A dog breeder's life.

Tme For Fall Again

2011-10-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

We have been getting ready for winter for several weeks now. At my sister's place, we harvested green beans a few weeks ago and dug up potatoes for 5 hours last Saturday. Sunday she made a trip across White Pass to Yakima and brought back apples, peaches, grapes, huge cabbages, peppers and tomatoes. My sister is great about canning food.

This is what my garden looked like pre-dogs. Now I have a wire fence to keep them out of my raised beds otherwise they dig holes. I've been busy reclaiming my garden. I let it go last year and with events that happened this summer, it wasn't great either. I planted one of my raised beds with carrots and lettus and nothing came up but a tomato plant. (here's where I roll my eyes.) So I made a goal a few weeks ago to plant and prepare better for next year and increase the area I can grow stuff in. By cutting back some bushes and removing some others I can more than double my garden beds next year. I also need to plant on a schedule. Like bare root plants like Rashberries and other berry bushes are available in February (rose bushes too) Cool vegetables can be planted in April like carrots, radishes and lettus. I can plant potatoes now, in areas that don't get boggy like my compost pile. Some of the best potatoes I've grown came from the compost pile. Because my backyard bogs during the rainy season, I've been laying several inches of gravel on my pathways so I can walk thru the garden all winter without sinking into the mud. I'm also bringing home a weekly load of grass and chopped leaves from work to add to my raised beds to compost all winter. In the spring I will mix in the compost from the compost bin that contains peelings, eggs shells and coffee grounds plus rabbit droppings. I have 4 bunnies that live above my compost bin and they process weeds for me. Everyone is saying this winter will be a wet cold one. I guess we'll see.

On the dog front. I recently purchased a miniature apricot poodle to breed to my chocolate toy male Johaan, I named her Liezel. Johaan was supposed to be a miniature also, but he remains small and I won't be able to use him on my larger girls like I planned unless I do artificial and I prefer puppies the natural way. Johaan will also be bred to my sister's poggle (toy beagle/poodle cross) Willow. Willow has a surprising terrier look to her but none of the high energy level terrier personality. All the other dogs are doing great and we have two fantastic litters of puppies, one of golden labradoodles and one of black and chocolate standard poodles.

I'm doing well, I miss my husband and I write about it on another blog that is personal. I've often kept a journal or wrote letters, so a blog is kind of like a journal. My son, Mike, is still driving truck, my son Jeremiah is now a specialist and was recently accepted on the the Scout platoon of his brigade. My little boys, Teddy and Cubby are growing fast and learning new things everyday and are the light of my life.

Mourning

2011-07-03T01:19:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago my husband of more than 11 years died in his sleep. He was only 47 and it was very unexpected and sudden. He wasn't in the best health, he had problems with bone loss in both hips, back problems, but I still believe he had several more years yet to live. I still feel like I'm in shock. All the things that we used to do together living our lives, I now do myself. All day Thursday I kept telling myself not to forget to put out the trash cans for Friday morning pick up. Wes was the one who did most of the food shopping and most of the cooking. Fortunately he made sure that we are well stocked up with canned goods and a full freezer. I just have to try to figure out what to do with it. Our labradoodle Hiedi was his dog, she chose him and was his constant companion since we brought her home as a 9 week puppy. The first night after he died I had her in my room and most of the night she laid on my bed, head up whining at the door, waiting for Wes to walk in and get her. The next day we cleared out his bedroom, so his scent was gone and that pretty much cut out the whining. A few days later she went into heat and has other things on her mind now. Hiedi is also just one of the pack with the dogs that live at my house, before she was singled out by Wes and they were more like a pack themselves. So it's actually better for her to back in the pack with the other dogs. Well except for Fritz, I don't want to bred her this heat and I've learn from experience that Fritz is fast and will tie to one of my mom's before you even know he was close by her. His is determined to do his job and do it well. So the best way to avoid him fathering an unplanned litter is to completely separate him. I miss my husband everyday that passes, it's hard not seeing him when I come home from work and it's hard not having him to talk to about everything and run my ideals about stuff I'm planning out by him and getting his input. I miss hearing him say "I'm working on it"

A Spring Posting

2011-04-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I have posted. Sometimes I have a lot to say and sometimes I have the search for just the right thing to say on my mind. We've been plenty busy with dogs and puppies. As you can see, we have a bit of everything right now. Update from my last posting, Gretchen did finally have her puppies, six days late! All boys! Six of them, 2 chocolate and 4 black. Of course the choco boys got place right away and I'm glad that they did since both went to wonderful people, but at the same time I wish people were more open to even looking at the black puppies. Photos don't do them justice. With their dark brown eyes and black noses lost in all that curly black fur, it can be hard to capture their faces. But when I see them in all their shiny black glory I can't help but love the way their fur reflects the light in such beautiful manner. All but 3 of Hiedi's pups have found homes. Emma had puppies 5 weeks ago, 1 black girl, 1 chocolate boy and 4 chocolate girls. These are the first chocolate girls that we have had since Diva was born last 4th of July. And we still have a couple poodles. What does all this lead to? Lots of cleaning of puppies, cleaning their sleeping areas and cleaning poo. Besides mountains of laundry. I think I'm gonna try to figure out a way to sew crate pads that fit over the crate trays like fitted sheets. Oh I did manage to lay some more laminate flooring last Sunday. We have a bedroom downstairs that we have been using as storage, so we cleared the room (some of it is still in the living room, yikes!) and painted and installed the flooring. I still have finish work to do downstairs, like finish the waincoating and trim in the bathroom and kitchen and reinstall the bathroom cabinet, vanity top and sink. Oh and build a half wall between the living room and kitchen. Then, I can start the flooring upstairs, someday.

Hiedi's Puppies are here!

2011-01-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

Hiedi's puppies arrived late Friday afternoon, the 21st. Everyone is doing just great Mom included. There's a total of nine puppies, 5 boys and 4 girls, all looking like reds and a couple cream girls. Of course this early they don't have a lot of hair so they really look pink. I like to tease my husband and say they are pink. Take a look at the photo yourself, don't they look pink? Especially on the pink background. As of this writing we are still waiting for Gretchen to have her puppies.

Waiting for Doodles

2011-01-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

Today our two litters Labradoodle puppies are due. Both mom's have been safely transported to my sisters house to whelp and raise their pups. Sigh. Someday soon I hope that will all change. But, anyways the moms are all ready and have nice large comfy crates. Lots of cloth pads and soft clean towels standing by. Now all we have to do is wait. Ah waiting. I only have a few days here so I hope they don't keep me waiting long.

On another note: Mercedes' puppies are doing great and getting big. Their hair is really starting to show it's curliness. We've been feeding mom in the crate with the puppies because she doesn't like to be away from them for long and a couple nights ago I was straightening up stuff in the room while the dogs were eating and there was Baron halfway in mom's food dish eating her food! We've been mixing canned food with water and pouring it on top of dry food like gravy, so the food was all soft. Their eyes and ears aren't even open yet, but he was able to follow his nose and find a way to the food. In the next few days the pups eyes will be starting to open and a few days after that, their ear canals will open.

After sending out birthday greetings from last year's winter puppies, we have received several new photos and they have been posted to the photo blog. I was very pleased to find out that one of Mercedes' boys that's almost two years old now has turned into a silver beige just like his mom. He had a blaze on his chest as a baby and so I'm now wondering if that had anything to do with his different coat color. Especially that all but on of the new pups has a blaze. We'll see.

The Puppies Are Here!

2011-01-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

Mercedes had her puppies very early in the morning last Saturday the 8th. She started having them about 3:20am. Just 6 puppies, all a wonderful chocolate color. Two girls and four boys. All except one has a marking on their front chest area. One has a mark on his chin and alot of white on his chest, his name Baron Von Chocolate. Baron is the boy I'm planning to breed to Emma and Tawnee. One of the girls is very tiny. Her name is Alice In Wonderland, AKA Alice. Alice is going to be Cubby's puppy. The other girl is the largest puppy in the litter has an upside down triangle on her chest like a super man shield, her name is Super Sweet Charlotte. Charlotte is Teddy's puppy.A male puppy is going to Daisyhillabradoodles. That leaves just two puppies left to place in good homes. Today the puppies went to the Vet to have their tails docked and dew claws removed. All puppies are doing great and Mama is taking good care of them.

Eagerly Awaiting

2011-01-02T23:07:00.001-08:00

Two days to go until the happy event. At this point puppies could come at any time. The count down is on. I'm hoping that Mercedes (aka Sadie) doesn't start having her puppies when I'm at work. She seems to have puppies during the day. Last year Sadie had them during the day and every time she delivered one, it was a secret that she wasn't sharing with me. I would be there waiting and waiting and no action. Then I would walk away for a couple minutes and come back there would be another puppy. At least I know that she is a good mommy and makes sure all her babies have a good start.

