Maya is 47 days old today. She has been doing very well during Pup 101 programs and is occupied with stimulus items such as beaver feet & tails, a rubber Kong (a dog toy) stuffed with ground venison, ice cubes, pig ears, and deer hooves. She has been relaxed and at ease during the programs. When in the outdoor pup enclosure, her greeting towards the arctics at the shared fenceline has been very positive. She greets them vigorously with a wagging tail, flat ears, and will roll over in submission in front of them. She is a "climber" and prefers to be in high places, such as atop logs and rocks. She also seeks out the den area to go into to dig and sleep. Maya's dominance attempts over Grizz and Nyssa seem to have decreased slightly. She is seeking out more contact with staff and nannies and will, at times, climb into their laps to rest for short periods of time before wanting to lay down by herself or with Grizz and/or Nyssa. Maya is no longer receiving the bottle and is instead eating weaning formula during feeding times.
Today Grizz is 67 days old. The puppies are now outdoors on their own all night long. The thunderstorms don't seem to bother them, but they are eager to see the staff arrive for the 6 am shift. Grizzer greets with a high-pitched whine, low tail and submissive roll overs, followed by a bout of jaw sparring with Maya. (a zero weight means they were too active to be accurately weighed)
Nyssa is 80 days old. Nyssa continues to be the most aggressive of all the pups. During pup programs the audience most often hears the aggressive vocalizations from Nyssa as the pups compete for food. As Nyssa was in the outside wolf yard Shadow has raised hackles and was growling at Nyssa. Nyssa then tucked her tail and submissively rolled over. During the morning programs Nyssa was very possessive of the deer leg, but during the 5:00 pm program her littermates did not back down from her aggressiveness as they all fed on the leg simultaneously.
Maya seems to be the most social in her greeting toward the arctics. She's frequently observed running to the arctics whith submissive ears, low wagging tail and licks them through the fence. Today was a busy day for the pups, the weather was cooler today, so they spent most of their afternoon running and playing. By the time weights were to be taken, the pups were to wiggly to let the staff make accurate measures.
Today Maya is 88 days old. As is typical of Maya she greeted the morning shift with a submissive rollover and intensive facial licking. She ate very well during the 7:00 am feeding and tired herself out with lots of playing. She did well during the puppy programs. She was able to defend a deer leg during one of the programs from Grizzer and Nyssa. When the two arctic wolves were fed beaver carcasses Malik brought one of the carcasses over near Maya. Maya then went over to greet Malik with flat ears, tucked tail and whines. Malik then left the beaver near Maya and regurgitated.
Today Nyssa is 81 days old. She greeted the morning shift with a submissive rollover and lots of facial licking. Nyssa and her littermates weren't very active during most of the morning and early afternoon because of hot and humid weather. Nyssa and her littermates were sprayed down with a hose to help cool them down. Nyssa lost control of a deer leg during one of the programs which seems to be usual because of Nyssa's aggressive feeding behavior. During the evening Nyssa and her littermates became much more active as they were all chasing one another around in the puppy pen.
Today Nyssa is 67 days old. Nyssa has been eating very well lately, consuming up to 2 cups of meat mix in a single sitting. Nyssa has also been very vocal when dominating Maya or Grizzer. She makes high pitched noises and then growls as she tugs on their ears, legs, tails, or whatever she happens to have in her mouth. Nyssa's play behavior shows that she has a very dominant personality, but it is yet to be seen whether she will be alpha or not.
Nyssa was much more playful prior to the Morning with the Pups program. She ran around the perimeter at top speed being chased by Grizzer and Maya, and by the time the presentation was on, she was pooped! We couldn't get her to be too active during the talk, she laid in the corner and allowed nannies to rub her neck and ears. Toward the end of the presentation Grizzer and Maya who had been having a chase for the audience landed on Nyssa and woke her up with a little bit of indignant growling and then she joined in chasing the others.
Today Maya is 77 days old. She loves to run in the auditorium in the special programs. She is also the first of the three packmates to investigate things. The new tarp was very interesting for her and decided to explore it immediately. She is also very used to large crowds, in most of the programs she seems relaxed and not a bit stressed.
Nyssa is 62 days old today. Nyssa has become particulary fond of the Igloo dog kennel. Maybe because her coat is not as dense or developed as her packmates, or maybe she just likes straw. But, Nyssa has developed a pattern of getting to the Igloo first and guarding the entrance to allow no other canids to pass the door. She will defend it with barred teeth, deep throated growl and if that wasn't clear enough, she'll bite her packmates in the head.
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