closer to the house. (there is about 5 meters between the puppy pen and the neighbour's fence, so they ARE safe and it is more of a caution :-) )
We've had visitors come since they were about 5 weeks to cuddle the puppies and get the puppies used to kids and other adults :-). At six weeks the puppies went out of the house for their first trip to see the tram tracks. The trams run from the other side of our house block, about a 30 meter walk away. It's always a great place to take the puppies (carry them there first times) to let them relax in our laps, look at the outside world and see a tram go by. Both Jim and Jennifer took a pup each, Virva-Riitta took Ariel. Ariel licked the puppies when leaving the house, at the tram stops and when going back into the house :-). All the puppies relaxed well on their adventure :-).
We introduce the puppies to chicken wings at 5-6 weeks. By the end of 6 weeks, they were eating all but the biggest bone of the wing. They're also eating fish, a variety of meats, tripe, veggies and fish oil. All the puppies were at 6 weeks 2 days between 5-6 kg's. They are very equal in size.
Ariel's being a good mum. She's very attentive and breaks any quarrels immediately by sticking her head in between, turning them on their backs and starting to lick the pups.
As Ariel and some of the puppies are flying away when the time comes, we've added a flight crate in their pen for the nights (we feed pups in). Ariel's also got her humongous crate in our hallway. We've also added a doggy tunnel in the pen. It definitely was a smar choice as there's always at least one pup in the tunnel :-). They find it fun and exciting running in, hiding from the others and suddenly running out to play etc :-). All our previous pups have loved the tunnel to bits too! New toys are also a "hit", which means that we try to change the toys that they have in the pen every couple of days.
Week 3-4
This week the puppies have really become "puppies" in the sense of the word that most people understand it as. They're not little newborns that need constant attention, they're fully visually and auditorily developed and their coordination is almost as it will be with a pup that's ready to go to their new homes. They are developing their skills more and more every day; from extending their vocal range (growl, whine, whimper, bark, yap, etc. depending on what they want to achieve with it; from attention seeking, to wondering why no-one else is playing to being tired etc.), range of play skills (vocal, using their paws, mouth, head, using their tails for balance and tails to signal emotions), coordination skills (from play behaviour to skipping over toys, walking over other pups, trying to reach up to suckle from Ariel when she's standing etc.). They are a joy to watch develop more each and every day. They're also playing with Ariel, which is great to watch. Ariel's very meticulous at licking all the puppies clean, so that's why the pups are wet in most of their photos :-).
One afternoon when we were changing the papers in the puppy pen, we accidentally left a toiletpaper roll in the puppy pen. The pups had of course discovered it and when we went back into the livingroom, all we saw was an empty roll spread around the whole pen with puppies playing with strips of paper roll ;-). The puppies are now in our living room, which means that they get a lot of attention every day from from us :-). Whenever anyone's watching TV by the side of the pen, they've got one in their lap cuddling and watching TV with us :-). Having them situated in our livingroom also means that they get used to a lot of novel sounds. One sound they've learned really well is "puppy chow", which means "meal time", "dinner's ready" and they'll wake up from the deepest sleep and come to you tail wagging :-).
The pups are eating about 100grams per head per meal (5-6 times a day), which also means that they're growing at quite a speed! We usually leave a couple of bones in the pen between meals that they can practice chewing on. They've got quite the teeth already! They still drink after eating of course, but it's more voluntary where Ariel gets to decide how much they drink. Usually after the pups have eaten, Ariel will jump into the pen, finish their bowls and lay down in a corner for the pups to suckle. Once they've had enough and one side is empty, she'll quickly get up, run to the other side of the pen and lay down. Now the pups that are full are slow to get to her and the pups that are still a little hungry get to her once she's already down, and get a top-up from the full teats. Ariel's also pretty good at skipping around the puppy pen (as some videos in the photogallery show). She knows how to do a full 180 degree turn (with hind feet on ground) to avoid stepping on any pups when she wants to move. She knows that most are either under or in front of her, so going directly behind is the "safe zone".
We've had a couple of guests to come see & play with the puppies; it's great for their socialization :-).
