All in the Family

Mary-Ann Sontag February 8, 2021

I wanted to share how the Moonshadows and Bright Stars are related — and speaking of Stars and Moons…

Perfect! Thank you, Anonymous Friend. Your kindness is lovely and appreciated.

I first heard of Fil from the late and beloved Terri Z., who shared with me that a beautiful boy from Russia was in Washington for a few months. I drove to Seattle to meet Fil and LOVED him. Not only was he gorgeous, but his temperament was superb.

Марина Зыкина Photo — **Марина Зыкина** **Photo**

My Zoey was bred to Fil and we got the iPups, and that litter included Sparkle — Claire’s mom. And so Claire is a Fil granddaughter.

This is the father of the Moonshadows, Pippin. He is a Fil grandson.

And so Pippin and Claire are first cousins, and the Moonshadows and Bright Stars are — therefore and I believe — second cousins.

Fil died at 10.3 years of age in Russia. I feel so fortunate to have met him and involved him in our litters. He was a spectacular dog and friend to all who met him.

Here are five Fil great-grandsons — the Bright Stars boys, less Perseus…

And a Fil great-granddaughter, Portia from the Moonshadows…

So that is how the two litters are related — through a wonderful boy from Russia named Fil.

Bright Stars Zaniah and Perseus with early attempts at play…

Moonshadows Kale (black and white) and Hunter

Heze is the Heavyweight Champion of the Whelping Box, Bright Stars Division…

Andy is the Heavyweight Champion of the Whelping Box, Moonshadow Division…

Capella loves the travel pillows…

Rosebud would be so sad if we had a breed that lacked tails…

I hope your wonderful day includes family, whether near or far…

Evening Photos

Super Sunday at Puppy Grand Central

Mary-Ann Sontag February 7, 2021

A danger with ten puppies is that the smaller ones get escorted out of the Milk Bar by the bigger, pushy patrons.

I observed yesterday that the gap between the biggest Bright Star and the smallest was an entire pound. Size differences are expected but that seemed excessive to me, and so I implemented an intervention both to ensure fair weight gain and increase the milk supply.

I divided the puppies into two groups. Claire nursed a group outside the whelping box until they were full and dropped off, and then she rested and refilled for 30 minutes, and then nursed the other group on the opposite side of the Milk Bar.

Repeat.

All day long.

I kept notes of group membership, and also which puppy group and Milk Bar side was next up. This is today’s list…

The data suggests this worked. The puppies gained between 5% - 9% in 24 hours with the exception of the smallest puppy — Lyra gained 15%!

Bright Stars Orion and Perseus with Lyra in the foreground

I do this kind of things with the Moonshadows as well but they are less mobile and easier to contain within the whelping box.

The Bright Stars are motoring around and hard to wrangle without separated spaces.

The process of lactation is all about supply and demand — by increasing demand, we increase supply. Infrequent or lazy nursing slows down supply as does supplementing puppies. Less demand = less supply.

The other part of increasing milk production is ensuring adequate nutrition. Claire and Daisy eat around the clock to support their ability to feed ten plus ten puppies. This is easy with Daisy, who eats anytime and anything.

Claire is harder as she continues to only eat when hand fed and she is picky — none of that is typical for her. She is perfectly healthy and so likely this is hormones and perhaps her injured knee is a factor — who knows?! Regardless, she has to eat to feed these puppies and so hand feeding from the buffet it is — every single hour.

What does Claire eat? During the day yesterday, for example, she had 4 - 5 cups of two kinds of puppy kibble, three tins of sardines, two fried eggs, four peanut butter pancakes, a bunch of meatballs, and so on. All hand fed — even the stinking (literally) sardines. Gross.

Claire won’t eat the same foods for Dear Husband as she will for me and so at night she has 5 - 6 ounces of Swiss cheese, unlimited slices of chicken breast, and animal crackers with peanut butter on them — and whatever else she will eat.

Yes, it is exhausting.

Daisy eats both puppy kibble and also homemade food — yesterday’s version was quinoa, ground beef, and spinach.

It is all worth it! The puppies are thriving, the mothers are content, and this is all short-term.

Sigh.

The Bright Stars will soon be moving out of the whelping box and into a bigger space — still right here in the dining room, of course.

I hope you have a Super Sunday. With so many perfectly perfect puppies, we sure will.

Evening Pics

Winter finally arrived here in western Montana. This is the view from our deck.

Claire and Nova 2-7.jpg — Claire and Nova

Puppy Grand Central Report (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag February 6, 2021

When I get up — usually by 5 a.m. — it is like a pack of magic pixies have visited. The kitchen is clean, the laundry is done, and my water bottle is filled and ready to go. Most important — puppies are well, and dogs are happy.

When Dear Husband gets up — usually about 7:30 pm — the house looks like a hurricane went through it. I guess the magic pixies only show up when it is dark??

Moonshadows nursing with Titan in foreground #gotitan

Regardless, it sure is wonderful and makes this ten plus ten thing (plus remote work) so much easier. #gratitude

As many know, Dear Husband is a retired law enforcement officer and his preferred shift was nights — he and his nighttime pixies go way back. The Moonshadows and Bright Stars are pretty well-behaved (so far) and so these night shifts are pretty tame compared to what he used to do.

That said, I suspect a bit of a conflict is brewing between the East Side (Moonshadows) and the West Side (Bright Stars).

My first clue was when Rosebud informed me that the true Heavyweight Champion was not a Bright Star but rather Andy from the Moonshadows. It is true that Andy is the Heavyweight Champion of the Moonshadows but her assertion seemed suspect.

Almost five pounds? Nice try, Rosebud. Apparently Rosebud has favorites.

The second clue that we might have some east vs. west issues was when the West Side puppies (Bright Stars) started protesting — whining and carrying on more than seems usual. No memo has arrived explaining their concerns but I suspect they are sick and tired of being treated like babies who cannot thermoregulate, and they want the hellish heat turned down. #AMEN

The East Side puppies held a meeting about this.