Nicole Green, our Practice Manager, has been an Alaskan Malamute owner and breeder for many decades. After not having a litter for a while it was time to extend the breeding lines. Shiiva was chosen as ‘the lady of the house’ to be the next mother.
Shiiva is a 5 year old Alaskan Malamute that was originally bred by Nicole. She first tried to mate her when she came into season in October 2015, but this was not successful. Shiiva cycled again in March this year and was again mated. After a small waiting period an ultrasound showed that this was a successful mating and there was a litter on the way. The ultrasound showed 6 skeletons but it is extremely difficult to get an accurate count. This is a good sized litter, hopefully allowing Shiiva to feed the litter unassisted.
In preparation for the litter, Nicole took annual leave to be on hand for the new arrivals. As always happens, Shiiva began whelping late one evening. She successfully had 4 pups naturally but then hit trouble and wasn’t able to pass the next pup. So, at 2am Nicole bought Shiva into the clinic and met Dr.Rachel McCue here, and they prepared for a caesarean. There was a large pup stuck in the birth canal that had caused the problem and then the last pup was born successfully. So after a long night and early morning, Nicole and Shiva had 5 pups, 4 males and 1 female.
Being Alaskan Malamutes and being known as sled dogs, Nicole gave the pups’ names relating to the Antarctic: there was Jerome after the Cape, Mawson after the Sir, Denison, Blizzard and then the favourite little girl named Sophie. This litter gave Nicole two black pups, which are the only black Malamutes in Australia and 3 Agouti coloured. Agouti is a very dark grey colour with a hint of white. As the pups grew, it then came time to decide which pups they would keep as breeding and showing stock and which pups would be placed into new homes.
Now that the pups are self-sufficient, they are like a spoilt tribe of quintuplets. They are energetic, mischievous and attention seeking but still lots of fun. Shiiva is doing quite well too after her caesarean, although she then destroyed some of her bedding and swallowed it. This then caused a blockage and she had more surgery to remove the foreign body. So Shiiva is ready for a well-earned break but should be extremely proud of the quality pups she has produced. This quality is not a fluke, with Nicole doing the preparation work of choosing a Sire with a solid genetic background, with doing PennHip radiographics and feeding quality Eukanuba food to Mum and the furbabies to ensure they receive the correct balance of nutrients while they are growing so rapidly. This is a happy ending with Sophie still being the spoilt brat of the family.