Week 2-3
The puppies started their 2nd week with tasty squirt of Flubenol down their throats. It was time to do their first deworming. Also Ariel and the rest of the household (Ruuti and Vera) got their share. The next deworming is planned for 4,5 weeks and then around 7 weeks. Depending on when the pups'll leave us, they might get a 4th dosage also. We're not expecting to see any worms, but it's just good practice to treat the pups, as any worms will negatively affect their growth. The pups are really walking steadily and we're joking that Ariel's reduced the alcohol % in her milk ;-). We expanded to puppy area on day 13 to be approx 2m by 2m just so that they'd have a little bit more area to run around in. The heat lamps are still in (on low heat, as it's been very cold), but the pups tend to protest and try to find the coolest spot in the area sometimes by pushing the matts away! Without the heat lamps though it'd be too cool/cold for them, so at least for now the pups just have to deal with it ;-D. (A disclaimer; no matter how hot/cold it is, they really are proper newfs, always seeking for the coldest spot. If it was really too hot for them, we would of course increase the distance to the heat lamps or remove them altogether)
The puppies have started playing with each other (since approx. day 14). They try to "eat" the other pups' snout, head bang each other and definitely use their weight to their advatange in trying to turn the other pup over. It's all fun and games though; really entertaining to watch. At the start of the week the play was very innocent as they were learning to balance themselves, but now towards the end of the week it's pretty loud and "rough" on occasion ;-). The word "rough" being a relative term though as they're only about the size of a milk carton, no teeth and have just opened their eyes.
Every week we have a new term for them that we use. Their first week they were "newborn", last week they were "eggheads" and now this week they're called our "guinea pigs" (marsu). Next week they'll be our "mini-newfs" probably as they're getting bigger, steadier on their feet and they hair is starting to change to become puppy-fluff.
This week Ariel's been milking approximately 7-8 pups, with the rest getting a bottle feeding. As we always write down who's had what, everyone's rotated through mum's milk & bottle regularly. If we are to leave the 9th, 10th and 11th to suckle, Ariel just gets frustrated and wants to leave (it doesn't feel nice if she doesn't have milk for the guys and they're suckling anyway!). So to save Ariel's patience and make the feedings good "together time", the bottle comes with us downstairs into the puppy room for every feeding. The pups are still drinking every 2,5 hours. Jim (Morgan-pup's owner) has been a tremendous help with the day feedings. Ariel absolutely loves the manly company, gives a biig tail wag and accepts Jim to the puppy room well.
The pups had their first solid meal on Saturday at day 19 (minced meat mixed with some puppy milk and water and veggies; put through a blender). About half of them definitely figured out what they're supposed to do with it and seemed to inhale it with a good appetite ;-). The others needed a little bit of help in showing that they're supposed to put their mouth on the food and not just walk over it or sit on it ;-). Everyone did get a good meal out of it though and they were happy to sleep for approx 4 hours before their next meal with Ariel. They'll be getting mostly tripe mince and mince with veggies etc. during the next couple of days, with the food transitioning to cut up small whole fish when they start eating and biting more probably mid-next week. For the next couple of days the pups will be getting alternate solid and milk feedings; after which they'll transition onto solid-feeding only, with a milk "top up" from Ariel. Just in time for the puppy feedings, we got our first dog food order of 85kg's. Luckily we have 3 dog freezers in the garage, just waiting to be filled. I know this won't last long, but it's a start :-D! As the pups grow, they'll all start eating about 300grams 3-4 times a day, totaling to approx just over 1kg per day, times 11 puppies; 11kilos of food a day for the hungry bunch! For now it'll be more like 50 grams per head per feeding though as they're just starting off..
It's been extremely nice to see how well Ariel's adapted to our family and how similar she is behaviourally to our other dogs. She's not the silly super-active volcano girl that we're used to seeing at the water front, but she's actually a well balanced calm dog that knows her way. She's got a very very strong will, but once you get her to understand that YOU are the one who says the last word, she'll obey without questioning it. She reminds us a lot of her grandmother Capri who was a brilliant worker partly because of that determination. A good example of this strong will is her laying down. If we just ask her to, she'll be as if she never heard what we said. If we tell her to go (just with a firm voice), she will without questioning it. She's also learnt that if we tell her to do something, we do expect her to do it and it's not ok for her to ignore the command. It's very nice to see her "be a mother" to these guys as she's so calm and relaxed around them and our dogs.
