September 17, 2019 – The pups went home, always a little sad for us. Their pen is empty and their room is quiet. This was another great litter – quiet, confident, affectionate. Every one of them. We appreciate the families that chose us (and us, them!) and we know that each puppy is in a wonderful, loving home where they will receive the best care and good training to complete the job to raising a great dog. Having great families to adopt our pups makes this job of letting them go much easier. We know we don’t need to worry about them!
Thank you to all of those that chose us! Because of you, we get to send wonderful puppies out into the world and also, we get to help feed and shelter many kids in Uganda! Because of this litter and our team and those that adopted from us, we are able to give another $2,400.00 to Amazima Ministries and help the kids in Africa that count on our support. They get another month to eat, learn and simply live. At least two of the pups will go on to do therapy or service work. So good!
We don’t have all of our family pictures yet, but the rest coming soon…..
September 9, 2019 – This post is super long, but tomorrow is puppy selection day and want to tell you as much as we can! We got home from the vet a little while ago, and we’re happy to report that all of the puppies are in excellent health. The pups were all so calm and relaxed throughout our car ride and the long wait at the vet’s office in their crates. (The vet was running way behind so pups had to sit and wait.) Through microchipping (ouch), shots and nails trimmed, they impressed everybody with their courage and complete calm temperaments. Yay! Here are their official weights from the vet today. This is important if size matters to you because it’s pretty telling at this age, who will be mama’s size (50-55 lbs.) or sire Basil’s size (40-45 lbs.).
Weston 10 lbs., 1 oz.
Wyatt, 10 lbs. 4 oz.
Wayne 9 lbs, 3 oz.
Wendy 8 lbs., 0 oz.
Wilma 8 lbs. 7 oz. (Wilma has been selected as the breeder choice and will have pups some day of her own for a California breeder.)
Whitney 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Wanda 7 lbs., 6 oz.
Willow, 8 lbs. 3 oz.
Three minor things to note from the vet’s report, nothing big and very common with our litters…..
Weston’s testicles hadn’t both dropped yet (something that happens usually around this time) and if the one testicle doesn’t drop by the time he’s ready for his neuter surgery, the vet would take care of it during the neuter and sometimes there’s an extra charge and we would cover that.
Wendy and Weston each have teeth that are not fully in straight yet (called Baseline Narrow), very minor and we’ve never seen it not self-correct as teeth develop. This is not an overbite or underbite, just teeth still developing in these young pups. Our vet has worked with labradoodles for 30+ years and has never seen a baseline narrow not self- correct with this breed. (Our warranty covers teeth issues, but baseline narrow is never something that we’ve have ever had to deal with because always corrects on it’s own as teeth develop. )
Temperament testing was completed and we’ve made some notes on what we see. None of the pups are showing timidity, and all scored perfectly, and with the same numbers regarding dominance, socialization and submission. Their scoring is described as: “The pup is outgoing and friendly and will adjust well in situations in which he receives regular training and exercise (what every pup needs). He has a flexible temperament that adapts well to different types of environments. Good with people and other animals, trains very well and learns quickly.” . This excellent scoring on each pup makes for an excellent family companion and one that will be great with seniors, kids and other animals. Just an additional note, we don’t see any higher energy pup in this litter. They play hard and exhaust their energy like every pup does, but they settle easily and quiet themselves. They are a super content litter that is mostly quiet all day long.
With the restraint testing, all of them scored well in submissiveness. None of them are showing any aggression or dominance. Every single pup scored a “3” on social dominance, which indicates their gentleness and submission to humans. Every one of them cuddled up to their tester and licked the tester’s face (part of the actual test) after uncomfortable restraint exercises. None of the pups showed any sensitivity to sound (as we conditioned them) and none of them showed fear toward loud, new objects presented to them. Wyatt is the only one that showed absolutely no interest in the retrieving or chasing exercise. We didn’t know if he was shy because he’s always been so quiet and almost withdrawn, but in the past week he has shown that he’s just a very laid back pup. He had no reaction to his shots and micro-chipping – everything is no big deal to him, it seems.
Everyone comments on how quiet this entire litter is. They are comfortable in any stranger’s arms and love greeting humans they don’t know. All have been very socialized and we hope their families continue with this! Regarding intelligence, these pups track us and watch closely and figure things out. (We have NEVER seen a labradoodle that isn’t incredibly smart. No worries there for sure!)
Weston – Shows to be a little more sensitive visually to strange large objects and he’ll continue to grow in confidence in this area. Social attraction, social dominance and submissiveness though, he scored perfectly, just like his siblings. Something new like a wheelchair or a bike will take a bit for him to warm up to and he’ll use caution before approaching something he’s not familiar with. His slightly straighter coat is ideal and usually indicates much less matting and super easy to care for. He loves everyone and wants to be held.
