08.20.10
August 20th
Sorry to say it’s been a rough week and after a lot of extra help and trips to the vet’s we had to stop the suffering of one of the puppies. He most likely had twisted intestines or something because he would eat from Hófi and was very strong but he could not relieve himself except to pee. The vet was so sure he would make progress. We tried stimulating him, paraffin oil and the vet did a couple enemas on him. He had ex-rays and ultrasounds to check for blockage but the vet said it was too difficult to see anything on such a young puppy. His belly was so distended that we couldn’t put enough into him because he couldn’t get it back out and after a couple days he started to refuse to eat more so he was starting to dehydrate as well so needed liquid under the skin a few times. The vet said the typical term for what happened is fading puppy syndrome which is a general term for things they can’t really explain. He appeared perfectly healthy and ate like a healthy puppy and he was the one who gained the most the very first day but then started to lose, he hardly slept and was starting to cry regularly. When we realized that it was a lost case and he was crying from pain we couldn’t put him through any more. He was the biggest puppy when they were born and we called him Polli (little boy), I gave him a second name when we said goodbye to him. Polli Pallaton (meaning fighter in Native American) is buried at the family summerhouse along with Rúnar’s grandparent’s little dog Karó who died earlier this year.
There has been so much happening this week we are looking forward to some rest on the weekend. The three puppies are all growing leaps and bounds and are doing so well, Hófi is such a good mother and she has so much milk! Patti Prins (meaning plump or well-fed Prince) is already double his birth weight at 530 grams when I weighed him earlier today. Pési Prúði Grámúli (little boy that’s well behaved with grey muzzle) is still small but he’s growing well and only has 67 grams to go to double his weight, last weigh in was 283 grams. Perla Prúð (quiet, courteous pearl) is huge and just needs 10 grams to double her birth weight, earlier today she was 550 grams so I have no doubt she will have doubled before we go to bed tonight.
We got the disappointing news that for personal reasons Tinni needed to be re-homed, it was a bit of a sudden decision but with his best interests at heart. We are happier that when such a decision has to be made that it’s done while the puppy is still young enough to be able to bond well to a new owner. It is sad for his owners but at the same time we are grateful they trusted us to find the perfect home for him. As fate would have it his new owner saw him and fell in love with him from photos and had asked about him before we knew he needed a new home, there was also someone visiting who was willing to escort him home on the flight. The Lord works in mysterious ways they say. Tinni Alexander will arrive in his new home in Toronto later tonight. He is a sweetheart and we are so glad we got to take care of him for a little while and he stayed with us last night which Klói was quite happy about. 
We didn’t have the time to take good photos of them but we felt we needed to get a couple of the 3 gens. It’s heartbreaking that his mom wasn’t still here with us to see what a handsome and good boy he is. We got her ashes back today so now she is resting on the shelf beside Freyja and we have her close to us again at least until her former owner comes to get the ashes.
I’m going to see if Rúnar can help me put photos of the puppies into a slide show tomorrow so I can put a bunch of them up from their first week but here are a couple until then. These photos were taken today. First we have Töfra Patti Prins
Next Töfra Pési Prúði Grámúli
Last but certainly not least, their big sister! Töfra Perla Prúð (the first photo was taken yesterday)
And of course we miss him but want him to be remembered so here are a couple photos taken before he died on Wednesday. Töfra Polli Pallaton may he rest in peace.
Birta appears empty at this time so given the difficult time we’ve had over the past week with Polli and the stress that went into getting Tinni ready to go, all the driving, and sore muscles from kneeling and bending over the whelping box night and day we have to admit that we are a bit relieved that we can wait until her next season and hopefully get a full litter at that time. We are going to enjoy the calm, quiet closeness and fun of having 3 healthy puppies that are well cared for by their mom and enjoy our other dogs at the same time who have been patient and understanding at pretty much being ignored for the longest time. How thankful we are for our blessings.