Week 1-2
Ariel and the puppies are doing very well. Ariel is eating approximately 5 times a day good sized portions each time. She eats: 2 handfuls of fish, 2 large (5cm x 3 cm x 20 cm) pieces of pork ribs, a whole pig heart, two handfuls of tripe, 3dl of veggies mixed with puppy milk, 2-3 eggs (with shells) and a short pour of fish oil on top. On top of that she drinks a lot of "just water" (must be fresh, sometimes even changed within a drinking session!) and two half full bowls of water, dilute puppy milk, canned dog food and bread. She absolutely LOVES bread and will do anything to get it! Funnily enough she's taken to her mum Ruuti and even tried to steal Annina's bread off the table! (while Annina was sitting at the table!)
The feeding interval was 1hr break until monday night. From then it's been 2 hours. We tried 3 hours, but that seemed a little bit long (they were maintaining weights, but not gaining). They still have both heat lamps on (quite high up though) as it's been fairly cold here (we even had some snow for a couple of days!). Instead of sleeping in her own "den" (cool corridor outside the warm puppy room), Ariel now comes upstairs to sleep with the others. The pups are moving (standing and moving forward) at quite a pace already. We saw a couple pups hunch and even poo on their own! They've also started to be noisier. We heard their first barks on Monday and heard their first "growl" on Wednesday. We noticed that the pups can hear on Tuesday. They notice when we come into the whelping room, if any of their sliblings cries, they all look to hear what's happening. The got their first nail trim on Monday, which Ariel appreciated as the nails were quite sharp already! The next one looks to be scheduled again for the end of the week or early next week.
Mr Green is one beautiful Newf pup, and he seems to know this. When drinking from Ariel, he seems to trike his pose letting us admire his angulations. He shouts "VN" to us with regards to temperament and structure. When sleeping with his siblings, he seems to want to always sleep on top of them so we get a better view of him ;-). He's one that looks out for himself and if he thinks there's not enough milk coming from the teats fast enough, he'll try to steal one off another pup in hopes of getting more/better! And when he's full, he'll also just "taste" several teats, compare the taste and then settle for one.
Mr Blue has the most adorable little white spots on the back of his hind legs. We affectionately say he has "white ankles", a bit like the white shoes men had in 1920s. He is our little gentleman. We call him our little "cannibal", because if he's not the first to go for a drink and smells some milk on another puppy's nose, he'll go and suckle it out ;-). So if any of the pups have over long snouts or eats - Mr Blue is to blame!
Mr Orange's - "Vaino" - favourite "hobby" seems to be climbing over his siblings when they are trying to sleep, waking everyone up in the process. When Bettina accidentally dropped the milk bottle on the floor in the puppy pen, causing Mr. Light Blue to cry out in surprise, Mr Orange was the first one to cry out as well (from the other side of the puppy pen) and "run" to Mr Light Blue to see what happened. (This was how we knew they could hear ;-) )
Mr Red was the first to bark, although he is one of the more quieter ones. He and Mr. Orange are like two peas in a pod, both active and seems to always be everywhere. I am not sure how they manage to do this as they both seem to be sleeping when I check on them. We always clump Orange and Red together due to their similarities in temperament and structure. It's amazing how Mr Orange and Mr Red have mastered the concept of "lateral expansion" and always end up as wide as they are long after the feedings!
Miss Pink - "Karma" - We always clump Miss Pink and Beige together due to their similarities in stucture and temperament. Miss Pink is smart! She's figured out that the "underneath" teats are usually fuller than the top row, and even when placed on a full top teat, she'll get go and actively seek them out.
Mr Light Blue - "Otto" - Somehow he's always the first we pick up for a drinking session. We haven't quite figured out how he knows to be at an arm's reach ;-). It's not that he's crying or waking up when we come into the room, but he's just always placed so that we pick him up 1st.
Miss Beige has the funniest (but the most effective way) of drinking milk. She swings her head right and left in perfect rhythm (as if to music we can't hear) until she is so full she can barely move. By swinging the head from side to side she lets air into the bottle and gets more milk out ;-).
Miss Brown - "Tesla" - was the first to growl. This happened when she was not the first to be fed - coincidence? She is a lively little girl, who has trouble staying still when there are things happening around her. She's very impatient especially when she's woken up and she realizes there's an opportunity to go drink. She's also extremely head strong when she decides to do something. She will definitely make Annina's life very interesting.
Miss Yellow - "Harlowe" - is known as the Loud One of the litter. She is the one who zooms from one end of the puppy pen to the other and who barks and cries when she is not at the teats with her siblings. However when picked up and handled, she calms down and just wants to get closer to us and snuggle. She will be a fantastic working dog when she grows up!
