puppy news

Well well well, whaddeya know - there is puppy news in the air.  I've been feeling puppy broody for a long time now, so it's very exciting to be looking forward to welcoming puppies from Tuuli and the handsome Arvo before Halloween arrives.

Tuuli and I had a very quick visit to the Netherlands to meet Arvo and his lovely family.  We had a great, if brief, visit and I'm already looking forward to going back someday.  The coffee cannot possibly be better (thanks Ron!), but hopefully the weather, at least, will be as good as it was while I was there.  And the pretty photo above is thanks to Mel.

You can see more photos of Arvo on my website.

See you in a few weeks!

mama & baby time

Tomorrow the puppies turn 4 weeks so it will be time for the weekly portraits, weighing, nail cutting and brushing.  In the meantime, here are the puppies enjoying their mum.

growing

It's been hectic as all get-out here, and I'm on my own (apart from the 8 dogs of various sizes, that is) so the blog has been suffering from a bit of neglect.  Apologies for that.

Here's what's been happening while we've been away.

Getting crowded at the milk bar

Standing room only

Getting cute

More getting cute

Starting to play with toys

Toys also make good pillows

Playtime with Mama

More play with Mama

As well as struggling to keep up with the blog, I have also been struggling to get the puppies to eat the porridge I usually start to wean them on.  They just haven't been that interested.  Particularly Liila, who turned her nose up at it every time.  Today I hit upon a winning formula - Burns puppy kibble soaked in warm goat's milk and mashed up.  Everyone approved of that.  Later today they will have their first taste of scrambled eggs and tomorrow they will have their first raw food, and I anticipate all of that going down well. 

I'll try to keep you up-to-date, but if you want at least one photo daily, you can follow me on Instagram (@infindigo_jennifer) where I try to post at least one photo or little video a day.  It's much quicker and easier than the blog, obviously.  If you're not on Instagram, then you can still see what's going on here:  http://instagram.com/infindigo_jennifer

scrum

The puppies are getting big and this morning Tuuli sat up to feed them.  I would have to go back and check earlier blog posts to be sure, but I don't think this usually happens so early.  But these puppies are so big already.

So you can see just how strong and mobile four-day-old puppies can be, I took a little video at breakfast time.  You get to see the scrum as everyone finds a good spot and hear all the squawks of complaint when someone gets shoved, stepped on or otherwise inconvenienced.





And in case you needed an extra bit of cuteness, here is Ensi having a stretch yesterday afternoon.

Ensi doing the puppy stretch

And now I'm off for my annual new year Lappy walk on Dartmoor. 

to be blue ...

... or not to be blue, that is the question.

And the answer is:  not to be blue, in this instance.

That's not to say that I have given up on the non-brown puppy being a strange, dilute colour.  On the contrary I am now leaning toward thinking she is actually lilac - a colour even rarer than blue.  Dog genetics is complicated, but the Dog Coat Colour Genetics website has some very user-friendly information that doesn't make even me glaze over when they start on the locus and allele stuff.

In the simplest terms, blue occurs when a genetically black dog has a gene that dilutes the colour.  Looking at genetically blue Lapphunds, like the second one on this page, I can see that my puppy is not that slate-grey colour.  In fact, I originally described her as the colour of a Weimaraner - and they are not actually blue, but lilac.  Lilac occurs when the blue dilution gene is present in a brown dog.  And I am now thinking that's what I have.

Frankly it doesn't really matter what colour I think she is, or even what colour she actually is, because although blue and lilac are recognised colours for Finnish Lapphunds in Scandanavia, they are not on the list of UK Kennel Club recognised colours for our breed.  Whatever colour my girl is genetically speaking, she will be registered as brown or brown & tan or brown, tan & white, depending on how her colour develops.  Interestingly, "red" is an acceptable colour for us to use, when in fact "red" Finnish Lapphunds are actually genetically brown or sable.  The Kennel Club - defying logic since 1873.

Anyway, I did say it was complicated, didn't I?  Let us not descend too far into the murky waters of dog coat colour genetics - I would never find my way back out!  So, back to lilac.

Here is a cute row of fat, suckling puppies from their second morning in the world.

