Puppies

Celestial Eclipse Litter: Summer 2024

Greta

+

Bryson

+ more about the parents

This litter was born June 6, 2024!

Greta and Bryson are a great match and we are expecting all tawny (include silver tawny) pups with black masking. Size should be average to above average for Chinooks. Being a 75% Chinook/25% Bernese Mountain Dog litter, we are expecting heads to more closely resemble Chinooks, but still retain some blockiness from the Berners. Temperaments are a standout for both dogs and we expect these pups to be great family dogs.

This will be a satellite litter for Desert Sol Chinooks with the puppies being raised outside Syracuse, New York with Greta's family and Desert Sol assisting Greta's family as much as possible, including the screening and supporting of the puppy’s new homes. Since this is a Chinook Breed Conservation Program, we'll be especially interested in homes willing to keep their dogs open for future breeding. If interested in a puppy from this litter please fill out a puppy application by clicking the button below.

Desert Sol Vitality Greta Nesyrn (Greta)

Birth Date: 10/25/2019

Pedigree: Click here to see Greta's Pedigree (sire information available to puppy owners)

Hips: OFA Good

Elbows: OFA Normal

Eyes: OFA Normal 1/25/2022

Stats: 78 pounds, 25 inches

Registration: COA CBCP - X20-0115-50%

Genetic Test Results: Dwarfism: Clear, MDR1: Clear

Other: Seizure & allergy free

Greta was born October 25, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona as part of the Throne of Glass litter. We thought the name Greta was perfect for a mountain dog. Being 50/50 Bernese Mountain Dog/Chinook, Greta is a member of both the Chinook Breed Conservation Program and the Bernese Mountain Dog Vitality Project. Future Chinook and BMD litters will bring better health and diversity to both breeds. In August 2022, she had seven puppies as part of BMD Vitality project and currently shares our home with her almost 2 year old daughter, Hermione.

Greta is the queen of our house. She is smart and gentle and pretty quiet most of the time, unless there is a squirrel or some other invader in our yard or Jenn’s mom comes over (she loves her Grandma). From the beginning we stared into her big beautiful eyes and had lots of cuddles. She loves a belly rub! Greta is not one to hide her emotions so you know when she is bored, happy, annoyed, hungry, upset, excited, or content. She has many sound effects - and according to Jenn, even sounds like R2D2 sometimes.

Greta is a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and can occasionally be found in Jenn’s Elementary school library as the reading dog, licking faces and making people smile. She enjoys training, especially if there are treats involved. She is also a good traveler, once she has settled, and has gone on several trips to Canada, Maine, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania on vacation to see family. Greta loves her people and we love her right back!

Bashaba Mackenzie Bryson (Bryson)

Birth Date: 3/2/2016

Pedigree: Click here to see Bryson's Pedigree

Hips: OFA Good, PennHIP 0.33/0.35

Eyes: OFA Normal 9/22/2022

Stats: 80 pounds, 27 inches

Registration: UKC - A874557

Genetic Test Results: Dwarfism: Clear, MDR1: Clear

Other: Seizure & allergy free

Bryson loves to be outside exploring new places and revisiting old favourites. Named for the author Bill Bryson, Bryson's human was reading the book A Walk in the Woods at the time Bryson came home to Canada from New Jersey. It's no wonder that he loves spending time on trails any time of year - though he's happy to enjoy a more relaxed place and plenty of ponds, rivers, and lakes in the hotter months. He's been a motivated puller in harness for skijoring and canicross, and while he'll win no races, he gets very excited when his harness comes out of the gear closet. He equally loves his backpack, and has done multiple overnight backpacking adventures. This fall, Bryson and his human will head out to the La Cloche Silhouette Trail in Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario. A full week of adventuring on rocks and in forests will be a highlight of the autumn. Were it not for his human's appalling inability to complete paperwork, Bryson would have completed a few of the Chinook Owner's Association Active Chinook Program achievements. While Bryson loves camping and is well-mannered in a tent, canoes are not his favourite, and he's happy to wade but doesn't love swimming.