Mr Purple is our cuddly one. He seems to love being picked up and handled by us and relaxes easily. He absolutely detests drinking from the bottle, would rather starve than drink, and so he's always the first one at the teat.
Mr No Collar ie Black was the first to walk two steps, albeit wobbly ones. He seems to very determined to master the art of walking and running before the others, as he constantly wobbles around the puppy pen.
Most of the families are still thinking of names, but I'll add them here once we hear of them :-). The pups will be going to the US, Finland and UK. We do still have a couple of boys available though to approved families (working / show / pet ).
On Thursday at 10 days, Mr Black passed away. He passed away very suddenly but peacefully. He was autopsied on Friday with the cause of death being asphyxiation due to blood in lungs, cause possibly traumatic. We are extremely sad, but at the same time relieved that the cause was not contagious or congenital/hereditary. As we cannot pinpoint anything that could have happened, we just need to accept it as a loss. The next two milking after Mr Black passed away Ariel was visibly uneasy but soon after back to normal. We made this little text in memory of him, also announcing all their official names:
"Yhdestoista menehtyi. Emme voi syyttaa johtolankojen puutteessa Salapoliisia joka on ollut 24/7 valvonnassamme. Yksityisetsiva tekee jatkotutkimuksia Ylikonstaapelin valvonnassa. Paikalla ollut Yovahtikaan ei tieda asiasta muuta ja Yleisurheilija oli liian aktiivinen kiinnittaakseen huomiota tapahtuneeseen. Oliko kyseessa Yliatlantin saapuva Yhdysvaltalainen; Yhtalo on viela epaselva? Ymparistontutkija selvittelee olosuhteita ja Ydinfyysikko tekee omat laskelmansa tapahtuneesta. Ylioppilas tekee tutkielmaa aiheesta. Saammeko ratkaisun Yleisavaimen avulla? Asian selvittelyyn osallistujat voivat jatkossa viela muuttua, jos asia niin vaatii."
Yhdestoista (number 11) passed away. We cannot blame Salapoliisi (detective, Ariel) due to lack of evidence since she's been under our watch 24/7. Yksityisetsiva (Private detective) is making further investigations under the watch of Ylikonstaapeli (Chief Constable). Yovahti (night guard) didn't see anything either and Yleisurheilija (athlete) was too busy to pay attention. Was it Yliatlantin (over the ocean) Yhdysvaltalainen (american)? The Yhtalo (equation) is still uncertain. Ymparistontutkija (Environmental scientist) is looking for clues and Ydinfyysikko (nuclear physicist) is making calculations. Ylioppilas (graduate) is writing an essay. Will we get the answer with the help of the Yleisavain (master key)? The investigation participants may still change.
Ariel's two favorite positions during the milkings are either laying on her side with her head under the chair as if in a den, or sitting up and keeping her legs wide apart to let the puppies suckle. Even though she is a superb mum when it comes to taking care of the pups (licking them, being attentive to their cries, letting them suckle etc.), she for some reason has absolutley zero body awareness. It's been interesting to watch her, but at the same time, we are absolutely sure that none of the puppies would still be here if it wasn't for us keeping an eye on them and making sure Ariel didn't lay on them. Ariel's priority seems to be "Ariel" :-D. Since she's the first one of ours to not watch our for her elbows when laying down, or being careful to not kick the pups when turning sides, it'll be interesting to see if she passes this lack of body awareness onto her offspring when (or if) they have their litters in the future, or if they'll be more like the rest of our adults/mums have been.
Most days and nights Ariel comes upstairs to sleep with the rest of the dogs. For the first week Ariel slept in her "den" (a dark corridor just outside the puppy room), but since then she's expanded her sleeping routine to sleeping with the others. She lays on her back, feet wide open and is totally relaxed. It's been very nice to see her adjust to our family so well, and how well all the other dogs have accepted her (and her litter). The others haven't yet seen the pups, but they will when the pups move upstairs into our livingroom (and we start living in a dog house ;-) ). Baron's number one priority when Ariel is upstairs is to go steal all of Ariel's leftover food that we have out for Ariel to eat when she seems hungry. Baron knows he's not supposed to go down but he just can't resist the temptation ;-).
