happy birthday ...

... to the Persikka litter who are 4 years old today!

What a gorgeous bunch they are now at 4 years - and what a gorgeous bunch they were at 4 weeks.

I must confess that I raided some people's Facebook pages for some of these photos and just plain nicked them.  That's right, I'm shameless like that.  Had to be done. 

Persikka Kuura  -  aka Kuura  -  formerly known as Junior

 

Persikka Bo  -  aka Bo  -  formerly known as Budgie

Persikka Sonni  -  aka Buddy  -  formerly known as Kicker

Persikka Tippi  -  aka Tippi  -  formerly known as Honey

Persikka Marja  -  aka Marja  -  formerly known as Marilyn

Persikka Ukko  -  aka Ukko  -  formerly known as Kuusi

Persikka Kasari  -  aka Sisu  -  formerly known as Vee

happy birthday...

... to the beautiful Persikka puppies who are 3 years old today.  Here's how they looked at 3 weeks. 

If their owners are tuning in, they should feel free to send me a recent photo.  Just sayin.

Kuura - who was Elias Jr

Bo - who was Budgie

Sonni aka Buddy - who was Kicker

Tippi - who was Honey

Marja - who was Marilyn

Ukko - who was Kuusi

Kasari aka Sisu - who was Vee

we are having puppies

Eventually, with a little homeopathic assistance, Tuuli came into season.  I wanted to take as few chances as possible with getting a successful mating, so I wanted to know the very best days for making the attempt.  With a view to finding that out, I had her progesterone tested.  For those who don't know, this involves the vet drawing a blood sample which is sent off to a lab and the amount of progesterone in the blood is measured.  The progesterone level increases throughout the season until after ovulation when it gradually decreases again.  By using this method we can determine the day of ovulation and thereby calculate the best days for getting a successful mating.  And by 'successful' I mean not only accomplishing the deed, but actually getting some puppies as a result.

Armed with that knowledge, I picked up an eager Taito.  As his family, Emma & co, were away, Jane very kindly agreed to assist me with the mechanics.  Two very sore backs later (the humans, not the dogs), we had one success.

I always prefer two matings on successive days as I believe it is likely to increase the possibility of having a good-sized litter.  However, my back was not up to the job of a second attempt and so I had to content myself with one mating at exactly the right time.

A month of waiting and then the fateful day when Tuuli had an ultrasound scan and we found out that she is indeed in whelp.  Big cheers all around!  The radiographer saw only 4 puppies with a possible 5th, so this could be my smallest litter to date.  This is the very reason I don't like to keep too many people on my waiting list at one time - the inevitable messages that with such a small litter there will be some disappointed people who will now have to wait for the next time.

In the meantime, we are now on belly watch, and Tuuli is already starting to fill out.

 Standing

Sitting

Lying (and punching her front paws)

In the meantime, Taito is a bit knackered but quite smug and very handsome.

 Photo: Blake Bower

And while I was popping in and out with Taito, I grabbed a quick pic of his little brother, Buddy (Infindigo Persikka Sonni).

Buddy's visit

The one puppy from Keksi's litter that we hadn't seen since he left us was Buddy (Infindigo Persikka Sonni). A couple of weeks ago he came to visit for a few days and we had fun getting reacquainted with him. He seemed to have a pretty good time, too.







Being a good boy in the house

















Running in the woods with granny Neka (left)



















Doing a bit of fishing












I was hoping he would get to see his brother Ukko and possibly sister Marja while he was here, but the timing didn't work out that way. Here he is having a game with his uncle Taito instead, who for games is the next best thing to sibling puppies.




















In our house, with so many dogs, the play has to be slightly more restrained. But there was plenty of it.