So this weekend we achieved our goals for making sure Sadie is physically ready and she has a comfortable spot for the BIG EVENT. Teddy, our Puppy Whisperer is ready and eager to beginning training and guiding a new batch of puppies from birth till the time they leave our care. Teddy and I worked side by side tonight getting the last few details ready.

We elevated Sadie's crate to enable easy access to everything happening within the crate. This also saves our knees and is a lot more comfortable than crawling into the crate to clean up messes or move puppies around or aide mom with whelping her puppies. It also allows more light and lessens drafts. That is Teddy's bed. Sadie fancies herself Teddy and Cubby's nanny and likes to be close to them. Teddy and Cubby are right there when puppies come. Once puppies are cleaned up enough they are all greeted by all of the family. Puppies first sense is the sense of smell, we make sure they know us as well as their mom right from the beginning. Pups are also greeted and smelled by the other dogs in our house.

Here is Sadie groomed for puppies. This time I elected to keep her look and leave her in a "sweater" and leg and tail poofs. See how big her belly is? It is wonderful to feel her babies move under our hands. All her "feeding stations" except the two forward ones have been exposed. The two forward ones are seldom used by puppies no matter how many pups are trying to feed at once.

This is just another pose. Normally her sweater goes all around her chest, like it's closed or buttoned. When I groom her I follow the line of her rib cage. Did you know that the poodle cut is also referred to a lion cut?

Look familiar? This is almost the exact same set up that we did for Sadie a year ago for her last litter. See how her hair color looks lighter or more silver in this last photo. The shorter Sadie's hair is the lighter it looks, the longer the darker with more chocolate it looks.

Greetings

2010-12-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

I recently watched Julie/Julia this last weekend, twice. First of all I was marveling over the fact that Amy Adams seemed to be in a lot of the movies that I've seen recently, caught the end of Doubt, (both Amy Adams and Meryl Streep in that one). B. Jane Lynch played Meryl Streep's sister, I think Jane Lynch is funny. 4. That there's a lot of blogging in Julie/Julia. I was feeling guilty for not writing in my online diary. So two days later I thought I'd write something.

It's about 9 days until Mercedes (aka Sadie) is due to have her puppies. She is carrying high this pregnancy. A pregnant mom doesn't really start to show that she is pregnant until the last 2 to 3 weeks. Her uterus is "U" shaped and puppies are spaced out along it's length. Puppies are protected up high by her rib cage, so she looks normal up until that last minute. Warning!: if you ever rescue a dog and she looks pregnant, be ready to be up to your elbows in puppies instantly. It will seem that way. A dog that looks pregnant is very pregnant and you better be preparing a whelping area and reading online how to's about birthing puppies.

But anyways, I was brushing Sadie tonight and was feeling babies wiggle and move under my hands. It's like putting your hands on a pregnant woman's belly and feeling her baby move. Next weekend I will be celebrating New Years by giving Sadie a hair cut and a bath, and moving around a crate for her to have her puppies in. I like to put them up off the floor so it's easier on my knees to help Sadie whelp and keep the crate clean and dry. Also so Cubby doesn't "feed" the puppies little bits of this and that.

What Dogs Teach Us.

2010-11-24T02:23:00.000-08:00

If a dog were your teacher you'd learn stuff like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure
ecstasy.
When it's in your best interest--practice obedience.
Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and flop under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and
pout. Run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle
them gently.

--I found this online a while back. I would also like to add that dogs sometimes make choices for us. I my last posting I wrote about Gretchen being my summer mom, well needless to say she and Fritz took advantage of my turned head a couple days ago when it snowed. I'm blaming the snow. Yep, it was so pretty coming down and I was watching it and taking pictures of the dogs running around so happily in the fluffy white lace, that I missed the opportunity to stop Fritz. The funny (or not so funny) part was that just a couple minutes before as I was walking down the stairs behind the dogs to let them out, I thought to myself that Gretchen was looking smaller and drier and hopefully would end her heat soon. Well I got my wish, her heat will end as a sign that she has become pregnant.

Time

2010-11-15T00:25:00.000-08:00

Both Hiedi and Gretchen are now in heat. We are not breeding Gretchen this cycle, she is our summer mom. Hiedi will be breed in the next week or so. It's funny how it seems like it takes so long for puppies to arrive once a mom is bred, but they arrive pretty fast when you mix into the formula, work, family, dogs and home. Life can keep you pretty busy when you are shuffling everything around all the time. In fact when I stop and think about it, a week has pasted already since our poodle mom Mercedes was bred.

My Grandma passed away two weeks ago. Two weeks gone by already. Sometimes it seems like when something happens like this happens to us, time stands still. Maybe it's because the focus seems to be on memories of the past. Time is just time and it is measured out in the same way every second of everyday of every year. I didn't really know this Grandma of mine, she was my father's mother and my parents divorced when I was 6. So my memories of her are very faded and dependant on the memories of others. Its like looking out the window thru shear curtains, you can kind of see out but the colors are all blurred.

Count Down is On

2010-11-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the Littles and I took our sweet Mercedes to meet Cassie. This was also my first face to face with Cassie's owner, Jan. I've been communicating with her for about 2 years now via emails. I knew I was at the right house when we pulled up in the driveway. There is poodle lawn art work everywhere. Jan has been breeding and showing standard poodles for more than 30 years. Cassie's pedigree can be traced back by Jan for that length of time also. I got to see Jan's set up for grooming also. It's quite impressive, especially for someone like me who is on knees on the floor in front of the tub to bath dogs and sits on the floor til my legs and other regions have gone numb to groom dogs.

Cassie was better than I expected. I didn't want to breed Sadie (mercedes) to a male that was really tall. They are about the same height and weight. Cassie is a nice dark chocolate (semi-sweet dark chocolate) with a grey undertone. Sadie is shiny light silver with milk chocolate undertone. I think they are going to be beautiful puppies. Silver Chocolate mixes. Puppies are due January 5th, 2011 and will be AKC registered.

Mercedes Last Heat

2010-11-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Our standard poodle mom went into heat last weekend. I'm very excited, since she is our only poodle mom it means that we don't often have a poodle litter in comparison to the labradoodle puppies. This time is also special because this will be the last litter of puppies from Mercedes before she retires. I found a charming chocolate stud to breed her to, his name is Cassie and he only produces chocolate and silver chocolate puppies. I'm hoping for an all chocolate litter. I have plans. I will be keeping her smallest chocolate male pup to breed with Emma and Tawnee, our medium sized labradoodle moms and make chocolate pups with Emma and with Tawnee red and chocolate pups. I'm also going to keep two chocolate females to breed with Fritz, so I will have two poodle litters a year instead of just one. I'm already thinking up names. What do you think of Baron? Like Baron Von Chocolate? The girls I'm thinking Alice and Charlotte. I know its about 10 week before we even see these beauties, but I like to plan ahead. I actually have a list of names in Alphabetical order of names I like. If you look to the side you will see that my dogs are in alphabetical order by name. Next year I will be adding A, B and C to the list. Alice and Charlotte are going to be Bear and Cubby's puppies. Oh sure they always have a puppy to play with, but these ones will be for keeps.

By the way the puppy in the picture is Sugar, a chocolate girl of Mercedes from last year. Isn't she gorgeous? Check out pictures on my photo blog of our Gretchen as she travels around American with my son in his truck. She is now more traveled than I.

Tawnee

2010-10-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

A week ago we sent our Gretchen on the road with our long haul truck driving son to act as his companion for the next couple of months. This serves two purposes for us. The first is that right now at my sister house there are serval female dogs in heat and Gretchen just had a litter of puppies on the 4th of July and we don't want her to go into heat early and unexpectedly so we can keep her from getting pregnant again to early. The second purpose is to train M to be used to taking care of his own dog by himself. M has never had a dog of his own and I am giving him a puppy to travel with him. This puppy I handpicked for him, is a medium size girl. She is Gretchen's grand-daughter. She will be the perfect size to share the truck's living space with. M also has allergies like I do, just not as serve, so this little girl is a 5th Generation labradoodle. Her name is Tawnee. It is a name that has origins in serveral countries including Native American and German. I like it because it goes along with the german names of our dogs and it means brightness. Tawnee is the daughter of Emma and Dutch. From Emma she get's her small size and spunkiness, from Dutch she gets goofiness and a lighter version of her daddy.

Fall Has Started in Puppy Land

2010-09-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

Time seems to be slipping away so fast this summer, I decided to blame the weather and not my age. =) The summer this year seems so short like it never really happened, only a few days were warm enough to be considered a summer day. Quite disappointing. I have a feeling that we are in for a long colder than normal winter.

On July 4th, Gretchen gave birth to 8 beautiful puppies and for once we had 3 different coat colors. The only chocolate girl was sold when she was only a few days old to a family in Louisiana. The only cream puppy is going to a soldier stationed at Ft. Lewis. A couple others to families closer to home. Now they are nine weeks old and we are hoping to place the remaining four soon. They are so much fun at this age, we let them run around chasing and playing with each other and playing peek-a-boo around the furniture. This photo is Bear holding the 3 big boys of each color, he is scruning up his face because the puppies kept licking his face.

