Hammerhearts - Saalooswolfhond puppies from the north

If you prefer to watch this video offline on your computer, you can download it here: http://rapidshare.com/files/250272974/Hammerheartspro.wmv

Alfa - nine weeks

Today I got some really nice pictures of Tjalve with his dad Kiowa. Their owner Marleen told us, that Kiowa treats his son totally different than other pups, like there is some kind of familiar recognition. He always keeps an eye on little Tjalve, protects him from foreign dogs. It's great to see the two together - if only on photos...

Little Tova went with us on a little trip to our small town Tidaholm were we did a short walk around the town square. She is the only one of the pups that still hates car rides that much - on the way back she vomited again. But it is getting better anyhow.
One more week is over and so we weighed the only left puppy again. It is hard to break with dear customs, you know ;)
She has 9,5 kg now.

and Tova?

Our little Tova still misses her siblings a lot. Of course it is quite boring now without her playfellows. Therefore she is looking for other kinds of activity - like havoc and destruction ;)
But that's how we love our Saarlooswolfdogs, right?!

Yesterday we made a small trip to Jönköping (the next bigger city) and visited a petshop.

After some hesitation in the beginning, certainly caused by her persistent nausea from the previous car ride, she really liked this place full of toys and, before all, fooooood!

On our way back home, we stopped at a small lake we regulary visit in summertime to get a little cooling. As you can see not only Skadi and Isa but also Tova already loves this place.

However it is a hard thing to be the "little one"...

The Alfa pups at their new homes

A few days have past since the puppies of our Alfa-litter left us.
Enough time to get a feedback from all of the future owners.
How are the pups doing? Where and how do they live now?
Some answers to these questions you will get here and now:

Arn

...

Roffe

Big Roffe had, like his brother Tjalve, the privilege to come into a pack which is quite related to himself - he indeed lives together with his own grandmother Thunga in Belgium! Furthermore there is his uncle named Kamatz, a female Saarlooswolfhond with name Inca, Hovawart Asco and of course his humans Katrien and Peter. As the other pups also Roffe adapted very well to his new surrounding and likes his new pack very much. Yesterday he visited the puppyschool for the first time. Driving by car is no longer a big problem for him, which is quite suprising for us ;)

Wahya

Wahya was the first one who left us and had therefore the most time to accustom to her new home in Denmark. But she did not need much time at all! Like all of our pups she came into a new home with lots of other dogs, not less than 12 Golden Retrievers and 2 Irish Wolfhounds will be her future companions. She liked her new home right from the start and her owners Lars and Merete also do a lot for her further socialisation. So she can follow with them to their barf clinics, where she already has a lot admirers.
Going by car is no longer a problem for her either.

Tjalve

Like Roffe he will stay in the family - the picture above shows Tjalve with his dad Kiowa.
Together with him, his uncle Timber, his aunt Kaoni and his humans Marleen and Arthur, Tjalve will live in Holland. He is also very happy in his new home, but he misses his siblings. But already on saturday he will meet Roffe again, based on their relatively close residences they will certainly be the ones of the litter who will meet the most.

...often new ones await

For those of you who may wonder how this blog will continue - I can tell you that the daily entry won't go on like in the last two months. The puppy book of our Alfa-litter can be closed soon and new tasks and adventures are waiting for our pack. However you will get some more informations and pictures (hopefully - if the new owners provide us with them;) in the next days, like summaries about every puppy and the answer to the question: "How are the pups doing in their new homes?" In the future we will post regularly updates about the development of the pups and of course about the remaining pack up here in Sweden:

Mama Skadi,
Auntie Isa
and of course Tova

So just cast a glance from time to time!

Farewells - At the end of an adventure...

Today it was time to say farewell again - Roffe and Tjalve left very early in the morning, Arn in the late afternoon! We want to thank all the future owners for giving our precious puppies new homes and wish them luck and happiness with their new family members!
Now let's look at the farewell fotos:

Farewell Roffe!



