Boltz is certainly gaining some status thanks to Aidan. When Aidan wants social contact, he rolls over and lets the pups climb on him and Boltz has been taking it one step farther with ride-up behavior. We still have timid moments when feeding; Boltz either drops his food or steps away from the food if Denali or Aidan are nearby. Denali even take is from his mouth, so it's important that staff stays close to Boltz when feeding to block some of the other wolves. We have noticed that Boltz is even becoming more timid with Luna, but that's probably related to Luna lunging at Boltz, everyone is timid of Luna when she's feeding.
Boltz timid personality is helping to avoid confrontations as he seems to accept a lower ranking role as the male pup with two strong male adults. His biggest challenge is when he has an item that he wants to keep and he becomes the focal point of a chase. Luna and Boltz have a great relationship showing an equal amount of dominance over each other and great tolerance to feed together on a carcass.
Sorry for the break between log postings, I should be back on a regular schedule now. In the last few postings we've been referencing some cold weather limping on Luna. After consultation with the University of Minnesota, we decided to get an x-ray on Luna. The logs today will feature the reactions of each individual wolf. We wondered about the impact on Boltz, since these pups are not genetically related, we are mindful of the potential for a weaker social relationship especially since there was so much separation between the pups during Luna's medical issues. We were somewhat surprised to see Boltz intently trying to get to Luna while she was in recovery. He even started biting and tearing off small tree limbs near the holding pen. We decided to feed out some deer legs as a distraction, which seemed to work well. When Luna returned to the pack, Boltz followed her intently, did a bit of jawsparring and showed a lot of excitement on her return. Later in the evening Boltz, Luna and Aidan joined in on some social chase interactions, with Luna doing some dominating over Boltz.
The last weight we recorded on Boltz is from October 26th, so we think he is large than 86.6 lbs by now. He is gaining in height and is reaching Aidan's height. Aidan and Boltz have a lot of resemblance considering they are not related in any way. To those people who will be participating in Behavioral Observations in the upcoming months, the challenge to identify the differences between Aidan and Boltz will be great.
Boltz is extremely tolerant of Luna's activities, and for that, we are fortunate. Luna can get very aggressive with Boltz and he doesn't respond with the same type of behavior. This may be influenced by the fact that Oscar still actively jaw spars and rolls Boltz over in a submissive posture. Behaviorally, Boltz does better with canids than humans. This is likely due to the fact that we didn't really begin socializing Boltz to our facility and staff until he was 28 days old, even though our source facility began the socialization during the neonate period. <br> Boltz's weights since last week fluctuated a bit. Warm weather and Luna's separation for her Vet visit do influence his appetite. <br> Date Days Old Weight in LBS <br><li> 7/14/2012* 4 months 120 44.5 <li> 7/15/2012 121 44.53<li> 7/16/2012 122 45.85<li> 7/17/2012 123 45.4<li> 7/18/2012 124 46.7<li> 7/19/2012 125 47.62<li> 7/20/2012 126 47.62
Boltz's weights may appear that he is on a roller coaster, but we think this may be scale issues. Due to his size, he doesn't fit on the pup scale anymore, (actually Luna is now weighed on this scale as well). This is a large metal scale that weighs to the nearest .2 lbs, and if the pups are not at the center of the scale, it can get inconsistent weights. Getting a pup to stand on a scale is a challenge, and getting them to stand still is an even bigger challenge. Weights are important to gather every morning, but we also analyze total food consumption, energy level and attitude when determining a pup's status. Boltz is excelling at all of these factors. <br>Here's his weights since the last posting showing date, age in days and weight in pounds. <br> 6/25/2012 101 36 <li> 6/26/2012 102 35.5 <li> 6/27/2012 103 36 <li> 6/28/2012 104 37 <li> 6/29/2012 105 36.1
Boltz displayed some very low throated howls in response to separation from Luna. We started to transition them together and saw some very strong associative behavior after about 3 hours of active interactions. The Youtube this week has a lot of video featuring the pups, including Boltz spending time on a hot day in the water tub and doing some caching behavior. <br> Here are the weights since the last posting:<br> <br> Date Days Old Weight in LBS. <br> <li>7/6/2012 112 41.4<li> 7/7/2012 113 41.5<li> 7/8/2012 114 41.5<li> 7/9/2012 115 42.8<li> 7/10/2012 116 42.3<li> 7/11/2012 117 43.7<li> 7/12/2012 118 44.1<li> 7/13/2012 119 44.5
Boltz was neutered on Tuesday and after one day off the daily program schedule, was back with Luna and investigating the pack holding area by Wednesday morning. He did extremely well and is gets very excited to get some time in the holding area that will serve as the introduction site. Boltz and Luna have both taken to the medical pen and are spending nights sleeping outdoors. We want this enclosure to be very familiar to the pups as we will need to draw them into this pen multiple times a day for feeding and nutritional supplements. Boltz has been stabilizing his weight gain, but we will see an increase in daily weight gain in the next month with plenty of exercise and an increase in appetite. <br> Here are the weight gains since the last posting:<br> Date Days of Age Weight in Pounds<br> <li>7/20/2012 126 47.62<li> 7/21/2012 127 48.8<li> 7/22/2012 128 48.5<li> 7/23/2012 129 49.82<li> 7/24/2012 130 49.6<li> 7/25/2012 131 49.82<li> 7/26/2012 132 49.82
Bolts is growing in height on a daily basis, and his leg growth is tremendous. If you watch him on the webcam, you will notice slights limps or times when his coordination is affected by these long legs. We are trying to maximize nutrition during these fast growth spurts, and have added some dry dog food with a balanced protein to the meat mix. We continue to offer formula, but their interest in formula continues to be minimal. You will also see staff giving a multi-vitamin by eye dropper every day. We ordered a new scale, as the floor scale we have been using is giving us inconsistent weights, but to the best of our ability, here are the weights since the last posting. We typically like to see .2 lb weight gain, but do recognize that changes in staffing or activities can affect feeding. It is critical that people remain diligent but not overbearing in getting the pups to feed. Calm staff make for calm pups, and can result in them missing a meal of they are too stressed. There is a fine balance in socialization and pup care. Here are the weights recorded since the last posting. We did some comparisons between Grizzer and Bolts, and they were tracking pound for pound until they were about 36 days old, then Grizzer made some significant 1 lb and consecutive half pound gains that we did not see in Bolts. On the last recorded weight for today, Bolts is 12.8 lbs, whereas Grizzer was already 14.2 lbs. <li> 4/28 – 10.8 lbs <li> 4/29 – 10.8 lbs <li> 4/30- 11.3 lbs <li> 5/1 – 11.2 lbs <li> 5/2 – 11.6 lbs <li> 5/3 – 12.0 lbs <li> 5/4 – 12.2 lbs <li> 5/5 – 12.4 lbs <li> 5/6 – 12.6 lbs <li> 5/7 – 12.6 lbs <li>
Bolts is estimated to be 49 days old today, his weight today is 14.1 pounds. The last several days weights were questionable due to a scale issue, and with the thanks of Wolf Care donations, we bought a new electronic vet scale that will give reliable weights. From this point forward, we feel far more confident in a reliable weight that is so critical during this stage in life. Bolts has grown legs and ears. At this point, the long gangly legs and large joints can cause some discomfort. In past litters, by the time the pups have reached this stage of development, we would have had warmer temperatures and they would be spending a lot of time outdoors, climbing on stumps, logs and rocks. With this early litter, the springtime temperatures are a bit too chilly for the pups, so they get a little stiff inside. In the last two days, the pups have had some good outside time and we noticed some significant improvement in stability and mobility in Bolts.
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