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March 10th 2007

Scroll down to see all the puppies.

0-1 week, 1-2 weeks, 2-3 weeks, 3-4 weeks, 4-5 weeks, 5-6 weeks, 6-7 weeks, 7-8 weeks, 8 weeks, 8-9 weeks, +9 weeks

Mother: Töfra Birta Freyja

Father: Int Ch IS Ch Hektor

Below are a few photos of their courtship. They seemed very much "in love" and looked very affectionate towards each other, Birta gave Hektor lots of kisses but we only just barely got the end of one on film. Such a sweet couple and I have only ever once before seen such a show of affection in a mating and it was with Hófí and Stássi (Birta's grandfather on both sides).

Scroll down for photos of the puppies! New chart added 18.03.

The puppies arrived today, one day ahead of schedule but a good thing they did since it gives us tomorrow to relax. A very eventful birth to say the least! I wonder what ever happened to the textbook births I used to have. Can't be a good experience for Rúnar since it's the first litter he has taken part in delivering. Water broke this morning at 10:45 so we didn't have to get up really early but of course the night was a bit restless. However it's been a long day full of stress and adrenaline so we are all just plain exhausted.

We didn't get too many photos of them being born since we were extremely busy helping her. The first puppy was dead but we brought her back to life, it was the long journey into the world as can so often happen that she must have swallowed some fluid. She is doing fine now though. Second puppy just popped out he was so small...and do I mean SMALL. I have never had such a small puppy before, he is just TINY but a tough little guy and seems healthy so I'm hoping he will make it. Third puppy also needed to be pulled out manually since Birta's birth canal is quite small and the puppies big in comparison. Although they were all smaller than I am used to in my breeding program! It surprised me that she had such a hard time but then again I was a bit prepared since she herself was born in a not so normal litter and she is going on 4 years old in about two weeks. We are even more convinced that this will probably be her one and only litter.

Fourth puppy. Well, that is a story to remember although we'd like to forget I'm sure it will stay with us and make us nervous in future. Rúnar and I are still catching our breath after her birth. She was a long time coming and the reason presented itself as she appeared with her "little" feet first. It had been a long time since her fluid bag burst (it was like an explosion) and no matter how Birta tried nothing seemed to happen, she was over an hour pushing intensely without any sign of the puppy. We were worried to say the least. The puppy finally showed us her feet and was totally dry and I mean DRY already and HUGE. I tried to grab her feet but she almost went back in again (the second time she would have done that) and then I got a hold of them but talk about difficult to pull her out. She was completely stuck and I tried and tried to pull but it was so hard I was actually thinking we weren't going to be able to get her out manually. Her big belly was almost out but her whole head was still in there and I didn't like the looks of it. I was at least sure she would be dead. But I finally got her out and her umbilical cord snapped literally right away from her belly as the afterbirth disappeared back in. I tried to grab hold of it but I wasn't strong enough to hold it and it popped but she was alive and as I took her away from Birta to check her cord I realised that there was not even a tiny bit left to tie a string to to stop the bleeding. We needed to think fast, she looked like she was bleeding to death so Rúnar applied pressure and I grabbed the powder to stop the bleeding. I dabbed it on generously and then put a cotton ball and bandaid, kept pressure on it and called the vet. We rushed her to the vet's hospital with Birta and all the puppies in a box. We didn't know if we were doing the right thing, we knew that Birta wasn't finished yet and she could go into labour (and most likely would since it's a bit of a drive) in the car, but we thought if the next puppy is as big as this one (since we did see two explosions of fluid, we thought the next puppies bag had burst as well) then it might be better to be at the vet's office anyway. I held the little puppy the whole way applying pressure to the wound. When we got there the vet was waiting, he took a look, grabbed a clamp and put it on quickly. Poor little puppy needed two stitches and she also got a needle with antibiotics to protect her against infection. She is a beautiful puppy and well, quite possibly she will be staying with us if she survives! I mean how can you let a little miracle come into your life and then give it away, something like Birta a miracle from her very first breath.

Last puppy was stuck head first on her way out so she too had stopped breathing when after alot of hard work I also got her out, she was luckily still wet and it wasn't as hard. She just needed a couple shakes and a bit of massage and out came a little cry. A lovely sound that's for sure.

So all in all, we have 3 puppies that we thought wouldn't make it due to their hard trip into the world and I can honestly say that we are so thankful for such a blessing :-) So far so good but I am not going to say we are out of the woods yet.

Here are a few photos of them taken shortly after all the drama.

12 days old all gained well. Weights were as follows:

Kolbrá - newborn 218 gr. - 12 days old 731 gr. gained from birth 513 gr.

Kelikátur - newborn 145 gr. - 12 days old 549 gr. gained from birth 404 gr.

Klói - newborn 209 gr. - 12 days old 756 gr. gained from birth 547 gr.

Káta - newborn 263 gr. - 12 days old 820 gr. gained from birth 557 gr.

Karma - newborn 238 gr. - 12 days old 721 gr. gained from birth 483 gr.

Let us introduce ourselves!

Puppy nr. 1 - Töfra Kolbrá (Kolla)

Lives in Canada with Pineridge Icelandics.

Born: 13:25, 218 grams, double dewclaws (one almost single, just extra nail)

HD- Good (A2) Eyes : free of all hereditary eye disease

Newborn - 1 week -12 days old - 3 weeks old

4 weeks - 5 weeks - 6 weeks - 7 weeks

8 weeks old - 12 weeks old Tail is wagging as usual and Rúnar got the photo just as she is eating her treat. :-)

6-7 months

2 years old (June 2009)

Puppy nr. 2 - Töfra Kelikátur

Lives in Washington, USA

HD- PennHip 0.58 / 0.50 (ca. B1/A2) Eyes : free of all hereditary eye disease

Born: 13:47, 145 grams, double dewclaws (strong singles with weaker second claw)

photo taken at 3 weeks of age.

Newborn - 1 day old - 12 days old - 3 weeks old

4 weeks - 5 weeks - 6 weeks - 7 weeks

8 weeks old - 12 weeks old Unfortunately my hand is in the way of seeing his back feet.

A beautiful boy at age 11 months! Photos taken by Donna R. McDermott (photo in middle is cropped by me in case the owners don't want their faces on here but it was a wonderful photo of them all! :-) )