02.25.10
Posted in News at 23:04 by nikki
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLLA SYSTIR AND KOLLA AMMA!!!
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY JOHN! (you did get a phone call on the day 
)
I’m getting so much behind in updating and can’t remember half of what’s been going on as usual.
Well, my Dad’s tests came back, his heart cannot be repaired and 30% of the muscle is damaged. He’s chipper as he usually is and is making light of it. My step-father turned 80 years old a couple days ago and that is good to know that he is fighting a good fight with his cancer. My Mom sounds like she is doing pretty good. It is so upsetting to know that time cannot be turned back, I so want to spend time with my family and time goes so fast, circumstances are always out of our control. I am praying they will all have many good years and that I may get over to see them and the rest of my loved ones sometime over the next couple years.
Well, the puppies are so smart and doing really well, they are learning so much or should I say they are getting alot of reinforcement for their good behaviour. They have a very solid default of sit, they are following a hand target extremely well, but they already learned to follow the hand target as tiny ones because then we let them follow the smell. They are offering alot of high fives and handshakes which we of course reward every time we can (just a pet or a chance to be picked up and cuddled). Tumi is a really smart guy and he has alot of patience which is good, he will sit still for the longest time and wait for his turn, the others will often give up and walk away to do something else but Tumi most of the time will just sit there and wait until it’s time for him to either get a bottle or some cuddles. He is the sweetest of the bunch of them I think and so cute because he is smaller than the others. They all have awesome eye contact and always have, I’m thinking there are perks to having a bottle fed litter! 
We have put them in the tub already for a foot bath, they found that quite strange and some were calmer than others.
We’ve also had a chair overturned that they walked under, it was interesting to see which ones were more open to that silly looking thing.
We have introduced a crate and they go in there on their own to sleep already when they feel like it. All of them have investigated it and were quick to do so.
They went outside for a few minutes today for the first time in the snow. We got a huge amount of snow last night and today and Rúnar even had trouble getting home from work because the road at his work is not plowed. Rúnar is making fun of me because when I woke up this morning the only way to open the door for the dogs to go outside was to use the grill spatula to dig my way out. I thought it was a good idea but apparently the shovel was there right beside the door outside and I couldn’t see it for all the snow. Hehe Not that it would have made a difference anyway because I couldn’t open the door without the help of the spatula to start with.
We’ve introduced the agility seesaw to Vina tonight and the rest will get their chance over the next day or two. I’m so glad Rúnar will be home this weekend because I think we should try to get alot of new training done, it’s easier if there are two of us. Unfortunately although we managed to get a couple not so good photos of Vina we didn’t get any video because we only have two hands each. Hehe But here are her photos from tonight. She targeted my hand and much to my surprise followed my hand all the way over, even when it smashed down and her little butt and foot fell off the other side she wasn’t scared and targeted right away again from the other side. We thought that was more than enough for her first try and so she got cuddles and that was all for tonight.
We are getting a bit discouraged at how the market is right now, not too many inquiries and the ones we do get don’t work out. We are really happy that Tásla’s owner in Denmark is very excited about her and we have another family trying to pick from Tinni or Tryggur. The home we thought we had for Vina in Denmark didn’t work out and we are actually quite happy with that because that means we can try to find a good home or co-own here in Iceland. She is such a great little puppy although we can see she is going to be a handful, too smart for her own good as you can see. She loves to run around the house as if she lives here and Rúnar keeps saying well she’s just making herself right at home. We really can’t keep her!!! Personally my favourite has always been Tásla for her calm temperament and sweet sweet face and her amazing dewclaws, but we knew from the start that we can’t keep a puppy. I think she is going to have a great life with some Icelandic horses.
We really are hoping that we find the right homes for the rest of the puppies and that we find them soon so that the puppies will get to bond a little with their new owners. There are so many litters available at the moment and it seems that many just send inquiries to ask the price and then we don’t hear from them again, I fear they are just writing to everyone on the list and not really caring what is included in the price. I know some are selling much higher and I suspect those with older puppies are selling at lower than the going rate. I really and truly think that fate will play a role in where our puppies go like it always has. We include a clicker course and the first years insurance for those who stay in Iceland so hopefully some will find that appealing.
