Weights are a bit subjective, as Aidan is very energetic and difficult to weigh. These are post feeding weights and considering that the pups are eating nearly a pound a food at the morning meal, they may appear that they have large increases, when in fact, they are probably gaining more like .2 – .4 lbs a day. The scale reads to the nearest .2 lb, so it may appear that Aidan doesn't gain weight, but he may be only gaining a .1 lb in a day. Other days, he has some significant growth.
Written by Weekend Nanny Cindy Ludwig and Debbie Shepard: Aidan flipped his crate mat over. He immediately began digging on the nylon side. He became fascinated with the sound and feel of his digging. Soon Denali joined in and both wolves continued with this behavior for approximately 20 minutes. Aidan remains obsessed with shoelaces. When he grabs shoelaces he does not want to let go.
With all the activity of the morning, the pups were not weighed today, but will be weighed on Tuesday. From now on, they will get weighed every Monday during wolf care. The following log was written by Behavioral Observation team member: Awen Briem. <br> Aidan and Denali were introduced into the main enclosure with the ambassador today. Upon entering the main enclosure, the pups ran with the pack into the woods. Aidan and Denali immediately seemed more focused on their fellow pack members than on human interaction. Aidan showed interest in a turkey leg possessed by Grizzer, left over from last night’s feeding. Each time Aidan approached the turkey leg, Grizzer defended his food by displaying lip curls and standing over Aidan. Later in the day, wolf care staff placed a deer leg in the enclosure to supplement the pups’ food intake. Although Aidan began chewing the leg, Grizzer stole and defended the leg by showing dominance over Aidan. In both instances Aidan was quick to submit, although his interest in food possession persisted. During one dominance interaction between Grizzer and Aidan, Maya distracted both pups away from Grizzer with a play bow and chase, at which point both pups redirected their attention to Maya, displaying food begging behavior by licking her muzzle, flattening their ears and lowering their tails. Maya reciprocated with another play bow and tail wagging.
Aidan is doing better than the first few days of the introduction. He was a bit nervous with reflections at the window and movement thoughout the building, but the Behavioral Observation team did observe much improvement by Wednesday, when he was often observed walking the rock line in front of the window. He seems to have formed an alliance with Shadow, but gets along well with all the other wolves. Maya has been a bit aloof, but she is beginning to show more social behavior toward the pups.
Aidan is doing well, he is getting better about coming down for programs with treats from the staff. He still shows a bit of fear avoidance behavior when there is a lot of activity between the male rank order or when there is a low throated defensive howling situation. He likes to chew on bones in the pack, and is quick to dominate Denali if he is being dominated by Grizzer or the staff.
As predicted, the pups have added to the dynamics of the pack, and continue to demonstrate unique interactions with each adult. Aidan still follows Shadow, and will run with Grizzer when he chases Malik. But the latest behavior relates to his participation in dominance. Grizzer’s submissive behavior toward the pups has resulted in Maya taking an opportunity to scruff bite and pin him. This usually starts out as a social interaction between the two of them, but Malik and Shadow are quick to join in. In the past week, Aidan has joined the mix with a grab bite. Grizzer takes this well, and this will likely change as fall approaches, but for now, Aidan is practicing dominance, compliments of Grizzer.
Written by Kristin Radermacher – Submitted by Pup Nanny Stephanie Lasley Aiden went into the pup pen to drink some water and managed to slap about 1/3 of the bucket on the floor, after that there was a lot of sliding around while chasing each other. After that the mess was cleaned up with the pups help. Both Aiden and Denali went back to the bucket and both of them stood with their front paws in the bucket and had a drink. It was decided that we would take them outside for a while. This time they were stalking, pouncing and running full out like they were playing tag. Maya came to the fence whining and the pups stopped their running long enough for Aiden to sniff noses with her and Denali connected with Shadow. Grizzer and Malik came close but Shadow kept them back. When the pups started playing with each other again, Shadow laid down by the fence. The pups were brought back in, fed and settled down to sleep. Their sleep was briefly interrupted by the pack howling, they joined in for a bit, then settled down for the night.
Written by Nanny Team Members Vicki & Art Bomberger: Denali and Aiden alternated between hard play and deep naps all day. At 7:45 PM last night, the pups were given a 6.6 pound deer leg. Aiden had shown little interest in food all day, but when the deer leg was introduced both pups were immediately on the deer leg. The pups had not shown any food possession with the cut up venison or chicken, but were very possessive of the deer leg. At 6 am Aidan was still working on the deer leg while Denali was still sleeping.
Written by Nanny Team Members Sherrel Grabler and Lynne Haines: Both pups were very hungry this morning. Aidan consumed 5.3 oz. of chicken and 5 oz. of pure venison shortly after 6 am. Aidan weighed in at 29.9 lbs following his morning feed, a 9/10th lb gain . Aidan was relatively calm during the vet’s visit. He did not display any signs of fear avoidance and received his examination and vaccinations without incident. During both Behind The Scenes programs, Aidan remained calm, yet inquisitive. When Lori Schmidt demonstrated howling with the Ambassador pack during the morning program, both pups ran towards their pup enclosure. Aidan eventually approached Lori after the howling demonstration, seeking reassurance. Throughout the day, both pups cached, dug up, and consumed each other’s cached food.
The following logs were written by Nanny Team Leader Theresa Williams:<br> By Theresa Williams The day started off really nice and the pups were playful and full of energy but during the last program, it began to rain and it was a bit harder to get the pups outside after the program ended. Aidan found the ‘hut’ right away and went inside to get dry. The pool inside of the pup pen was cleaned this afternoon and Aidan went right in before the water was full to splash around then into the den to get all muddy. A brave Chipmunk entered the pen to find a very focused wolf pup stalking it. The Chipmunk escaped.
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