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Week 1 is really about keeping the Mom of the puppies well fed, rested and happy so she can take care of the puppies. That means, good food, privacy, correct temperature and plenty of attention. Here's Nala's pup's first week here:
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Nala gave us a HUGE surprise on Sunday night. She decided to have her puppies on day 57 instead of the usual day 63. No temp drop, No stoppage of eating, Just popped one out. Here's the video story. We stayed in for New Year's Dinner this year. We did a little Meat vs Lentil Loaf taste test and even baked a cake in the Air Fryer!!! Nothing says Christmas like a surprise blizzard!! Here is us, digging out !!  This photo is from a few weeks ago but Macey and Reign are in the same "pose" behind my desk chair right now. Can you see the weary resigned look in her eyes? Do you have that same feeling? Getting a puppy is a lot of work but did you expect it to be THIS MUCH work? It is typical for people to call and ask us questions after the puppies leave here. I am not a training expert but I do have some knowledge and can offer support and tell the families what I experienced here with their puppy. I usually reply with, what I think to be good advice. I offer resources and links to YouTube content etc. Now that I have Reign..........different story!! Now I find myself thinking things like "Potty training"-- you're guess is as good as mine.......... "Create training"--- who knows, put the dang thing in the garage............ "Chews up my stuff"---- you probably have too much stuff anyway............. "Puppy biting"--- they're gonna lose these teeth anyway, maybe we pull them out now..... Of course I am just kidding but honestly, the fun does go out of 24-7 Puppy Patrol pretty quickly.  We have the luxury of a large yard so Reign can really run around with Nala and Macey and get rid of a lot of energy. We also have the Puppy Palace a.k.a Shed that we can hang out in and let her play and have plenty of space. I know that this is not something most people have and that makes getting through the first phase of Puppy Training really difficult.  We have the added detail the both Willow and Duke are NOT on team "Welcome Reign to the Pack" You can see that I have a house line on her. This is because I need to be able to pull her away if she starts thinking that Willow or Duke wants to play with her or if she decides to borrow a chew toy from them. So, for these reasons our evenings seem to be split. Todd takes Willow and Macey down to the basement and I keep the "Squirt" and Nala upstairs where we can go in and out of the house while Duke chills in his bed (mudroom). Saturday evening we were watching a movie and she actually stopped moving and fell asleep. We literally paused the movie and sat and watched her because we were so amazed!! Are we turning the corner???? It could be true!!! It is worth it!!!  We are hopeful that we have moved into the next phase of Mid-Puppy training. We can trust Reign to not potty for longer periods of time. We are working on her beginning obedience. She can do a Sit and Down. She comes when called--usually. She is getting better at walking on a leash. Next up: Stay--(yeah right!!) and Underground Fence training. Todd wants to get the Christmas Tree up but I don't. I feel like it is just adding to my workload of having to keep Reign out of trouble.