When not exploring the wide world, Bryson loves meeting and playing with other dogs. He's good at matching their energy and has played very hard with his buddy Oliver, a stout black lab. He'll also lay down to be eye to eye with Tagg, a miniature Schauzer. Indoors, Bryson loves to compare soft surfaces, evaluating the comfort of the couch, his bed, his human's bed, and, when possible, a pile of laundry. He loves anything to do with fish and the sound of any can being opened is a cue that tuna or sardines will end up in his bowl. He has not yet figured out that other stuff also comes in cans. Although he has an independent streak, he does love a good morning cuddle and is not an early riser, but once he's up, he wants to be outside, and will tap dance in his excitement to get out and enjoy the day.

Birth

Week 1

Week 1 - 6/13/2024

Well. I remember now why it was so great to have puppies when we were not working:) The first week of puppies is watching and weighing and feeding and sleeping. Repeat. That is what the humans do. The puppies eat and sleep and grow and make crazy noised and poop and pee. Repeat.

We have someone watching the puppies around the clock to make sure they don’t get sat on by Greta (which is a low possibility with her) and as we weigh the pups to see who is eating, we make sure to get the little ones enough. Mars and Celeste are tanks at the milk bar. They elbow, wack in the face, kick and do whatever to get to their mama. Venus is pretty good on the front line too. Surprisingly Artemis, though tiny, slinks her way in and holds her own. Though we were thinking her name is Artemis because of the moon missions, she has turned into the Greek Goddess of hunting and the moon. Luna tends to wait til the frenzy is over. Asterix and Andromeda (who I started calling Aphrodite because of the red collar) siren their way into eating. You might have noticed that Luna changed from light pink to Fuchsia. That is because at night it was hard to tell the white of Venus from the pink of Luna. Similarly, Venus and Celeste are hard to tell their colors apart in low light, but Celeste looks enough different from Venus you can figure that one out.

Auntie Hermione (Greta’s daughter from her 1st litter) is the quicker, pooper picker upper. This week we’ve seen the beginning of pooping on your own, which seemed to confound Nebula for a second. Luckily Hermione and Greta are neat freaks and pretty much are on clean up right away. By the end of this week Greta is taking some breaks on the front porch probably to cool off her teats from all the eating. The puppies sometimes are overly enthusiastic and if there is not a teat available they just give Greta a hickie near one. The cool cement and tile around the house definitely makes it feel better. Greta’s been eating and sleeping on a schedule like the puppies so that is helpful and now at the end of the week we can close our eyes a little while everyone is asleep.

Nova and Aurora like to make noises. They are not the only ones but I think of Aurora as the roarer and Nova is like a supernova bursting. What is so precious at this point is who cuddles with who. Artemis and Nebula like to cuddle and Artemis and Asterix like to cuddle. Mars, Venus and Celeste like to sleep alone. Luna likes to cuddle with everyone and Andromeda will talk around the box until she finds a buddy. Eventually they are all happily dreaming and punching and wiggling in their sleep as they grow a little more each day.

So today it looks like eyes will open on a couple pups and several have taken some steps on all 4 legs for a second. Week 2 will have some big locomotion changes in the whelping box!

Puppies

Celestial Eclipse Litter: Summer 2024

+

Desert Sol Vitality Greta Nesyrn (Greta)

Bashaba Mackenzie Bryson (Bryson)

Birth

Week 1

Week 1 - 6/13/2024

The Celestial Eclipse litter (as always in order of appearance):

Desert Sol Andromeda

Desert Sol Nebula

Desert Sol Nova

Desert Sol Asterix

Desert Sol Artemis

Desert Sol Aurora

Desert Sol Venus

Desert Sol Luna

Desert Sol Celeste

Desert Sol Mars

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7