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Alaskan's Nicolaos of Anadyr x TWD's Emma 
 Emma, 1/2 sister to Ivory, was bred to Alaskan's Nicolaos of Anadyr. Alex is an accomplished sled dog, now enjoying a cushy retirement. He brings a fine resume of qualities to the table which complement Emma nicely. Alex is an amazing producer of high performance sled dogs, many of whom, like himself, have turned out to be leaders. Alex also happens to be the paternal grandsire of our 'Zen' litter. Assuming three years from now, these pups prove themselves in both type and performance, they may serve as the basis for a future crossstrain breeding. ............................. Monday, August 21st, Emma did not venture out of her kennel to exercise with the other dogs. We knew that was a sign she was preparing to get ready soon and whelp her litter. We did not however, expect her water to break and the first pup to show up at 11:45 am on Tuesday! Emma just walked around looking a little agitated, acting like she needed to make a bowel movement and the next thing you know, out pops the little guy.  Boy that was easy! Wouldn't it be great if they could
all come out that way. Mom sat back and relaxed for the next four hours while Rhonda wondered when she would start up with another round of contractions. Based on her 8 lbs of weight gain, we assumed there was another 2-3 pups still to go. Rhonda decided not to sit around any longer.
She was out the door at 4:00 so that she could reach our vet before they closed up for the day. They took an x-ray and one position showed no skeletons, Rhonda was devastated. The second x-ray showed 2, possibly 3. The pups were positioned oddly, so rather
than give Emma an Oxy shot, they prepped her for a c-section.
Our vet had let his staff leave early for the day, so it was just he and Rhonda in the operating room while his wife babysat the male pup. Upon opening Emma and fishing in to pull out the sack, the vet had to enlarge the incision he'd made. The sack he pulled out was enormous, containing 2 puppies! He quickly went to work separating the pups from the birthing material and wrapping them in warm towels. It was clearly evident that the tiniest of the two was not going to make it. Because of the position that the largest pup had been in, she (yes we had a girl) unfortunately crushed the life out of her sibling. We are ecstatic of course that the expense of the c-section resulted in a beautiful healthy pup, but it would have been a greater reason to celebrate, had there been others. We had been hoping for a much larger litter to replenish an aging team. Since Nature decided to bless us with only two, what more could you ask for than one of each sex!! 
............................. We can not thank Blake and Jen Freking enough for helping us make this happen! | |||||