"Buy a poinsettia and call it good!" Im all about choosing my battles right now! Peace Out!! Happy Holidaze! Sherry  On July 26th the blessed event began..... and kept going and going and going and........GOING!! 12 amazing little Doodles later, Nala was exhausted and I was TERRIFIED! Yes, Macey had had 11 puppies before but not her first litter and I was really not sure how this was going to go. Nala's delivery was so calm and she kept attentive to both the newcomers and the pups that were already born, I should have known that she was going to be the best mom. After the delivery, we cleaned up and changed the bedding and Nala spread out her front legs around her puppy pile as if to get them all a huge hug and looked up at me and smiled. It was so sweet and I was simply in tears and felt so grateful to her! After the initial visit to the vet--2 little quirts came out with an X on their backs with a warning from Dr. Bohl to keep an eye on them-the journey of making sure that each of these little doodes got enough to eat and Nala stayed healthy began.  For the first week, I did not help feed any of the puppies. On the advice from my friend Sandra, I just kept Nala very very well fed and happy and let her do the rest. She would separate the puppies into piles and just had such an awesome system. I just stood by and kept the squirts from getting pushed aside and had lots of food on hand for Nala. During this time I feed my moms what is called Mother's Pudding-- It is goat milk, ice cream, eggs, gelatin, and vanilla pudding. I also stir in oatmeal, flax and pretty much anything that will help keep her calcium and energy up. I have a friend, Heather, who supplies us with our goat milk. Their milk is certified high in fat and fresh from the goat so it is premium stuff--also very good in coffee! (I have blogged about her before.) She and I saw a lot of each other for these first 4 weeks! Which means that I did a lot of driving too since she lives about an hour away!  After about 8 days, it was clear that Nala was ready to let me handle the pups and was ready for some relief so I went out and bought a premi baby bottle, heated up some goat milk and took a seat beside her. As you can see by the photo, we still had a couple of squirts that we were keeping an eye on. I would just grab a puppy and let it have an ounce of goat milk and then set it aside into a little bed I made for them in a tote so I could remember who got the milk and didnt get overfed. That is what I did every time she fed the pups day and night for the next 2 weeks.
As you can see by that chubby belly and the full whelping box, Nala and I did a great job of feeding these doodes. Their eyes were now open, they were walking and ready to go out into the Puppy Palace.  Once Our puppies move out to the Puppy Palace, they are ready to start their socialization and environment stimulations. I give them little toys and other things to play with that make sounds and help them not only get used to the outside world but to calmly work through their startle and startle recovery phase. This is also the time that Nala feeds them less often and I start feeding goat milk.  After we get the doodes eating on their own, they meet their people and are officially someone else's dogs. I love selection weekend!! Meeting the people who we are raising these guys for really brings it all together. The families of this litter range from a single guy, several newly wed couples, a family pet and hopeful future therapy dog, a companion for a retired couple and lastly Todd and I That's right!! When we got River and Nala we knew that one of their puppies would be for us. When we sold River in December last year, we collected his semen so that we could have one last litter and more importantly--our new girl! The vet clinic advised us to use all of our frozen semen so we had 1 shot to get our puppy and clearly, they did their job with the Doodle Dozen that we were given!!
Reign will be Ten Mile Creek Goldendoodles Generation 2.0 I snapped this photo not realizing that Macey was in the background. It is really one of those "photo is worth a thousand words" moments with the Past and Future together.  In a couple of years, we may be telling you about Reign's first litter.
In the meantime we are: Potty training Obedience training Crate training Leash training Chew training Learning to train training Just like the rest of the families from this litter we are loving it and having those "what did we do" moments too. Put in the work now and your Doodle will live up to the hype of being the best family dog available. Peace Out! Sherry  I dont know about you guys but I have definitely lowered my grooming standards since the Shelter in Place Working from Home lifestyle changes went into effect. I sent a friend a Snapchat the other day and thought "Holy Crap! Who is that??" I have a previous post about how I am not helping out my Kardashian friends with their bank accounts and it remains............on a whole new level.......... TRUE!! So, how often should you or do you bathe your Doodle? I say: AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE! I am not talking about daily grooming like brushing, ear cleaning, checking nails or keeping their site line clear by trimming their muzzle, or maintaining matts, but an actual bath.  Dogs have a natural oil to their skin and if we are constantly adding chemicals like shampoo or conditioner and washing that protection away, we are doing more harm than good. Excessive bathing can cause skin irritation that will be really difficult to heal and get the natural oils to restore. I do, of course, give them a little spa treatment before they go home so they have that new puppy smell!!  We give our dogs a daily dose of Salmon Oil. We just buy a big bottle and put a couple of pumps on their breakfast. Ive seen recipes where you can make little treats with coconut oil but I havent tried that yet. So although our little Doodles love the water........I say take them hunting or swimming instead of to the spa!!
Peace Out! Sherry |
SherryMy farm is my favorite place to be. Cant wait to share what's happening here. Archives
January 2021
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