You may be wondering why I am so determined that this puppy is not just brown.  Well, the reason is that I have seen a more-than-middling number of brown Lappy puppies in my time, and in every single case, the colour was nothing like this puppy, who has no red in her shade whatsoever. 

Perhaps comparing Kuura's brown mum with his "brown" daughter, you can see why I am determined that she is not brown.  Kuura's mum is one of these puppies on their first day in the world  As you can see, they are very clearly brown, no doubt about it.

Granted, my "brown" Lappies have a great deal of red in the shade.  So I went on the hunt for a photo of a Lappy whose brown is a cooler, less red shade.  One dog springs to mind, TabanyaRuu Impi, who is a rich, dark brown that is rather cooler than the Infindigo reds.   Standing by to see a photo of her as a small puppy.

Perhaps you think that based on all this, I should be more adamant that she is lilac.  But I would expect a lilac puppy to be more silvery, so that is stopping me.  The lilac puppies on this page ("siniparkit") are unmistakable.  But when you look at the older puppies on that page and the adult lilac Finnish Lapphunds at the bottom of this page it's not so clear-cut. 

So I'm just going to see how her colour develops as she grows.  Is there a way to determine absolutely one way or the other whether she is lilac?  Nope.  With blue, the adult dog will always have a blue nose, so that's easy.  But with lilac, the nose connection doesn't work the same way.  Right now her nose is kind of pink, which suggests lilac.  However, 2 of the black boys also have pink noses inherited from their dad, so that doesn't work.  It's worth mentioning, however, that theirs is a pink stripe like Kuura's and hers is not.  At this point I would just like to predict that these two boys will have fabulous snow noses when they grow up!

And here is the contented mum and brood this morning.

beach & woods

Around about this time every year a bunch of southwest Lappy nuts meet up for a beach walk.  Some years the weather is wet and miserable and typically November-ish.  Other years it's freakishly warm (like the year it was 17C).  This year it was chilly but sunny - perfect.

Whatever the weather, the Lappies always have a really fabulous time, sleep like logs that evening, and the people are vacuuming up sand for days after.

It's usually a great opportunity for me to get some family photos, and this year was particularly good as there were a couple of sets of siblings present who are not often in the same place at the same time. 

Thanks to Emily for taking this photo of Neka with a selection of her kids.

L-R: sisters Kaija & Maija from litter 2, Neka, Taika from Neka's first litter

Taika (middle) with her kids Usko (left) & Minna (right)

Tuuli (middle) with her kids Talvi (left) & Kaito (right) - & the beautiful view behind us!

And a few close-ups.

Siblings Talvi & Kaito

Kaito was a bit excited to see us

Somehow I managed not to get photos of Emmi & Jaana, who I am lucky enough to get to see more often.  But a couple of weeks ago there was a walk in the woods and an opportunity for pictures of Emmi with her mum and half-brother, and we got some great shots.

L-R 3 generations: Neka, her daughter Keksi & Keksi's daughter Emmi

Middle: Neka & Keksi with Keksi's kids, half-siblings Kuura (left) & Emmi (right)

The whole gang L-R: Jaana, Neka, Tuuli, Emmi, Keksi, Kuura (Photo: Jane Treasure)

wham, bam, thank you sir

We had an eventful weekend around here.  Not only was there Halloween and Tuuli's 3rd birthday within 2 days of each other, but we also had a visitor in the form of Kuura who arrived on Thursday night in the hope of performing studly duties on the waiting Tuuli at some point over the next few days.

It was pretty late on Thursday when we arrived and all the other dogs were in bed so I took Kuura for a little walk and then put him to bed too.  After a few minutes of woofing and whining didn't elicit the hoped-for response from us, he happily went to sleep.  The following morning I took everyone out for a walk two-by-two, finishing by putting Keskiyo in the car out of the way and taking Tuuli last.  Then we came back and I let them all loose to have a play and hopefully for Kuura and Tuuli to start getting interested in each other.

I left Tuuli and Kuura saying hello at the front door and I must admit that the next thing on my agenda was a coffee.  Kuura had other ideas, though, because by the time I got to the kitchen door he had accomplished the task he was brought in for, they were tied and Tuuli was screeching in indignation that she was stuck to him.

