Finnish Winter Litter

born: 13.02.2023 (natural birth/C-Section)
GaiAlmas Ronja x Ozaenas Supernova
COI: 0,00%, ALC: 96,55

3 puppies

1/0 harle
0/1 black
0/1 merle

The puppies are now almost 8 weeks old and develop very well. I decided to name them after Finnish words which describe winter, as they have been created in the deepest Finnish winter at -20 degrees and 50cm of new snow with frozen semen by a Finnish male. The merle girl is called Kuura, which means hoar frost, the black girl is called Halla, which means frost, and the harlequin male is called Lumi, which means snow.

The puppies at the age of 4 weeks

I met Rudi (Ozaenas Supernova) already in summer 2016 at the Club Show in Finland, which I have visited many times since then. I directly fell in love with him because of his appearance and his calm and gentle character. It was also interesting to see his beautiful sister and father at this event. Below are several pictures of him as a youngster which I took then. I met Rudi also on other shows in Finland in the upcoming years and even had the honor to judge him on the Finnish Color Show 2019. There I also saw Rudi’s father once again at the age of 9 years. Btw Rudi is Finnish Champion and was successful on many shows, but is this important?

I would have liked to use Rudi already for Gaia or Alma, but this was not possible due to different reasons (stupid German breeding rules and Corona). Now I finally have the opportunity to have a litter with this wonderful male and I think he fits very well to my girl Ronja. Unfortunately Rudi had to be put asleep on the 10th of October due to beginning paralysis of his hind legs, caused by old age. Otherwise he was totally healthy and his heart was checked just 6 weeks before his death without any remarks. Rudi reached 8,5 years, which is a good age for a great dane male. His father died at the age of 9,3 years due to a bladder tumor and his mother at the age of 10,25 years due to old age. There are many old ancestors in this combination and it is a very wide outcross with a COI of 0,00% and an ALC of 96,55% (over 6 generations).

Rudi has only produced 4 litters until today and has no popular sires in the first generations of his pedigree. He has passed all his health tests with best results, as well as Ronja. She has been inseminated in the middle of December in Finland and her 3 puppies have been born on the 13th of February. Granny Alma (6 years) and great granny Gaia (almost 9 years) helped raising the puppies and great great granny Taika (over 11 years) watched from Finland. Ronja was a perfect mother and also the aunt Leni did a great job entertaining the puppies. I am proud of my pack of 4 generations.