It is very interesting how many litters lately are tightly linebred to Töfra Stjarna. I always find it a little bit flattering that litters linebred to her are so popular. The funny thing is though that she was not the best puppy in that first litter of mine, she was just the only one that went into breeding. It never ceases to amaze me though that the dogs that do well at shows are always tightly linebred to her so I’m happy that she did have such an influence.
These are the two that are looking for homes at the moment Tumi and Tígla Vina along with either Tinni or Tryggur but we won’t know that right away.
I’m a little worried about Birta at the moment, she’s got some swelling in her face around her muzzle. It appears that what has happened is that the puppies have either scratched her or bitten her during play and because their feet aren’t all that clean she might have gotten a little bacteria in a wound because of it. We try to keep their feet clean but it’s not always possible all hours of the day and Birta loves to go in and play with them and she always shoves her face at them so they swat her and climb all over her head. She seems to love that so it’s hard to not let her play with her grandpuppies. I hope it will not get infected, we will keep an eye on it and if needed she’ll have to have some antibiotics.
Permalink
02.21.10
Posted in News at 18:32 by nikki
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIGG!!!
My sweet Frigg is 13 years old today. Strange enough she is the one that stayed at home while the others all went for a nice run this morning with Rúnar. Frigg wanted to stay with me, she always does. So I got up and cleaned the house for the arrival of guests. I didn’t sleep much at all last night, I’m such a dork. I always have to stress myself to no end if anything is going on. We were expecting hopeful puppy owners around lunchtime so of course I didn’t sleep for worry. Would the dogs behave, would I sleep in, would they like the puppies or not? Anything and everything I can find to worry about…that’s me!
As far as we know they did like the puppies and are trying to make their mind up which of two males they want. Both have their special features and I’d have a hard time picking myself. The dogs were so so behaved, would have appreciated them being a little bit more relaxed but Klói kept running in and stealing the puppies toys because he knows he’s not supposed to have them and Skella had to tell Klói off, then Birta brought toys to let the guests throw (as she always does) and that meant Skella brought one too and well it’s not a good idea to throw toys around when both of them are in the mood to go fetch. Frigg was her well behaved perfect little self but Klói decided every few minutes that he had to remind us that she has a bad tooth and he gets so antsy when he is trying to make sure we “get it” so poor Frigg got frustrated at him for that. Hófi didn’t know what she was supposed to do, try to get the toys from the other ones or try to get to the puppies making Skella a little bit uneasy so Hófi got a bone in the other room and you could hear her little grrrr any time one of the other dogs walked past the gate. Hófi has always been a bit of a “my food/my bone” type so has to be in a cage or other room by herself. Now if you think that sounds like an interesting show… I was of course a zombie and probably made a less than great first impression. Hehe We totally forgot to offer them coffee and I spent half the time in the kitchen trying to make puppy bottles and couldn’t for the life of me remember anything I was going to talk to them about. I walked back and forth between the rooms shaking bottles full of formula probably stressing them just as much as I was. Oh well, I guess people soon find out they have to take me as I am, faults and all. As Rúnar and my Mom say, never a dull moment around me!
The pups refused to drink of course while they were here and did nothing but sleep! We couldn’t hardly wake them up for a few minutes to hold them and see what they looked like. I tell you they were totally having the time of their life just minutes before they got here and minutes after they left, yup they were well rested and ready to play. What a day! In any case they are wonderful people and I think either of the boys will have a great home with them. Let’s hope the pups can impress people themselves because Lord knows I’m a mess and don’t do a good job at all. LOL
The two girls will most likely go to Denmark so that will be great for them too. Both will be working with horses and I often think that would be the best thing for Skella, she has so much energy and is such a good working dog so no doubt her puppies will enjoy that life.
Poor Birta is limping from her walk this morning, she often aggravates an old injury in her front leg because she doesn’t get much exercise (we are horrible owners) and when she does she overdoes it and isn’t the most careful one when running a mile a minute having the time of her life. She LOVES running but she tends to think she can keep up with the youngsters, which she really can’t. Hard to believe she’ll be 7 years old next month.