The puppies got their collars back on at 1,5 weeks now that their necks are little bigger and they can't get their paws stuck under the collars. Since it was difficult to differentiate between Yellow, Pink and Beige; we decided to modify Miss Pink's collar so that it now says "pink" on it. Since Mr Black unfortunately passed away, Mr No Collar is now our "Mr Black" with his collar. It's been surprising to us at how slowly these puppies have been gaining weight, with only reaching 1kg at two weeks of age (usually they put that weight on during their first week). Despite their slower weight gain, the puppies have been strong, active and "chubby" throughout. They have not been weak, flimsy or "runt"-looking at all; the opposite actually! If I only saw their weight in numbers I might be worried, but looking at the puppies, their weights definitely do not reflect how well developed they are. It'll be interesting to see if they'll start gaining weight more rapidly once they are moved onto solid food or if these guys are just slower to grow in general (actually the slower the better as the healthier they'll be). Fortunately as long as food isn't the limiting factor (which it is not), they will get to their genetically predetermined adult weights and sizes regardless of how quickly they grow now.
The pups are still drinking every 2,5 hours 24/7, which means that "lack of sleep" is a common theme around the Salmelin family. The pups drink from 70-200ml's of puppy milk (depending on how hungry they are) as a supplementation on top of Ariel's milk.
Some quotes that reflect our lack of sleep:
B: "How much is 270ml's minus 200ml's" (trying to figure out how much the puppies had drank during a session)
A: "You know, if I could choose to keep any of the puppies, I would keep Mr. Green" (before realizing she actually IS getting Miss Brown ;-) )
A: "One, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen?!?" (trying to count the puppies and failing - twice!)
We also figured that I MUST write in the puppy blog that we have our "puppy clothes" and "normal clothes" separately. We wear our normal clothes when we're taking the others out for walks or when we go to the shops. We then always undress and change into our puppy clothes (and run the washing regularly) whenever we're to go see the pups or Ariel. So if and when you see us in the same clothes day after day in the photos, I just wanted to clarify that they are regularly washed / changed out of :-D!
On Saturday the pups really started walking. For the last couple of days they've maybe walked 5 steps, then fallen over and started again, but now they're running from one end of the puppy pen to the other without falling over. They also walk from one teat to another if they're not happy with the one they are at (rather than just pushing their way to it). They've also really started to open their eyes (can't see yet apart from just shadows/shapes). We turned the radio on when we realized they could hear, and now we've expanded their puppy area to twice what it was so that they have more space to run/walk/play. They have also started acknowledging each other more and have started early play ie. head butting each other with their mouths open. They try to eat each other ;-). They also growl, "have dreams" and bark in their sleep. As it's been cold out, the heat lamp is still on, but the pups definitely prefer the cooler tiles, and so it's nice that half of the pen is heated with the lamps, the other not.
We just finished our 2nd photo shoot with photos of everyone going into the gallery very shortly. They're starting to look like "egg heads", so next week they should start looking more like newfs again ;-).
Week 0-1
The first week is more of a haze than a reality to us at the moment. The whelping kept us up for nearly a day, and the first seven days consisted of the puppies drinking from Ariel for 2 hours, followed by an hour's break when we would take care of Ariel (feeding, drinking, taking out, making sure she slept well), the upstairs adults (Ruuti, Vera, Baron and Merita), and ourselves (eat, drink, sleep and shower). Then the puppies would drink again for the next two hours, followed by an hour's break etc. Having this schedule for five days straight can really mess up ones concept of time (What day is it? Is it day or night?). Luckily Annina came to help when the puppies were 2 days old, but since there really needed to be two people feeding every time with such a large litter, it didn't really add much hours to "sleep time". Bettina came at 5 days which helped with the "man power", allowing us to finally sleep more than 1 hour at a time. Day six-seven we started supplementing the puppies with a premade puppymilk formula as it was starting to look like Ariel wasn't producing quite enough for everyone. From seeing how much weight the "full" puppies gained from just Ariel's milk, we estimated that everyone drinks 30ml's per session. That totals up to Ariel needing to produce 2,4 litres a day for a litter of 12 puppies! The feeding sessions consist of the puppies first drinking from Ariel and then getting a top-up from the bottle. Usually the first 6 will refuse the bottle totally, the next 3 will drink only a little from it and the final 3 drink most of the 120ml's they drink a session. We do alternate the pups so that everyone gets a chance to be the first ones at Ariel's teats ie. rotate who'll drink from the bottle. This seems to work well and now the feeding interval is 2 hours with the puppies drinking for an hour every session. The puppies are gaining weight well. We try to weigh them every other session just so that we know if we need to keep an eye on someone (ie feed them first the next session) and it does help us remember who's already drank that session ;-).
