Where is Waldo?

Many thanks to Susanne for this very cute picture of Waldo (previously Geico).

Quantum aka Geico leaves for his new home in Maine

Today it was a sad day as we said good-bye to Geico. He is going to live with Koren and Jeff Libby in Maine. I met Koren several times when visiting a good friend of ours, Susanne Hamilton. In January 2007 I flew to Ocala, Florida to breed our Keena to Susanne's Buster. While there I took quite a few pics of Koren training horses, and this is one of them:

Koren is a vet tech so Geico is in good hands in case any health problems arise.

John and I got really attached to this little guy. In the last week Geico has blossomed and has gone through transformation. He got bigger, and his color, initially light brown, got much darker. His coat has grown. This is not an ugly duckling any more.

This is Geico a week ago:

And this was Geico today:

Today I met Susanne who was on her way from New Jersey to Maine, and she took Geico for Jeff and Koren.

Susanne is holding her puppy Meggie and Geico

I hear that Geico is with his new family now. Jeff wrote: "Hi Jolanta! We just wanted to let you know that Geico arrived here safe and sound this evening. We have introduced him to the family and he is making a smooth transition. :) Koren and I can't thank you enough for this wonderful gift. He is very special! We already love him very much and he is such a fun little man. We will provide lots of pics and updates. Thank you again. Sincerely, Jeff and Koren"

Thank you Jeff and Koren for providing a perfect home for the little pup! Good luck and keep us posted. We surely will miss him.

The best picture of swimming puppies

Well, some would call it a complete waste of time, but I was very curious how other puppies would respond to the water.  I took additional two groups of pups to the pond. In the first group Ranger and Quipster proved to be very good swimmers. Even though Ranger was the first who went to the water, he was also the first to come out. Quipster was a natural - the way she navigated and made turns reminded me of Paika from a year ago. Then I took a group of three - Queenie, Geiko and Rilla. They were a bit reluctant at first so I took them on a walk around the pond. When I almost completed a circle I crossed the pond where the water was pretty shallow and very warm. They followed and swam across. The picture shows Queenie in the front, then Geiko, and Rilla.

Queenie, Geiko and Rilla swimming across the pond

Almost weaned

Both litters are almost weaned. Both Gilda and Keena showed signs of being uncomfortable while pups were nursing and started to snap at them. Most pups have their teeth out so they are ready to make a complete switch! Right now they get 3-4 meals a day, depending on our schedule. They are fed Omas Pride http://www.omaspride.com/ raw turkey and chicken mixes, Canidae or Eagle Pack canned food, and soon we will introduce dry kibble. We also have several bags of frozen chicken necks, and we will start feeding them next week. The necks will be handy when we start crating pups for an hour or two. Pups are familiar with a crate now as there is a crate in each of their pens, and they go there on their own to take naps. But the time is coming to start putting each pup to a crate. With some litters there is no problem with crate training at all, but with others pups take some time to get used to it.

Of course Geico has been most advanced when it comes to diet and sleeping by himself  because we had to handle him separately from other pups and moms. He has been eating on his own for several weeks now, and he has been sleeping by himself in our kitchen. I would have never expected myself to respond to this puppy the way I do. He is so bright and affectionate that it is very hard not to get bonded to him. We still don't know what exactly his problem might be. He continues to weigh around 50% of what his siblings weigh, but differences do not end in the size only. His limbs are quite long, bones are thin, and he seems to lack any fat (no matter how much he eats). He likes to lie next to our fridge, in a warm spot on the tile floor. The other day I saw a program on TV "Born Different", and one of the children showed in the program has a condition called primordial dwarfism. You can see a youtube video on Kenadie here. Well, I can see similarities in Kenadie and Geico's conditions. Next week Jeff Springer, DVM, is coming here to breed Tilly so we'll see what he thinks. I am sure that there are many abnormalities that might manifest themselves in a reduced size. Well, we don't know what future holds for Geico, but we both really enjoy him.