Wyatt – So laid back that it took us a while to know if he was shy and sensitive or completely chilled out. We see him now as just so chilled out. When we presented scary sights and large new loud objects to him during temperament testing, he yawned.
Wayne – He was born confident. He’s been a pack leader from the beginning, not like the dominant alpha males we sometimes see that knock other pups out of the way to eat or play, but just a calm, intelligent, easy confidence.
Wendy – Fun and playful, quiet and laid back. She’s easy going and she’s always one of the first to sit for attention. She gets the obedience thing! Wendy can be wrestling hard with the bigger boys, but instantly stop to snuggle her humans.
Wilma – She’s gentle and sweet, laid back about everything and goes with the flow. She seems to be thinking, “Whatever.”
Whitney – Whitney just has such a great coat, structure and attitude. Whitney is loving and calm.
Wanda – Wanda has the most unique coat color that everyone seems to love. Almost a taupe color. Her coat is the same color as her Aunt Roo (you can check Roo out on parent page) and Roo is three years old now and still gets comments on her coat all the time. Wanda is quiet and gentle. Confident.
Willow – She loves to play and her smaller size doesn’t stop her. She’s easy going, loves to snuggle and has a really thick coat already. She is fun and loving. She loves being held and is quick to lick her humans. So affectionate.
September 8, 2019 – Winnie’s pups are progressing exactly as we hoped. They are all confident, smart and getting more and more used to being away from their pack for leash training, crate training and time in another room on somebody’s lap. This is all important because the adjustment of leaving their litter is always hard. They’ll still have some adjustment when they leave us, but we hope to shorten the sadness and alleviate as much stress on everyone as we can. The pups may be sad, cry in their crate a bit, but usually doesn’t last very long at all before they adjust and completely bond with their new humans in their new forever homes. The pups are turning seven weeks old and they have their final vet appointment in the morning. We’ll post their official weights tomorrow afternoon, along with their temperament testing results. We took new pictures of each of them and here they are!
The Boys
The Girls
September 2, 2019 – It’s been a busy week as we are pressing in to all the work we do in those final weeks to get them ready for their forever families! The pups are six weeks old today and we are so happy with their temperaments and their progress! Even the more sensitive one, Wyatt, has shown to become so brave and confident. Today he did very well at his bath and blow drying and is more confident in happily greeting any of the humans that come to say “hello.”
All of the pups are now relaxed at most “scary” sounds and experiences and we see them becoming the “whatever” pups that we strive for. Fireworks, thunderstorms, sirens, blow dryers, leashes, clanging dishes, honking, machinery noises, children screaming (on recording of course!) don’t seem to phase them anymore.
They are now so focused on humans, tracking us, and sitting nicely for attention. Although they do love to stand on their tippy toes to peek over the pen to watch what we’re up to. So cute!
All of the pups love being held and they relax easily while sitting in somebody’s lap. We have different family and friends coming to help us work with them seven days (and evenings!) a week. They get so much attention, and it shows. We’re so pleased with them!
They are mostly quiet all day and really don’t fuss about anything. No barking about anything yet, even when they are waiting to eat. We’ve started crate training, and this is really the only time we hear them cry. But we will keep working on it over the next two weeks until they are resting and learning to entertain and comfort themselves in a crate, away from their litter. This is always a hard, yet very necessary adjustment and they will need to adjust again some more when they leave their pack and go home to their forever homes.
Today was leash training time outside and they were doing well at following and being comfortable on a leash. Mama Winnie just went home as we could tell the natural separation had taken place and it was time. Her guardian family was so happy to have her back. She will now retire from breeding. She’s been a wonderful mama and such a great dog to have around. This is important because experts say that about thirty percent of puppy temperament comes from the mama. Winnie is a sweet, gentle and loving dog, never anxious, and this certainly has passed down to the litter! Here they are at six weeks old. We love how their coats are filling in!
The Boys
The Girls
And some random shots of today….
August 27, 2019 – Just posting a few more pictures of their five-week photos…
The Girls
The Boys
August 26, 2019 – Winnie’s puppies are five weeks old! We’ve had a busy week with outings to the backyard, baths, lots of socialization and conditioning with new people, new sounds and experiences, and are weaning more and more from mama. The pups really don’t react anymore to scary sounds like thunderstorms, fireworks, sirens, loud dogs barking, babies crying, hammering, vacuums and more. They’re becoming so confident! Here they are at five weeks old!