For the first 6 days the pups were divided into two separate sides (to help us remember who'd had a drink and to make sure if one was moving, it wouldn't wake up EVERYONE else ;-) ). Now we've taken the board away and everyone's together. I think by the end of the week we'll need to have extended their area again because they're already moving a lot. By 2,5 to 3 weeks they'll have moved upstairs into our living room, and that's when they'll get to meet our other adults too.
Ariel is doing well here. She is our co-owned girl but she definitely is a part of our family. One very good example of it is that if she hears our neighbourgh's dogs bark, she'll respond to it when she's with the pups, but if she hears our other newfs bark and/or respond to our neighbour's dogs, she'll stay calm and relaxed and won't say a word. She knows that our other adults will take care of her. She is also sleeping upstairs now with the other dogs, and enjoying our "normal" family life.
The whelping
The first phase of whelping started Saturday night when Ariel became a little restless, but still slept well throughout the night. She started the opening phase Sunday morning when she became slightly more restless and started having small preparatory contractions. Her water broke 23.20PM on Sunday. The first puppy was born at 01.09, Mr Green. The weight range was between 470-680 grams.
The order of the pups
01.09AM - Mr. Green
1.13AM - Mr. Blue
1.42AM - Mr. Orange
2.05AM - Mr. Red
2.29AM - Miss Pink
2.51AM - Mr. Light Blue
6.56AM - Miss Beige
8.02AM - Miss Brown
9.36AM - Miss Yellow
11.35AM - Mr. Purple
13.01PM - Mr. Black
14.00PM - Mr. No Collar
Even though the opening phase was long, the whelping itself was a fairly compact time period and Ariel delived everyone with ease. All the puppies were born in top shape with the amniotic sac intact and placentas following. All the puppies knew how to head for the teats without really needing to show them what to do there. It was like from a text book. We called the vet to come for a general check-up later that afternoon after Mr 11 had been born as it seemed like Ariel had finished (ate a huge meal and totally relaxed). To our surprise Ariel had Mr 12 an hour later. The vet came late in the afternoon, gave her an oxytocin shot (to help with milk let down and start to contract the uterus), checked Ariel's uterus with a portable ultrasound (every perfect, no placentas or fluid remaining post whelping) and just do a general check up on the pups and Ariel (all's perfect).
When we had the ultrasound to get an estimate of how many puppies were going to be coming, the careful estimate had been around 8 but with a comment "they are too big to get a completely accurate estimate" as we had done the ultrasound later than we usually do. we had prepared the puppy room and had 11 trixie collars ready for the puppies so we would know who is who. When Miss Yellow was born, Markus told Virva-Riitta "we only have two left...". After Mr Purple, a worried comment of "just one more" followed by "there's no more collars!" after Mr. Black. Luckily Ariel "only" had 12 puppies, her own football team with even a spare man on the bench.
Ariel and her newborn litter
A little about the sire:
AM CH, WRD3, CGC, RN Hurricane Keep My Dreams Afloat "Buoy" (b. 10.06.2009)
(AM CH, WD, CGC Keepsakes Afloat on Midnight Bay - Homeport Hurricane Grace)
HD: Excellent, ED: normal, heart healthy (cardiologist), cystinuria free
We met Buoy at our 2013 Kansas, USA waterwork camp, where we were able to get a thorough hands-on view of his structure, temperament and working abilities. Seeing him on the shore approach us, we were immediately looking forward to working with this dog.
He is the definition for the word "balanced". Structurally he is very
well proportioned, strong boned and not overexaggerated in any way. Temperamentally he is
very gentle, but still an active, steady, very responsive worker, with an enthusiasm for water and working. We
were impressed by his swimming style, stamina and tenacity in the
water; whatever the task he started, he would work through it without
rushing, and finish the task with brilliance. We were impressed by him. He's the kind of dog you would like to take home and
continue working with him. Fortunately for us, his health and pedigree
also met our criteria, and we were able to go ahead with the planning
for our 2014-15 litter for Ariel.
Buoy is an American show Champion, he has achieved the Water Dog (junior title), Water Rescue Dog (senior title) three times, a Rally Newf title and a Canine Good Citizen award.
Buoy is an American show Champion, he has achieved the Water Dog (junior title), Water Rescue Dog (senior title) three times, a Rally Newf title and a Canine Good Citizen award.
