Here we are already at four weeks old. The puppies are growing like weeds now that they are transitioning to solid food. Their teeth have come in, as shown by their desire to chew on things from each other and toys to the kittens. My female kitten, Freyja, has taken up the mantle of puppy nanny, spending most of her time with them. She actually keeps them in line more than Reine does, letting them know when they get too rough. The weekly photo shoot was quite a challenge between several uncooperative puppies, and the kitten being either in the photo or on my back. In a few days they will move into their new, larger enclosure with easy access to the great outdoors.

Tasiilaq (Female) 4 lb 10.6 oz

Narsaq (Female) 4 lb 4 oz

Paamiut (Male) 4 lb 11.1 oz

Kulusuk (Female) 4 lb 3.2 oz

Aasiaat (Male) 4 lb 11.3 oz

Qaanaaq (Female) 3 lb 13.1 oz

Kalaallit (Female) 4 lb 15.1 oz  Still the biggest!

Ilulissat (Female) 4 lb 2.5 oz

Nuuk (Male) 4 lb 9.2 oz

Week One                                                Now

Ukko checks out his son, Nuuk

Tasiilaq and Ilulissat

Paamiut

Ilulissat

Kulusuc

Paamiut tormenting Freyja the kitten

The puppies are now three weeks old. Eyes are fully open, and hearing is improving, as evidenced by their barks and looking around in response to sudden noises. When I clap my hands repeatedly many of them toddle in my direction. They have had several howling fests in the last two days trying out their high little voices. Their first meals of gruel (goat milk and crushed puppy kibble) is in their bellies. Everyday there are changes in their abilities, and interactions with each other.

 

 

Paamiut (Male) 2 lb 12.9 oz

Ilulisaat (Female) 2 lb 7 oz

Kulusuk (Female) 2 lb 7.1 oz

Tasiilaq (Female) 2 lb 9.8 oz

Aasiaat (Male) 2 lb 11.4 oz

Narsaq (Female) 2 lb 10.5 oz

Qaanaaq (Female) 2 lb 6.6 oz

Nuuk (Male) 2 lb 10.7 oz

Kalaallit (Female) 2 lb 13 oz

Aasiaat and Narsaq

Kalaallit and Kulusuk

Kalaallit and Kulusuk

Aasiaat and Nuuk

Nuuk

 

 

The end of the second week has been marked by big changes for the puppies. The eyes of all the pups are now fully open. This has encouraged them to start to interact with their litter mates, and explore the limits of the whelping box. More and more they rise up on all wobbly four legs and attempt to walk, only to fall into a heap. They endure nail trimming, grooming, photo shoots, and other little stresses with copious amounts of squealing. Enjoy the sometimes blurry images that mark their second week and see how much they have grown.

Male

Female

Nuuk  (Male)  1 lb 4.4 oz

Qaanaaq  (Female)  1 lb 2.2 oz

Aasiaat  (Male)  1 lb 2.6 oz

Paamiut  (Male)  1 1b 3.3 oz

Ilulisaat  (Female)  1 lb 2.6 oz

Kulusuk  (Female)  1 lb 3 oz

Kalaallit  (Female)  1 lb 5.1 oz

Narsaq  (Female) 1 lb 3.7 oz

Tasiilaq  (Female)  1 lb 4.3 oz

Nuuk

Nuuk (nuke or nook or new’-uck) is the capital and largest city. It is the world’s most northern capital and one the smallest, by population. The name means “cape”  and refers to its location at the end of a fjord.

Qaanaaq

Qaanaaq (kah’-knack or kah’-knock) is Greenland’s northern-most town, in  the northwest, formerly Thule, which was set up as a military base.

Aasiaat

Aasiaat (ah-shot’) is in western Greenland, and is the 5th largest town, located at the southern end of Disko Bay. Lies in the heart of the Aasiaat Archipelago. The name means “spiders”.

Paamiut

Paamiut (Pa’-me-ut) is in southern Greenland on the coast of the Labrador Sea at the end of a small estuary. the name means “Those who Reside by the Mouth”.It was first settled in 1500 BC.

Ilulissat

Ilulissat (i-loo’-li-sat those are short i’s) is on the west coast, and was formerly called Jacobshavin, which was a trading post. Ilulissat is the Kalaallisut word for “icebergs”. Here is the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the birthplace of explorer Knud Rasmussen.

Kulusuk

Kulusuk (kuh’-lusk) is on the island of Sermersook in the southeast, and means “Chest of a Black Guillemot” (a black seabird with a white wing patch).

Kalaallit

Kalaallit Nunaat (Kah’-lah-lit new naht) is the Inuit name for Greenland. It is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Narsaq

Narsaq (nar’-zak) is an agricultural town in the south of the island. Its name means “plains” and refers to the plain it sits on. Its mainstays are fishing and sheep farming.

Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq (Ta‘-zee-eye’-lack or tahsh’-lack)is a southeastern town founded in 1894. It is located in a deep fjord.

This litter is named in honor of the roots of the Chinook family tree. The dam of the progenitor of the breed, the male named “Chinook”, was a Greenland Husky. Greenland, land of snow and ice, where sled dogs outnumber people in some towns, is home to some 53 glaciers. These arise from the giant ice sheet that covers 84% of Greenland, 4th largest island in the world.

Greenland, Kalaallit Nunaat, lies mostly within the Arctic Circle. The Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier is one of the fastest and most productive glaciers in the world, producing more calf ice than any glacier outside of Antarctica. The act of ice breaking off the head of a glacier is called “calving”, and these “calves” that are born are icebergs. While these new Chinook puppies are much warmer and more cuddly than icebergs, they too will be at home in the snow.

The puppies are all named after “cities” in Greenland, except for  the country’s Inuit namesake, Kalaallit.