Puppies, puppies and more puppies!

The crazy weather here in Fairbanks continues on.  It was warm for awhile then the temp drooped to very cold and we were not able to run the dogs. Then we were hit with a heat wave.  From -40 below to 40 above in one week.  Yes, you read that right, an 80 degree difference in a matter of a few days.  Rain and disappearing snow, school closed due to hazardous driving conditions and the dogs getting crazy.   Now the weather has tapered off and has been 10 to 25 above out.  So much warmer for training dogs.  Sometimes when its cold out, training the dogs can be so cold.  My fingers practically freeze off and it hurts more than you can imagine when the blood comes back in your fingers as they thaw out.  Today when we ran dogs I didn't get cold at all in fact my face was warm as we ran thru some hot pockets of air.  Its 7:30 pm and 32.7 degrees above zero.....in the middle of December in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Updates since last post:

Swiper had her puppies on 12/9/11.  5 females and 3 males, 7 of them are white with large black patches just like their dad, Foulton.  One solid black one and none that look like mama.  She is doing very well and is taking good care of them.  She has her own room in the atco that's about 12x9.  They sure are a noisy and active bunch of puppies.  Even when nursing they are wining.  They are constantly moving, way more than Sues group of puppies when they were two days old.  Next will be getting their du claws removed.  We do this when they are about 4 or 5 days old.  It helps prevent injury when they are older.  She surprised us with the delivery because we fed the dogs and she ate all her food.  Right after she ate she went in her house and started delivering puppies.  Typically a female stops eating the day she delivers her puppies, but not Swiper.  She reminds me of her mom, Whitey.  She was a good mom and always ate and drank very good.  Its important for the mother dog to have a good appetite for not only her puppies but especially for her health.  We moved her into the atco and were able to witness the miracle of life as she delivered one of the puppies while we were there.  I'm always amazed at how they just know what to do... and there is lots for her to do.  Shes in full mama mode managing the 8 little ones like a pro.

Sue's puppies are getting big and are still as cute as ever.  We take them all out of the pen to run around and they listen so good.  Smart, friendly and quick all 9 of them.  We will have to sell some puppies because of space and financial limitations but the decision will be hard no doubt.  We started running Sue again yesterday.  Diamond was feeling a little under the weather so we decided to let Shannon use him to lead one of her puppy teams and Sue ran for the first time in lead with him.  She did awesome!  Today was her second day in lead and she was like a pro.  She held the team out when I untangled some team dogs, passed several people walking, passed loose dogs and even passed a plane that was driving down the road to its hanger.  Down the steep hill on to the lake and back up to the road without missing a beat.  So proud of her, I just knew she would be able to do it.

Diego is fully recovered and running with the main team again.  As he is one of the most energetic dogs in the kennel its hard to imagine he just had surgery.  Dogs really are amazing when it comes to things like this.  I was way more bothered by it than he was.