You  might think that my house must be positively palatial in order to afford enough time to achieve a mating while I stroll from room to room.  However nothing could be further from the truth.  The fact is that it took all of 20 seconds from "hello, how are you" to "way-hey, job done".   So coffee had to wait for the 12 minutes or so that they were tied.

My experience of dog mating is restricted to the 6 litters of Lapphunds I have had, plus using a couple of dogs at stud with other bitches, plus two failed attempts, one of which was the unsuccessful artificial insemination of Emmi a few months ago and the other my very first attempted mating Neka more than 8 years ago.  So I don't exactly have years and years of experience, as such, but I do have a bit.  And in all those 9 attempted natural matings (usually more than once or twice), I have never - I mean, never - had it all happen so quickly, so easily, with so little fuss and bother and without wearing out my own knees and back in the process.  Not to mention having to get far more intimately acquainted with the dogs than I would prefer. 

And in case I was tempted to think that it was just dumb luck and good timing, the next morning he did the same thing again.  This time it took all of, oh, about 30 seconds instead of 20.  Wham, bam, indeed.  And thank you very much Kuura.  I am mightily impressed with his skills!

 In 5 weeks or so we will find out if he is as productive as he is efficient, and we hope to be looking forward to new year's day puppies, give or take 24 hours.

Handsome Kuura hanging out in the garden during his visit.

And rolling around barking like a fool after his performance, utterly pleased with himself.  Fair enough, I guess - I'm pretty pleased with him too.

Pretty boy with a rainbow
















And if you're wondering whether there are any photos of the happy couple together, frankly there simply was no time.  I didn't dare let them spend any extra time together, otherwise who knows how many puppies we might end up with.

But here is Tuuli enjoying one of her favorite walks (top) and on her 3rd birthday on her favorite tree stump (bottom).

waiting, hoping & more waiting

Tuuli watching the blackbirds feeding their babies

You may or may not be aware that we've been getting mighty broody for puppies around here for the last few months.  And you may or may not have seen on my website that we are planning to have some puppies this summer.

I say 'planning' because that's all you can ever do with dogs.  You hope they will come into season on time.  Then you hope the male is fit and man (dog) enough for the job.  Then you hope you get at least 1 good mating.  Preferably 2, but 1 will do when you're living on hope.  Then you hope that the mating works and the bitch gets pregnant.  Then you hope for healthy puppies, all born easily and alive.  And more than, say, one.  Or two.  In fact, you hope for at least enough of them to fulfil the additional hopes of all those families patiently waiting for their puppy to be born.

In the meantime, Tuuli carries on her normal daily routine of playing, eating, walking, running, more playing and more eating, completely oblivious to all these hopes pinned onto her tail.  And completely oblivious to the fact that her season is now officially LATE.

Now I don't want to alarm anyone, but it is not unheard of for a bitch to have irregular seasons.  In fact, it's not unheard of for a bitch to have only 1 season a year instead of the expected 2.  I've warned Tuuli that if she plans to be one of those once-a-year kinda girls, then she can go back to Sweden where she came from.  Just kidding!  You didn't believe that, did you?  No?  She didn't either.

And so we wait.

And the great irony is that she is now not allowed to start her season for at least 2 days.  You see, I'm going away for a mini-break with a good friend and Tuuli simply cannot be in her fertile period while I am away.  So although she is now acting suspiciously subdued, and although Keskiyo is showing a bit of non-brotherly interest in her, and although we really, really want her to be a 2-seasons-a-year girl, we now hope that she will wait just a few days before starting her season. 

Snoozing in her makeshift den with her duck

Cuddle time

In her favorite spot with Maija behind in her favorite spot

After a run in the long, damp grass.

No wonder all the dogs have hayfever!

Tuuli playing in her favorite river & taking a little swim

Tuuli on the table

In the general clear-up after the puppies left, the grooming table was leaving the house en route to its regular home in the garage.  Before it departed, I quickly set it up and popped Tuuli up there for her first proper brushing.  She has had occasional gentle introductions to the brush while dozing on the sofa, but had never yet been on the table or had an all-over brush and combing.  Her fur is starting to grow now, and it's about 1.5-2 inches long all over, so brushing her is not exactly onerous yet.

