New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

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MPbandmom
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by MPbandmom »

Beautiful pictures. I can't believe how big the puppies have gotten. I have noticed that samoyed puppies tend to grow up very quickly as well. I might have to take a trip out west some time to meet a couple of hedland huskies who I first saw here.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Puppy Update:

Frazil is going to be a real challenge in his furever home in Minnesota. He'll be joining two other sled dogs on a friend's skijoring and dryland mushing team, so we are trying to help him adapt to indoor life, introduce him to cats, carpets, and all those other things. He does fine when he can roam the house, but he REALLY wanted to sleep with his brothers and sister last night, rather than inside with the humans. That little guy threw a hissy-fit the likes of which I've never seen or heard before. It didn't help that the cats were strutting around in front of his crate egging him on (sigh). His vocal range and volume are remarkable, as is his persistence. He'll clearly need a few more days of "house time" to be comfortable in his crate before flying to his furever home with Francine and Jeff.

Earlier, while walking toward the house from the puppy-pen, I heard loud, aggressive sounding growling from the pen. I turned to look (and disrupt what I thought was a fairly serious puppy fight) to see Glacier with his own tail in his mouth, spinning around as though trying to see which of his siblings dared to grab it. He may not be quite as bright as I thought. It took him a few seconds to figure out he was fighting himself. Of course that's a lesson that some humans never quite sort out.

Aufeis and Hardpack are the socialites of the litter. They are the first to come greet the humans, begging pets and attention even when we aren't carrying a feed pail. Frazil and Hardpack usually aren't far behind them, but usually are behind them nonetheless.

The barrier across the bottom of the gate is officially useless, as all four of them have learned they can clear it with a simple little leap rather than climbing and scrambling. It's safe enough, as I've installed a temporary fence across the front of the dog yard to give them a larger play area. It's jerry-rigged, but it achieves the goal of keeping the little ones safe.

Today Frazil will be joining me while I run my "return to work" errands in town. I need to get my monthly haircut (I have to maintain a conservative and well kept appearance on the job). He has an appointment for a health exam and will get his identification microchip today, in preparation for his flight to Minnesota. Then we will have a couple more stops to make for supplies I'll need while up north.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
MPbandmom
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by MPbandmom »

Swanny1790 wrote:Puppy Update:

Frazil is going to be a real challenge in his furever home in Minnesota. He'll be joining two other sled dogs on a friend's skijoring and dryland mushing team, so we are trying to help him adapt to indoor life, introduce him to cats, carpets, and all those other things. He does fine when he can roam the house, but he REALLY wanted to sleep with his brothers and sister last night, rather than inside with the humans. That little guy threw a hissy-fit the likes of which I've never seen or heard before. It didn't help that the cats were strutting around in front of his crate egging him on (sigh). His vocal range and volume are remarkable, as is his persistence. He'll clearly need a few more days of "house time" to be comfortable in his crate before flying to his furever home with Francine and Jeff.
Poor Frazil, and Swanny, and wife, and cats...... I think we need a sort video of the next hissy fit. I love how expressive husky's can be with their vocalizations. :lol:

I hope Frazil enjoyed his adventure to town today.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Frazil's trip to town on Tuesday was very fun. On the way in he rode on the seat beside Trish and I, snuggled up and fell asleep in short order. Dr. Monetti, the stand in vet, really liked him. He was deemed a very healthy and handsome young lad and the microchip was implanted without so much as a whimper.

It was a relatively warm day, so he rode in one of the dog box compartments of the truck as we went from stop to stop, then back in the cab for the ride home. He romped around the house for an hour or so, and then settled in his crate for a nice nap. Did you catch the last part? He settled in his crate for a nap.

When he awoke his supper was ready to feed. He LIKES his supper. After supper came another hissy-fit, though.

When Trish dropped me off at the airport for my flight to work she stopped by the Alaska Air Cargo office to make final arrangements for Frazil's flight. Damned good thing she did, too. The idiot booking agent who made his reservation had him scheduled for a time when there is no one at the cargo office to accept him. To actually get him on a flight he would have had to be boarded overnight in $eattle. Fortunately, one of our friends has another friend who is flying to Minneapolis on Saturday, and is willing to take Frazil as baggage, take him walkies during the long layover, and all that sort of thing. He'll be flying a day later than originally planned, but it will be a better situation for him.

