Fast forward...

The "puppies" are now ten months old.

Who would have thought the "runt" of the litter would become this oversize, muscular, strong-boned dog? Meet Garuda, in his 10-month-old avatar.

Olaudah is more slender, and even taller than Garuda.

The litter was sired by Velvet, a 100% "Avuvi", Dahomey Gap aboriginal dog. The dam was Friendy (who sadly passed away, probably after ingesting one of the many polythene bags people throw away without thinking that they can be eaten by animals and knot or choke their intestines), a mix of aboriginal and (probably less than 50%) foreign breed(s).

Please remember: appreciating is welcome, copying and using without prior written authorisation and attribution is not. Thank you!

Gigedokum road

Adolescent male, Gigedokum Road, Dangbe West District, Greater Accra Region, Ghana.

Please remember: appreciating is welcome, copying and using without prior written authorisation and attribution is not. Thank you!

Kuti

Whelped 18 July 2014.
Full name: Funmilayo Ransome Kuti

A tribute to Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (1900-1978), a teacher, political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat, described as the doyen of female rights activists in Nigeria. She advocated for the Nigerian woman's right to vote. In 1947, she was described as the "Lioness of Lisabi" for her leadership of the women of the Egba clan that she belonged to on a campaign against their arbitrary taxation, which led to the abdication of the then Egba high king. She was also the mother of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a musician, Beko Ransome-Kuti, a doctor, and Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, a doctor and former health minister of Nigeria.

Kuti has a very distinctive coat that looks like dark chocolate at 7 days old. I'm curious to see how it'll evolve.

Garuda

Whelped 18 July 2014
Full name: Garuda

Inspired from the Garuda, a large mythical bird, bird-like creature or humanoid bird that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. his name was chosen by my friend Catherine, who said: "his compact body will block the sunrays and his name will protect him from snakes and poisons". I also read it as a tribute to a puppy I had a few years ago, Kamo, who was poisoned by ill-intentioned passers-by (would-be burglars?), which shocked Catherine a lot.

Garuda may be the smallest of the litter, but he is healthy and his level of activity is not worrying. As we would say here: "all the fingers are not of equal size".

Amo

Whelped 18 July 2014.
Full name: Anton Wilhelm Amo

A tribute to Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759), an African from the Nzema tribe of what is now Ghana, who became a respected philosopher and a university lecturer. Brought to Germany as a child, he was treated as a member of the family of Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and was the first African known to have attended a European university.

Amo is the fairest of all males, strong and healthy.

Olaudah

Whelped 18 July 2014.
Full name: Olaudah Equiano

A tribute to Olaudah Equiano, a/k/a Gustavus Vassa (1745-1797), a prominent African abolitionist and freed slave, who supported the British movement to end the slave trade. Enslaved as a child in his village of Essaka, in what is now southern Nigeria, he was shipped to the West Indies, and sold in Virginia. With his master, an officer in the Royal Navy, he moved to England, where he purchased his freedom. He wrote his autobiography, in which he depicts the horrors of slavery and which influenced the enactment of the British Slave Trade Act of 1807, abolishing the African slave trade.

Olaudah is the strongest of four males who look somewhat alike. He is quite greedy on the teat, and one of the most active too (hence the hand to keep him in place while I was taking the picture!).

Kazoola

Whelped 18 July 2014
Full name: Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis

A tribute to Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, (1840-1935), considered the last person born on African soil to have been enslaved in the United States when slavery was unlawful and had been ceased. Born in current days Togo or Benin (the account is confused on this point), he was captured in Porto Novo, Benin, and taken to the port of Ouidah. Together with more than a hundred other captured Africans, he was brought on the ship Clotilde to Mobile, Alabama, in the United States in 1860 during an illegal slave-trading venture. He was the longest-lived survivor of all those who were brought aboard the Clotilde.

Although he is one of the smallest of the litter, Kazoola is growing well and is healthy and as active as a one-week old pup can be.