Mountain Myst El Niño Dancer (Shelby)
Pedigree Name: Mountain Mountain Myst El Niño Dancer at Squam River
Pet name: Shelby
Weight: 87 lbs
Once Tashi developed Pymetra and we had to have her spayed to save her life, we needed to bring a breeding female into our pack. Fortuitously, another breeder of Northern Inuits had decided to stop breeding and was looking to sell one of his females, a four-year-old named Mountain Myst El Niño Dancer, or Shelby. It was perfect timing.
After flying down to Virginia, I drove back to New Hampshire with Shelby opting to ride as co-pilot. I harnessed her in and off we went.
She proceeded to settle in well with the other two dog. Although initially a little more reserved, she quickly came into her own.
Unlike Buck and Tashi, Shelby is what is known as a “Fluffy”, which means that she has a longer, fuller outer coat.
Calm and affectionate, she likes nothing better than to snuggle up with us.
During her time with us, Shelby had two litters: the Squam River Oken’s Northern Inuit Children Litter (9/30/24), and the Squam River Winter Solstice Litter (12/18/25).
Both litters had two puppies. With such a small number, the dam’s hormones don’t always kick in to fully activate the delivery process. Across history, dogs have, of course, whelped small litters. At the same time, the risk of complications can go up. To avoid such risks, our reproductive vet advised that we have the puppies delivered by scheduled C-section, which we chose to do.
Going through pregnancy, delivery, nursing, and raising puppies takes a lot out of the female. For this reason, our Breeders’ Code of ethics requires that we limit the number of allowed litters. Moreover, the Code of Ethics stipulates that any female who has had two C-section deliveries be retired from breeding, which is what we did.
At around this time, Shelby’s previous owner reached out to us to say how much he still missed her, and to ask whether there was any chance we might be open to letting her return to him. It was perfect timing. After she had had time to recover from the surgery and the surviving puppy was old enough to go to his new home, Shelby went back to Virginia.
