The Rain Mountain
2011 Serenity Litter




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Pedigree of the
Serenity Litter



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Jump to:
8 Week Portraits
Playing in the Woods & Hanging Out at Home
We're Big Kids Now
3 Week Portraits
Days 8 to 14
The First Week


3 Week Portraits

Over 4th of July weekend Susan Fletcher and Dad dog Raferty came up to visit and meet the pups in person.  The morning of the 4th Susan and I were able to take individual photos of the pups for the first time.  They were a bit nervous about their first trip outside -- they were only 24 days old -- but got over it quite quickly and were soon looking around so much it was hard to keep them focused where we wanted them.

The next day Susan took Salishan and the pups to her house for a week and a half so that she could get to know them better, something the owner of the sire rarely has the opportunity to do.  It gave me a break to take care of some things I needed to deal with too since pups at this age are quite time consuming.  I picked them up and brought the whole gang home again on Saturday the 16th.  Consequently there is a gap in photos between the three week and five week points. 

The Girls

Kaylie and River may be different colors but their personalities are quie similar.  Both are absolute loves.  Whenever a human comes in sight, they run up for attention and hopefully to be picked up and cuddled.  They may be smaller than their brothers but they easily hold their own in wrestling matches, making up for the lack of size with more brain power.  Both have an obvious feminine look as too.  They are going to be quite pretty when they grow up.

Kaylie -
River -

The Boys

The boys show more difference in their personalities than the girls.  

Simon (Simi) -
Though he was a bit timid at first, he has turned into a confident boy now that he is learning about the world.
Washburn (Wash) - 
Shepherd (Shep) -
Jayne Cobb (Cobb) -
Malcolm -




In the Whelping Box

Summer is simply the perfect time of year to raise a litter of puppies.  There are long days of their playing outside, snoozing under the front porch deck, exploring the tall grass of the meadow, and chasing bugs.  Of course all of that has to wait until their eyes are open, their ears are open, and they are actually functioning beings.  The first two weeks they are pretty much potatoes that squeak occasionally.  But it is very soothing so sit and watch them.  A mother dog nursing her pups secretes phermones that are exactly that -- soothing.  All nursing female mammals secrete these phermones that comfort and to a lesser extent, control their offspring.  It enhances the bond between the mother and her pups.  These appeasement phermones have the same effect on the other adult dogs in the home, calming them as well, reducing or eliminating stress-related behavior in all ages of dogs and helping them feel good about their surroundings.  You can actually buy a product called "DAP" that mimics this effect though I have no idea if it works.

Days 8 to 14:
Now that the pups are getting bigger -- they will be more than three times their birth weight by the time they are two weeks old! -- the seating room in the restaurant is getting more crowded. That results in some incredible gymnastics when it comes to mealtimes.
 

This second week of life still is mostly sleep, punctuated by lots of nursing. But we can see them start getting stronger and having more control over their own body temperature.
No longer do they all snuggle together on the heating pad or next to Salishan. They can hold their body temperature high enough that, combined with keeping the house heated in the high 60s and no drafts on the pups, they are comfortable. They have hurdles in their box too so they will develop strength right off. Here (center), Kaylie climbs Mount teddy Bear.  Left, Wash (in collar) and his sisters nap with their squeaky toy. Though they don't play with them yet, the idea is that they feel and smell different surfaces and textures when they bump into these toys.  Above right: River top and Simon below.  Simon is obviously the lightest tawny of the bunch.
Nursing has become quite the equivalanet of a WWF wrestling match as the pups compete for the most choice spots.  Luckily Salishan has pelnty of milk and the pups are all strong and reasonably well matched in size.  If one were a lot smaller I'd be giving it extra time to nurse without competition and if one were a lot bigger than the others, I'd have to prevent it from hogging all the chow.

Frequently Salishan convinces the pups to nurse in shifts. Here Kaylie, Simon, and Jayne Cobb nurse while the others snooze.


Shepherd likes to sleep with his belly in the air.
At the beginning of the week the pups could still fit under the pig rail along the inside walls of the whelping box. (It gives them a place to roll away should their mom accidentally squish them against the side of the box.) But by the end of the week, they could barely squish under it and were sleeping in the middle, typically in a big pile.



The First Week


This week, Salishan's life is centered on the whelping box, custom made by Scott Hussey to my design.  

Different colored collars serve to identify which pup is which. Otherwise there is no way I could tell the three buff pups apart or the four tawy pups apart.


Shani only leaves them for very short breaks to go outside or to eat.

Shani checks River while Malcolm uses her leg as a pillow.

Cuddling with Mom is the best way to nap.

Taga (back), Quileute (right), & Lolo (front) are simply exhausted by the whole process of Salishan having babies. After all, when I put them to bed Friday night, I didn't join them until at least 3am.


Left to right, Malcolm (m), River (f), Wash (m), Jayne Cobb (m), Kaylie (f),
Shepherd on top (m), and Simon (m) lying below him.



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Copyright  © Ginger Corley, Rain Mountain Chinooks, 1988 to present.  No material may be reproduced without permission, though permission is usually granted.  Logo by Susan Fletcher, Frontier Chinooks, used here with permission and much appreciation of her great talent.