On August 12th, Emma gave birth to another 8 tiny puppies. She did a 2,2,2,2 thing with the puppies, there are 2 black girls, 2 cream girls, 2 black boys and 2 cream boys. Everything quite even with her. The smaller cream girl has been selected to be our first puppy in a guardianship program. We are going to keep her until she has her adult teeth and is potty trained because she is going on the road with my son M, the truck driver. He also has allergies to cats and dogs so this will be a great companion for him while he is on the road. Her name is Tawnee, which by some definitions means light tan or brightness and is German in origin. All our dogs have German names and our son is carrying on the tradition.

I don't know if I every wrote about the reason we pick German names for our dogs yet. Simply put, our last name is of German origin. Also, Poodles were developed in Germany and Labradors too. It has been kind of interesting also to look up names to consider if the fit a dogs personality. For example, Fritz was the first dog my husband and I named together and we rolled around names for a couple days after we brought him home. Fritz was very proud right from the beginning and pranced around in a trot, never a gallop. Prince would have been an excellent name, but it is pretty over used. A local radio jockey had just become a father for the first time and he and his wife named their son Fritz. I thought it fitted Fritz's personality perfectly. My husband liked it also because it went with his German family name. Personality, I just like everything to match and if one dog had a certain type of name, then they all had to. Soon after we brought Fritz home, we picked out our first 2 girls and we had a few names picked out. Gretchen was Gretchen right from the beginning warm and spunky. I selected Hiedi because she was so curly even at 2 weeks of age and reminded me of Shirley Temple. That's were I got the name for our breeding program, Curly Top was a name of a Shirley Temple movie.

So Long Lucy So Long Grizz

2010-07-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

The final puppy from our winter litters went home today. Lucy stayed with us longer than any puppy so far, almost seven months. She is such a sweety with her tail always wagging no matter what. We are glad to have found the perfect home for her. So in all it has been a bittersweet day. Happy for Lucy. Sadness over the news we received from J in Afghanistan.

After J arrived in Afghanistan, he started talking about seeing a couple dogs all the time that hang around the base. One almost got shot because it was hanging out at the firing range. One of the dogs soon became a room mate and would go out with them on missions. They named him Grizz, like grizzle bear. One of the guy's family sent them a collar for Grizz with their platoon emblem. We sent them dewormer, you never know what dogs eat. Everything was great until another camp dog bit one of the trained ARMY dogs. Then the order went out to get rid of the camp dogs. J saw a few of them shot including a pregnant bitch that was sleeping under their quarters. So he says they kidnapped Grizz and took him up and left him in the mountains. Not long after that J came home on leave and was gone for 30 days. He just returned this week to Afghanistan to find his best friend there had been transferred out of his platoon. Then J writes that he had sad news about Grizz. Said he carried him up the hill and tied him to a post and stood there while Grizz got shot. J said that at least he got to be there with him at the end. While I understand the orders and the need to protect the trained dogs, at the same time I hate to see an animal put down for no reason and hurt for my son loosing his friend.

Summer Fun

2010-07-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

Some times I go back and read the last post to see were I stopped in our sage. In just four days after the last post, our Grandson's or the "littles" as I like to call them moved back in. This time we are petitioning for full custody, as I said last time, I could fill another blog with that story line, but here I'm just choosing to say that they are back and we welcome our little puppy whisperers with tight hugs and big smiles. They are experts at what they do when it comes to puppy/child training, us grown ups just can't do it. They have a special touch. Bear takes his job seriously and usually carrying around a puppy around it's rib cage while the rest of the puppy dangles and sways gently as Bear walks around passing on his store of knowledge to the puppy. Mind you Bear is a whopping two years old and in the mist of toilet training. With Bear, everything's about eating, sleeping, potting and playing. Now it's Cubby's job to inspect the troops and their quarters, when ever a door is open, Cubby's going to be there to crawl/enter Crates to inspect puppies and make sure everyone is sleeping in an orderly fashion. If there by chance happens to be food or bones or even a chew toy. Cubby is also going to be working as an inspector/food critic. Yes folks, Cubby does indeed sample the local fare to insure it is high quality.

J came home for 14 days from Afghanistan and kept himself very busy the whole time seeing friends and making new ones. M got to come home while he was here also so they got to spend some good brother time together and the littles went along too.

On the 4th of July, Gretchen had her puppies. She had them during the peak time for lighting off fireworks. She started when they started going off and was done when the neighbors were too. She was very fast and I wonder if the noise had anything to do with the timing. She gave us 8 beautiful healthy puppies in 3 colors, black chocolate and one cream. Today they are 3 weeks old and have their eyes open and are moving around quite a bit on their bellies, some times one will get up and try out it's wobbly legs. Next week they will be getting their first set of vaccinations.

Friday June 18th, 2010

2010-06-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy lately so once again posting here has gone to the wayside. One of my sisters decided that her chicken coup was too small and falling apart and letting mice in, etc. So she wanted to add on to it and I'm like lets build a totally new one and make it bigger, at least twice the size as the old. So she and I texted back and forth for about a week about sizes and what she wanted to have inside for her chicken. So finally decided on a 12' X 24' structure, 4 times the size of the old! So now every Saturday I've been driving up to her place to work on it. Sometimes the littles, Bear and Cubby go along to help too. To date we are up to insulating the interior wall and have rough electrical ran. It has a roof that we are proud to say doesn't leak. Cubby has a portable crib inside to take naps while we work. Because of being gone every weekend and for a short time I was driving to the coast every other weekend to get the littles from their mom, I just decided not to advertise our last 2 puppies. Which is fine, it is giving us time to work on potty training, though I need to work on teaching them more basic commands. The littles went back to living with their mom in April, and to be honest I don't know how long that will last, they may end up back with us again. Which is a whole other story that I could fill another blog up with, I think I could fill another blog about work too. Sometimes work is great and fun, and sometimes people your trying to help make you wonder why your even making an effort at all. It reminds me of one of those emails that get forwarded to 1000 of your closest friends about how having dogs are better than having kids. Speaking of kids, my own sons are doing well, M, is driving all over the country in his truck and enjoying himself. J, is in Afghanistan doing his job there. I miss having them close by, but they are both really good about contacting me in some manner or another so I don't have to worry about not hearing from them. Take care all and enjoy everyday.

2010-05-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in this blog for quite sometime, but since I always like to repeat Mary Poppins "I want to make one thing perfectly clear, I never explain myself to anyone" I wont try to cap up the last two months or give reasons for not posting.

That said; I am currently down to the last poodle puppy born December 27th, 2009 and the last labradoodle puppy born January 4th, 2010. Once puppies start leaving it is nice to have one or two older puppies to play around with. These puppies get a lot of one on one time with us, we advance them along to crate training, leash training and out door potty training. Recently on some very nice and dry days, Suzi the poodle puppy, has gone along with my adult dogs to our local dog park. Suzi has been a little shy around new people in the past, so going to the park has been a great way of drawing her out of her shell as she greets and meets new people and dogs. A side note: I love our dog park. It is an old pasture and has no trees or water, just one bench and a bulletin board for notices. That's right nothing extra fancy about it. The reason I love it is because it doesn't have a high traffic level of dogs and their owners going in and out. Usually there's one or two other groups there and the dogs don't go in to sensory over load trying to "talk" to everyone there. Back to Suzi, she is coming along great with her training and has just the sweetest personality. She had a beautiful coat and I have trimmed into a puppy cut. On poodles this means that her face, feet and the base of her tail and down between her legs is cut close to her skin to about 1/4of an inch. The rest of her hair is left long and by now it has grown to about 4 inches. Yes she is a fuzz ball.

The last labradoodle puppy we call BB, which came about because we kept calling her belly button girl. When BB was born her mom bit her umbilical cord to close to her tummy and this resulted in a hernia that was about 2cm long. She definitely had an outty. We decided to hold on to BB until she was old enough to have a surgery to repair the belly button hernia and spade her at the same time. This way she only had to go thru one surgery and by doing this ourselves we were assured that it would be taken care of and wouldn't later become a more serious health issue. BB is really more like a BeeBee, she is always happy and on the go, buzzing around from one thing to another. Just a happy tail wagging little girl.

Soon we will find these two their new homes and we will be puppyless again for a short while, our Gretchen is due in July with hopefully many different coat colors. I have someone wanting a chocolate puppy. So we will see and be surprised and happy for what Gretchen delivers.

Going Home

2010-03-02T22:02:00.000-08:00

In the past week, five of our poodle puppies have gone home. It seems odd now because the poodle puppies were all the darker puppies and now when we play with them, the majority are golden puppies instead of an even split. Next weekend the labradoodle puppies will be ready to start going to their homes.

