The Library Litter heads home

Today we said goodbye to our sweet little puppies. Though it was very hard to let them go, we are so happy to have been a part of their lives and to have met wonderful people through the process of raising them. I was very proud of our children who wore brave faces all day despite their heavy hearts. It wasn't until after all the puppies left that they collapsed in tears. We thought the big adjustment would be HAVING puppies but it seems like it will be a bigger adjustment living without puppies in our lives. We feel blessed to have had this experience and couldn't be prouder of Tioga. She was a wonderful mom!

Mindy Hyde and Chris Fedinez are the proud new parents of Daybreak Bristol (aka: Squirrel) They live in Pennsylvania and will be working Bristol in harness and as an companion in all the outdoor activities they love. Chris' son Jacob will surely love having Bristol to pal around with! We are so happy that Bristol brought this wonderful family into our lives and we hope that our friendship continues to grow - I see wine festivals and snow boarding in our future! :)

Daybreak Bristol (Squirrel)
birth weight 15.8 oz, weight at 8 weeks: 15 lbs 7.9 oz

Mindy and Bristol sharing a cuddle

Remy first met Mudge on Thanksgiving day and she fell madly in love!

Look how much Mudge has grown since then.

I am thrilled to announce that my sister Karen VanVliet, her husband Frans and their three adorable children have adopted Daybreak Mudge! They are keeping his kennel name. The Van Vliets are excited to have a Chinook to join them on hikes and bike rides... I think once they get their feet wet in all the fun you can have with a Chinook, they'll be hooked! :)

Daybreak Mudge
birth weight: 15.2 oz, weight at 8 weeks: 15 lbs 8.5 oz

Remy, Frans, Mudge, Karen, Eli and Skylar

Levent saying one last goodbye to Mudge.

Squirrel and Tioga

Squirrel, Tioga and Dakota

Squirrel and Mudge relaxing in the sunshine before they head to their forever homes.

Squirrel

Morgan gets one last hug from Squirrel.

Thank you all for following us on this journey with our dogs and family. We have enjoyed sharing our experience with you!

7 week pupdate

7 weeks has arrived faster than I could have imagined. At the end of this week, the puppies will go to their forever homes. This week was exhausting, so I am feeling torn between giddy excitement about having a puppy-free house (and the chance at a great night's sleep) and desperate sorrow about having to say goodbye to my furry babies. Tioga has weened her puppies, thought they will do anything to try and squeak out a few more drops of milk. The puppies are also doing marvelously well with house training. They are up a lot at night either crying to go out or begging Tioga to reconsider the whole weening thing. Tioga loves engaging the pups in enthusiastic wrestling matches and games of chase. They have been spending a lot of time outside exploring and visiting with neighbors and their dogs. For this weeks "growth chart" pictures Squirrel and Mudge are in the basket I carried them both in when they were small and we went to visit Daniel and Sophie's schools. I can't believe that just a few short weeks ago both of them fit in this basket at the same time with plenty of room to spare!

Squirrel
birth weight: 15.8 oz, weight at 7 weeks: 13 lbs 13.4 oz
You might be wondering if Squirrel and Mudge lived up to their names. Squirrel was named after the main character in A Dog's Life. In the book, a stray dog gives birth to puppies in an old chicken coop. She names the two surviving pups after the most important things in her world, Squirrel and Bone. One day, the mom goes out to find food and never returns. Squirrel and Bone are left to survive without their mom, but when the two are separated, Squirrel must make it on her own. Our Squirrel has the same strong, brave personality as the character in the book. She is trusting and loving of all people and extremely curious (which in the book, sometimes gets the main character into trouble - our girl, too!) We know that our Squirrel will have a "happily ever after" life like that of the dog in the book.

Yes that is Dakota's bed that Squirrel has taken over. She climbs right up on top of him and pesters him until he gets up and leaves and then she snuggles in his big huge bed for a nap!


