Puppies

Avatar (the Last Airbender) Litter: Winter 2024

Aelin

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Bailey

+ more about the parents

This litter was born January 21, 2024! This is a colorful litter with tawny, black & tan, silver tawny, and gray & tans all represented. We believe in the classic phrase of "colors don't pull sleds" as we prioritize good structure, temperament, and health over color in our lines.

Aelin and Bailey are a lovely pair both in size and temperament. Aelin is well-built with sturdy, bladed bone (heavier than most Chinook females) yet surprisingly fast. The judge at the 2023 Chinook National Specialty noted her athleticism immediately. She is extremely affectionate to her family and a bit more aloof with strangers upon first meeting, but warms quickly. Aelin was an excellent Auntie to our 2021 Kitty Litter and we expect her to be a fantastic mom. Bailey is more heavily built than many Chinook males, but is of a nice average height. He has a handsome head and we expect those good Chinook looks to be passed on to these pups. He also is a lover of people and dogs. Both dogs are up for any adventure as long as it is with their people! This is a 2nd generation Chinook Breed Conservation Program (CBCP) litter and the pups are expected to be approximately 75% Chinook and 25% Bernese Mountain Dog.

Since this is a CBCP litter, we'll be especially interested in homes willing to keep their dogs open for future breeding. If interested in a puppy from this litter please fill out a puppy application by clicking the button below.

Desert Sol Vitality Aelin Fireheart (Aelin)

Birth Date: 10/25/2019

Pedigree: Click here to see Aelin's Pedigree (sire information available to puppy owners)

Hips: OFA Good

Elbows: OFA Normal

Eyes: OFA Normal 10/3/2023

Stats: 68 pounds, 24.5 inches

Registration: COA CBCP - X20-0114-50%G1

Genetic Test Results: Dwarfism: Clear, MDR1: Clear

Other: Seizure & allergy free

Aelin was named after my favorite character from my favorite books series: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Aelin in the book had a very sweet yet powerful nickname: Fireheart, which we also added to her registered name. Yet she has been called several other nicknames and we’ve yet to truly call her our Fireheart. Those nicknames include Mushball- she is super sweet and empathetic and loves to be cuddled up to you. She will actually melt into you by going up to your legs and lean on them, twist around and then slide down your legs to the ground while you scratch her tummy (sometimes this is hilarious as she melts before you’re ready and one of you will fall ungracefully to the ground!). Sometimes she will come over to me while I’m on the couch, put her paw on my lap to let me know she’s ready for her “melting” session which I happily get on the floor for her to melt into my lap. Another nickname is Comfy Butt- which pretty much means she wants a comfy butt every time she’s sitting down! If a dog bed, carpet, floor mat, car seat, your foot… whatever is *not* the floor is available, she must put her butt on it. What princess doesn’t want her butt to be comfy!? And lastly she’s called Tank because she is built very solid and is a strong and fast girl! She looooves when her human grandparents come over and we always need to be careful that the Mushball Tank doesn’t take someone down in her quest to love on them!

I can’t say enough great things about this dog. She is my “heart dog” for sure. We connect at such an intimate level, it sometimes makes Jon jealous (I get the special lovey eyes a lot)! She’s very confident and knows her place in our pack. She’s not pushy and also not submissive or meek. She is super smart and sometimes problem solves a little better than her momma or grandma (sorry girls!). She constantly makes me laugh, whether it's her little “chirp” noise when she’s happy, her latest comfy butt conquest, when I suddenly have this black nose between my body and elbow while I’m at my desk demanding a pet, how she grabs her favorite childhood “bunny” toy every night (wherever it is in the house) to play with Jon or I before bed, her silly “superstition” that she has to be in her kennel and wait for the perfect moment for the nightly milkbone comes, and when I’m ready to get into bed how she comes out of her kennel for a last melting session before bed.

Aelin is a 1st generation Chinook Breed Conservation Program (CBCP) dog (50% Chinook, 50% Bernese Mountain Dog) with the goal to bring increased genetic diversity and other physical qualities to the Chinook breed.

Lake Time Bailey

Birth Date: 2/3/2021

Pedigree: Click here to see Bailey's Pedigree

Hips: OFA Good

Eyes: OFA Normal 6/1/2023

Elbows: OFA Normal

Stats: 90 pounds, 24 inches

Registration: AKC - WS71991003

Genetic Test Results: Dwarfism: Clear, MDR1: Clear

Other: Seizure & allergy free

Bailey is a gentle, old soul in an extra large package. His calm and composed nature endears everyone who meets him. He loves his family passionately and is content travelling where ever they go. He will happily greet strangers and loves to play and run every morning with his two best friends, a pair of Husky "siblings". Bailey is a creature of comfort and although he loves adventures, he is delighted when it is time to snuggle in the bed (head on the pillow) or on the couch. Hiking, biking, roaming the beach (though not swimming), and wading in the river are Bailey's favorite activities. He is cautious in new surroundings. He loves his "work" - accompanying his Mom to her workplace at the Elementary School where he enjoys being mauled by all the children.