Quiet Sunday

2010-02-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

Today we got up at the normal everyday time. The dogs, especially Gretchen, have no concept of my plan of sleeping in a little on the weekends. Gretchen gives me a morning wake up call every morning, everyday of the week. So up we get and let the dogs race out of their beds and down the stairs where at the bottom they slide every time. Nails making scratching noises the whole way, thank goodness for laminate flooring. It's a harder surface than hardwood floors. Dogs go out and babies are loaded up in their high chairs. Applesauce is a huge favorite with the littles, they eat it everyday, sometimes twice. Bear gets his in a bowl and a spoon right away so he can get started. I pop in some bread in the toaster and sit in a wooden chair to quickly shovel a few spoons into Cubby's mouth. Toast pops up and gets a coating of fake butter and cut into squares. Bear gets the plate and Cubby gets a couple of squares on his tray to chase around while I prepare the dog's breakfast. In the morning the dogs are spoiled. Or rather they think they are getting spoiled. I grab the stack of metal bowls and fill and stack them with dry dog food and carry them into the kitchen were I unstack them. I run the water for hot water and in yet another bowl I mix a can of dog food with half a can of hot water. I pour a can of hot water into every body's bowl and divide the canned food so there's a little for everyone. See how they think it's so great? It's just enough to flavor the dry food. After everything is all mixed up, take the bowls outside two at a time and place them in a row along the back step. Everybody eats. By mixing their food like this in the morning, I know that everyone will eat. I have a couple dogs that will wander around while everyone else eats "waiting" for their turn. In the mornings when I have to leave for work I don't have the time to wait for them to all eat. The littles and I sit in the sun and watch the dogs eat and have a nice conversation while applesauce is shoveled in. This takes a while but we are in no hurry today, no one is coming to see puppies. After breakfast it's back upstairs with the littles to apply fresh diapers and clean clothes. Cubby gets a bottle and Bear and I set to work cleaning up the puppies areas. Bear is great at following me around and saying "eww poop". Puppies get fed and dogs brought back inside. Now coats are applies to the littles and they get strapped into car seats. We have a some what plan for the day. We are off to Home Depot and Costco. Home Depot is our first stop. We are shopping for a new submersible pump for the pond in the backyard. We seem to need to replace it every year. This time the old one must have a crack in the seal protecting the motor. Every time it is set in the pond it trips the breaker. This time the pump costs $11 more dollars than last time. We also picked up some more pads for the swifter wet mop, a bottle of window cleaner and a glade plug in. Then we loaded back in the car and headed across the street to Costco, convenient. At Costco we got 100 pounds of dog food, kitchen trash bags, toilet paper, peaches and oranges in little cups and applesauce in little cups. Loaded back up and back across the street for chicken nuggets and a fish sandwich for lunch. Got home and Cubby's sleeping like he does every time he gets strapped into the car, so we bring him in and leave him to sleep. Bear and I go out to the backyard and hook up the new pump and start the pond draining, it has a nice green coating of algae from the nice weather we've been having. By the way, two red eared slider turtles and a few big goldfish live in the pond. We do some poop duty and let the dogs out again. They had a nice time enjoying the sun shine and ran around playing with each other while Bear rode around his red plastic bike. The photos above show what my back yard used to look like before dogs, very green, now it's more grey(pavers) and brown(mud). I am planning on a garden again now that the area is fenced off to keep the dogs from digging in the raised beds. We spent the remainder of the day caring for the dogs and puppies. Emma's puppies had a bath and got vaccinated and Hiedi and Mercedes got a baths too. Hiedi usually goes to the VA with her Daddy in the mornings so I like to have her look nice and clean. Mercedes got a little bit of hair trimmed, a bath and an ear treatment. She has been doing the shaking thing again. Someday I'll get the right amount of time between treatments for her. Cleaned up puppies, fed them again and all the puppies got a deworming treatment. The rest of the evening was spent playing with the littles.

Good Bye Daddy, Good Dog Ambassador

2010-02-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

Good Bye Daddy, friend of Cesar Millan and good will dog ambassador for dogs everywhere. Hopefully through the Dog Whisperer show, people will realize that Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Bull Terrier or American Pit Bull Terrier, aka pit bulls are not always the bad dogs people think they are. Aggressiveness can be bred out of breed of dogs just like it can be bred into a dog. Training a dog from an early age to be a calm submissive member of your family is key to having a good long lasting relationship with your pet. Daddy was the best example of this and fans of the show benefited greatly in seeing how a dog should act as a member of the family. Daddy was a just as much of a hero as any dog seen on television or in the movies and in my opinion even better because Daddy was true to life. Good bye sweet handsome boy.

Puppy Work, Dogs at Work

2010-02-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while. Been a little busy with puppy care and grand kid care. If I'm not cleaning up one type of poop, I'm cleaning up another. =) I know grossness. I laugh to myself whenever I hear people complaining about cleaning up after their new puppy, try having a litter to clean up after. Next weekend the first of the puppies start to leave for their new homes. I'm excited. Their new families are even more excited. I've met some wonderful people who are going to be taking my fluffy babies away. It can be hard to let go, some puppies you just feel closer to. Like the first time you hold it's warm wet body in your hands and two weeks later he's looking at you with blue tinged baby eyes. I think the best time is seeing the tail wag for the first time. How cute is that. Don't think anything could be better except a toothy grin from a grandson. I also happy to say that we may have one or two puppies that will not only be pets but will be learning to be service dogs. Still waiting on that one, but think it is a great opportunity for the puppies. Our Hiedi is my husband's companion animal. A companion animal is a pet that can accompany it's owner where every the owner needs to be that could create a stressful situation for the owner. The companion helps keep the owner focused, stress free and some can detect health problems. Usually no training is involved, just a close relationship between the pair. Another helping dog is a therapy dog. Therapy dogs go through obedience training and are tested for good dog citizenship so the dog can visit patients at care facilities and hospitals. A service dog is a dog that has gone through extensive training and matched to a person who needs a little helping paw so they can live independently. Most people think of German Shepards, Golden Retrievers or Labradors when they think of service dogs. Many fail to see that poodles make great service dogs, they are considered to be one of the highest intelligent breeds, and someone who is allergic to dogs may have no allergic reaction to a poodle or labradoodle. They are more than just a pretty face.

Nanny Fritz

2010-01-25T22:52:00.000-08:00

At night when all are a sleep, Fritz is on duty. Most nights he lays by the bedroom door, well that used to be true. Now he lays on the floor in front of the boy's cribs. I have to remember to be careful if I have to get up in the middle of the night to take care of Cubby. He don't care that I am inserting my feet in between his legs or next to his head to reach into Cubby's crib and fish around for that bottle that got away, these are his boys and he's not getting out of the way for anything. Fritz is also helping Bear with his pitching skills. In order to play fetch in the room Bear has to be able to aim the ball threw a doorway and past the row of dog crates. He does okay and Fritz is always willing to get the ball for him no matter what direction the ball went flying. Some times the ball goes under a bed and Bear and Fritz go diving under and I look down at the floor to see two size 9 tot feet and two furry black paws and tail sticking out. These two goofy for balls have an audience. The moms all watch the fun while they feed their babies and Cubby has recently learn how to pull himself up in his crib to stand on wobbly legs and make his baby words. I'm not sure what he is saying (well to be honest, Bear is hard to understand about 50% of the time), but I know he is into balls too. It is late and all is quiet, the room is dark except for the light of the tv and computer screen and I look on the floor and there is a big dark empty space, a black hole. It is Fritz, stretched out with his tail under Bear's crib and head under Cubby's crib.

Day Off?

2010-01-21T00:55:00.000-08:00

Day was sort of a day off. I took the day off from work to stay with my husband after he had a dentist appointment. Gotta keep my eye on him. So I went to the local restaurant for breakfast. My Army boy used to work there as a dishwasher before he left for the Army. Everyone wanted to hear the latest news about him and how he has been doing. I had talked to him a couple of days ago and passed along his greetings to everyone back home. After gathering up my husband from the dentist, picking him up some yogurt and pudding, and getting him settled in bed to sleep it off. I took the opportunity to put everything away that got pushed around when I laid my laminate flooring. I also re-installed the toilet and got the whole house swept up. I lined up all my sewing machines that are in cabinets and placed a portable sewing machine on top of each one. I still have one cabinet upstairs that the bird cage is currently on. All together I have six and two more that belong to my sister that she brought over for me to check out and I haven't got around to looking at yet. Cringe. Sorry. Then I gave Emma a hair cut and a bath. I also gave the poodle puppies their first bath, that was a little noisy and I got to have a bath too. Then I put collars on all the puppies and took their pictures to post to the website. Fortunately I have a good Internet connection tonight and was able to make some changes and post the pictures. It is a best guess with my camera right now. I can't tell what I'm taking a picture of, so I take a bunch and hope for the best. Tomorrow I'm planning on giving Gretchen, Mercedes and Fritz a bath, Hiedi's turn will be Friday. I have people coming to see the puppies this weekend, so I want everyone clean and smelling good. I'm also planning on doing some aggressive advertising for the weekend, three online newspapers and as many free online classified as I can find. I named Hiedi's big cream boy, Nanook which is the intuit word for polar bear. He looks like one, if I had a coke bottle I would take his photo with it. I also named Mercedes large chocolate boy Kodiak, which is another word for grizzly. He is a fierce and brave little fellow.

