January 8th 2009
Click on links to see more photos.
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
Scroll down to see the puppies their first day.
Mother: Hólmfríđur frá Olafsfjördur
HD-A - Free of hereditary eye disease (Oct. 2008)
Her bloodline traces back to the rare O family and M family.
Father: Reykjadals Hrafn Dreki
HD-C - Free of hereditary eye disease
His mother is a member of the extremely rare O family
One girl and one boy joined us in the wee hours of the morning and I guess you can say they entered the world with a bang. Two nights before their arrival the last fireworks of the Christmas season were shot up around Iceland and our neighbourhood was no exception. Hofi went out to take a nice look at the beautiful lights. It seems they were just ready to meet us a few days early, we hadn't really expected them until the 11th but there was a mating without a tie almost a week before the mating with long tie so there was always the possibility that they would come sooner. They are very mature looking at any rate and strong...Wow. They started crawling around and almost standing up as soon as they got here. The little girl almost climbed out of the whelping box while we were getting Hofi prepared for the boy's arrival. Took our eyes off of her for a minute and she was faster than lightening, we looked at each other and said, well she's got character! Hehehe
They were very big because there were only two of them and their father is also a nice big correct sized male and one of the reasons we like him so much, so many male dogs are getting too small, even our Klói is slightly under standard size. So we thought she was starting labour on the evening of the 6th and then woke all night with her but nothing was happening, Rúnar had taken the day off because we were sure they were on their way so he ended up taking her to the vets to make sure everything was okay and the puppies weren't too big because we had feared that from the time we mated her. The vet did a total check with sonar and ex-ray to count the puppies and gave her some calcium because she had been shaking more than I had thought was normal. The vet saw they were big and they were laying like Ying-Yang Rúnar said, she took a measurement of their skulls to see if they would be able to fit and it was very tight but should make it she said but warned that we would no doubt have to pull them out and she gave Rúnar some pointers I think that was very nice and we like that vet she has always been so nice to all our dogs especially Freyja. She did say that they had a long trip left down to the opening and that it would take them at least until the next evening or even during the night.
So Rúnar and Hófi came back home and we just waited and watched her pant up a storm all evening and half the night. It seemed to take forever and she seemed to be very tired of all the panting. I had decided that I'd try to rest even though I might not get sleep a short rest would help. Then just as we were about to give up and call the vet back she jumped into my bed to say hi to me and whoosh her water broke right beside me and she looked at me and I said let's go Hófi. Straight into the whelping box she went and about an hour later the contractions had gotten so strong that the head was visible. But it was huge and didn't look promising because the muzzle with the little tongue sticking out was already turning purple. I said I'll grab the head now there is no time to waste and I gave it all I had on her next contraction and Hófi let out a loud scream and the little girl was born. I picked her up and started to massage her with a rough towel to make her cry. That was the most wonderful sound I've heard in a long time, she was alive and well and man is she strong. Rúnar showed her the teats but she took awhile to get the hang of it but one thing she already knew how to do was crawl and practically walk across the whelping box and she almost got out of the box because the wall wasn't on it yet. We couldn't believe our eyes, you'd think she was already a week old!
