Meet HOKEMI "Hemi"
our Male Siberian Indian Dog
Born 07/18/09
Hokemi is Lakota for Man-in-the-Moon
Update: June 20, 2010 - 11 Months Old
Hemi is doing great. At his recent vet appointment he weighed 94 pounds. He is still sweet, but he is very much a young man now. He's leaner and more defined. He has a huge deep bark that he reserves for visitors and has pretty much taken over as "leader of the pack", the dog pack that is. He is also shedding his puppy coat and his winter undercoat. The first shedding is much heavier than the adult annual shed. He's looking a bit ragged with fur falling out all over the place, quite literally, in clumps. It'll be interesting to see what he looks like when he's done.
Update: December 7, 2009 - 20 Weeks Old
Hemi just received his 2nd Lyme's vaccination and weighed in at 49 pounds! He is developing quite the personality too. He is still very mellow but can actually move now when he wants to! I wasn't sure he'd ever be able to keep up with Winnie. He is still incredibly sweet ... and soft as cashmere.
Hemi is starting to shed a bit. I don't think he'll blow the entire puppy coat yet, with winter coming on, but he might. We'll just have to wait and see. And no, he hasn't turned yellow, that's just from digging in the mud. His eyes have gone a slightly deeper shade of brown now and are still very bright and beautiful.
More later..............
Update: November 7, 2009 - 16 Weeks Old
Hemi is now 16 weeks old and hold onto your hats folks, he's 21" at the shoulder and 44 pounds! To give you a frame of reference, Winnie was 40 pounds at 5 Months. She will be a year old this month and she weighs 48 pounds now. But Winnie is more petite and lady-like and she's not a big eater. The little man shows no signs of slowing down either!
He has graduated to sleeping out of his crate at night. He loves to be outside when it's cold, and it'll be great when he sees his first snowfall. We have almost finished the kennel. They've started using it already and they can go in and out at their leisure. Just getting the fence up and they'll be good to go. Well, I suppose you'd like to see some new pictures.......
A wise "old soul" as the vet says
Hemi learning how to "give me 5".
See the rest of the new pictures on Winnie's page and on the "Our Pack" page.
Update: October 10, 2009 - 12 1/2 Weeks Old
Hemi had his first visit to the Vet (since he arrived here) on Wed. The vet said he's very healthy, that physically he's developing great and that he was very outgoing and calm. He weighed in at 32.6 pounds! He eats as much, if not more, than Winnie. This little guy lives to eat! He also got to play with the big dogs at daycare yesterday for the first time. He held his own and had a great time. 'Course, he's done nothing but sleep and eat since he got home, but that's not a bad thing. A tired puppy is a happy puppy!
Well, I promised some updated pictures, so here we go. They are not my best shots, but at least you can see how big he is now and how well he and Winnie get along. They share everything, food, water, bones, everything.
Good shot of his eye color! He sure is growing, and just look at the
thickness of his hind leg compared to
Winnie's.... oh my.
Sleepy Puppy
Update: October 10, 2009 - 12 Weeks Old
New Photos will follow in the next few days, but I thought you might like an update. Hemi weighed in at 31 pounds today! He's much heavier than Winnie was at this age. And even with all that fur, he doesn't shed. Just the occassional stray hair.
He's enjoying daycare, although he's still stuck with the puppies and small dogs, at least for now. He sits to have his leash put on or off and will frequently sit on the first command. It's hard to believe it's only been a month since he arrived. He's settled right in as part of the family. His eyes are a light brown, almost taupe color (which is the color of the column of links on the left side of this page), the same as his face markings. And I think that's the final color for him. Here's a photo that shows them a bit, just ignore the blue, that's flash....
He's pretty much house-broken. He either walks over to ther door and sits or lays down, or runs to the door and whimpers loudly (when it's urgent). Once he barely made it and was pawing at the door to get outside. So he knows what it's about and tries very hard to wait.
And although he's not thrilled with being the only one in a crate at night, he settles right in and only wakes me if he has to go out. His crate is next to the bed and Winnie has started sleeping under the bed, next to the crate. It works.
The kennel is coming along and should be done in the next week or two. Good thing since they're calling for flurries this week! Well, that's about it right now. I'll post more photos very soon.
Update: September 27, 2009 - 10 Weeks Old
Well, it's been a great 2 weeks! Hemi is growing like a weed. He's already 24 pounds. He's an eating machine and a solid little tank. He gets right in there and plays with "the big dogs". He doesn't just join in either, he can start trouble all by himself. :)
Hemi is also super sweet. He loves attention! He is rather bold and very outgoing both with people and other dogs. Nothing much bothers this little guy.
Winnie and Hemi are already great friends! They eat and drink out of the same bowls (niether one would stick their own bowls, so 1 bowl it is).
We also have some very exciting news! When we were in New Jersey, a family who is waiting for a puppy came to visit both Winnie & Hemi. Both the parents have allergies to dogs. They visited for about an hour, petting and playing with both dogs. We checked with them later and neither one had any reaction to all to Winnie or Hemi.
So, on to the pictures!
Yes, he has long fur. His pupils are black, the "blueish" color is the reflection from the flash. His eye color is still kind of hazel-ish. It's pretty much ther same color as his face markings.
He's still pretty maintenance free for having so much hair. Just brushing him once or twice a week. He's had 1 bath and that was a week ago.
These two took to each other right away.
Hemi loves his "cave" We don't use the fireplace in our living room and there used to be a wood stove there, so it's clean, cool and makes a perfect out of the way spot to sleep. It's also a place Winnie can't go anymore (too big). But he's already gotten "stuck" under the stove pipe, so he's not going to fit before long. Winnie used to like this spot too, but not as much as Hemi does.
Update: September 13, 2009
Two meanings for his name(s). Hokemi because when he sleeps rolled up in a ball, he looks like a big white moon with the Man-in-the-Moon blue "craters" around his eyes. Also, Hemi, as in the engine (thank you Allan) strong, tough and can pull a heavy load. Hemi is a total fur-ball. So sweet and soft, like a stuffed toy. Except with very sharp little teeth!
Hemi arrived at his new home about 10pm last night. It was a 13 hour drive from Michigan. He was an awesome traveler! We made several pit stops for water and other necessities then he hung out with the new humans, sleeping and listening to music. He cried a bit at first, but that ended pretty quick. He met Winnie, stole her nylabone, ate some of her food, went outside and did his thing then slept through the night in his crate, in our room.
He's been great this morning. Some whining, a little howling, but playing with Winnie, following us all around and going outside for potty. He's super friendly and very curious. He will make a wonderful foundation sire! He's already 20 pounds. And if you weren't sure, yes, he has long fur. Winnie's is a much shorter coat so they should throw a nice variety of colors and fur lengths. We still can't tell what color his eyes are. They look almost green, hazel maybe. They may still change, we'll have to wait and see.
Hemi's gonna be a travel'in man for a while ... from Michigan to Vermont this weekend, starting daycare next week, and next weekend a trip to New Jersey so we can visit with the folks and "mom" can go to an Eagles game.
I'll try to post photos every few weeks, like I did with Winnie.
Just a bit of a dirty nose. No time for a bath! Missing my Family
Okay, gotta new family ... and someone furry to play with me!
The photos are a bit deceiving. He is big, but he's NOT almost as big as Winnie. They are getting along very well. Playing, eating and sleeping together.
UPDATE: August 15, 2009 - The Waiting is Over!