The Puppy Whisperer

2010-01-11T00:51:00.001-08:00

The poodle puppies are now 2 weeks old. Yesterday their eyes started opening. The eyes don't just totally open up. At first the corner of the eye seems a little open and as you move the puppy around the light catches and a glimmer is seen along the closed lid. The puppies are all doing well, both litters. It is amazing how much bigger the poodle puppies are compared to the labradoodle puppies, they are 11 days older. Now that the poodle pups are getting bigger, they are getting handled a lot more. My older grandson, Bear, is now an official holder. He does a real good job. I ask him if he is ready to hold a puppy and he goes and sits down on the big comfy chair. I lay the puppy on his tummy and he puts his hands on the puppy and whispers in it's ear. Pretty good for a 21 month old. Today he held one of the sweet black girls. She was making noise in the crates and so I go and pull her out. Bear headed right to the chair and says "wanna hold?" and I put the puppy in his arms and she calms right down and goes to sleep. Bear usually holds the puppies for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

New Photo of Our Poodle Babies

2010-01-09T00:51:00.000-08:00

Mercedes puppies are almost two weeks old now. Any day their eyes should be opening up. They are all nice and fat and definately growing.

Hiedi's Puppies are here!

2010-01-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night after I got home from work, our sweet girl Hiedi finally let lose and had her puppies. I had barely gotten home, got my coat off and was checking everyone like I do; husband, littles, dogs and puppies. Everyone getting little pats of love. I watch Hiedi in her crate for a little bit. Husband and Bear go downstairs to start dinner and I see Hiedi is ready. She's pushing and moving around and pushing some more. I'm excited, these are the puppies we have been waiting for more than 10 months for. We are trying to add a new coat color to our selection. I watch Hiedi as she pushes, phone in hand. As soon as I see the pup come out, I'm ecstatic, I can see that it's light. FINALLY!. I love Fritz and he fathers beautiful puppies, but he only produces black and chocolate. We are always asked about lighter puppies. Soon puppies are arriving every 30 to 40 minutes and everyone of them is light, so close in shading that I can't believe what is coming out. After 8, Hiedi is done. I thought she had more but she was finished. About midnight I coax her away from her puppies to potty and decide to give Hiedi a bath. She is basically coated from nose to tail with birthing fluids, except for the top of her head and down her spine. I usually weight til the next day to bath the mom, but I could just imagine what the neighbors would think if they saw her looking like that. It's kind of funny that all last year I have people asking for the lighter puppies and right now I'm having inquirers for chocolate. Tonight I placed ads online. To place ads I have to take photos, write out descriptions of the puppies and wait and hope I can get online. My camera is on it's last leg. Something got dropped on it and the display screen is cracked so I can't see what I'm taking pictures of. At least it is still taking pictures for now. Another future business expense. After taking photos, eating a dinner of waffles and putting the littles to bed. We declawed Hiedi's puppies. It upsets the mom more than the puppies. Hopefully the ads generate some traffic.

Things my 6 months old grandson can do.

2010-01-05T01:37:00.001-08:00

So I’m here waiting for Hiedi to give us a sign that this could be the night and have her puppies already. I have my grandson Cubby on my bed and he is currently rolling an empty 2 litter pop bottle over and over. Earlier today he discovered that he could make his thumb disappear! Yes that’s right folks, he’s a regular magician. Okay so he really just figured out to fold his fingers over his thumb. Then he waves it around in the air and twists and turns it, showing any and all who are watching that his thumb is gone! Yes, magic. He is also pretty good at hand to hand transfer and if you blink your eyes real slowly you can’t see the exchange at all. He has also mastered two words; mum mum and da da. Since I am not either of these people he keeps talking about, I am working on getting him to say Jana. If he can say Jana, then I will have to conclude that he is a genius on all counts. Especially since I can’t seem to get anyone else to call me that, including his 21 month old brother, Bear who calls me Mike. Mike is his dad and he should be calling him dad or daddy. At least once or twice a day I’m saying; “I’m not Mike and I’m not momma.” Other grown ups seem to keep forgetting that I’m not his momma either. After all I think that everyone should have his own name. They already have a grandma, granny, grandpa and poppa, calling me grandma is too confusing for these little minds. I just checked on Hiedi for extra occupants in her crate, just her in there looking like a big momma pig. She just wags her tail at me and rolls over even more on her back to see if I will rub her belly for her. Cubby is getting around more than ever, he has a combination of rolling over this way and that with a little wiggling and he gets himself from on place to another. He can sit upright for short periods of a time until the weight of his head gets the better of him and he tilts over. Cubby is also making rocking motions that are precursors to crawling. He is constantly moving around so that he burns thru the calories he consumes pretty fast. His wonderful Dr. says that he is at 65% range for his length and only 10% for his weight. Nice and long and lean and since he is a good eater not to worry about his weight being on the low side. By the way, over the weekend I replaced the tile in my kitchen with laminate flooring and as soon as I get the door casings put back on, I’ll post before and after pictures. Next weekend I’m hoping to do the floor in the bathroom, if nothing else comes up. Did I mention how good Cubby is at smiling?

Our new babies

2009-12-29T22:46:00.000-08:00

So a few hours after the last post, puppies started arriving. The first snuck in right around 1o:30am. I was walking past Sadie's, AKA Mercedes, crate and saw a tiny dark chocolate body peaceful as can be drinking from her mom. I did a double take as I was already past the open side of the crate before I even realize what I had seen. Our Sadie was being sneaky. I open up the door and pick up the baby to do a flip over and see what we got. Right under her tail was her little heart shape indicator of her sex. A beautiful chocolate girl, just what I was telling Sadie for the last nine weeks I wanted from her. Every night I gave Sadie a good pet and whisper in her ear, chocolate girls, all chocolate girls. So we progress with the day and by noon we have another two girls, both shiny and black. Each one another surprise. Sadie was being sneaky, still. Now hours go by and we wait for the next one. Normally we get puppies about 40 to 60 minutes apart. Sadie is doing fine, taking care of the girls making sure they are clean and eating. About 4pm a black boy arrives, again a surprise. Sadie IS being sneaky. I mean come on, four puppies and not one do I see arrive into this world and take it's first breath. Five pm rolls around and another black boy. Again with the sneakiness. Seven pm our first chocolate boy shows up with his little brown/pink nose sniffing for his food. What is it with Sadie the Queen of Sneaktom? Can't she share? A couple of hours go by and I wonder if she is done and so I feel her belly and I can feel a puppy in her belly close to her ribs and know that she has at least one more in there. At 9:30pm I do a head count and surprise a second chocolate boy shows up in the line up at Sadie's belly. He has a blaze on his front chest. He was pretty dry and I assume he arrived at 9pm. Sadie, COME ON AlREADY! So now I am determined to see something. I pace back and forth check on the brood. Every little noise and I'm up to peer in and every time Queen Sadie is just calmly looking back at me. Sometimes she is panting, I swear she's laughing. Hours go by nothing. I check her belly and I think I'm pretty sure there's another in there. About 1am, I convince Sadie to leave her crate for the first time for a trip outside to potty. She doesn't want to leave her babies, but I assure her that I'm shutting the door and promise that no one will bother them. A quick in and out and a big drink of water and Sadie is waiting at her crate to get back in. I change the bedding and check the babies and Sadie jumps back in to verify her babies are all still there. She eats in her crate cause she was pretty sure she was needed back at her babies side. I settle everyone down for the night and do a quick clean up in the hallwall (grossness, I'll spare you the details). I lay down wondering if she will deliver the finally puppy that I'm sure is there. That Sneaky Girl! I wake up in the morning and check on Sadie and everything looks the same as it did when I fell asleep. I invite Sadie out again and change the bedding under the pups and do a head count to make sure no one has wondered off into the crumpled up bedding. There were eight, I do a quick flip of pups to check their under carriage and find the newbie. A third black girl. I can't believe I missed every single birth, and to add insult to injury, 1, only 1 chocolate girl. That sneaky Sadie!