Bailey is very routine-oriented and will let you know when it is walk time or will question your decision-by sitting down-if you want to travel a different route. Upon his return home from a walk, he immediately seeks out the family member who stayed home to check on them and let them know how his walk went. And if they aren't adequately attentive, Bailey will paw at them to express his dissatisfaction. He is vocal when it comes to demanding treats but is otherwise a very quiet companion. He loves looking out the front window and curiously inspects the activity on our street. Although our puppy cam captures the occasional howl when he is home alone, he excitedly greets us when we return home, anxiously waiting on the couch for the pets he knows he is going to receive.

Birth

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 7 - 3/10/2024

Week 7 has come and gone (sorry for the delay writing this!). Our puppies continued to have big adventures and exposure to new things. They all got their first car ride to the vet for their 7th week checkup. They took turns being the designated whiny pup on the way out but it wasn’t for the entire ride, and the ride home they were pretty wiped out so that was nice! They got to ride in the wagon into the vet’s office and hung out with us in the waiting room. Some pups chose to just lay down next to us while a few explored the room. It was a whirlwind of checkup, shots and microchips, so they zonked out really quickly. They all got a clean bill of health and were diagnosed with “Freaking Cute Puppy Disease” which is lifelong, so I hope their new families can handle the puppy cuteness for their entire lives! LOL!

During the puppy party we brought out the colored balls we purchased and made our very own ball pit by putting them in the play pool! As always, the pups don’t find the amusement we do with such things… LOL! They’re just like cats and kids, play with the box not the toy. So we decided to up the ante and sprinkle dog food in there and we got all 7 to jump in and use their puppy brains to find the kibble mixed in! Then we brought out some ice cubes for them to crunch on. Those were a big hit with the pups!

The pups had some cute or funny moments that we just didn’t have a camera ready to capture, which is always the case when it comes to animals I guess. Iroh had quite a conversation with Jon about his empty water bowl! I kept telling Jon he had a dissatisfied customer and he needed to get on that, as Iroh was barking and pawing at the water dish (it was so much cuter than I’m describing it here of course). So far I think three of the pups may be talkers like grandma Zazu. Iroh, Zuko and Katara seem to like to “talk” to the other dogs and mama Aelin to get them to play.

We had another puppy party this weekend for our co-workers and friends. A few showed up to give lots of love to the pups. We had our youngest visitor when my co-worker Raj came with his two young girls, 7 and 1 ½. The youngest actually was excited to pet the pups and sit on their bed, while the older one watched them play. Jon’s co-worker Cristina came with her husband to be and took some very important time out of their busy weekend of preparing for their wedding. They had so much fun cuddling with the pups (an excellent pre-wedding de-stressor!). And my good friend, Michelle, came with her daughter (9). She has come to every single Desert Sol puppy party we had here in AZ! The only one she missed, was our last litter, because she was living in Baltimore at the time, so I’ll give her a pass on that! She has since moved back, and just in time to keep her puppy party streak going strong!

Momo may be the kissing champ, but I think Iroh is trying to steal her spot! He’s become very kissy lately and puts his ears back when he comes over to do so which is so endearing. Momo is very people oriented and gets elated when she sees us and wants to immediately come over for some love. Zuko has been frequently found in my lap more often than he used to.

Photos

Videos

It’s funny how week to week each pup's personality changes a bit and ones that were more quiet are now more active or cuddly, and vice versa. Bumi has also relaxed a bit and spends a little more time hanging out and cuddling us after a few kisses. He still enjoys playing with toys though, especially the squirrel on a stick. Sokka still loves to lay on his back, waiting for tummy pets from us… or a sibling to walk by to start a play fight with him! Katara loves to grab a toy or a stick and run around the yard playing “keep away”. She’s pretty fast and good at it too. If a pup knocks her down and she fumbles the toy, she usually pushes the pup back and recovers her fumble and takes off again! And our sweet boy Aang. He plays smarter not harder. The other pups will rough and tumble but he’ll stay juuust out of reach and sneak attack or bark at the other ones that are tumbling together.

It’s going to be so hard saying goodbye to these pups in the coming weeks! We’ll be happy to have our lives back to mostly normal, as we are keeping a puppy so we won’t get full rest just yet! Thank you to everyone who applied with interest in our last available puppy. I’m happy to say all pups now have homes! If you didn’t get a pup from this litter, I hope you keep us on the radar for our next satellite litter we hope to plan for this summer. We also chose the girl that will be staying with us… KATARA! It was a very close and hard decision, but this girl squeaked her way to the top! She had a personality we think will mesh very well with our current pack. Momo will go on to be spoiled (as well as the boys) with their new families.