As you can see, she was perfectly content up on the table with no sign of nerves at all.  In fact, I would go so far as to say she actually enjoyed it.  When the time came to do her belly, she was most accommodating, which is more than can be said for the other dogs in this house normally.

When she was finished I noticed Neka queuing up for her turn.  Before I had the opportunity to lift her onto the table, though, Keksiyo quickly hopped up via the sofa.  Dogs love the pampering and one-on-one time that goes with grooming and squabble over who gets to go first.

As you can see, Keksiyo is looking pretty raggedy at the moment, as he's coming to the end of a major moult.  He needed serious grooming, so after quickly grabbing this snap, we moved the table outdoors so that I could brush an entire dog-sized pile of fur out of him.  It doesn't seem possible, but today I could easily brush that much out again.

chew chew

Puppies chew.  And bite.  But mainly chew.  This is a difficult stage for people to survive with their new puppies - especially the young human members of the family.  They don't know how to avoid getting bitten, and those tiny teeth are like razors.  But bite and chew the little dogs must - they are learning about how to (and how not to) use their mouths, they are strengthening their jaws (a necessary activity for a dog), and they are growing new teeth, so they need something hard to chew on to relieve the pressure and pain.

Razor teeth?  These puppies?

Or these?














YES!


I always advise people to have lots of different kinds of toys.  First of all, have a few soft stuffed toys lying around - when an over-enthusiastic puppy clamps teeth on a young (or older) hand, a soft toy stuffed into the puppy's mouth accomplishes two different useful things: stops the child getting bitten while at the same time it teaches the puppy what he is allowed to chew on without hurting him the way it would if a hard toy was jammed in there.

Then there are the actual chew toys - harder items for serious chewing.  Have lots of different ones and swap them daily so that the puppy doesn't get bored with them.  There are literally hundreds - possibly thousands - of different products on the market for this purpose.  Some of them provide food as well as a good chew, like tripe sticks, bull's pizzle or stuffed Kongs.  They don't last long.  Others are food-like and although longer lasting, will also disappear relatively rapidly without actually providing much in the way of food, like rawhide, pig's ears or hooves (hollow ones with no stuffing)*.  Then there are the tough chews that have no food value.  The benefit is that they last longer, the drawback is that the dog is less enamoured of non-food items.  Some examples are Nylabones or hard rubber or plastic toys like empty Kongs.

One long-lasting non-food item that is more satisfying than the rest are antlers, which most dogs seem to be very keen on in spite of the fact that they have no food value.  While they were here, all the puppies enjoyed the antlers and would steal them from each other as a great prize.  Then Tuuli would jump in and take them away altogether.  Very popular, antlers.  As with all things, I hear that there are good quality antlers and poor quality ones that splinter when chewed.  Buy Stagbar antlers direct from Pure Dog for top quality.  I've never had a problem with them.  Lappies need size large or bigger.  Yes, they pretty expensive as far as dog chews go, but believe me they will last and last.  I still have the stub of one that is more than a year old. 

The best thing to give your dog to chew, in my opinion, is a fresh raw bone from the butcher.  They last a long time, always hold some fascination for the dog, and provide hours of entertainment and exercise.  Yes, that's right, I said exercise.  Enthusiastic chewing is very good exercise for your dog.

Notes:

*  I don't give my dogs rawhide because they are greedy, they love it, they don't take their time with it, and they are in danger of choking on it.  Rawhide softens when chewed rather than breaking off in little bits that are easily swallowed.  Therefore it poses a real choking hazard.  If you have a dog who will take his time, then you might be ok with rawhide. 

*  Supervise your dog carefully with all new chews.  Hooves in particular can be brittle and splinter into dangerous shards.  Once it has been chewed a bit, then it is likely to be safe.

And what is all this chewing in aid of?  In addition to jaw strengthening and exercise, there is the little matter of growing teeth.  Tuuli is losing hers faster than she is growing new ones at the moment.

Gummy puppy with tiny adult teeth at the front, one puppy canine in the top and very little else.