Waiting Games

2009-12-27T02:02:00.001-08:00

So we are still waiting for puppies, gee I love this waiting game. I keep sneaking over a peeking at her to see what she is doing and all I see is her big brown eyes looking back at me. She does have mucous string hanging from her whenever she goes outside for potty. I used to be able to watch the moms when they were in my room, but now since I opened up my room into the next room and created a larger area for the dogs, I can’t watch what’s going on anymore. There’s a wall in my way. I can see a small portion of Sadie’s crate so I know when she moves around. I really should just go to bed and get some sleep. Then the puppies will come. Earlier I was holding my grandson, Cubby, in my arm and feeding him a bottle. Cubby fell asleep and let loose of the nipple and smiled. What do babies smile about in their sleep? There are not very many better things in this life to do than hold a sleeping baby or puppy; it forces you to be calm, peaceful and relaxed. Else you would wake the little one up. My two grandsons wake up in different ways. Cubby mostly wakes up grinning at the world or crying for something. Bear wakes up and lies in his bed for a while, I think he wakes up trying to figure out how the world around him is doing. I watch him most mornings do this. He moves around until he is face up, then opens he eyes and stares at the ceiling. He will pretty much stay this way until he hears me move in my bed. Then he just turns his head without moving his body and looks at me. At this point, I smile at him and he smiles back. Then I do a come on jerk with my head and up he pops and climbs out of bed. Today during nap time I trimmed Hiedi and Emma to get them ready for giving birth and nursing puppies. It’s a little early for Emma and I will do it again in a couple weeks, but she needed it done. She has a lot more hair on her body than my other girls, must get that from her dad, and needs to be trimmed regularly to keep her hind end clean. I could feel at least one puppy in Hiedi’s belly. If it wasn’t for Hiedi’s nipples getting enlarged, I wouldn’t think that she was pregnant. She’s not showing very much. I could feel an end in her belly; I can’t tell if it’s a head or bottom so I’m calling it an end. Dogs carry their babies up high under their rib cage until about the sixth or seventh week, when the pups drop down into the belly. Sometimes the puppies stay high and you only notice a little thickening. Last year a dog we know had ten puppies and you would have never guessed to look at her that she was expecting. Hiedi is due in eight days, I guess we will find out then what’s in her belly.

Eve before Puppies

2009-12-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

Today I was fortunate enough to get off work early a couple hours, bosses can be nice Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is the day that Sadie, aka Sweet Blessings Mercedes Style, is due to bless us with puppies again. Last time she had puppies, she had them a day early, so we'll see if she does that again. This morning, Wes prepared her bed for her. She usually resides in the first crate she can get to in the dog room. But being on the floor makes for hard times on my knees and back when taking care of puppies. So Wes transferred her to the upper crate. This means keeping the doors on the lower crates closed to keep Sadie from automatically entering the lower one and having to convince her that she belongs in the upper bunk. We treat her when she's in the one we want her to be in. So we have lined her crate with double layer of cloth pads that we will change as needed while Sadie gives birth. Then wait. I wonder if we will be surprised by a light coated puppy. I'll let you know

Why we do what we do.

2009-12-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

I had someone ask us last spring why we breed dogs? There are really many reasons, but first let me say that I think it is always better to be able to provide a home or a homeless pet than to add to pet over population. I know that that statement seems at odds with what we do with our dogs. First of all there is a need for dogs that are low shedding or non shedding. I am very allergic to cats and dogs and can't even just walk into a shelter to visit the dogs there without risking serve allergic reactions and asthma attacks. That's pretty sad for someone who loves dogs as much as I do and be face with the fact that having a canine companion was out of the question. The human population has become so ingrained with canines that it seems like most people have at least on or two. If I count the 16 houses on my small street, only 2 of them are dogless. The two without are occupied by families who are new to our country. When I take the dogs for walks, we stir up the dogs in the neighborhood as we walk down the street (need dog tag silencers)and just about hear them at every house. We do what we do to help those individuals and families out there that otherwise would not be able to have a pet with fur. We do what we do by carefully selecting and breeding dogs that will have the highest chances of being non shedding, which is the most desirable. We do what we do for the smiles we see, the joyful voices we hear and the heartfelt hugs we receive. We do what we do because it gives us propose from day to day, tail wag to dog bark and litter to litter. We do what we do because we have great plans for someday and it's good for us to have plans for the future. Someday is for bigger yards for longer throws of tennis balls. We don't do what we do for money, there isn't profit in breeding for small breeders. Most of the money is reinvested back into the dogs for feeding, health care, grooming supplies and cleaning supplies. The list could go on and on.We do what we do for love of dogs.

Moms To Be

2009-12-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today is Sunday and being the last weekend before the next litter of puppies are due, I do mom prep. Our Standard Poodle mom, Mercedes is due next Friday on Christmas Day. Basically I do a hygiene trim. I search out and find all ten of the puppy feeding stations on mom's very big belly. I wanna make it easy for the babies to find food ad mist all that curly hair. I also trim the business end, aka where the babies come out. I also like to keep Mercedes nose and ears trimmed close as part of her "look" and trimmed her feet. While I work on her belly, I can feel babies moving around and poking out under my hands. Takes me about an hour with my scissors. Then Mercedes gets a nice warm bath, lavender is the scent of the day. Mecedes lays down in the tub, a little unusual for her but hey, she is pregnant. Then after the dry off and color put back on, she gets her nails trimmed. She is the easiest of our dogs to groom. Everyone else complains the whole time and pulls away this way or that and I usually end up all covered with hair if I'm trimming it or soaking wet if I'm bathing it.

Things I do when it's nap time.

2009-12-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

So things I like to do when it's nap time around here. Well top on my list is to nap myself. But, since the littles, as I like to call the pair of them, moved into our home almost three months ago. I like to take advantage to the quiet time to get something accomplished. So today I put the littles down for their naps and let the dogs out into the backyard for play and feeding time. I started placing the pavers that my fav purchased and toted home for me. You know he bought out the store? 137 12X12 pavers was all that was available in the whole Home Depot. Isn't he just the best? That's my fav for you. So anyways, I got out my trusty, rusty shovel and started leveling out the area where I planned to start. I figured that since I didn't have enough to cover all of the mud, I would start at the area closest to the back door and work my way out from there. I really had a late start, about 2:30pm. So my daylight started to dim rather quickly and I ended up having to turn on the backyard lights. But, amazingly so I got about 40 of the pavers placed before I called it quits. I am planning on leaving to 3'X3' planters for two trees that I am hoping to plant before spring. (I'll take pictures of it later). One thing really nice is that I already have a dip system installed in the area that I can tap into to water my future trees. I'm hoping it will be nice, but mostly clean. We moved my cement bench onto the pavers. It needed to be moved to place the pavers, just the seat portion weighs a couple hundred pounds. It's not very steady right now, but should settle in place in time. If not I will reset it and maybe set it with cement epoxy since I don't have plans to move it again. It is located in the middle of where I plan to plant my trees. Now my husband and are have been discussing the type of tree to plant there. He mentioned a pair of curly willows, which in nice because they grow real fast and love areas where the ground is really wet. But me, I'm wanting maples, for nice shade in the summer for whoever sits on the bench and beautiful fall color. Maybe I'm get some dwarf burning bushes to plant at the base of the trees, for a super bright red in the fall. I sent out emails today to families who have puppies turning a year old in a few days, for comments and photos to post on my website. I think the letters have resulted in quite an increase in hits on my website today and I've received comments and 39 photos back from one couple. Hoping tomorrow I get more. Both our sons leave tomorrow, the older, back on the road for three weeks and the younger to his next Army duty station. Sure going to miss them being around. Good thing we have the littles to keep us occupied.

Sunshine Day

2009-11-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

Today is the day after Thanksgiving Day and it's sunny! That's a good thing. It has been raining so much the last couple of weeks that the dogs haven't wanted to spend much time outside. Not only that, my backyard has turned into some kind of mud pit. Any area that doesn't have cement or pavers has now become slimy, stinky mud. Our soil is very heavy clay that doesn't drain, so when it rains, the water stays on the surface. The worse part of this is that the dogs walk, run thru this mud and churn it up. If they poop in the mud, it gets added to the mixture. Gross I know. Solutions to the problem: Sod? No, Sod or replanting grass won't work since well one thing, it won't grow this time of year and it would just get trampled back down and into mud again. Gravel? No, gravel is gritty and comes into the home on the dogs feet and it will after time get absorbed back in to the ground and have to be reapplied every year or so. Pavers? Yes! Pavers won't do what the other options will. They won't add to the mud problems and they will allow rain water to pass thru to the ground underneath. We already do have a good portion of the yard covered with pavers. But the dogs don't care if they step on pavers or mud. Strange I know. You'd think that they would care to keep their paws all nice and clean. So great news! My son, my Fav, is going to help me get more pavers to finish. Isn't that wonderful? Well I'm excited because once we get the project done, the dogs can be bathed, the floors mopped, walls washed off, and the slider window cleaned from muddy paw prints. Right now the slider looks like they have been finger painting and being short I have a hard time peering thru the art work to check on the dogs outside. So today I'm going to take advantage of the sun pouring done from the blue sky and do some poop clean up and a little bit of straightening up. Hope that where ever you are, you have a sunny day too and get to enjoy it, even if you are just picking up after two or four legged beings.

