Northern Lore Windsprites

Pretty little Siren, looking like a painting. 🎨 We're aiming for her to be bred in Spring 2025, in partnership with her co-owner at Blue Mist. Because Siren is the result of a Whippet backcross, her coat is smooth. The babies resulting from the planned breeding will each have a 50/50 chance of being either smooth or long-haired.

If you're interested in litter updates about this or future breedings, please check the Linktree to fill out our Future Friends Form!

https://linktr.ee/northernlorewindsprites

These peepers are clear! Siren got her OFA eye exam recently to be cleared for her potential first pregnancy in the spring.

The vet tech assisting kept gushing over her “beautiful retinas” 😂

She has her heart exam at the end of November so we will be sure to keep everyone informed.

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Please fill out our Future Friends Form if you're interested in litter updates send straight to your email or if you'd like to chat with us one-on-one :)

https://forms.gle/PP47ivSd5GZBiuFs8

Baby puppy is looking pretty grown up these days!

We got photos back from the Midwest Coursing Club's American Sighthound Field Association trial back in August! Look at those girls go!

Fable won first place in the Lure Coursing Instinct stake in the Sighthound Mix category. Unfortunately, until Windsprites are recognized by the UKC or AKC, this is how we need to enter.

The dogs don't know the difference. 😉 We can't wait to go back!

We're working on having Fable "station" while we train and play with Haven. It's such a huge help to be able to work with one at a time! We'll practice this with Haven too, when she's gotten the hang of a few other foundational skills, so that Fable can have her turn without interruption.

Look at this pretty little thing ❤️

Making new friends everywhere we go!

The cuteness levels are off the charts. Who authorized this? 😤

Fable zoomin' her way to a blue ribbon at the MWCC event last weekend. Photo credit to !

There are so many things for responsible buyers to keep in mind when searching for an ethical breeder! These are just a few of them. We always welcome questions, but I'd also like to give y'all a little rundown on how Northern Lore shows up in these four categories!

1️⃣ INVOLVEMENT - Nikki and I travel halfway across the country with our dogs, twice a year, to attend breed specialty shows hosted by the International Windsprite Club. Eventually, we hope to hold specialties in the Midwest region as well! You can join Midwest Windsprites to stay tuned for regional events that we organize, which currently just consist of social gatherings, rather than shows. In addition to our involvement with the IWC, we are also active with other local canine clubs.

2️⃣ HEALTH TESTING - Our girls haven't had litters yet, but we're currently preparing for Siren's first, likely coming up in early 2025. Prior to being bred, we will complete the health testing recommended by our breed club (OFA hearts and eyes), as well as any additional testing seemed necessary by our veterinarians. Our pups will be registered with the IWC, which means they will receive genetic testing via Embark in order to confirm their CEA and MDR1 carrier status. Siren, Fable, and Haven have already been Embarked. In addition, we aim to be as transparent as possible about the health and temperaments of our dogs. We want our puppy buyers to be able to make informed decisions.

3️⃣ PROVEN DOGS - Each of our dogs compete in IWC conformation classes. At a year old, Fable had already achieved her Junior Championship and she passed the CGC test earlier this year, with the goal of working towards therapy dog certification. We also participate in a variety of dog sports! Siren came home with a whole pile of ribbons from our last specialty show, where we enter Agility, Rally, and Straight Racing each time. This past weekend, Fable took first place in her LCI category at an ASFA event hosted by the Midwest Coursing Club. She's also placed in both UKC and WCRL Rally. We've also dabbled in nosework, barn hunt, dockdiving, disc, and flyball. Our focus isn't on winning, but on having as much fun as possible with our dogs! Proving them to be as excellent as we think they are is icing on the cake.

4️⃣ LIFELONG RESOURCE - There's a reason our "mailing list" sign-up sheet is called the Future Friends Form! It's cheesy, but it gets the point across. We want to develop lasting relationships with the families that will love and care for our puppies throughout their lives. We will always be here for you. We will want updates about the puppies we place forever. And your Northern Lore pup will be welcomed back with open arms at any time, if circumstances change.

I hope that's helpful! Writing it out reminded me of several other posts I'd like to put together in the future, including information about CEA and MDR1. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions and we'll be thrilled to chat with you here in the comments or on Messenger!

Don’t forget to do your research before buying a puppy. Reach out to your local kennel club if you need help identifying or locating an ethical breeder.

Fable scored 73 points on each of her runs (with the highest score on the board being 75 points), which earned her first place in her category, LCI (Lure Coursing Instinct) - "Sighthound Mix"! A blue ribbon!

Windsprites are not yet recognized by the UKC or the AKC, so they're ineligible to run as purebreds with ASFA (the American Sighthound Field Association). Instead of racing against others of the same breed in randomized 3-dog heats, they run as singles and their individual scores are compared to other dogs in their category. LCI is divided into small, large, or sighthound mix segments.

I look forward to us one day being eligible to win one of the big Best of Breed or Best of Field rosettes! But we're thrilled with her performance, either way!

Thanks to Apsara Windsprites & Lurchers for this synopsis of the developing situation with the newly available genetic testing!

I think it's important to note that the commercial dog food industry, regulated by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), has seen a huge shift in the type and amount of dietary copper over the past 25+ years. In 1997, AAFCO approved the use of more bioavailable forms of copper in the production of commercially availablendiets and in 2007 the upper limit restricting the amount of copper allowed was eliminated entirely. This has led to an apparent increase in Copper Toxicosis and Copper Storage Disease across many different breeds. Our dogs are likely getting many times their required amount of copper in their meals, compounding in their bodies over their lifetimes and leading to toxic, harmful levels and negative impacts on their health.

