The puppies are all doing extremely well. We've put collars on them to help get them used to the feeling and they've been getting plenty of play/socialization time, what with all the cousins and neighbors over to play. It's amazing how fast they grow! They're all on solid food and transitioning from straight puppy chow to puppy food mixed with a high quality, regular dog food.
The two males, Bjorn and Kjartan, have changed from the black and white coloring they had at their birth to a beautiful, rich chocolate color. This makes sense, since their sire is homozygous for the chocolate gene, but it was fun to see these 'ancient' Icelandic genes reassert themselves.
We're also starting to habituate the puppies to smaller crates. (they've been sleeping in a large, open crate with their mother to help them learn to keep the den clean and go outside for their business - an early but important start on house training) The smaller crates are what we'll use when we ship them; we want them to be a comfortable and safe environment so the shipping experience will be as non-traumatic as possible.
ARI
Ari was my early favorite in the litter because of her beautiful coloring and sweet personality. The coloring is becoming more striking all the time. Here are a few pictures that my daughter took.
BJORN
Bjorn remains the dominant puppy of the litter. He can't get too pushy in the race to the food dish or to be picked up and played with, however, or the other three gang up on him and put him in his place, wrestling and nipping -- so he's the Alpha, but always hesitatingly so. His exuberance for all things makes him a favorite to play with among my children.
KJARTAN
Kjartan was beautiful when he was black and white, but with the chocolate coloring, he is gorgeous! He's my favorite to take out and play with alone because of his friendly but independent personality.
BJORKI
Having puppies and nursing them can really take it out of a gal, but Bjork is just about back to her pre-pregnancy figure! Here's a picture of the whole litter followed by a picture of Bjorki that my daughter took.