We are expecting!

2009-11-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

So once again the anticipation of new puppies have entered our minds. We are excitedly awaiting three, yes three, litters of puppies. Not only that, we are finally going to see what having gone thru the trouble of finding, purchasing and raising a new stud will produce for our breeding program. Also, Emma is going to be a mom for the first time.

The first litter is expected to arrive on Christmas Day, these are from our lovely standard poodle mom Mercedes. These are going to be a surprise. Mercedes bred with both of our studs, Fritz and Dutch. Though to be honest I am only expecting another litter of black and chocolate puppies.

The second litter is due to arrive on the fourth day of the new year. This is Hiedi's second litter and she has been bred to Dutch. Hiedi is cream and Dutch is Carmel. Sounds sweet doesn't it? Anyways we really are hoping that the mix between these two will give us some lighter color puppies for a change. Which was the whole reason for getting Dutch.

The third litter is due to arrive January 15th. Emma is medium sized and chocolate, bred with Dutch we should be seeing mostly chocolate puppies. We are hoping for a true red. According to breed standards; reds are very close in tone to chocolate but they have to have a black nose. Otherwise they will be considered chocolate.

Do we have worries? Well we have the usual birth and delivery worries. We will also be concentrating most worrying on producing fat healthy puppies. A lot of care and research will be spent on all these puppies. Then the hope that Emma is a good mom and doesn't have a puppy that is too big for her to pass.

Lazy Day

2009-10-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today was a lazy day for us around here. This morning is just was pour down rain, the sky was dark and in the middle of the day I felt the need to have the lights on inside. So we stayed inside and watched movies on TV. At one point I peered out the window to watch the water flow down the street. The gutters on both sides were full and the corner one house down from us was flooded completely across the road. Even the dogs felt the need to sleep away the day. They went out for their potty breaks but ate inside. They did get a good brushing today, which some like more than others. Our black poodle male Fritz has been sniffing more than usual the tail end of our female poodle Mercedes for the last couple days. So while it was her turn for brushing, I checked her out and found her to be in heat. Just at the beginning of the heat, a little swollen and a little blood. The heat cycle lasts for close to a month. During the first week the female can be moody and will nip at any male sniffing her. Around the 10th day, she becomes more accepting to the males advances and playful displays. When she decides she is ready for mating her tail moves to the side to allow access. The female won't mate unless she wants to and is ready. A few days after the pair is tied or stuck together, she goes back out of heat if the mating was successful. The pregnant mom carries her puppies high up in her ribs until about the sixth week, then they move or drop down where there's more room for them to grow. Waiting for the mom to start showing seems to take forever, then one day you look at her laying on her side and see that she is a little rounder in the belly. A couple days later she is suddenly oh my gosh huge. So anyways, another reason why this seems like a lazy day around here is that our Grandsons are at their mom's for the weekend. About three months ago our oldest son moved back home. He attended truck driving school and is now working driving long haul. How we ended up with the boys is a long story, another posting perhaps. Short story is that the mother of his boys is unable to care for them much less herself. My son is now financially able to care for them, but given the nature of his job, we do. Not that we mind being parents again, it's actually a lot more fun than the first time around. Less stress. The older one is 18 months, the younger 4 months. We are teaching the older one how to correctly interact with the dogs, he feeds them treats so he is use to feeling their teeth. They have gentle mouths being bred originally to retrieve birds without damaging the birds. The dogs are learning to respect the boy's space, he face is conveniently at the same level as their faces. It's a work in progress and he gets a lot of kisses.

Time for Fall and a visit to the Dog Park.

2009-10-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

Today is October 3rd, 2009, it seems like Fall is truly here. The nights are colder and the rain has moved in giving us showers every third day or so. Today was a great day. After feeding the dogs and letting them potty. I loaded them all up and drove to the nearest dog park. We love the dog park, everyone was so excited. Too excited, I was so glad that there were no cars in the parking area when I came over the last rise. Someday I'm sure that they will pull me to the ground in their eagerness to get in the park and get busy. So we made it in just fine and once I opened the second gate they were off. They all start running around like the crazy fools I know them to be. I quickly grab a plastic shopping bag stuffed with more bags from the information station and start walking. I wanted to walk the perimeter today a couple of times to see if it helped work out some soreness that I've had for a couple of days. The dogs kind of stay with me. They run out a distance and then run back to me. We get about half way around the 7 acre park and a couple comes to the gate with two dogs. All my dogs take off for the gate and start barking at the newcomers, I'm too far away to do much good. The couple takes their dogs into the small dogs area. Then the dogs run back and forth the length of the fences barking for a while, which wears everyone out a bit. Then they come into the bigger side and start walking around. I stay behind with my dogs to give them a bit of space between us. They get to an area were the land dips down and I can no longer see them. Dutch and Fritz follow them and disappear from my view also. I start walking again and call everyone back to me. The couple run toward the area where the dogs are hiding from my view, I don't heard anything either. My dogs return to me and when I next see the other dogs again they are walking on leashes and soon leave the park. So I didn't get a chance to find out if something had happened. I keep walking around with the dogs. I wish I had check the dog park inventory in my car's trunk before leaving home. I used to be more prepared for the park. The ball chuck-it was missing. I am a pitiful ball thrower, I mean seriously, I'm lucky if it goes 20 feet away. If my dogs could roll their eyes, I'm sure they would every time I throw the ball. So anyways, all we have for activities are walking or sitting at the bench while the dogs vie for shade under the bench. So we walk since that was the plan anyways. So I'm halfway around again and other dog enters the park. This time it is this cute little pit bull. She looks so cute because it looks like someone took a white dog and dipped her in black paint while holding her by her head. So that went okay with her, the dogs were pretty much ran out by then. Another pair of dogs came in and the greeting was nice also. They were big furry beasties. So after that I didn't feel too bad about what happened with the first two dogs, if something did happen. So after an hour and a half we left the park and returned home for dog nap time. I was hoping them to be nicely worn out because I was planning on painting the walls and floor in the dog's room and my adjoining bedroom. I needed them to be happy to sleep while I got this project done. So now hours later I'm enjoying a nice freshly painted room. By the way, as a side note, yes I did say paint my floors. I pulled up the carpet a while back and in the meantime until I can install laminate flooring I'm enjoying having colorful floors. It actually worked out pretty good, I paint the floor with a hi-gloss enamel paint so clean up is easy. One project done, a million and two left. Now that the weather is cooling off my projects move inside. Next on the list is removing the tile floor in the kitchen and installing laminate flooring. It will be nice to have that done. It is a weird thing to explain to people who come to look at my puppies why I'm missing tile on the floor. Though I will confess to installing the tile incorrectly in the first place.

The count down has begun

2009-09-16T00:16:00.001-07:00

So I know what your thinking. We could hardly wait for puppies to arrive just 8 short weeks ago. But by next Monday we are talking about a puppyless household. It was been 9 months of puppies so a break has been well looked forward to in our house. We love the puppies of course. It is so wonderful to watch every puppies first everything. They come into the world wet and needy and it's our job to much sure that they have everything that they need. The first week we watch them constantly, making sure each and every one of the little darlings are getting enough feeding time, don't get lost in the bedding or laid on by mom. Mom needs almost constant feeding so she can in return constantly feed her babies. By the end of the second week, we see blue tinted eyes starting to peek open. Third week finds the babies trying out their wobbly legs. The fourth week they are interacting with one another and us. Their bellies are nice and healthy round in shape, their coat start showing off their trade mark curls. The fifth week they get their first shot, though most don't even notice it happening. They are too excited because they are getting some extra cuddling. By now most have developed definable personalities, we know who's outgoing, who's calm, who likes to be held and who likes to trot around the living room with a little soft toy in his mouth. Week six they will be dewormed for the third time, they spend most of their awake time testing their wrestling moves and using their voices. Weeks 7 and 8 they are hardly ever nursing on mom and thoroughly enjoying feeding time. At the end of 8 weeks, they get their final deworming and shot from us, we say good bye and watch them get loaded into various vehicles by happily smiling families one by one. Puppy equipment is stowed away. The next few days after, we marvel at all the extra time we now have and miss having the puppies around the house. Time to do all things that have been waiting for more time in which to do them. More time spent walking the dogs, we return to our beloved dog park once again. We wait once again for puppies.

