Dracula's Puppies
/Yesterday, Scott Chesney with Tailspin Media came to the kennel for our annual Athlete Portraits! I can’t wait to share them with you! Of course, this meant that I had to make the final picks for the four puppies from Dracula’s litter that would be staying at the kennel. After much hemming and hawing, we decided on these four!
From left to right:
Cheddar- She’s the lightest colored girl in the litter. She is Liz’s favorite. She is cute and adventurous.
Havarti- I picked Havarti pretty early on. She has a beautiful build and loves attention. Plus I could easily tell her apart from the others because she has the long sock on her front right foot (insert laughing face emoji here).
Mozzarella aka Mozzie- This guy was another early pick. He was the first to come out of the puppy house and explore the pen. He was the first to the food bowl. He was always out romping through the deep grass and the least afraid of the big dogs. All that being said, he’s going through a little fear stage right now and has been a bit more timid recently. We just keep taking the pups on walks, socializing them, and letting them see the world to help them through all their stages in development.
Muenster- Muenster is very snuggly. He was a definite pick for a week early on, but then Cartel sneezed and he ran screaming all the way back to the puppy pen. It was quite humorous, and it goes to show that all puppies develop through different stages at different times.
Basically, I’m inclined to think that picking puppies is a bit like a spin of the roulette wheel. Sure there are certain traits that seem the most desirable (boldness, appetite, thick coat). At eight weeks old, their conformation is similar to their final build, so that’s helpful. But really, who knows. Thresher was a shy puppy who was least connected with us humans. Now he loves everyone and leads the team. Lefty was a weirdo. He still is a weirdo, but he’s a weirdo who leads us over Eagle Summit into 40 mph headwinds. Cartel was a tiny runt. But she’s a Copper Basin Champion lead dog. So while we try to make educated picks, it’s a crapshoot. I just make the other mushers who adopt Ryno pups sign a waiver that says they can’t pass me on the race trail with that dog in lead (just kidding).