Rúnar’s been in Reykjavík half the day holding the last class for the clicker course he’s had for the last 5 weeks, the next one will start in March. Yay, I get one weekend with him at home on a Sunday. He had some great students and everyone had a lot of fun from what I hear on the grapevine.
Well, we decided it was high time we took some half decent photos of the pups yesterday so I’m going to post the best ones here and when I get the chance put a few on the photos page as well.
Starting with Tásla Birta Björg
Tígla Vina pretending she is camera shy
Tryggur Aron (this guy is a real goof!)
Tumi Arnór
Tinni Alexander thought it was much more elegant to lay down and I have to agree it’s a good photo of him.
Speaking of Vina and being camera shy…now does this look like the same little lady? Love the little “vampire” teeth.
Permalink
02.18.10
Posted in News at 17:37 by nikki
Well, I’ve been thinking maybe it’s better to just put the date as the title, I don’t know. It’s sometimes too hard to figure out what to call an update because I mix all kinds of things together. Hehehe We’ll see how this works anyway.
The pups are growing and starting to be lots of fun. Training has began (it did a long time ago actually) and they are getting really good at their default sit behaviour. They surprise me how quickly they learnt that but I think it is in part because we got such a head start because of the bottle feedings.
I took a load of photos as usual and am going to add them to the album on the right. Besides all the fun they are also getting to be so much extra work in terms of cleaning up after them but it’s all a part of the process. We just quickly forget the work when they give so much of themselves.
Getting a bunch of inquiries and we might have a few of them sold already which would be nice. However we haven’t let anyone pick yet because the person that’s first on the list lives in Iceland and of course wants to come to see them to pick their puppy which of course is very important. Just having trouble trying to figure out when it’s best to have visitors, we’ll figure out a time when one of us is not busy soon. It’s also much more fun to come when they are a little bit more of their own character and can actually interact more with visitors. Right now they are still slip sliding around a bit when trying to walk on the slippery floor, they are great on rugs and stuff but the stupid artificial wood floor is tricky for those little legs.
Well, best get those photos uploaded. My shoulders are not good on the computer much these days and my eczema is bothering me on my hands. Cleaning is really not the best thing for sensitive skin, Rúnar is helping me out every evening and on Saturdays so that’s wonderful to get some time off.
Birthday was pretty uneventful, Rúnar was working but I got a call each from both my parents which is always the best thing I know of. My Mom sang the birthday song for me and it made me remember that my step-father always sang it to me in Swedish so it made me quite happy. I don’t like celebrating my birthday because let’s face it who likes being a year older, if it sneaks up on you then there is little you can do about it but you’re only as old as you feel and if you don’t celebrate then there is no evidence. hehehe
My Dad is in for some tests and will find out which type of surgery he will need for his heart. I’ve been thinking of him today and hope to hear from him soon with some good news. My Mom sounds like she is doing well these days although John is not doing so well. I think his cancer is back but we don’t get so much news of what’s going on. Sometimes I really feel so far away from home. : (
Permalink
02.14.10
Posted in News at 16:44 by nikki
Well, I don’t know what to write about there has been a bit going on but not much really. Just feedings all day and night and luckily the nightly feedings are down to one the past couple days. They seem to be fine for about 5 hours sometimes six during the night which is awesome. I’m looking forward to starting them on some food next week so the bottle feedings will no doubt be less frequent. I will say that I think Skella has been giving them a bit of milk herself lately because they often refuse their bottle after being on her teats and they look full afterwards. Poor Tryggur seems to have a belly ache most times after he’s finished drinking, he will drink until he practically bursts and we have to cut him off but most the time we don’t cut him off soon enough and he whines for the longest time and can’t get a comfy position to sleep. Don’t know what to do for him, tried rubbing his belly and of course he always gets burped after his bottle but none the less he often looks like a beached whale.