Farewell Tjalve!


Farewell Arn!

Alfa - day 58 - The last day

Tonight we celebrate the Midsummer evening together with the future owners of Roffe, Tjalve and Arn. Roffe and Tjalve will leave us tomorrow in the morning, Arn will depart tomorrow in the evening. Now the pups and Kaya, the future companion of Arn enjoy the wonderful eventime after a rainy day as you can see in the picture above.

Arn
Roffe
Tova
Tjalve

Alfa - day 57

Arn
Weight: 8,5 kg


Roffe
Weight: 9,25 kg


Tova
Weight: 8 kg


Tjalve
Weight: 7,5kg

Farewell Wahya!

Today, with exactly 8 weeks of age and a weight of 7 kg, Wahya was the first of the puppies to leave us!

We will miss her, but we know that she drove into a happy future with very nice humans and a lot of other dogs!

Lars and Merete - we wish you all happiness and fortune with our small Wahya!

Alfa - day 56

Hell, what a feeling - the hardest part of the whole breeding adventure is coming closer without any mercy. Today was the last day with the whole pack united - already tomorrow Wahya will leave us. It is unbelievable for us, how other breeders are able to give away all of their pups. We will awfully miss little Wahya with her permanent cheerfulness!
To her honor she gets this extra picture today - a picture that couldn't be more characteristic. A friendly dog full of energy that will give a lot of pleasure to her new owners - I am sure about that!

Furthermore you will get this small video beneath, showing the progress of the habituation. The two bravest dogs when it comes to household applinaces are certainly Wahya and especially Tova.
However Tova is the last one when it comes to strangers - in this case it is always Arn and Wahya again who are the first to welcome them. We saw this again today, when we were visited by 3 adults and two children. Arn likes children very much it seems. Tova and Roffe needed a while to overcome their scepsis.
Tjalve is medium in both cases, seemingly dependend on his mood.
But in this video with the vacuum cleaner, which seems still to be the most "dangerous" item in the whole house, you see that Tova knows no fear of dead things at all, even if they are loud. Wahya comes into the game when I add the tube of soft cheese to the scenario ;) Tjalve comes passing by, however still more sceptic than hungry.

Arn
Roffe
Wahya
Tova
Tjalve

Alfa - day 55

Today we were at the veterinary again, all pups got a check-up (which went good for all of them) and, apart from Wahya (her owners will do it themselves), their first vaccination. The car ride was a vomit orgy again - though it is getting better. Most of the time they were sleeping. At the vet they were very calm and patiently endured the check. No signs for fear or shyness at all so far.

Arn
Roffe
Wahya
Tova
Tjalve

Eating in the car

engine off

Here are some videos of the car habituation training. As you know if you follow this blog, for our puppies (as for the most Saarlooswolfhonds) the car is still a very unpleasant issue.
To increase their tolerance for this necessary evil we give them most of their food in the car these days. In the video above you see, that as long as the engine doesn't run there is no problem with the car at all. They willingly follow Steffi to the rear door to get into the automobile and immediately start eating.

In the videos beneath you see the same exercise with a running engine - the pups are a bit unconfident. In the end the result is the same - all of them are eating. The fact that they eat in the car is certainly an advantage - our adult dogs mostly still refuse to eat in the car.

Part 1 - running engine

Part 2 - running engine

Alfa - day 54

Yes, the time of departure nears - at the end of this week all puppies but one will be in their new homes. Fortunately little Tova won't leave us at all - she is the one we will keep.
The first one who leaves will be Wahya on Thursday - we don't want to think too much about it yet :( It is unbelievable how they can take your heart by storm - after these 8 weeks they already seem like family members each of them...
However - it is a good feeling to know that they will come to very nice homes!

Tomorrow we have another date at the vet to check up the pups one more time, to give them the first vaccinations and so on.

Arn
Roffe
Wahya
Tova
Tjalve