Next it was the boy's turn and he was even bigger, it looked impossible but I tried the trick the vet told us and put my two fingers in behind his head over his neck (I have actually lost a puppy many years ago because he was too big and I didn't realize that the skin would close around his neck if only his head was out) and stretched them out to widen the gap and out he came. With an even louder more painful scream and it did take a bit of determination to get him all the way out. His tongue and face was more purple than hers had been and his umbilical cord was a bit harder to get out enough to cut but in the blink of an eye the afterbirth slid out and Hofi managed to start chewing through. He had gotten some water in his lungs so when I grabbed him and started to revive him it took a little bit longer and at first he couldn't cry there was gurgling sounds and he was gasping for air. So I made sure his head was face down and kept massaging quite roughly and low and behold the gurgling started to get less and out came a scream and then a cry and then more crying. But I didn't want to stop until all the gurgling was gone and he was a bit aggitated at that. LOL He was back and we were so filled with joy at this happy ending. Experience is always great if it helps save money on C-sections or loss of precious puppies. Both puppies survived and both healthy, we couldn't ask for more. We had hoped for more puppies but to us the surprise of the rare colour of cream was beyond our wildest dreams. We thought when the bitch was born that wow, a cream I never thought I'd get a cream in my lifetime and it's always been a colour I've liked both for it's uniqueness and it's rarity especially in Iceland. I do know it's not so rare in some other countries but it's very rare here and I really didn't think I'd be lucky enough to ever get the right combination. You can imagine when the second cream arrived how we felt at that moment. Both have double dewclaws and they do have some white markings the female has more white than the male and most of her head is white but she does have colour around her eyes. They are seeming to get darker quite fast and I'm thinking this may be a very dark shade and possibly they will be a bit dark as adults, maybe they will be like Ulfur frá Ólafsvöllum (Baldur's litter brother) who was the uncle to Hófi Sr. He was pinky beige and quite dark and I really haven't seen that colour much since, Baldur was almost white he was so light so there are many shades of cream but what makes the colour different is the fact that the puppies have no dark hairs anywhere on the body. It's the ee locus of the colour gene system and can be likened to the colour of a Labrador. Cream can be found in many spitz breeds including the Lapphund.
So all in all two exhausting days which have left both Rúnar and I quite dazed but having the birth over with and two happy healthy strong puppies was well worth it.
The little boy did have a bit of problems with gas probably due to me massaging him so much and him gasping for air. That and the fact that Hófi was good at cleaning pee right from the start but didn't figure out to make them poop and he got quite round and stuffed until I realized after a lot of screaming from him that he wasn't cold, he wasn't hungry, he didn't just need burping although that helped a little but he needed to poop. When I stimulated him for that and he got to empty himself out he got much calmer and a few more times during the day at regular intervals showing Hófi and letting her clean it now she is quite the expert and both puppies are quiet and calm and growing like weeds. We can't remember seeing such big puppies out of such a petite bitch and for them to put on so much weight and mature so quickly in one day! We could almost swear they were a week old already by watching how they move and react to the environment. I think we have a couple old souls here. ;-)
Hófi was remarkable and apart from the long drawn out pre-labour time she was such a great whelper that I feel she has inherited some great genes in that department from her greatgreatgrandmother Hófí. She is also fitting in well to her motherly duties I'm sure the pups will be bigger than her in no time. We just might have to make sure they don't over eat since she is bursting with milk and there is only two of them.
Their second "grandparents" (Dreki's owners) and great grandmother (Dreki's breeder) came to see them tonight and Brynhildur took these beautiful photos. She always manages to get such great shots, with her nice big camera but I think it's mostly her artist´s eye that can see these shots and knows when to push the button.
We will try to update regularly with weight statistics and some photos (there will no doubt be alot of those taken the next 8 weeks or so) and will put each week seperately with links at the top of the page for those that want to keep an eye on their growth.
Rún (Lokka) - newborn 270 gr. - born 4:27 a.m. weight at end of day 12 (January 19th) 928 gr.
Raggi Ljósgeisli - newborn 318 gr. - born 6:02 a.m. weight at end of day 12 (January 19th) 1044 gr.
Let us introduce ourselves!
Puppy nr. 1 - Töfra Rún Ljóslokka
(pronounced Roon: means Magical Secret or ancient letter with locks of light coloured hair)
Co-owned going to Finland.
Born: 4:27 a.m., 270 grams, double dewclaws
Puppy nr. 2 - Töfra Raggi Ljósgeisli
(means Magical Raggi beam of light)
Will be moving to Finland
Born: 6:02 a.m., 318 grams, double dewclaws
Go to top of page to links to see photos of the puppies!
A fun family photo from dogs some of whom are gone and some still going strong. You can look at the pedigree to see how they are related.
From left to right: Skessu Skolli as a very young puppy, his mother Skotta, her mother Freyja frá Thorvaldsstödum and Skolli's father Snćlukku Bjartur. Behind is Skolli's brother Skessu Snjór.
