On November 10, 2014 we welcomed into the world our first Borzoi litter in over three years. We are quite excited because it had been planned for some time and it kept getting delayed for whatever reason, or the breeding missed. Finally the stars aligned, and to help them along, we scheduled an appointment with Dr. Kirk Esmond, a reproduction specialist at Josey Ranch Pet Hospital, to perform a TCI (transcervical insemination). Since we were dealing with two older dogs (with Solo having just turned 10, and Harli at 8), we opted to give Solo’s “swimmers” the easiest access to their destination so they could do their job. For a while we were unsure, as Harli was a bit round to begin with despite haven gotten to lose some weight. But about 2 weeks out I finally expressed a little milk, and so the nervous waiting and hand-wringing began.

The week of Harli’s due date saw another visit to Dr. Esmond for an x-ray to count skulls so that we could be best prepared for the delivery. The films showed 4 pups – and the hand wringing continued. Unfortunately, it continued past her due date of the 8th and through the weekend. Harli’s temperature had actually been below 99 degrees through the weekend since being taken Friday evening. Since she never seemed particularly distressed, we attempted to keep ourselves calm. But come Monday morning, I called the clinic and we shuffled in, preparing to face a c-section. To make the situation even more nerve-wracking (for me at least) – I had to be at a job interview, so when Harli got taken to the back, I had to leave for that. Keeping my mind on the business of an interview while wondering how it was going with Harli was an interesting experience, to say the least.

I returned to the clinic just as they were setting Harli up in a room for recovery with a hot air blanket. She was a woozy mess as I walked in, and I panicked when I didn’t see any puppies around, thinking the worst (as is my bad habit). Moments later a tech walked in with a batch of pups in tow (4, of course!) and proceeded to put them at the “milk bar.” I was astonished to see not only 4 completely different colors, but a red one! Where did that come from?! I watched as the new arrivals tugged and pushed and pulled, working on filling their little bellies. Harli would occasionally lift her head and glance at them like WTH??

I stayed with her as she came out of anesthesia. No problems. The pups continually nursed. I relaxed. Dr. Baber came in to check them for any abnormalities – I celebrated at the announcement that there were no heart murmurs. The only issue a cosmetic one as the chinchilla girl had a short tail – about half that of her littermates. Once Harli fully awoke, she and the pups were bundled up and loaded into the van for the trip home.

We were lucky in that Harli took to her pups immediately once she was fully out of anesthesia. At first I was becoming disturbed at her constant picking up of the pups and hearing them squeal – then noticed that she was always putting them up to the milk bar after they had wandered off! I have never had a Borzoi bitch that was so motivated to keep her pups close by and nursing – or be so aware as to where they were moving.

With 4 pups, and each with a different paint job, we chose the theme of the four elements – earth, air, fire and water. The Elementals.

Gryffyn’s Aeyrie Air Apparent
Silver/Cream boy

Gryffyn’s Aeyrie Playing with Fire
Red Girl

Gryffyn’s Aeyrie Walks on Water
Chinchilla Girl

Gryffyn’s Aeyrie Earth Angel
Tricolor Girl