You can read more about this topic in the article linked below, published by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2021. In response, AAFCO reviewed their decision and in 2023 they announced that they stand by their current regulations, citing a lack of evidence that there's a connection between dietary copper and negative health outcomes. Shockingly, by early 2024, the study that they used to come to that conclusion has since been rescinded and is considered to be scientifically unsound. Time will tell if the voices of veterinarians will have an influence on industry regulators.

Additionally, it remains to be seen if avoiding breeding carrier to carrier, as we do for MDR1 and CEA, will be an option for Windsprites. Early results indicate that a large portion of the population are carriers of the relevant genes. We're operating with an abundance of caution in the meantime. Thankfully, Haven has only one copy of each of these genes, meaning she's less predisposed to develop issues due to high levels of copper. We're still waiting on Fable's results, but we've got a new low copper kibble lined up for her if needed.

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/258/4/javma.258.4.357.xml

‼️ Attention All Windsprite Owners ‼️

Recently, two cases of copper toxicosis have been diagnosed in Windsprites. Copper toxicosis is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the liver fails to excrete excess copper and this can lead to liver failure.

There is a genetic marker that has been identified as an increased risk factor in development of the disease. This means that dogs who have one or two copies of this gene are more at risk for the development of copper toxicosis. However, not all dogs with a copy of this gene will develop the disease. Dogs with two copies are most at risk.

Embark recently added this gene to their health panel (ATP7B) in addition to the genetic marker that assists in mitigating the excess of copper in the liver for affected dogs (ATP7A).

You can read more about copper toxicosis here: https://embarkvet.com/resources/embark-adds-copper-toxicosis-dna-test/

This is important information for all owners of Windsprite and Windsprite Crosses and is something to share with your pet's medical care team, especially if there has ever been concern about your pet's liver values.

For anyone interested in finding out if their pet carries ATP7B/ATP7A, but does not wish to order a full Embark kit, the individual tests can be purchased through GenSol here:
https://www.gensoldx.com/product/build-your-panel/
To find the tests easily, press Ctrl+f on your computer keyboard and search for "ATP7". From your mobile, there is an option to search the page if you tap on the three dots in the top corner.

We've been too busy with this little hoodlum to post very often 😆 She's a doll. But even an easy puppy is a handful! We've been going on lots of little adventures in her first week or so home. This weekend we'll go to the vet and then take a little road trip to camp with and run Fable in an (or ) event! Haven is too young to compete, but it'll be good exposure for her.

Haven is here! Fable remains unconvinced that we haven't made some sort of mistake, allowing this little fuzzy stowaway to come home with us. Angus is bemused and Remy is STOKED. She's just his size! 😄 Despite the look on her face here, I know it's only a matter of time before Fable and Haven are best buds.

One more week until Haven comes home! 🏡

Hello, world! This is Haven! 🏡 We're counting down the days until we can bring her home next week!

Here’s a cool thing! So Siren is done with her false pregnancy (yay) and before diving into health testing proper for her pending first litter next year I just needed piece of mind that all her internal organs were all the way they should be. To make sure, Siren went in for an ultrasound on Tuesday.

Drum roll please…..everything is perfect! Not a single thing abnormal in her reproductive, gastrointestinal, or urinary systems, perfect liver and gallbladder, no inflammation, no signs of any kind of IBD issues, all solid. I figured I’d show you all the results for fun if you wanted to take a look! The biggest thing to see? “No ultrasonographic abnormalities evident.” 🙌 Plus, they said she was an angel for the procedure. She was sedated so she would be still and get better pictures so please enjoy Siren’s “the meds are working” face.

Sometimes I look at this dog and my heart just explodes. I’m thinking “wow I have the most beautiful dog in the world” and Siren is thinking “are you going to feed me or what?”

We're so pleased to introduce Haven (Wisco Oak Grove Cojack of Aurai) to you all 🥰 Welcome to the Northern Lore family, little pup!

It's a beautiful day for zoomies! 😄

Many thanks to .the.chihuahua for the beautiful photos of the sweet Wisco Windsprites girls!

I realized I hadn’t posted anything about Siren in a while and that’s most because her days lately have been extremely boring but for a very unusual and not boring reason.

Siren has a false pregnancy! Or had? She seems to be coming out of it. She wasn’t bred and we aren’t intending to breed her until next year (pending health testing) but her body said, “nah I’m pretty sure I have puppies” and proceeded as if she did. She gained weight, nested in her kennel 12 hours a day, didn’t really want to go and hike or play, and was a bit irritable. When she went to the vet we found out she was literally lactating.

So anyway she’s starting to return to normal now that her body is deciding there aren’t actually puppies, and we’re back to doing more fun stuff again! What a weird issue. But we did go to our first appointment with a local repro vet to get the ball rolling on making sure she’s healthy and pregnancy will be safe and good for her. For now we’re back to her favorite things, mostly running legs akimbo like a lunatic.

Last weekend we got to visit the pups again! They're about five weeks old in these photos. Just a couple more weeks before we find out which one is ours 🥰

Look at our girl go! 😍 Thank you to for this beautiful capture.

Both of my puppies' papas were in attendance at the IWC Mid-Atlantic Specialty Show last month - Blue Mist Fred and Brikal Bruno! Fred is Fable's sire and Bruno sired the recent Wisco Windsprites litter that were getting our second pup from! It's fascinating to look at their confirmation side-by-side like this.

Photos courtesy of our show photographer, Jim Petack!