Spring 2004 Litter

This was my very first dog litter ever, and it marked a lot of necessary but hard lessons for me. I had not planned on Ophelia getting pregnant so soon, and I wanted to skip another cycle. However, she was very strong and broke through her kennel to get to Timber. (My kennel at the time was very weak - they have since been totally replaced with custom designs in heavy gauge chain link from a local fence company.) Plus - three of the puppies had difficult times that I could have avoided by being more careful. We all have to learn somewhere, and this litter was my lesson! Gladly, all has turned out well, but I post my failures here as lessons and models of what not to do for others who love this breed as much as I do.

The litter itself was three males and two females - born in April of 2004. The three males were: Yukon ( seal / white ); Tundra ( solid black / white ); and Yucon (solid black / white ). The two females were: Nukka ( solid black / white ) and Juno (solid black / white ). Both of the females look VERY much like their mother. The two Yukons look very much like their father Timber, just not red - but the white patterns are very close, and Tundra looks almost exactly like Ophelia's sire - Lambro Ellas. All of the pups were larger than both of their parents.

YUKON Owned by Ed Vasquez of Montana

 

TUNDRA Owned by John Breitwisch of Wisconsin ! *

 

NUKKA Owned by Bruce Scrivens of Washington

 

YUCON of Arizona **

** Also, just a note here - Yucon was bitten by his sire as a puppy. His ears have eventually stood up, but the right one is still a bit floppy. The ears are very fragile - and must really be safeguarded in the developement stages so that they will stand properly as adult dogs. I get asked a lot about Timber's ear and if it is hereditary. It is not. Timber's ear was injured very much like Yucon's when he was a puppy, and I now guard each pup very closely when they are young and their cartalidge is forming.

 

JUNO of Arizona ** pictured here with her brother Yucon

 

* Tundra ( previously Mythras of Show Low, Arizona ) is an example of a person not paying attention to my OWNER'S RESUME'. His buyer loved the look of him as a pup, and felt certain that he could care for him as he got larger. The owner found out in about a year what kind of responsiblity he had bought into. I took Mythras back and was able to place him ( now at 120 pounds!) with John of Wisconsin where he is now a skijoring dog.

** Yucon and Juno were bought together as pups and were living in Vernon, Arizona. These two fabulous puppies are yet another excellent - but sad - example of what happens when people don't pay attention to my OWNER'S RESUME' and don't realize what they are getting into. The lady who bought these pups found out in about a year what kind of responsibility she had gotten herself into, and called for me to take the dogs back. At the time, because of city ordinances, I could not - but I tried to place them with past interested parties. The dogs were found wandering loose in Vernon after presumeably being dumped and picked up by the Humane Society. They have since been adopted out to families in Arizona. PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO WHEN YOU BRING A VERY LARGE LIVING ANIMAL INTO YOUR LIFE. THESE DOGS DO NOT DESERVE TO BE JUST OTHER STATISTICS IN THE ALREADY TOO NUMEROUS UNWANTED DOGS CATEGORY AT YOUR LOCAL POUND!!!!!

I see all three of these puppies as my own personal failures. I was a new breeder, and I thought I was screening my buyers well. This was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. These dogs are safe, loved and placed - but their lives could have been very tragically different, and I take that burden very seriously. PLEASE !!!!! Read the OWNER'S RESUME' before considering buying one of these amazing animals.