milestone

What's so funny???

Happy 10th birthday to the puppy blog!

And, of course, that means it's also happy 10th birthday to the Monta puppies who were the inspiration for starting the blog in the first place.  There were 9 of them - still the biggest litter of Finnish Lapphunds born in the UK to date - and we had several weeks of very hard, noisy work ahead of us.

All of Monta puppies - the Devon Nine!

Their mum, my beloved Neka, popped them out unbelievably quickly... except for the last two, who arrived after I had gone for a much-needed shower after being up all night with the mama and babies.  With so many of them - almost twice as many as my first litter the year before - we had to dash out and buy two of everything.  There was another indoor pen, another outdoor pen, several more vet beds for the whelping box, and more food.  Lots more food.

Then there were the towels.  Many of our good, human-grade towels went to the Monta puppies because as I recall, it rained every single day of the 7 or 8 weeks they were with us.  No sooner would we put them into the outdoor pen to quickly clean the indoor pen when the sky would open up again and drench all nine of them.  To say that we were quickly exhausted doesn't even begin to cover it.

Viivi & Inko - soaking wet AGAIN

We had our ups and we had our downs with the Devon Nine, and, boy, did I learn a lot.

So, happy birthday to my blog that has given me so much pleasure for 10 years and an irreplaceable record of 11 of the 12 litters born here.  And wishing the very happiest of birthdays to the Monta puppies who grew into 9 of the noisiest, most beautiful and sweetest natured Finnish Lapphund dogs you could ever hope to meet.  Special then and special now.

Here are some of my favorite photos of each one of them at various ages.  In some cases, they are some of my only photos.  If anyone has some great updated pics to share with me, please feel free and I'll happily update this page.

Infindigo Monta Jaana - Sybi

Sybi 7 weeks - photo by Joanna Bradshaw

Sybi with a "few" toys - age 9

Infindigo Monta Tarmo - Tarmo

Tarmo 6 weeks

Tarmo 5 years

Infindigo Monta Maija - Maija 

Baby Maija with Lenny

Maija 10 Years

Infindigo Monta Viivi - Viivi

Viivi 12 weeks with big bro Jaska

Viivi age 9

Infindigo Monta Tarkka - Tarkka

Tarkka 8 weeks - photo Joanne Bradshaw

Tarkka 9 years - photo Joanne Bradshaw

Infindigo Monta Aurinko - Inko  

Sand baby 9 weeks

Inko 9 years

We have lost some of the Monta puppies - taken far too early.  So we are remembering them today at the rainbow bridge.  Gone from us but never forgotten.

Infindigo Monta Jaska - Jaska

Jaska 7 weeks

Jaska 1 year

Infindigo Monta Sulo - Kaija

Kaija 7 weeks

Kaija 2010

Infindigo Monta Rauhan - Rauhan

Rauhan 7 weeks - photo Joanne Bradshaw

Rauhan handsome showdog

happy birthday to the mailat puppies

My blog has been sadly neglected for far too long, but as Wimbledon season rolls around, the Mailat puppies come up to their first birthday.  They were born during the men's semi-final matches and thereby earned their baby names of the top male and female tennis players of the time and they will hit one-year-old during the men's final today ....just in case you understand Finnish and recognised the word "mailat" and were wondering why they are called tennis racquets....

Here are the little tennis racquets at one year old.  I have an unpublished half-finished blog showing these puppies going off to their new homes with comparison photos at about 14 weeks old.  However, as I didn't manage to find my way clear to finishing and posting that one, you can have those too for a nice little comparison of 2 months, almost-4 months and 12 months old.

The first puppy out the door back then was Loki, which was fitting considering he was going only 20 minutes up the road, but I'm posting in birth order, as I normally do, so first up is Siinto who was already 11 weeks old before he left because his new owners, Michaela & Chris, had one or two things to do before picking him up.  Like getting married for one.  And like moving house for another.  You can see he was already considerably bigger and more bear-like.

Infindigo Mailat Siinto

Pet name Siinto

Laughing boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infindigo Mailat Koru

Pet name Koru

Koru heading off to Scotland with the Sheas at 8 weeks, growing up and then followed by one year old - he hasn't actually changed a bit!  A wee bit bigger, perhaps...

Another pup having fun at the beach

Ears up!  ... but not for long :-)

Just under 1 year old - a fine handsome Scottish dog

Quite the poser

Infindigo Mailat Loki

Pet name Loki

Loki getting ready to run up the road to Exeter with Heather & Ethan then a couple of rare moments of stillness and a not-so-rare moment of silliness.

A bit less wiggly at 14 weeks practicing his show stand

Visiting at just under one year - good as gold

Goofy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infindigo Mailat Ulla

Pet name Ulla

Ulla on her way down the road to Plymouth with Tom & Leisha then being cute.

Gorgeous smiley girl

Up to no good with the garden hose

Just under one year old in the bluebells

Looking innocent as can be - another puppy who has lost a coat

Infindigo Mailat Jaakkoppi

Pet name Jake

Jake heading off to his new home in Bristol with two of the four O'Sullivans and then a growing up boy.

Having fun getting mucky at the beach

A couple of hours later at the pub - miraculously clean!

