Puppies

Throne of Glass Litter: Fall 2019

Zazu

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George

+ more about the parents

Zazu (purebred Chinook) and George (purebred Bernese Mountain Dog) are producing the second litter of the Chinook Breed Conservation Program (CBCP) of the Chinook Owners Assocation (COA) and approved by the United Kennel Club (UKC). The program's goal is to produce a healthy, genetically sustainable Chinook population, with the breed’s historical temperament, working ability, structure, and appearance. Both Zazu (57 pounds, 24 inches) and George (95-100 pounds, 25.5-26 inches) are average sized for their breeds. In addition to improved genetic diversity, we expect pups from this litter to be above average in size (for a Chinook), have excellent temperaments, and have good working ability. George is a sweet, mush-ball first and foremost. He is smart, good-mannered, confident, and outgoing. Zazu is zany and fun, loving, particularly enjoys children, and is athletic with excellent drive in harness. Both are conformation Champions (Zazu in UKC, George in AKC).

Both have OFA 'Normal' eyes and have OFA 'Good' hips and are free of genetic diseases common to their respective breeds. Neither has a history of seizures or food allergies. When selecting George as sire for this litter, we researched hundreds of Berners and found George (and his pedigree) to be the perfect balance of health, temperament, and type that we are looking for. We expect to see tawny and black & tan pups (with the possibility of tri-color).

Unique to this litter is that we are also working with the BMD Vitality Project. Pups from this litter will aid in improving the genetic sustainability for both Berners and Chinooks. Desert Sol is proud to be a part of the CBCP program to help improve the health and longevity of our breed while maintaining the excellent temperament we love in our Chinooks.

CH 'PR' Desert Sol Zazu's Pride DNA-VIP

Birth Date: 5/1/2014

Pedigree: Click here to see Zazu's Pedigree

Hips: OFA Good

Eyes: OFA Normal 8/7/2019

Genetic Testing: MDR1/Dwarfism clear

Stats: 57 pounds, 24 inches

Other: Seizure & allergy free

More Photos & Info: Zazu's page

Zazu is a sweet, smart, and fun loving girl. She is an outdoorsy dog and will let you know when you are late for her morning walk or when she wants to go bask in the sun on her favorite lawn chair out back. Zazu loves playing with other dogs. She also loves people and can be just as friendly as her mama Kyra, although in her home she's a bit more reserved with strangers. After lots of training and socialization, she now warms up quickly to strangers- the more dog friendly the people, the faster she starts to lick you and shove her head under your hand for pets!

Zazu is a curious dog and will follow you from room to room to see what's going on, and will try to play with anything if she can. During chore time it's really hard to use the Swiffer sweeper with all the barking and attacking of the sweeper going on. Zazu has that perpetual puppy personality that we hope she passes onto her puppies! She was a great mama during her first litter with the perfect balance of responsibility, discipline, and fun in regards to her pups.

George

Pedigree: Available to puppy owners

Hips: OFA Good

Eyes, Elbow, Heart: OFA Normal

Genetic Testing: SOD1-A, SOD1-B, VWF, MDR1 clear

Stats: 95-100 pounds, 25-26 inches

Other: Seizure & allergy free

George is a sweet, mush-ball. He is very smart, a very easy to live with dog, quiet, and his family has trained him well - he is a dog with good manners. George went to obedience classes through his first 18 months, off and on, and to doggie daycare a couple times a week. He waits at doors, doesn't beg at the table, doesn't mark/pee on things, doesn't bark for no reason, has self-restraint and patience. He knows all basic obedience, he excelled in his training and his family did and continues to do an excellent job. He is always well groomed, and welcomes it. He generally behaves correctly, with proper body language and respect of older dogs, he is "sweet to passive" with other dogs in most cases. He really wants to play, but often is too big to play safely, even when he does so appropriately. His owner doesn't let him get over-excited in those times. He is confident, outgoing and happy boy. He quite possibly will go with anyone who has a treat and a car ride. He loves his dog sitter, he loves kids of all ages, and he loves cats.

He adores his family, loves his momma best, and human sister. She sings and reads to him. When she plays piano, he sits right with her. George also has elderly people in his family, and while they do not visit a lot, he is intuitive about not jumping and respecting their space. He will only rest a chin on them vs. run his rough paw pad over thin skin...he just knows. His owner loves this aspect of Berners: a high level of knowing just what you need, when you need it! And that it varies from person to person.

George is an AKC conformation Champion.

Birth

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 6 - 12/8/2019

Already at week 6 and the puppies are bursting with activity! Jon sometimes calls them the 'swarm' as their speed has nearly doubled since last week and they sometimes zip around the yard together looking like a 9-puppy swarm. Zazu has turned mostly into a big playmate now, but enjoys giving the pups a snack (though she has so little left these days to give). At one point she was eating quadruple her normal amount of food with all these pups, but as the pups are eating more kibble she is down to only half her normal amount.

These pups have great coats! Although everyone makes fun of us when we say it is cold in AZ, it has been in the 40s in the morning on some days and the pups just head outside and play after breakfast.

We had a number of visitors this past week of varying ages. During one visit with Jon's family, several of us made the 'puppy windchimes' out of PVC, plastic cups and bowls, and rope. You can see these hanging in the outside kennel when viewing the Puppy Cam. These are another small way to desensitize the pups and also act as a fun toy to run through! We feed the pups in a number of areas now - the grass, the kennel, on concrete, on towels, in the house, out of the house, and one place is actually putting the food dishes down right under the puppy windchimes to simulate being touched while eating. We also use a classic favorite for in between snacks- the Kong Wobbler! Pups' brains are stimulated as they love to smack this thing around to get out tasty treats.

Photos

Videos

Tis the season to take Christmas card photos- so of course with 9 pups they are going to be in the card! We figured it would be impossible to get the kids, all the pups, the dogs, and the cat all in one shot so we decided to take a picture of each of us humans with a couple pups. Holy smokes- even that was way more of a chore than we thought! We apparently kept pairing energized pup with tired pup so one would be fine while the other was ready to explore! Ahhh embracing the chaos. ;)

Puppies

Throne of Glass Litter: Fall 2019

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CH 'PR' Desert Sol Zazu's Pride DNA-VIP

George

Birth

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 6 - 12/8/2019

The Throne of Glass litter (as always in order of appearance):

Desert Sol Aedion

Desert Sol Nesryn

Desert Sol Chaol

Desert Sol Lysandra

Desert Sol Nehemia

Desert Sol Asterin

Desert Sol Rowan

Desert Sol Dorian

Desert Sol Manon

Week 7

Week 8