Abba and Watson - Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies

 ABBA the Icelandic Sheepdog puppy might be leaving soon for a great forever home - here's hoping I don't become too attached. The deal may not be final yet. Recent sunrise: - the daylight hours are about to start getting longer. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Kappu has left and is enjoying his new home on the west coast. The two remaining puppies, ABBA and Watson, have been practicing their "Sits", "Downs", "Comes", "Watch Mes" and "Sit-Stays". However, they are still very young and everything is still very new for them.  Watson is available to the right home.

Watson, ABBA

Watson, ABBA

They are getting three meals a day now and eating well. When Kit visits them these days, they play together; she's finally done nursing them. It's normal for one or both of their ears to go up and down until they get a little older. Watson had had both ears up for several days now and then recently one went part way down. I suspect that the rise and fall may be due to growth spurts; they are getting bigger which drains, I suppose, some energy from their ears to their growing bodies.

Watson

Watson

With two puppies it's  virtually impossible, even with fairly good "Sit" commands to have both looking at me. I'm actually kind of surprised that learning is so easy for them at this young age. (Note that today Watson's ear is up a bit more.)

Watson, ABBA

Watson

I've been asked to tell what my Icy pups will look like as adults. That's virtually an impossible question to answer. Icies change a lot as they mature. Both Watson and ABBA have shorter fur. However, ABBA also has a much thicker undercoat than Watson does and therefore she looks fuller, heavier. The thicker undercoat is designed to keep Icelandic Sheepdogs insulated from the extreme cold weather in their native Iceland. It also has the effect of making their outer coat stick out, to look fuller, and therefore perhaps longer. Will that longer and fuller look last? I'd only be guessing.

Watson, ABBA

ABBA

Part of the fun with Icies is that there are so many varieties of looks. Some have long fur, some medium length fur, others have shorter fur; some have a thinner undercoat, some a fuller undercoat; some puppies start out with charcoal gray fur (perhaps protective coloration for when, like ancestral wolves, they needed camouflage?), some start out with the colors they will have as adults; the fur texture varies a lot too, some have softer fur, others coarser fur, some fur that almost feels lanolin coated - however, all fur texture types seem to be repellant to dirt and odors. That makes sense for animals that live outdoors. Over the years I've learned not to panic when one of my dogs rolls in raccoon or possum scat, or comes indoors coated in mud. I don't rush to bathe them. I wait. Preferably with them outside. Very soon the smell and dirt are gone. Some dogs start out as puppies with darker fur and become lighter colored as adults; the reverse is also true. Some start out with very light colored fur which darkens by the time they are grown. It is always fun to speculate though.

ABBA

ABBA