The Gold Rush begins with a flood of miners!

Boy, do I have a treat for you, today!

The Miner’s litter has arrived and they are AMAZING… as far as a first generation litter is concerned, that is.

But before I described them, it is important for you to know that the Mr. Rogers litter is now in their larger nursery space. They have 3x the space now then they had, plus lots of room to grow. Momma Meriwether is out with them to help them should they get scared of the strange new sights and sounds.

They didn’t like the barking dogs, at first. But once they were settled into their den area, they quickly learned it was safe and not to worry about it.

Lady Aberlin really surprised me. She was the least confident puppy on her temperament testing scores, being a little head shy with the first ever touch from a human. Out in the ner space, though, she has claimed her territory and doesn’t seem to mind anything at all. Good for her.

All of the puppies are warm, dry and cozy.

I checked on them several times last night to make sure.

Yep! They are happy for the added space and huddled together on their puppy bed warm as could be.

Opal began labor yesterday afternoon, March 6, 2023 just as I was traveling the Mr. Rogers litter to their new space.

One litter out and another litter in.

Never a dull moment around here. Ha!

Opal loved her den space the moment she saw it. It was almost like she knew what it was for. Her entire body was ready for those puppies to arrive. She must’ve felt it intuitively.

And… just as I predicted… Opal is an excellent mother.

Her keen intelligence and loving devotion gives her the wherewithal to not move or disturb, but wrap herself around her brood to keep them warm.

And yes… she has a brood!

Are you excited yet???

Take another sip of your coffee… you better be awake for this news!

What you need to know first, going in, is our breed’s typical birth weight range. American Dirus puppies range in birth weight from 12 oz - 1 lbs 10 oz.

Giant puppies………1 lbs 8 oz - 1 lbs 10 oz
Extra large puppies..1 lbs 6 oz - 1 lbs 7.9 oz
Large puppies………1 lbs 4 oz - 1 lbs 5.9 oz
Average puppies……1 lbs 2 oz - 1 lbs 3.9 oz
Small puppies..………….12 oz - 1 lbs 1.9 oz
Tiny puppies……………..10 oz - 11.9 oz

Okay, now you’re prepared.

1. Opal’s first puppy born at 4:45pm is an extra large solid chocolate male weighing 1 lbs 7 oz at birth. He is thick, solid, muscular, and strong. He has a large, broad head. He will likely look like the biggest gosh-darn chocolate Labrador Retriever you have ever seen! People will gawk in awe at your Lab’s size exclaiming, “Where did you get THAT dog?” This puppy will have bright yellow eyes, as all chocolate colored dogs have yellow eyes. (green)
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2. The second puppy born at 5:56 pm is a solid-colored (meaning no white spotting at all), dark silver wolf sable female weighing 1 lbs 4.5 oz. In an extremely rare birth defect, this puppy’s right eye is open at birth. Her left eye is closed as usual. I have never seen or heard of this happening in all my more than sixteen years breeding dogs. As far as I knew, ALL puppies were born with their eyes and ears closed… well… except this one. There is mixed information online about what repercussions occur from a puppy with this issue, but we are about to find out. Puppies are born with their eyes closed because the eyes are not yet fully developed. With a puppy born with the lids already separated, it is assumed that bright lights may damage the eye’s development causing blindness. For this reason, this litter will be immersed in darkness as much as possible - kinda like being in a cave or mine shaft… hmmm. Also, we must be mindful of debris and, as usual, keep the den space sanitized to prevent an eye infection. (purple)
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3. The third puppy born at 7:00 pm is a large solid black male with a long body weighing 1 lbs 5 oz. He is strong and healthy, moving about with ease. He went right to the milk bar seconds after being born… as if he knew exactly what it was. An indication of a powerful instinctual intelligence and keen spacial awareness. (blue)
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4. The fourth puppy born at 7:45 pm is a giant solid chocolate female weighing 1 lbs 8.25 oz. That’s a huge female! This is thick, long, muscular, and built with a large head. She consistently whined just after birth and has a higher vocal tendency. She did not relish being lifted or handled. She moved her body about, pumping her legs and grunting. This puppy will also have those striking yellow eyes. (light blue)
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5. The fifth puppy born at 8:07 pm is an extra-tiny female, much smaller than any puppy I have ever helped birth, weighing 7 oz. She is so tiny, Opal didn’t even know she arrived. Luckily, I saw her still in the sack just lying there. I thought she was stillborn. To my surprise, when I opened the sack, she breathed! Curious how this extra-tiny puppy would fair amidst her giant siblings, I laid her down next to them. They engulfed her… literally. She disappeared in the crack between their bodies. I prepared myself for possibly having to let her go if I found her to be in any way unhealthy. But, she fought her way out from under her siblings, poking her head above the crowd. Then, she found a place to suckle and went to work, never missing a beat. INCREDIBLE. What a will to live. She isn’t out of the woods yet, so we will monitor her, but we do not believe it is fair to prolong her life unnecessarily if she declines and begins to suffer. But, for now, she is very resourcefully finding her place in the world with the hand she was dealt. Way to go, little one! I want to name her Charming Yellow Canary because she is like a delicate little bird in a harsh working man’s world. (yellow)
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6. The sixth puppy born at 8:30 pm is a large solid light silver wolf sable male weighing 1 lbs 4 oz. He did not want to be held and wiggled is body about when I moved him toward the scale. He was quiet about it, though. (orange)
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7. The seventh puppy born at 9:00 pm is an extra large solid black female weighing 1 lbs 7.25 oz. She struggled somewhat when getting her collar on, but otherwise she was quiet and still. She did not have any difficulty finding the milk bar. She also found warmth right away and dried off quickly. (red)
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8. The eighth puppy born at 9:35 pm is a giant solid black female weighing 1 lbs 8.25 oz. She grunted and whined until she got warm. She also struggled and grunted softly when lifted and placed on the scale. (pink)

So, in a nutshell…

We have three males and five females.

Four puppies are dominant black (reverse black wolf sable).

Two puppies are dominant black with a liver dilute gene (reverse chocolate wolf sable).

One light silver wolf sable with black points.

One silver wolf sable with a black mask.

Check out the first temperament testing scores for this litter on the Miner’s litter page:
https://direwolfdogs.com/litters/12/

Now, I am off to bed for some shut eye while the puppies are still and quiet.

I hope Jay returns home from his trip soon. It’s always nice to have Jay’s help when new litters arrive.

Enjoy your day and we’ll get together again tomorrow.

Blessings,

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.