It is the beginning of the month so its time to feature another one (2 in this case) of our pack. This month we are going to introduce you to the sisters, Sox and Mazikeen.

These girls are from the very first low content litter of Momma Bear and Messiah. (Check out our tab on What is a wolfdog? which covers content) This first litter was very much a learning experience for us. We had done our research on what to expect with the birthing and educated ourselves on the possible emergencies that could arise. We were as prepared for this first litter as we thought we should be but the birthing area we had set up for Momma was not to ber liking  and she thought she knew better and decided to give birth in the family room behind a chair on a blanket she found. As momma would birth a pup we were right there to help her if she needed it because sometimes first time dams get overwhelmed. Starting with this very first littler we have been hands on pups right at birth so long as the dam allows it. 

 

When a dam starts labor we have a prep system in place and we are ready before the first pup arrives. Things like gloves, clean towels, sanitized scissors, scales and pen and paper are just some of the necessities we must have ready. Along with supplies we have a great team that is on standby when a momma goes into labor because we keep our dams and pups under a 24 hour watch for the first crucial 72 hours after birth.

When Momma started birthing we soon learned the importance of puppy identification since they were all coming out looking alike at a glance. This is where the pen and paper came in handy. We had to find the slightest differences from pup to pup so when we weighed them from day to day we knew if each pup was thriving. One of the first kind of markings we look for is on the paws and toes. With Mommas's first litter we had 2 pups that when documenting their unique markings ultimately became their forever names and one of those is Sox (the other one is Two Toes, AKA TT which we will feature in a future month). I bet you can guess what Sox paws and toes looked like, she was wearing "socks"

 

Sox pretty quickly won over Kent's heart and it was sad to see her go to her furever home but the sadness was short lived when for reason beyond anyone's control her furever home became her birth home and she very quickly became Miller's Wolfhaven's Princess. Sox has always been very laid back and loves to get attention but at the same times she is very content with being the "the watcher" of the pack. She will just watch and observe the pack's actions and basically learns what not to do. As she grew and Kent kept calling her his princess she took the title to heart. She very much will jump in to resolve what she perceives as conflict and will follow in Momma Bear's shadow to learn the ropes so to speak in being the next in line as the alpha female. She has even stood in as a "babysitter" for many of our low content litters. Sox was bred one time and she was very much an amazing momma herself.

 

One thing as breeders we want to find the best breeding pairs and within those litters find the best one and continue the line for future generation and Momma's first litter was our jumping off point into our program. Mazikeen soon became the the star of our first litter as the one to carry on Makynzi and Messiah's genes. Mazikeen carries a unique gene that allows one or both of a low content wolfdog to retain their blues eyes. When a canine\wolfdog has one or both eyes stay the blue color from birth its call heterochromia. Heterochromia is not a common trait in wolves in the wild but in wolfdogs because of breeding canines such as husky with wolves the ability for it to happen becomes greater. Mazineen eventual got her name, which means she devil, because unlike her sister Sox she was a bit of trouble maker. She was the loudest pup,  most out going and the leader when trouble broke out. As she grew out of her puppy stage she soon became a calmer spirit but maintained a sense of leadership and independence. We are very pleased with the 5 low content litters she produced and she is now living the retired life. 

 

Both Sox and Maz are a big part of our house pack and they are our one of our second generations that reside here at Miller's Wolfhaven. We are also pleased to know that their line has proxucede many other generations as well.