We thought he was whining to get out of the whelping box because he wouldn’t like to pee in the box, whenever we took him out he’d walk over to the paper on the floor and go there. So we moved them to the puppy play pen so they can leave the box to do their business (I can’t remember but I think it’s possibly earlier than our other litters). I remember the other litters trying to climb out of the whelping box but these ones didn’t do that, they weren’t big enough yet. So yes I think they got into the living room extra early. Skella seems to be happier with it this way too, it means she doesn’t have to be torn between being in the room with the puppies by herself or with us in the living room. I think part of Tryggur’s whining now is because he can’t walk on the slippery floor. I think he is going to be a bit like his mom and get frustrated rather than try to figure things out on his own.
The other pups are all doing great and they don’t whine much, are very determined and figure things out by themselves. Like how to climb in and out of the whelping box, it’s not high up but they get their feet stuck on one side and had to figure out how to push themselves over. Hard to explain, hehe Smart puppies no doubt about it.
Well, Rúnar is in Reykjavík today and I’m alone on Valentine’s day and tomorrow I’ll be alone on my birthday while he’s at work. Oh well, not that I wanted to celebrate my birthday anyway but it would have been nice to have a few hours together. We used most the day yesterday cleaning, moving the puppies and I got to sleep. I had a bad night the night before and the pups would not drink so didn’t get much sleep and Rúnar got up around 8 and took over so I could go to bed. Slept half the day of course or until 2 p.m. so there wasn’t much of the day left to do anything special.
I’m having trouble with the fact that people always seem to call when I’m feeding the puppies (half the time they dilly dally so much that it takes me an hour to feed them all) or clipping their nails or doing something else that I can’t just put down and answer. Hopefully my friends understand, I know it sounds strange that I should be so busy with a litter of puppies because most people don’t have to worry about them at all for the first few weeks. We definitely did not get our “resting period” with this litter and now the fun begins. Time to teach them stuff and unfortunately the play pen gets so much more dirty than just the whelping box so it’s time to have the mop on hand. Seems when it’s not something going on with the puppies then I have to take care of the older dogs…never ending story.
Took a bunch more photos and put them in the album and tomorrow I’ll start a new album already. It is very worrying that the market is so slow these days, I really wanted to try to find homes in Iceland so that the owner’s could come and visit them a bit the last few weeks they are here but time is really flying and oddly enough when I didn’t have a litter then no one else had one either and so as soon as we decide to try again and have one then every body and their uncle has a litter at the same time. Unbelievable the amount of puppies available or on the way these days. Not just our breed either.
Thought this was just too cute, little Tumi is such a fun character already one of my favourites.
Klói likes the new arrangements, means he can keep a close eye on his offspring and make sure they behave themselves.
Birta got to help Skella as soon as they came out to the living room. For some reason Birta and Skella have always been pals, I think they are alot alike and understand each other well.
This little girl is making it impossible not to fall in love with her! I’m so wondering if I should change her name to Tásla Birta.
My allergies have been bad, sneezing, runny nose and even had an mild asthma attack yesterday morning. Don’t know if it’s because of the pups, the stress for lack of sleep or the fact that I found green and white fuzzy mold growing in the window sill behind the blinds the day before, seems the window had some condensation and was closed off by the blinds so when I decided to open the window I got this shock. I’m allergic to mildew and that could very well be why I’ve always felt a bit “stuffed up” in that room. Hopefully it’ll not come back, we made sure the blinds don’t go all they way down to the sill any more. Eczema is also back and I blame that on washing my hands all the time, this bottle feeding means I have to wash them even more than I did with other litters. Oh the joys of having dog allergies and a love of breeding! I’m thinking Rúnar was probably right that having a dishwasher is a MUST for me, didn’t think I’d ever admit it but I had no eczema while we had it and I do miss having one.
Permalink
02.10.10
Posted in News at 15:40 by nikki
Well, what can I say things are going well and there are a couple (okay ALL) that are just too cute for their own good. I’m totally in love with little girl Tásla I figured out today that she reminds me of her grandma Birta Freyja! Look at that sweet face.
I did add a new photo album at the right! Enjoy
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