These are the only ones we managed to find.  The rest were swallowed or went up in the hoover.  Or Maija's coat.










One thing I have recommended to people for their teething puppies is frozen carrots.  The bigger the carrot the better.  Very soothing and satisfying for the puppy without much in the way of food value, as it just comes out the other end.  As it thaws, just stick it back in the freezer.

This didn't work with greedy Tuuli, however, who somehow managed to devour a frozen carrot as big as she was.  End of that idea. Maija as a young puppy, on the other hand, enjoyed many hours with frozen carrots.

So what is not a good chew?  The big-name, big-marketed so-called chew toys produced by the McDonalds of dog food.  These are NOT chew toys.  They are treats with a lot of calorific and fat value (without being actually nutritious food, that is).  They are Big Macs.  Or worse - they are McRibs!  They are treats.  Not daily chews and not toys.  Special occasion stuff only.  Included in this list is all the stuff sold not only in pet shops but also in supermarkets.  Dentastix, Jumbones, Bakers Dental sticks, Bonio-type hard biscuits, strangely coloured things (as well as no food value, these will have the added "benefit" of pumping your dog full of hyperactivity-inducing additives, preservatives and chemicals.  Yum yum.) 

Bones are best.  Antlers & bones.  And a few other things for added interest.

beating car sickness

On Saturday the puppies all piled into the back of the car with granny Neka and we made our way across Dartmoor to the vet ophthalmologist to have the puppies' eyes tested.  The tests were all fine (phew!) and so we wended our way the 50 minutes back along the twisty, winding moor road home.

There were many crunchy puppies at the end of it all.

While Neka did a great job of calming the young nerves during their first long drive and was very acommodating when it came to hoovering up any vomit, she didn't bother to clean off the puppies.  It's difficult to ascertain, but I suspect that they were all sick at least once.  And it turns out that Kiittaa (Hopea) is a bit of a drooler too.  Not in the same league as Minna was, but the evidence was there.

So I had the task of cleaning them all off when we got back.  Mind you, I could have saved myself a job because they have got soaked just out in the garden plenty of times since. 

There's no way to combat the sickness these puppies experience during this journey.  The little car visits I undertake during their socialising activities don't really prepare them for a long drive in the back of the car with no one to hold them still.  In older puppies, though, there is a tried and true method to cure the problem.

I always advise new owners to carry their puppies home on their laps rather than in a crate in the back.  There are 2 reasons for this.  One - having the reassuring presence of a human helps calm any travel nerves that can worry a puppy and encourage sickness.  And two - holding the puppy on your lap creates a physical barrier to the puppy getting tossed around too much during the car's movement.  Ok, 3 reasons: it's much easier to clean up the vomit so you don't have to live with it all the way home.

Luckily, you don't have to live with puppy car sickness forever.  The cure, as with so many other puppy ailments and socialising regimes, is to expose the puppy little and often.  So the prescription is many, many short and pleasant car journeys.  Many.  Minna, who still drools during car trips, was temporarily cured when she came to stay with us last year.  There were 2 or 3 10-minute drives everyday as I went back and forth to work.  I dragged her with me everywhere I went just to expose her to lots of short car journeys that she just doesn't get at home.  (Clearly her family are not the slaves to diesel that I am...)  I had an ulterior motive, of course - that drive to Scotland.  And it worked, there was not a drool in sight the entire trip to Glasgow and back.  Until she returned home, that is.  Oh well.

But it does prove the cure.

Here in Devon, the puppies have been preparing to leave home on their big adventures.  Pics tomorrow.  In the meantime, they have been having fun with Neka.

And they have been having fun with Tuuli.

And, in between rain and/or hail showers, they have been having fun in the garden too.

fun in the pen

Tuuli is now 5 months old and just as skinny and bald as ever a 5-month-old Lappy has been.  It's an ugly-duckling age for a Lapphund, but they always grow out of it and into the beautiful swans that they are destined to be.  Luckily.

Here she is having another little game with the puppies.  It's quite endearing how gentle she is with them.

big puppies - little puppies

Tuuli has had another busy week.  Has she been here a month already?  Or perhaps I should say only a month!