Of course all those arrangements had to be made by Trish. Much of the hustle and fuss happened while I was enduring my commute. Hey, how many people do you know who commute to and from work in a Dash-8?
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Frazil, now known as Tonrar (an Inuit term meaning "ghost" or "spirit") is settling into his new home. His flight was an hour late, so he was VERY hungry when he arrived. He made short work of his supper and set about meeting and greeting the new humans, dogs and kitties in his life.

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"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
emmabeth
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by emmabeth »

Loving these updates Swanny - hint hint, I think we do need to see some video of the guys you have left!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
MPbandmom
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by MPbandmom »

Good news to hear and soooooo cute.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Here is a nice photo of Griffin (Jumble) and Terra (Nilas) with their father, Phoenix. Posted by Linda Newman of Points Unknown.

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"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
MPbandmom
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by MPbandmom »

What perfect little miniatures of Dad with different coloration. :D
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

I let the puppies out into a larger play yard today, with a new twist. I gave them a section of culvert as a sort of tunnel to explore, and enticed them further with some really tasty salmon treats. Here are some photos of the rapidly growing babies at 11, almost 12 weeks of age.

Glacier, checking out the tunnel (and treats).
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Aufeis, giving the tunnel some scrutiny.
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It apparently passed her examination, as Aufeis was shortly confidently snarfing treats.
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Glacier slowed enough to capture a decent image of his face and eyes.
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Hardpack wasn't as interested in the tunnel as his siblings.
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"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
MPbandmom
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by MPbandmom »

They look like they have nice sturdy foundations (feet and legs) Did I detect green eyes on Glacier or was the light and camera playing tricks on me?
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
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Nettle
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Nettle »

mmmm, proper sled dogs now!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Glacier's eyes appear more green than blue to me, too. I am starting to wonder just what color he's going to decide on. :wink:

These three are going to have a new playmate within a few days. I have a buddy with a large kennel of working Siberian huskies, going through a messy divorce and generally having a tough time of it. He had a ***** who whelped a single puppy just a few days after our litter was whelped. Now he has another ***** who needs the whelping pen, so he asked if the singleton (Aladdin, AKA Laddy) can spend a few weeks with our guys rather than being surrounded by much older dogs in his own yard.

Trish and I agree it would be much healthier for the singleton live in a group pen and be socialized along with our own puppies than tied out in the yard with older dogs, so we've agreed to take him in for a few weeks. Basically we are doing it for the puppy rather than his owner. Heck, we won't even begin introducing them to tethers until they are 6 months of age or so, and then it will only be for a few hours at a time until they are comfortable with it.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Swanny1790
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Swanny1790 »

Learning to Run the Ramp

Happy Solstice, everyone.

I'm afraid I'm not feeling 100% today, and the trails are in very poor shape, so I decided to stay close to the house and work with the babies. Trish and I started training them to "run the ramp" in order to load themselves into the compartments of the dog truck. That way when they grow up to be 50 to 80 lb dogs (23 - 45 kg) I won't have to physically lift them myself. Most of our dogs are trained to "saddle up" on their own.

At 12 weeks, these puppies are eager students, so long as there are really tasty treats involved. Today was their first lesson, so we lured them up the ramp with tiny bits of cut up hot dog, and gave them a jackpot when they reached the top. Within only a couple of repetitions all three were trotting right up it. We'll practice this daily over the next few days, but I imagine that by day 3 they'll have figured it out, and after that it's just a matter of putting a cue to behavior.

The photographs are not very well framed as I was concentrating on the puppies rather than on photography.

So, here is the set up.
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Here is Glacier, earning his jackpot.
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Hardpack decided this ramp thing is a LOT of fun.
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Aufeis proving that what goes up can also come down.
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Glacier and Hardpack are learning about recall. Aufeis in back is trying to decide whether it's worth her while.
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"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
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Nettle
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Re: New Litter of Positive Alaskan Sled Dog Puppies

Post by Nettle »

Happy Solstice to all who celebrate it :D

Good job there, Swanny. Amazing how fearless they are at that age.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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