The Girls
The Boys
August 20, 2019 – Winnie’s puppies are now four weeks old! I’ve heard breeder’s say this begins the hardest stage (they mostly just eat and sleep for three weeks), but I think it’s the most enjoyable. Yes, definitely harder, but they engage with you and they’re fun to watch and interact with. Maybe it’s the same way I enjoy kids a lot more than babies!
Anyway, they are becoming more active, though still, they sleep a LOT. After they eat, or play for 20 minutes, they crash as if they’re overcoming a marathon. Typical at this age. But things will change soon with a lot more energy to keep up with our work with them.
They are quiet mostly, relaxed and easy. They enjoy people time, but still mostly they are focused on Winnie. They’re eating kibble a few times a day now, but mama is still in their pen regularly to nurse and stays nearby. Once they are weaned, they begin bonding to humans, a natural transition. Hopefully you’ve seen the video footage we posted on Instagram. We are working on more sound desensitizing and lots of socialization. We’re challenging them with new obstacles, sounds, and experiences. The four to six week mark is a critical socialization period, before fear starts to set in. We’re also working on manding, a Puppy Culture philosphy we focus on that requires they are sitting to get any attention at all. They’re introduced to a crate at this point, gate stays open, non-threatening to them, and eventually we’ll work on individual crate training where they are alone and apart from their litter. (That’s the really hard part!) They’re doing well.
At this point they love humans and they’ve been introduced to a lot of new people already. We now have two litters here (Gretel’s pups are one week old) and though that’s more time commitment, our team of family and friends, keeps all pups cared for and nothing missed seven days a week with morning, afternoon and evening shifts covered. I guess you could say, “It takes a village,” because it does to do all the conditioning and care that we do.
We took some four-week shots of the pups today so you can see what’s happening here. We’ll do individual photos again at five weeks. They’re doing great and we’re pleased with what we see in each of them. Black spot and all! (Wayne gets a lot of attention.)
August 13, 2019 – The puppies are three weeks old now and doing great! They are so plump (we love that!) and are becoming more active now that they can see. We’re starting sound desensitizing as the can hear now. They completed the bio-sensor program and we can tell it’s done it’s job. They are so calm and relaxed, not jumpy, squirmy or reactive when picked up. They are noticing each other more now and wrestling and playing a bit. Mama feeds them well, and when this happens, we see lazy, yet happy and quiet pups. It’s all good! We’re starting to see some size differences becoming more apparent: Wendy is the smallest and definitely has Basil’s DNA more than Winnie. We’ll report weight info in a couple of weeks as weight differences become more obvious. Their pigmentation is darkening and you can see that Whitney will probably have a brown nose instead of black, like her grandma, Ella. Here they are at three weeks old! By this weekend we should see more action and will post more video footage beginning at four weeks old.
The Boys
The Girls
August 5, 2019 – Winnie and Basil’s pups are doing well at two weeks old! Not a lot to report, but they’ve continued to gain weight daily, are eating well and becoming more active as they squirm around the pen. They are being held and massaged often and they go through our Bio-sensor steps daily. They still can’t see but their eyes are starting to open a little bit, so it won’t be long. Hearing will come at around three weeks old. Winnie continues to be an excellent mama, very attentive and caring. Here are some pictures of this cute pack! If you look closely, you’ll notice that Wayne has a parti dark spot on his back fur. We didn’t spill something on him, he was born with it and it will help us always identify him easily! It’s a fun spot that will probably always make him unique …. unless once his coat really fills in we don’t see it anymore. Time will tell. They are getting cuter every day! Here they are…..our W Litter.
July 29, 2019 – Winnie and Basil’s puppies are one week old now and they’re all doing well and gaining weight daily. They are some of the biggest, strongest pups we’ve had! Before even a week old, they are strong enough that they are lifting their heads high and pulling their bodies about the pen. Often, pups are kind of skinny that first week … not these guys. We’ve started with the Bio-sensor program with them daily and they’re getting daily holding time. Mama is doing great, as expected. She loves her pups and is taking good care of them. Here are some current pictures of the little cutie pies!
The Boys
The Girls
July 23, 2019 – Yesterday Winnie had a good, non-eventful labor and brought us eight new healthy, thriving pups! We are excited to welcome Winnie’s puppies, named “The W Litter” to our world. Winnie and Basil brought us five girls and three boys: Wendy, Wilma, Whitney, Wanda, Willow, Weston, Wyatt, and Wayne.
All of the pups latched on right away and seem to be good eaters. We are really impressed with their birth weights too. We are off to a really good start.