Smiley boy at 12 months

Losing his puppy coat already

eyes

And the winner of the poll is.....

LIILA!

I know!  I'm as shocked as you are.  Frankly, she was the last one I would have expected to be the last one at anything.  She's so big and strong and advanced in other ways.  She reminds me very much of her granny Keksi when she was a tiny puppy and ruling the whelping box with an iron paw. 

But as of last night Liila has STILL not opened her eyes.  She's in no rush, obviously.  I guess, like her granny, she will be a chilled soul with her own laidback agenda.  For her future owners' sakes we can hope that is true. 

As proof, here are the photos taken a few days ago when the first wave started to see the world.

Kukka

Tan was one of the first to open his eyes

Liila

Tomorrow I hope to get the 2-week photos up.  Don't hold me to that, though...

walking... kinda

The puppies progress very quickly over their first week of life from a laboured crawl to an amusingly speedy crawl as if their bellies were greased.  Around day 10 or so, as the eyes are opening, the first puppy lurches uncertainly to its feet and attempts to take a few steps.  Cute as cute can be.

Fiia was the first to open her eyes at 9 days old, and Tito was the last at 11 days.  The rest opened their eyes at 10 days.

But when it comes to walking, Mini left everyone else behind. While they were still just teetering uncertainly before toppling over, she was very solid on her feet at only 10 days old. I think it's the youngest any of my puppies has ever walked. And the last to walk?  Well, I don't think I've seen Tito heave himself off his belly yet. 

Not to be left behind, Fiia shows she can do this walking thing too.



As as if that wasn't enough cuteness for a Wednesday morning, how about this very first game I caught on film.  Sox taking swipes at Tuulen and grabbing him by the leg.

milestone

The puppies are just about to reach the first milestone of their young lives.  Once they hit the one-week mark they are pretty much out of the woods in terms of the mysterious, often fatal, conditions that new puppies can develop.  I can relax a little bit more now knowing that not only are they all eating well and growing as they should, but that Tuuli is less likely to plunk herself down on top of one and smother him.

Were you wondering why I don't get much sleep during the first week?  One reason is the frequent wail of a puppy at the receiving end of mum's big rear end when she doesn't look where she's sitting.  This is a bigger problem for the first couple of days when mum is particularly tired and careless and, as in Tuuli's case, inexperienced.  With her litter of 9, Neka became remarkably adept at lying down while simultaneously scooping the whole litter into her belly and not squishing anyone.  Now that they are bigger and stronger, the Pippuri puppies can usually wriggle their way out before they are completely squashed.

The primary and loudest cause of puppy vocal complaint is when someone finds themselves on the wrong side of the body from the milk bar.  Woe is the puppy who is lost in the hinterland behind mum's back when she lies down to nurse the family.  The puppies can motor around the box surprisingly quickly, but asking them to navigate all the way around to the other side of a reclining mum is expecting a bit much, apparently. 

So in addition to Tuuli's frequent loo trips, there are many instances through the night for the first week when the humans come rocketing up out of bed to the sound of a puppy in dire distress.  By day 4 or 5 you're on your feet and halfway to the puppy room before you are even awake.

By day 7 the puppies in distress are pretty much on their own as it takes a truly life-or-death situation to actually wake you up.

If you would like a few more day-to-day photos of the puppies, you can join us on Instagram (@infindigo_jennifer) or Twitter (@infindigo).  If you are not so inclined, here are a few examples of what's been going on over there during the puppies' first week.

Brand new babies  -  Gentle new mum with Socks

Tiny new Tuulen  -  Tiny new Tito

Tiny new Mini  -  Clever Tuuli making a comfy pillow

2 weeks weights

By the time the puppies are 2 weeks old I stop worrying and start working. They are getting mobile, they can see and hear, they can wee by themselves and make for the newspaper to do their business. They can even poo by themselves now, although mum does still take care of that job, thankfully. The puppies are turning into little dogs instead of tiny vulnerable things.

And, of course, by the time they are 2 weeks old, they are getting big. Some of them are too big to hold in one hand anymore if they have a mind to do a bit of squirming. And they are usually getting to the squirming stage by now too, so 2 handed lifts are the order of the day.

You can see their relative sizes when they are gathered around for a snack at the milk bar.

After all, mum is still best as far as they puppies are concerned. And although they are learning to eat solid food now, they consume very little before Keksi hops in to clean up the spills while the puppies top up.

So to the weekly weight report - here are the puppies' relative weights by number and also by picture - click the images for a bigger version that's easier to read. Or maybe that's just me.

And because I find these things fascinating in a nerdy sort of way, I also run a comparison of average weight per litter. Does this information hold any intrinsic value? Well, actually, no. It means pretty much nothing, but I find it interesting. I did say nerd.

And, so you can see the comparative average weight of each litter except the first one whose numbers I unfortunately lost in the great hard drive explosion of 2008. And at that time I could only weigh them up to 1 kilo anyway. These days I have better postage scales that go a little over 2 kilos. Handy!

Does it mean anything that the last litter, the Tuisku puppies, were on average heavier than the other? Well, it does mean something – it means that Usko (who was known as Dino for his dinosaur-like proportions as an infant) was more or less twice as big as any other puppy I've ever had. And his weight skewed the results a tad. But that's all it means, really.