Our days are busy looking after mama’s and puppies. Lots to do – cleaning, weighting, feeding, collar checks and, holding puppies (my favourite) Although the puppies don’t do too much yet, I thought I would put together a couple videos of puppies sleeping and eating. Who doesn’t love to watch puppies?💕
Ellies’ Puppies – Day 5
Ellies’ puppies are five days old and continue to do what newborns do best….eat and sleep.
Ellie’s Puppies just waking up Saturday morning – day 5
Willows’ Puppies – Day 11
Willow’s puppies grow bigger with each passing day. They are still in that eating and sleeping stage but when they wake and it is time to eat, they are now using their hind legs to move – watch the video as they practice walking on all fours. They are very wobbly – so cute!
Look at those eyes!!! 👀
Friday was an exciting day – our first puppy’s eyes started to open! Eyes opening always makes the puppies seem more alive! Over the next few days all Willows’ puppies’ eyes will open.
Our Blue-Collar Boy was the first puppy to open his eyes. It is hard to see with all his merle markings but, if you look closely, you can see his left eye open
Ellie continues to care for her babies with such love and devotion. The puppies are nursing well and steadily gaining weight! Ellie still spends most of her time in the whelping box but, today she joined our other dogs in the yard for a bit of fresh air and exercise.
It is always challenging trying to take pictures of puppies. Newborn puppies just eat and sleep but, they also like to wriggle and squirm. After many attempts (200 pictures) I was able to capture Ellie’s beautiful babies!
Willows’ babies are doing very well. Healthy puppies should double their birthweight by 10 – 14 days. I am happy to say her puppies had 4 double their weight yesterday (day 8) and the other two puppies doubled their weight today (day 9) Great Job Willow!
Willow is now spending more time away from the whelping box and interacting with our other dogs outside. She has even become a little less protective and let our other dogs come in the room to see her puppies for a short visit.
Puppies in the “Neonatal Period” (day 0 – 14) spend 90% of the time sleeping and the other 10% of their time eating. Beginning on day 3 of the puppy’s life, we do ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) and continue through day 16. Research shows that tiny struggles and stresses in small doses are good for puppies and will help them grow into strong, healthy well-adjusted adults. Benefits include greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat.
Pics of Willows’ sweet babies
Notice the new collars. Yesterday we made new collars from parachute cord. Usually, our litters are very similar, and we need the collars on from birth so we can track each puppy’s weight. But, because I can distinguish the puppies, I didn’t need them to keep track of their weight. Below are pics of Willows’ babies – sleeping!.
Willows’ precious puppies are one week old today. We have had a busy week! For the first few weeks of life, a puppy cannot regulate their own body temperature. They need a warm space, their mother, and littermates to help keep them warm. This is a winter litter and it makes it more of a challenge than our summer litters to keep our room warm. We have added an electric heater to our room to help keep the temperature at a warm 27 degrees C and a heating pad to our whelping box under our vet bed.
Willow is a great first time mama. For the first three days of the puppies lives she spent all her time in the whelping box with the babies, keeping them warm, clean and making sure they nursed often. She had a good appetite and drank plenty of water from the start which is important for making good milk for her puppies. For the last few days Willow has been spending short periods of time away from her puppies, getting fresh air and exercise in the yard. But as soon as she comes in the house again, Willow runs back upstairs to check on her babies. The puppies are now experts at nursing; they can smell when Willow returns to the whelping box and quickly crawl to find her and begin their next meal.
Willows’ puppies one week old
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO
Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
Puppies will continue growing
Puppies still crawl; hind legs will become stronger
Eyes should begin to open towards the end the week – so exciting !!!
Ellies’ Puppies
DAY ONE
Ellie is an experienced mama with a great love for her babies. She spends all her time in her whelping box protecting, feeding, cleaning, and keeping her puppies warm. Puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut; they cannot see or hear. They must rely on “smell” and “touch” to crawl and find their mother.
Puppies are born with a natural instinct to nurse and Ellies’ puppies are doing great . In the first 24 hours, newborn puppies may lose up to ten percent of their birth weight. Ellies’ puppies are doing so well; they all gained weight at their first weigh-in this morning. Great job Ellie!!!
