We nicknamed the male pup Bolts, because his partner is named Peanut, we thought it was appropriate to have Nuts and Bolts. He also gets out of a gate faster than any pup we've ever worked with, so Bolts has two meanings. We plan on incorporating daily logs with video starting next Monday. This pup is very inquisitive, but a bit reserved around the human aspects of the Exhibit. He is older and was 21 days when we picked him up, which is at the far end of the social window. We will have a lot of work to do in the next month to ensure that this pup has a reduced flight response to the activities in a public facility.
Bolts is estimated at 29 days of age today. He weighed in at 9 lbs today and is showing steady weight gain, but is highly affected by changes in staffing. When new people arrive for training, he is reserved and may be reluctant to eat. This is a very critical time for pup development and one missed meal can be crucial. Wolf care staff are always on site to ensure that the pups get their physical needs met. As we addressed earlier, he is a bit more reserved than Peanuts. We are very fortunate that he responds so positively to Oscar, and we can reduce the anxiety significantly with a little Oscar distraction. Bolts is not shy with wolf care staff and he readily recognizes the core staff, it's just the adaptation to new people. This is characteristic of wolves and is one of the biggest differences between wolf and dog pups. His weight development is as follows: <li> 4/23 – 9 lbs<li> 4/22 – 8.6 lbs<li> 4/21- 8.4 lbs<li> 4/20 – 8.0 lbs<li> 4/19 – 7.5 lbs<li> 4/18 – No weight taken <li> 4/17 – 6.7 lbs<li> 4/16 – 5.9 lbs<li> 4/15 – 5.9 lbs 4/14 -No weight taken<li> 4/13 – Pick up Day 5.4 lbs
The name the pups contest is featured on our website, and as wolf care staff that work with the pups throughout their entire life, we appreciate names that fit the personality of the wolves. So, to describe Bolt's personality: He is extremely social with the people he knows the best, showing a great deal of excitement towards the core wolf care staff. He is also a bit shy towards new things, but is willing to explore and investigate. He's a climber, finding any high vantage point he can with his youthful and sometimes unstable legs. When he met Aidan and Denali through the fence, he showed very social interactions, licking, whining and tail wagging with both wolves. He is easily calmed by Oscar and will look to Oscar during a stressful situation. As time goes on, we will continue to post comments about personality and will feature characterisitics on Youtube. His behavioral firsts include howling to the pack, scraping the ground after urination, submissive roll over to Oscar, checking all fence corners for any openings and tug of war with Peanut. We weigh the wolves every day to monitor their health and condition. Here's the weigh gains since the last posting. We like to see .2 – .4 lbs gain a day, but this can vary with stimulus and stress. <li> Weights<li> 4/24 – 9.5 lbs<li> 4/25 – 10.1 lbs<li> 4/26 – 10.2<li> 4/27 – 10.3<li>
Bolts is really starting to gain leg and paw growth. His paws are now larger than Oscar's, and so is his attitude to wrestle. We keep Oscar on the leash when interacting with Oscar so we can control the excitement. Unfortunately, this leaves Oscar at a disadvantage and Bolts can be pretty physical. There is no doubt that Bolts will fit in really well with the Exhibit Pack. Bolts really enjoys being outside and while it took us a while to get the camera functioning outdoors, we hope you can appreciate the activity and the social interactions between Aidan, Denali and Bolts. Since the last posting, here are Bolt's weights: <li> 5-8-12 – 13.2 lbs <li> 5-9-12 – 13.6 lbs <li> 5-10-12- 13.6 lbs <li> 5-11-12 – 14.1 (note scale change may affect weight) <li> 5-12-12 – 14.4 lbs <li> 5-13-12 – 14.4 lbs <li> 5- 14-12 – 15.3 lbs <li> 5-15-12- 15.4 lbs <li> 5-16-12 – 15.9 lbs <li> No weights 5/17 – 5/18 lbs <li> 5-19-20 – 17.2 lbs <li> 5-20-12 – 17.3 lbs <li>
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