A little about the dam:
EE J CH Kivisilmän Salapoliisi "Ariel" (b. 08.07.2012)
(Oukaya Forever Regliss Mint Panda - LUX, EE CH Kivisilmän Monitoimikone)
HD: C/D, ED: 0/0, heart healthy (cardiologist doppler)
Ariel - she is something extraordinary. She was born as a singleton to our Ruuti and a 12 year-old sire, Panda. Ariel was introduced to lake water at 5 weeks, went to her first waterwork trainings at 8 weeks. She then had long winter break with a couple of introductory swimming sessions at an indoor dog pool. When she emerged from winter hibernation, she was Ready: Ariel participated in her first waterwork trail June 2013 (49/50p). She trained over the summer everything but the test exercises, and passed to compete in the open class by the end of the summer. She is like a rocket in the water; water is her life: One of the silliest issues in the trainings has been to train her to come to shore! Whenever anyone asks for training advice from her owners, they always say the same "she is like a sponge, she "knows" it even before they start training, and when they do, she doesn't need to be shown more than once before she knows it fully". By the end of the summer, Ariel was already jumping out of a boat to take an oar to a drowner, tow it to the boat, get a floating article, take it to another drowner, tow to boat, and tow them all to the shore - all this with only verbal guidance. Ariel has also done blood trials tracking with her owners. During summer 2014 Ariel competed and passed the Estonian water test level 1 and has been working towards the open class in waterwork. She knows the exercises and much more, so it's just a question of "when" she'll progress into the winners class. Ariel also participated at a "bear test", where she got a special mention for mental stability and excellent quick return to normal state after being exposed to something "scary" and novel (the "bear"). Ariel is co-owned, but we've had the priviledge to live with her and train with her, and get know her just as our own.
Ariel hasn't been shown much, but despite that, she earned the Estonian Junior Champion title in just two show weekends in 2013.
Kivisilmän Y - litter |
AM CH, WRD3, CGC, RN Hurricane Keep My Dreams Afloat "Buoy" HD: Excellent, ED: normal heart healthy cystinuria free colour: BBSS |
AM CH, WD, CGC Keepsakes Afloat on Midnight Bay HD: good, ED: normal, heart normal (cardiologist) |
AM CH, ROM Midnite Bays Smart Asset HD: fair, ED: normal, Heart normal (cardiologist) |
| AM CH, ROM Midnite Bays Cover Your Assets HD good, ED normal | |||
| Homeport Hurricane Grace HD: good, ED: normal, heart normal (cardiologist) |
AM CH Pouch Coves Run N' Mate, HD good, ED noral, heart normal (cardiologist) | ||
| Homeport Voyager | |||
Kivisilmän Salapoliisi "Ariel" DOB: 08.07.2012 HD: C/D, ED: 0/0 heart healthy colour: BbSs |
Oukaya Forever Regliss Mint Panda HD A/A, ED 0/0, cystinuria clear |
On a Lucky Day de la Fee des Eaux HD A/A |
|
| Grizzly Maple Tree HD: A/A | |||
| LUX, EE CH Kivisilman Monitoimikone "Ruuti" DOB: 23.11.2008 HD: B/B, ED: 0/0 heart clear (doppler and ECG) cystinuria free |
El Oso Pardo von Baywatch HD: A/A, ED: 0/0, heart clear |
||
| C.I.B., FI, SE CH, EUVV-11 Larinkallion Brysselinblicca "Capri" D/D 0/0 heart: healthy, cyst: free |
Due to Ariel being recessive in both the B and S loci, Buoy has been gene tested to be homozyous dominant in the S locus; ie. due to Ariel carrying both the "brown" and "white&black" genes, to assure that there is no possibility for there to be any brown&white puppies (a colour that is not recognzed by the breed standard) being born, the sire "Buoy" has been gene tested to NOT be a carrier of the "white&black" gene. By pedigree analysis the likelihood of brown puppies being born from this litter is very, very small.
Due to Buoy being cystinuria free, all the puppies that are born from this litter will be cystinuria healthy.
If you are interested to know more about our this litter or our future plans,
please don't hesitate to contact us (bettinasalmelin@hotmail.com).
please don't hesitate to contact us (bettinasalmelin@hotmail.com).
Confident N-puppies outside for the first time (and experiencing their first snow!)
(c) Salmelin