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Mudge
birth weight: 15.2 oz, weight at 7 weeks: 13lbs 14 oz
Mudge is the namesake of a beloved family dog from the Henry and Mudge series. He personifies (or dog-ifies) the character to a tee, minus the major dog drool that the character Mudge, a Mastiff, possesses. Mudge's boy Henry has such a special bond with his dog and the series explores lots of different situations where the two explore their world, face problems, learn and grow together. We know that our sweet Mudge will make a wonderful special friend to the young people in his forever family. We hope that Mudge and his "kids" become the best of friends just like Henry and Mudge.

Mudge's favorite sleeping spot is in the pile of shoes and boots by our back door.

In the last storm a large limb from our birch tree snapped off into the dog yard. They have been having so much fun breaking off the branches. Too bad they can't cut it into nice sized chunks for the fireplace. :)

Squirrel loves hurling herself off the front porch into the soft snow in the garden.

Squirrel hiding in the trees

Mudge guarding the garden shed.

Tioga pouncing at the puppies.

Check out Squirrel's choppers!

She looks a little guilty about that last photo...attacking mom!

The best part of our week has to be that Dakota has finally decided to give the puppies a chance. He really thinks they are fun. They even got to play on Uncle Dakota's pillow without him running away.

The kids are going to have a hard time saying goodbye to these little cuties.

6 week pupdate

Happy New Year! The puppies celebrated the new year in style. Partying with tons of friends and neighbors, being treated like royalty, and having a great day of doggy fun with their canine cousins! Another busy week of holiday cheer. Squirrel and Mudge certainly have had their fill of socialization this week. We have a family tradition of "visiting each other's trees". After Christmas we travel to each of my sister's homes to see their tree and let the little kids share all the toys and tales they have from Christmas. The pups came along for the visits and were perfect hosts when family came to visit us. They are getting used to being the "entertainment" and rather enjoy all the attention. For New Year's Eve my sister and her boys and dogs and some dear friends of ours all stayed over for the midnight celebration and sledding the next day. The temps were finally warm enough to enjoy being outside and Squirrel and Mudge had a great time romping around the yard with 4 big dogs! They are so funny to watch running in the snow. Where the big dogs may only have snow up to their ankles, the pups are belly deep and looking more like bunnies hopping along than dogs.

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Squirrel
birth weight: 15.8 oz, weight at 6 weeks: 11 lbs 2.7 oz
Squirrel continues to be Miss Playful. She loves to pounce and chew and can not get enough of those lovely girls with long hair! Sophie is a frequent victim of the hair chewing. I am not sure if it is the hair that is so fun for Squirrel or the little girl giggles! We have had 10 degree or below temps here for several days with a biting wind. Squirrel HATES to be out in the raw weather. (Who can blame her!) We carry her all the way to the farthest corner of the yard to go to the bathroom, otherwise she just scratches at the door to come in. Still, she does her business in record time and makes a bee-line for the door. She is quick as lightening and has mastered the deck stairs already. She adores tormenting Dakota by chasing him off his bed and then taking her place right in the middle of it. A very headstrong girl, but still loves the attention and affection from us. We just love watching that stubborn streak come through when she wants something.

Mudge
birth weight 15.2 oz, weight at 6 weeks: 11 lbs 1.8oz
All that fluff has apparently made Mudge immune to the elements. We joke that perhaps we should bring him a newspaper when he goes out to do his business. He takes his sweet 'ole time, sniffing all around the yard, playing with the other dogs, hiding under the deck. Just when we are about to give up, thinking, he doesn't have to go, he finds a place! Mudge

is catching up to Squirrel with his pouncing technique, though with all that fluff, he looks like the fat kid in gym class compared to her graceful leaps! He has made himself right at home in front of the glass slider leading to our back yard. There is often a pile of shoes there and he curls up between them. Sometimes he puts his muzzle right in the mouth of the shoe and falls asleep. Squirrel prefers to sleep under our coffee table. It offers the best location for a sneak attack! We are adding little "stresses" to the puppies lives to get them used to things like the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, different floor surfaces, etc. We try to expose them to as many new situations as we can. We are using Pat Schlaap's Rule of 7s technique to introduce 7 different types of food bowls, locations, floor surfaces, people, etc. These variations of exposures create a well socialized dog. So far both Squirrel and Mudge seem so even tempered. There hasn't been one situation where we felt either pup was uneasy. (Accept of course outside in this blustery wind which nearly lifts them right off the ground!) Mudge and Squirrel - Terrific twosome goes rogue! No shoelaces are safe!