She has had several more visits to noisy town and city centres.  We had an unrestful few minutes sitting on a park bench watching a noisy digger do its thing.  We took a stroll through a street market and slowly along next to where the new John Lewis is being very noisily constructed.  All the while there have been many treats from strangers' hands and other dogs to meet too.

She has been to ringcraft a couple more times and her show stand is coming along nicely.  She will just about let the judge look at her teeth now.  Frankly, like her adopted granny Neka, she will do more or less anything for cheese.

She gets brushed regularly and has also had a bath.  Every puppy needs to experience everything you can think of that it might come across during its adult life.  A bath is one of those things, so every puppy should have a quick, gentle bath before the age of 6 months so that when the need eventually arises for a real bath, it won't be a complete bolt from the blue.  Tuuli took it all in her stride, especially compared to Neka, Keskiyo and Maija at the same age who all howled and cried during their first baths.

Next week Tuuli will spend a few hours in our local kennel.  Again, it's a way of introducing her to the idea of staying in the kennel, but she soon finds out that we will always come and get her again.  When she's a little older I'll leave her there overnight.

Kate & Jerome have very generously taken Maija to stay with them for a while so that we can concentrate on one less dog.  Maija loves to stay with them and play with Taika, Minna and her own sister Kaija from next door, so we don't feel too bad shipping her off.  Tuuli misses her ever-ready playmate, though.  She's had a game with Keksi and several with Neka, but the puppies are her favorites, and she plays so gently with them.

A gentle game with Brown Wolf

And another with Toes.

She even bring toys to the puppies to tempt them with.











In this photo you can clearly see her brand new bottom teeth.  She's really teething ferociously now and I expect those tiny pointy canines to come out any day.  I remember finding two of Keskiyo's stuck into my forearm at this age.

The puppies make for entertaining playmates, but Tuuli's favorite place is snuggled up with Keksi.  I worry that she will miss her big brown surrogate mum when Keksi goes home in a week or two.

worms & snails & puppy dog tales

Yes, I know it's supposed to be snakes.  And it's supposed to be about boys.  However, it's appropriate in this instance.

When Tuuli arrived she was enamoured of the grass - I guess it was novel after the frozen winter ground of Sweden.

Just look how small she was only 3 weeks ago!
















She still loves nothing more than a tuft of grass to carry, chew, toss into the air and play with.  Oh, and eat of course.  And if it has a great clot of mud on the end, then so much the better.  But now that the weather has warmed up and everyone has been mowing their lawns, I spend rather a lot of time extracting from her mouth wads of fresh cut grass the size of tennis balls.  How does she fit it all in there?

In addition to grass, she has added worms to her list of desirable prizes.  I suppose there is the element of the first hunt and kill about it, but it's quite disgusting.  I've taken several live worms out of her mouth.  And she swallowed far more than I managed to get from her.

Soon it will be snail season and I've never yet met a Lappy puppy who didn't like crunching up snails.  Eeuw is what I have to say to that.  But they really love them - it must be something about the texture.  That combination of crunchy with a slimy centre is apparently irresistible.  Like Ferrero Rocher for puppies, perhaps.

Don't let your puppy eat snails.

Apart from the ick-factor, snails carry a lungworm parasite that can be life-threatenting to dogs.  And dogs can pick up lungworm even just from snail slime.  So, keep your puppy away from snails.  But I'm warning you now, it can be tough.

Like all worrying things puppy-related, though, it is something they eventually grow out of.

There has been plenty of socialising still going on, of course.  We graduated from town centres to city centre and had a lovely sunny afternoon in Exeter window shopping and getting treats from strangers.

Sitting in Cathedral Green people watching and listening to some excellent close harmony being performed by a bunch of students.

A bit overwhelmed by all the feet going by.

Not too sure about the stairs.  This is the same staircase that flummoxed Neka as a puppy.  But where I eventually had to carry Neka to the top, Tuuli was a bit more brave.  But then again, Tuuli has already negotiated the stairs at home...

It was pretty slow going at times.

Made it!

















At home, she enjoys playing with her new bear, a gift from the Collies down the road.