The pups are getting bigger including little Sofia who is now weighing a whopping 10 1/2 ounces. Eyes are not opened yet but I do notice them trying to use their back legs more. It’s been very cold here in Georgia but the pups are under a heat lamp, have another heater next to the whelping box, and can curl up into each other to stay warm. Not to mention that they can snuggle right in with mom. It is a sight when all of them are lined up in front of Donnie’s belly. All the pups are well and have the curious alpaca females peeking in at them daily.
Update on Sofia: Sofia is nursing well off the bottle. When I first started feeding her she could only nurse 1/4 of an ounce of milk at each feeding. Today she can drink a little more than 1/2 an ounce. She used to be able to fit in the palm of my hand. Today she is definitely larger. I feel her belly getting bigger too. After each feeding I notice her almost rolling to one side or the other. Her belly putting her off balance. Other than Sofia’s cleft lip and her smallness she is definitely all puppy. She kneads her paws into the air as she feeds and then is off to plow into her siblings trying to squeeze into the middle of them all. Sometimes I find her underneath a pup or two and other times I see her riding away on top of her siblings heads as they are nursing off mom. Sofia is very strong willed and voices her opinion openly.
All the maremma lgd pups are available. If you have a farm or ranch and need a working dog please contact me at info@desertmtnalpacas or you can call 520-220-2778.
For more information on maremmas and the parents of this litter, Donatella and Santino, Click Here.
Donatella, Maremma LGD, whelps 10 pups on 11/29/10:
On the 28th Donatella refused to eat all day. I knew that the time of labor was upon us. At times while walking she would whimper. I sat with her for what seemed like endless hours just waiting for her to begin. After the evening chores I grabbed my laptop and some magazines. I figured I would spend the night in the barn with her. At 9pm Donatella was resting peacefully. It was cold so I decided to go into the house and would return at 11 pm. At 11 I went back to the barn to find Donatella sleeping. That’s it I was coming in for the night.
At 4:30 am I got up to go check on Donatella. Sure enough she had 4 puppies already on the ground. I had left the small heater on but it was still too cold so I went to turn on the overhead heat lamp. I sat with her helping to dry off the pups. While I sat with her she had 2 more pups. After cleaning them off I went back to the house to feed house dogs and the cat.
At 6:30 am I returned to the barn to find another pup was born. I helped Donatella clean up the pup and then proceeded to feed the alpacas and the other maremmas. Each time I did a feeding I would check on Donatella to make sure she was ok and look for the puppies to nurse. Sure enough she gave birth to another pup. My count was now seven, four girls and three boys.
By 10:30 am I was now just about done with my outside chores and Donatella was up to nine pups. I went to sit with her and give her plenty of attention for a job well done. As I did so out popped the 10th pup! This is where she finished. Vincenzo and Donatella are the proud parents to six males and four females. All of the puppies are doing well.
I am spending more time with the runt of the litter, a little female, who was born with a cleft lip. The lip doesn’t allow her to suck as well as her siblings but she is getting the hang of it. I supplement her with a bottle that she eagerly drinks. She is quite the character. I brought her into the house the 2nd night so I could feed her around the clock. I thought this would be easier but my goodness she can scream when she is hungry! I thought the bottle would never heat up. Last night I left her in with her mom and she did just fine. The vet said that she will be fine and we can probably stitch up the lip. Today I will take pictures of her and forward them to the vet to get the final opinion.
Now all I can think about is to complete our puppy proofing of the area. With the last litter of five pups I was running around like mad. I can only imagine the nightmare it will be chasing after 10 curious pups!
All the maremma lgd pups are for sale. They are $850 each which includes the first vaccination, first deworming, microchip, and registration paperwork. Our maremmas are registered with the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America. Both parents are onsite and guard an alpaca herd of 26. Initially the pups are raised sharing a fenceline with the alpacas. Eventually they are integrated with the alpacas.
Yesterday I was the judge for the alpaca youth show held at the Pima County Fair. It was a lot of fun in which I got to judge showmanship and obstacle course. I was very impressed with the kids and their handling abilities. I was even more impressed when I found out that a lot of the kids had been with alpacas for less than a year. It is quite amazing to watch the alpaca do the jumps and allow the owner to place a hula hoop over it. It just showed us all how much trust the alpaca had in its young, confident owner.
I made it a point to tell the kids what they did right and what areas they needed to improve. I really went out of my way to express to the crowd how the kids should be supported. The parents thanked me afterwards for being so interactive with the kids. From the feedback I received the kids had a great time and are looking forward to doing more shows.
This show was pretty small, so I do hope more kids join in the future. It is a great way to support our future alpaca breeders. Perhaps I will get another chance to judge one of the youth shows again in the future. It was a great time for all.
Bella has found a new home in Northern California with owners, Rick and Cindy Shipley, of Argonaut Farms. Bella will be guarding a herd of alpaca not at all different than what she was doing here at DMAR. Bella turns 5 months old on the 20th of this month.
Rick and Cindy drove into Tucson on Friday night. On Saturday I took Bella to meet them. Bella did great in the car and was quite a mush when she met her new family. I’m sure she was a bit nervous and shy, but in no time she will show her confident self.
Rick and Cindy appear to be a very good family for Bella. I am confident that they will dote love and attention to her and vice versa. Bella will have an older pyrenees dog to befriend on their return. I’m sure she will be excited.
