March 17th 1998
Mother: Int Nord N S Is Ch Foldar Freyja
Father: Int Nord Uch NV-97 Sómi av Isheim
From left: Töfra Gæfudís, Töfra Garpur Ringo, Töfra Geisli & Töfra Gæska
Freyja certainly wasn't an easy whelper. This litter started with a puppy that came out feet first and had swallowed fluid. The second puppy was all the way out but stuck by his stomach because his umbilical cord was stuck inside and I couldn't pull it enough to cut. The reason became clear, the next puppy had gotten stuck and tangled up in the umbilical cord of the puppy before him so almost choked. The problems luckily fixed themselves and the last puppy was thankfully born quite normally. Terrible beginning for poor Freyja, lots of stress and these complications caused her to get mastitis so some of her teats were quite swollen and I had to keep them massaged and empty them so the puppies wouldn't drink the infected milk.
Decided to post a photo of Garpur on the left and his brother Geisli on the right, 6 weeks old. Unbelievable that losing a few days of nourishment at the beginning of life can have so much effect on the growth and development. Of course it was my fault for not realising sooner what was happening but this was the first time I had a problem in a litter. Luckily as you can see he did grow into a normal sized healthy dog!
Töfra Garpur Ringo
10:30 am 342 gr.
Garpur was such a sweetheart, totally stole my heart. He had a problem swallowing and therefore needed to be handfed. Whether this was a problem because of the water in his lungs or his oesophagus (some had seen this problem before) was never clear. I didn't realise the problem until he had lost a lot of weight he needed fluids under the skin because he was very dehydrated. The vet came home to help us and gave him and his sister fluids and explained that they would need extra feedings by hand every two hours. He took a long time to catch up to his siblings and was a tiny little guy even the day he left for his new home. From pictures of the litter together you might think he was a Pomeranian if you compared the size of him beside his brother and sister. He was an inspiration and definitely beat the odds on shear will power. I got help from other breeders that had experienced this in their litters, I am sure he would have died without that help. I decided since I wasn't sure of his illness that he should be sold as a pet and castrated, so he is living the life of a much loved family member in the countryside of Norway. He is a beautiful dog with good tail and long coat but with single dewclaws.
Töfra Geisli
11:30 am 330 gr.
Geisli took after his mother, no doubt about who's son he is :-) He lived in Norway with a wonderful family and they did show him a couple times and he always did well. He has two of the three points needed to be a champion but as he got older they unfortunately lost interest in showing. Sadly the mother in the family got into an accident, she was slightly injured and they needed to change things in their lives so Geisli needed to find a new home. The last I heard he found a home in Sweden and I haven't heard anymore about him. He has double dewclaws and HD-B.
Töfra Gæska - died 25.03.1998
11:40 am 284 gr.
Since she was in such a hurry to enter this world she actually got caught up in Geisli's umbilical cord and almost chocked. After fighting to keep this little one alive with fluids every two hours 24 hours a day Gæska lost her fight for life and died at 7:30 in the morning on 25. March. It was a depressing and devastating moment for both Freyja and I. She was the very first puppy I lost in my breeding. The moment of her death was one of the strangest events I have ever experienced, it was in a sense a beautiful moment and a devastating one at the same time. She started to have difficulty breathing and without making this a long story I will say that at the moment she was about to leave this earth I asked Freyja with tears in my eyes if she wanted to kiss her baby goodbye. I swear the moment Freyja licked her mouth I saw the last breath leave her body. It looked like a little cloud of vapour I will never forget this and although many may find this hard to believe I know that it was real in my heart. We buried her little body and put a cross in the forest behind our house in Norway. Freyja was very depressed for weeks, I am convinced that dogs do show emotions.
N Uch Töfra Gæfudís - died summer 2002
1:00 pm 302 gr.
Gæfudís got a wonderful home with a man named Sverre Aklestad in Norway. She lived a full life though it wasn´t a long one. She died in an unlawful trap that was in the forest near where Sverre took the dogs for a walk. She got caught in a trap twice the first time she almost bled to death, it was her leg that was cut. But the second time she hopefully felt no pain, she got her head caught in one and died immediately. I can't explain the feeling when I got the news of this poor puppies fate. Gæfudís had double dewclaws and HD-A.
Litters - 1991 - 1994a - 1994b - 1995 - 1997 - 1998 - 2001a - 2001b - 2002 - 2003a - 2003b