Tioga is amazing with the puppies. She is teaching them so much about playing gently and using a soft mouth. She is patient with them even though they continue to want to nurse and she clearly wants them weened. Tioga often allows them to suckle long enough to fall asleep when they are unsettled at night, and I usually find them all still sleeping together in the crate the following morning. It is a blast to watch them tearing around the living room!

It is hard to believe that the pups are 5 weeks old today. This week was Christmas week. As we debated the timing of the litter and the 'to breed or not to breed' question, this week was my biggest concern. How would we manage puppies and still keep all the traditions of the holidays in place for our children. Would they resent any changes we would have to make to accommodate puppies? Would we be able to manage presents and trees and decorations? Could we still visit with friends and family with puppies in tow? None of these fears came to be this week! We were blessed with a spectacular Christmas filled with traditions and family and friends and YES! even puppies. Squirrel and Mudge made the holiday a delight! We didn't think it could be possible to add more magic to the season, but they certainly did! The pups alerted us at 5 am that Santa had come and it was all clear to start the day! They accompanied us to my sisters house where they got to meet the whole family. They played in the yard with children and their dog cousins, Pooka and Guinness. After a lot of oohing and aahing they spent most of the day napping. This week meant a lot of visits from friends and neighbors, they met tons of people and several dogs and showed their true Chinook spirit through it all - tails wagging and plenty of kisses!

SQUIRREL
birth weight: 15.8 oz, weight at 5 weeks: 9 lbs 2 oz

Squirrel is at once a beauty queen and a warrior. Her looks are sleek and elegant but she is full of zest and as adventuresome as they come. She loves to explore, pounce, play, bite and yes! escape all forms of containment! She is very attached to Tioga and while her position as "favorite kid" has given her more confidence and stubbornness, it also makes her very dependent. As Tioga weens them, Squirrel is more vocal about her disapproval of not having mom on demand. She is the most playful of the two. Often when the food bowl goes down she is more interested in playing with the hand that placed it there and ends up jumping all over the food to get to the human!

Ever curious, Squirrel would rather eat the tree than pose beside it.

Side by side she looks much leaner than Mudge, however she only let him beat her once on the scale. She is sleek and Mudge is all fluff!

I wonder what the ears will do in the future?

MUDGE
birth weight: 15.2 oz, weight at 5 weeks: 8 lbs 15oz

Mudge continues to be the love-bug! Though he is always the winner in a wrestling match with Squirrel, he still prefers to cuddle. He is very interested in watching the big dogs play and tries to mimic them in games of chase. Dakota is becoming more and more at ease with them, now that they can run and play. Mudge was the first pup to figure out the potty routine. He almost always pees on the paper and hasn't pooped inside in the last week. He whines to go out whenever he needs. They both are doing incredibly well with preliminary housebreaking. They are a wonderful balance to each other - In any given situation one is tentative and the other is bold and then in a different situation the roles are reversed. It is fun to watch who will take the lead, who learns what skill first, who is the first to venture out and who is the quickest to come running back.

Mudge is a much easier pup to photograph as he more readily sits STILL. Squirrel needs a high speed shutter at all times!

Just hanging out!

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Squirrel is almost always found napping in Tioga's crate. This particular sleeping position is a total GreatMountain gene!

With all that fluff, Mudge usually naps where there is a draft. He almost always sleeps up against the gate. That is until Santa brought them new doggie beds...

Squirrel and Mudge

Out early to watch the snow fall.

Chasing each other under the deck.

Squirrel is wondering what Dakota finds so interesting about this stick.

Tioga says, "being a mom is exhausting!"