Fritz and Lulu

2009-09-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Our black standard poodle Fritz got to go visit Lulu tonight. Lulu is a F1b (which is a the offspring of a 50/50 labradoodle bred back to a poodle) labradoodle. Lulu is cream with apricot markings and looks alot like our Gretchen, though I think that her coat is better, and weighs only 40 pounds and is about 18 inches from the floor to the top of her back. I met Lulu's family earlier this summer at the local feed store in town and we struck up a conversation about poodles and labradoodles and Amy talked about how they hadn't fixed their girl and were considering breeding her. Handsome boy Fritz was with us and Amy really liked how Fritz looked and behaved. So I handed Amy one of my business cards and told her to give it some serious thought and read up about online. We emailed back in forth a few times and at the end of August Lulu went into heat. I calculated the best time for breeding and made up a stud service contract. The first night Lulu just wasn't ready. They did alot of flirting and several attempts, but after two hours they were wore out and no longer interested. Not a big deal, after all if Lulu isn't ready she wouldn't allow breeding to happen. So Fritz and I returned two days later and after a little more play and flirtation, they got stuck. Okay, I say stuck because they are really stuck. Officially it's called a "tie". Amy and her husband asked how long will they be stuck and I told them anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes 40. So we visit and chat about dogs and puppies and getting prepared for puppies and time goes by and by and by. They stayed stuck for more then a hour and a half! A record for us. I check the calender and tell them we can expect puppies November 2nd. We, Fritz and I will return tomorrow to breed again. Breeding twice should insure a successful breeding. I'll post as Lulu progresses. Right now I am not expecting any of our girls to go into heat for a while. I am also mentoring Amy and will be present at the birth and available to answer any question that the family thinks up. Amy and her husband have four young kids and they are home schooled. This is going to give them lots of information that the kids can use as learning tools.

Continue where I left off yesterday

2009-08-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

So Sunday I get a call from someone who has a deposit on a puppy, they want to come see her. All my puppy parents are encouraged to come visit their puppy anytime they wish so they can see their puppy grow and bond with their little fluff ball. Then someone else want to come again to look at the puppies a second time. I wash and dry six puppies. Then let puppies run around on the living room floor during the quiet time while we wait for people to show. This means watching them to see if they poo so it can be cleaned up right away. The puppies won't poo now when company's here. People come, people go. People come and put a deposit down on the puppy they think is most special to them, it is a good match. People go. I mix more de-wormer for adult dogs and puppies. Feed dogs and puppies. Puppies sleep, dogs sleep. I now have enough money to buy flea treatment for adult dogs. It's late summer, fleas are very active this time of year, the rest of the year we don't see them on our dogs. So I go buy flea treatment, $100. Stop by my parents to install a ceiling fan in my dad's "man cave" It looks very nice, my dad is very happy. I stay for dinner and watch a movie. I return home and treat five dogs for fleas, the sixth I can't treat for she is nursing and I can't risk puppies ingesting the pesticide. Crate the dogs so they can lick the treatment off each other's back. Check email, email is working. I have a new inquiring about our babies. Reply to email. End of weekend. Another worming treatment tomorrow.

Puppy breeder chores.

2009-08-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Okay so a typical weekend day at my home involves dogs and the care of dogs. I wake up at the same time I do during the week because Dutch thinks he is on a schedule and has to go outside at the same time everyday. So he gently wakes me up Saturday morning just like most morning with a little bark every few minutes until I finally sit up. So I get them all up and take them out to potty, then I take the poodles out for a 3 mile walk. Today is dewormerday, so I mix up dewormer med with canned dog food. That's the only way I can get them to eat it without spilling it. I get the liquid dewormed by the quart, it cost's 130.00. I will use up all of it, because it is a three day treatment. Back outside goes the dogs. We have a pond in our backyard where a couple of turtles lived and some gold fish. Hiedi and Emma hop in and get soaking wet with pond water. This being Saturday and there's a possibility that someone may want to come see the puppies, I wash Hiedi and Emma. Then I crate them to dry. I brush Dutch, Sadie and Fritz. Back outside for potty. Everyone back in and feed Gretchen her mommy meal again. I check my email. Nothing, :( It's now 1pm. I start trimming Fritz. My clippers aren't working right, I have to scissor trim him. 3pm brush hair off Fritz and let him go out for potty. Give Fritz a bath to wash off the hair the brush didn't get. Let dogs out to potty. Give Emma a hair cut, good thing she is small. Give Emma her second bath of the day. Check email, nothing. Thing must be broken. Clean ears and puck out ear hair. Poodles need the hair pucked out to prevent infection. Time for potty again. Prepare puppy health records for 10 puppies, cost .22 cents per record. Prepare and give puppies their first vaccination, cost 3.45 per shot plus .12 per needle. Potty again. Check email, have email. Someone wants to return and see the puppy she fell in love with. Respond to email. Eat my first meal of the day. Talk to sister and fellow breeder via email than on the phone. Watch puppies play in their pen. Think about what I have to accomplish tomorrow.

Sadness

2009-08-18T23:36:00.001-07:00

Today was a sad day for us. We lost a puppy, a small boy. He was just too frail and even with the extra care he just never really gained weight like a puppy should. So tonight we care for the puppies and hold them just a little bit longer and tell them what little cutie pies they are. Look into their blue tinged trusting eyes and tell them that everything is okay and that they will soon grow up and be adopted by a loving family.
Goodbye Johnson.

Yard Work

2009-08-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we did yard work. Besides the usual poo patrol. We finished covering over the neighbor's cheaply made fence with real fencing, and therefore blocking the view another foot and a half higher. Then we did a bunch of weeding and got some more pavers for pathways. In the winter it rains so much that our back yard turns muddy and then our dogs get all muddy too. Now I just need to find some kind of plants that can with stand dogs running over them.

For my son.

2009-08-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

My younger son, J, left last Monday for Army boot camp.So I haven't felt very much like posting any thing new since. I heard from him today when he called to tell me that he is doing okay. After five days, he is still in processing and hasn't been assigned a platoon yet. It was so nice to hear from him, he's my baby you know. My 18 year old baby. His goal is Ranger training, which will add a few weeks to his boot camp training. So we don't expect to see him until Thanksgiving time. J is so smart and just a nice easy going kid. I miss him.

I been keeping busy with working and caring for the dogs. We have people coming over tomorrow to see the two week old puppies. Which means the puppies will be getting baths so they smell nice when the get held up to faces. It also fluffs their fur up a bit to show off their curly hair. Their hair is only a quarter inch long at two weeks, but it is long enough to see the waves that show that they will have lots of curls as adults.

Newborns

2009-07-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Okay the final count is:

12. 3 black girls, 2 chocolate girls, 1 black boy, 6 chocolate boys. No wonder Gretchen was so big. The first two are the biggest, about the normal for what we usually get and the rest are very small. I gave her a shot when she was finished. This morning I gave her a small dish yogurt and a bowl of canned/dry food with an egg. I told Wes that she is going to need to eat all day long. She was already losing body fat before the babies came. Gretchen is all cleaned up and back with the babies, they are muttering to her. They woke me up a few times last night and I had to get up and make sure no one was under mom. She is really good about scooting everyone over so she can lay down and nurse.

Puppies!!

2009-07-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Puppies are finally arriving.

July 25th, 2009 morning

2009-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Good morning, the wait continues. After going out to pee, Gretchen is now back in her box, laying on her side with a leg resting up on the box wall. Most be more comfortable to have the leg up. We are watching the country music count down on TV, down to number 4. I got to get up and get started on my Saturday morning cleaning. Gretchen is back to pretending to sleep.

July 25th, 2009

2009-07-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

So this is my first entry. It used to be that this would start out as "Dear Diary" funny how times have changed. Now everything we do and say is on the net. Since this is the end of the day for me, I am waiting for sleep to hit me. I don't know if I can sleep. You see I am waiting for puppies. I have been waiting for puppies all week. Gretchen is apparently on her own schedule not on my schedule which says that she should have had puppies five days ago. So now I watch her for any signs and she just stares back at me. Gretchen is a labradoodle. She is a third generation with a flatter coat, she does shed a little. Gretchen is my only shedding dog. I only really notice it when I'm sweeping the stairs. For some reason going up and down stairs is enough to jar loose hair off to collect in the corners of the steps.

Okay we just had another staring contest. She looks sleepy. I'll probably fall asleep and then she will try to sneak them out. She did this with her last litter. I had gotten off work and was settled in for the night, fell asleep and woke up two or three hours later to the sound of babies. She managed to have two before I caught her in the act. Good thing too that I woke up, one of the puppies didn't start breathing right away and we spent what felt like a lifetime rubbing him and squeezing his belly to discharge birthing fluid and blowing into his nose. He made it.

Gretchen's belly looks like a pig's belly. I cut the hair off her belly to make it easier for her babies to nurse and to keep her and them as clean as possible. So she is all pink and swollen belly and full titties. She just moved, so I paused to watch her settle back down again. Gretchen's babies will be chocolate or black. That's all that daddy Fritz will father, he has strong DNA and black is a dominate color. Fritz is a standard poodle. He is so smart. Every morning when I get up he fetches my shoes for me, I didn't teach him to do this, he just started doing it on his own. Mornings are special time for Fritz, it's when he gets extra attention and petting. He has such a nice soft coat.

Well nothing's on TV but infomercials and Gretchen is pretending to sleep, so I think that I'm going to go to sleep also.