For now we are out of puppies. We hope to have our next litter between Gianna and Santino in the summer of 2010. Of course this will all depend on how our current relocation goes. I’ll keep everyone informed as we go along.
Congratulations go out to Lissa Howe and JC Mutchler of Chiva Risa Ranch in Vail, AZ for the purchase of the remaining 3 male puppies shown in the pictures above. Lissa and JC drove down to our ranch at noon and couldn’t decide among the three males. They were planning on purchasing at least 2, but ended up taking all 3. They said they were all so good looking that it was too hard to decide. The pups will be guarding goats.
This does it for Vincenzo’s and Donatella’s litter. The puppies are all absolutely gorgeous and I am sure they will do their new owners proud.
We hope to be breeding Gianna and Santino in the late spring to early summer timeframe. Contact us to place your name on their waiting list.
We still have 1 female and 3 males to select from. These adorable pups are 9 wks old and have had their first vaccination and deworming. Included in the price is micro-chipping and registration paperwork.
The pups have been living and observing their parents, Donatella and Vincenzo. They also have 3 other adult Maremma role models. They are already showing their guarding instinct. They bark when the adults bark and if they hear something first they sound off the alarm.
The pups are very healthy and quite playful. They are fast to roll onto their backs to expose a belly to be rubbed.
Contact us if you are interested in attaining a Maremma lgd.
Remember we will transport for free to TxOLAN and SWRAS.
The Maremma pups are now 3 weeks old. As you can see their eyes are fully open and they are quite mobile. I know their ears are open since they wake up each time I walk into their area. Personalities are becoming apparent. The males are all pretty much laid back where the females all seem to be little trouble makers. They are vocal and launch attacks against their litter mates. Teeth are now coming in and I expect that a few yelps will come to help them learn how to curve their bite.
The pups are being given puppy gruel. A mixture of crushed up dry puppy food mixed with hot water and milk. They all like it, but it is still quite messy as they walk, sit, and fall into the pie plate that holds the cream like mixture. On a good note…most are now lapping it up from the plate versus waiting for me to feed them. Donatella, dam, waits patiently until I give her the go ahead to lick the plate and clean off the pups.
The Maremma puppies are for sale and will be ready by the end of January. Females are $850 and males are $750. Costs include first shot, worming, micro-chip, and registration paperwork. To reserve a pup we require a $100 non-refundable deposit. Contact us to reserve a pup today!
Other DMAR News:
Breached Dystocia: This past Saturday Tom and I were called to aid a fellow alpaca rancher. She had a dam in heavy labor with no progress being seen. The rancher said she went inside and couldn’t find the head.
On the drive over I played in my head how I would proceed to determine the position of the cria. I took the neo-natal wet lab twice, so my confidence level is slightly more than most.
Once there I gloved, lubed, and went in. Immediately I felt two pointy elbows and a little knob on top. No neck or head was found. I followed the leg to find it was z-shaped and knew immediately the cria was breached. I contacted the vet and advised the owner with alpaca would be on their way shortly. The vet had me warn the owner that the situation didn’t look good and to be prepared. Even though the cria is still attached at the umbilical cord once the water breaks the cria may still try to take a breath. This could lead to drowning. Knowing all this made the situation seem more dreadful as the vet is approx. 45 minutes away when driving swiftly.
It was about two hours later when I listened to my messages where the alpaca owner advised that the vet had delivered an alive, alert, female cria. The owner was thankful for my help as she was struggling trying to figure out the position of the cria. She probably would have wasted a lot more time and possibly could have lost the cria.
Kaitlyn-Rose: Kaitlyn is due next month with her fifth cria. To date she has had birthed in this order a female, male, female, male. According to her history we are hoping for a female from her. Kaitlyn is a remarkable dam and has produced all blue ribbon offspring so far. Two of them have even won reserve color championships, DMAR Athena and DMAR Magnum. DMAR Athena is currently for sale and goes with her 2009 Fall female cria, DMAR Chanel. DMAR Chanel’s sire is HRAZ Lock & Load who is out of Xanadu’s Presidio. Chanel is a white beauty with dense, beautiful crimp, and lock structure that is already apparent in her cria fleece. Chanel was born in October 2009. Click Here for more information on Athena. Click Here for more information on HRAZ Lock & Load who is available for stud.
Alpha Carina: Carina too is due next month with her 3rd cria. To date she has given us a male and a female. We are excited to find out what it will be this time. Carina’s first offspring, DMAR Armani, is a 2x reserve color champion. We are currently looking for a partner in taking 1/2 interest of Armani. Click Here for more information on Armani.
Christmas at Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch: Is this Saturday, Dec. 19th from 9 am to 4 pm. We hope you can come out and visit with us. Take a self guided tour of the alpacas and crias. View our Maremma livestock guardian dogs and the 4 week old litter of pups. You will be sure to fall in love with all the creatures of our ranch. Afterwards go into the DMAR Store where you can sip on eggnog and munch on cookies while you shop, view spinning and needle felting demos, or meet with the vendor Premier Designs and their line of beautiful, high fashion jewelry.
Can’t make it out to our Christmas celebration? Don’t fret. You can shop online at www.dmarstore.desertmtnalpacas.com. Hurry as time is running out to receive gifts in time for the holidays.
