Bon Zoi'z Dutch D-litter, D.O.B. November 27 - 2007

After the drama with Jasmyn's litter I wanted a mature bitch, preferably with experience in motherhood. Yasera was perfect as she had had already 2 litters. After the mating in Switzerland we waited with bated breath for the ultra sound, which once again showed 5 "blobs". We were very happy as the mating had been only once and not too long either.... To be on the safe side I also had an X-ray taken so we could count skulls, to see if any pups had been resorbed. Not so, Yasera's belly was really crowded, we counted 6 little skulls! Tuesday, Nov.27, around noon Yasera started and in a few hours she delivered 6 puppies, the first 2 dark brindle, the rest gold brindle. Much to our surprise, 1 1/2 hour after the 6th, a 7th puppy was born, appropriately named Delight.

Litter Stats:
Parents of the puppies: SLO Ch. Kristull Elven King (MDR1 clear, DM clear, CEA clear) and SLO Veteran Ch. Kristull Yasera (MDR1 clear, DM clear, CEA clear)
Amount of puppies: 7
MDR1 status: all clear
Puppy names: Dutch Dandy, Desire, Dream, Destiny, Design, Dance and Delight
New owners: Design lives with Willeke, NL, Dream with Kim, NL, Destiny with Marjan & Linda, NL.
Desire & Delight live with Elvira & Rolf, CH and Dance with Tiina, FIN

All in all this litter has given me much joy and several new friends, while strengthening the bonds with those I already knew!

The litter was born upstairs but after little over 3 weeks the whelping box, even though Borzoi size, became too small for 7 curious puppies. We put up an X-pen in the living room with a crate attached so the little ones had a a covered place to sleep at night. Yasera regulary jumped into the X-pen to nurse the puppies and try to clear away anything they might have left, like fresh tripe or puppy formula ;-) This photo was taken Dec.25, the puppies are almost 1 month old.

In addition to the indoor X-pen we also made one in the back yard and the weather in January was mild enough for regular play sessions outside. I had been given a discarded lure from the race track, a great toy for enthousiastic puppies! The moving object, with flying plastic strips was most tempting and often I had 5 or more of the babies pulling like mad ;-) Maybe it is because of this early "training" that Dance, Design and Destiny now are such ardent lure-coursers?

Design was the first to leave, @ 10 weeks Willeke came to pick him up. She also brought Jagne's Black Cleithe to meet his new playmate, a better size for him, compared to the 2 Irish Wolfhounds still at home.... All too soon Design could look down on Cleithe but the 2 are best friends.

Less than 2 weeks later we got visitors from Switzerland, Rolf and Elvira came to collect their 2 girls, red brindle Desire and gold brindle Delight. To get them into Switzerland without a Rabies vaccination they had to be under 13 weeks, which is why they relocated @ 11 weeks. This photo is taken little over a year later, showing daddy Elven King, Starcastle Hounds Silver Lining, Desire and Delight.

It was a lot quieter, just 4 puppies instead of 7! Here they are: Dandy, Destiny, Dream and Dance.
Unfortunately Tiina could not come herself to pick up Dance so Feb. 21 I put him on he plane to Helsinki. It was difficult to leave him all by himself but there was no alternative,,,,,

Little Dance landed right in the middle of the Finnish winter, once he put foot on Finnish soil, a huge blizzard came by! But he soon got used to that strange white stuff, romping with his big Silken friend Sarafias Bijan or the Groenendalers he now shared the house with.

The 3 remaining puppies, Dandy, Dream and Destiny did not really miss their siblings, the 3 of them had a great time together.

Like here...
What better way to pass the time during a rainy Sunday afternoon than by emptying the waste paper box??
Dandy, Destiny and Dream acting as the Holland Hooligans!

Lucky for me they soon were able to come to the doggie park with us, where they could run to their heart's delight. It was sooo funny to see 3 little Silkens racing through the bushes, or crossing and re-crossing the path, meanwhile growling fiercely ;-) Good part about the park was that they met all kinds of dogbreeds, good for their socialisation. They were all rather car-sick during the first weeks but the promise of free running after the ride helped a lot in overcoming their nausea (oh, and the gradually getting smaller anti-vomiting tablets)

In February we had started 5 dogs in obedience class, Dandy, Destiny and Dream in puppy class, Paladin & Yasera in Basic Obedience. With help of Borzoi friend Juul and another friend Dandy and Dream also could go. Kim wanted to take Dream in himself but the Saturday morning wasn't doable for him. Once Dream had her puppy diploma Kim came to take her home with him and the 2 are now a wonderful team,
This left me with 2 puppies but in December 2008 Destiny relocated to the South of the country. My good friend Marjan had lost her beloved Borzoi Kolya and as she had already fallen in love with Destiny, it wasn't a big step to ask if the little one could ease the pain of Kolya's loss... So, since that day Destiny lives with Marjan & Linda.