L.A. Doodles is excited to announce the arrival of Ellies’ puppies. Ellies’ labour started Sunday morning and she spent most of the time lying on my bed. As midnight approached, she became very unsettled, and I knew it wouldn’t be long. Her first puppy, a handsome boy arrived at 2:37 am and her whelping was completed three hours later at 5:36 am when puppy number eight arrived.
Introducing Ellies’ Litter
March 14, 2022
7 Beautiful Girls and 1 Handsome Boy
Our Newborn Puppy Huddle
Ellie is a wonderful loving mama and adores her babies. We look forward to helping her raise her puppies! She now has a 24 hour job caring for her little ones. Great Job Ellie!
Our days have fallen into a routine with caring for Willows’ puppies. The puppies continue to do well at weigh-in and are on track to double their birth weight by the 10-day mark (some maybe even sooner). After weighing the puppies and cleaning the whelping box on Saturday, we took a video while returning them to the whelping box. The video shows the lovely white markings on the underside of the puppies!
Puppy Socialization
Puppy Socialization is an important part of raising calm puppies. This is why we handle puppies right from birth.
Saturday evening my son’s family came over for a puppy visit. My grandchildren are always so excited to see the new puppies. Socializing the puppies soon after birth by a variety of people is a bonus. It is important for puppies to be handled – even by my two year old grandson who is a little rough. My older grandchildren have learnt to be gentle with small puppies but as my 2 year old grandson is still learning, we watch him very carefully!
Day Four – March 12
Our Day Four video shows Willow being Willow. She loves to sleep on her back (even nursing LOL) and wants to make the whelping box her own by digging up the VetBed lining. Every time I see her start to rearrange it, I tell her NO but if I’m out of the room and return I can see she had been digging. I think she likes the cooler bottom without the VetBed. It is important for the puppies to keep warm but also very important that they have the traction that the VetBed provides.
Willow and Ellie are the best of friends and have kept each other company throughout their pregnancies but, since Willow had her puppies, she became a protective mama and wouldn’t let any of our dogs in her room. But today Willow let Ellie come into our bedroom to see her puppies. Ellie happily spent the day relaxing on my bed and getting lots of rest. Ellies’ due date is March 13th (Day 63) – Just two days away! The puppies can arrive a few days early or a few days late. Either way, Ellie will soon have a whelping box full of her own babies to care for.
Listening for Puppy Heartbeats with the Doppler
Ellies’ tummy continues to expand with each passing day. Her babies are now crowded, and it is very easy to feel and see the puppies moving. In the video below, listen for puppy heartbeats and watch Ellies’ tummy closely – you can see the puppies moving.
Willows’ Puppies Are Doing Amazing!
Today the puppies are three days old. It is amazing how much they grow each day. Willow continues to be an amazing mama as she feed, cleans and keeps her babies warm. Newborn puppies cannot regulate their own body temperature and depend on their littermates and mama to keep them warm.
Daily Weight In
In the first 24 hours of a puppy’s life, it is not uncommon for puppies to loose weight. Willows’ puppies are doing amazing. They all gained weight their first 24 hours and continue to gain daily.
We weigh our puppies daily and track their weight. Sometimes it is hard to keep the puppies still during weigh in time. Watch for Chocolate Boy in the video below – he didn’t want to be on the cold scale but just wanted to stay in the warm whelping box and sleep!
The past few days have been busy ones caring for Willow and helping her care for her babies. She is a first-time mama and doing an amazing job caring for her little ones. The puppies are gaining weight daily – Good Job Willow!!!
Puppies nursing
DAY TWO – Puppy Photo Shoot
If puppies just eat and sleep, it should be a breeze, right? —- NOT!
To take the pics, we set up on our bed which is right beside the Whelping Box. At first Willow was concerned that her babies were leaving the whelping box so, she jumped up onto the bed to check things out. This is not helpful at all – If the puppies smell their mama, they don’t settle. After Willow was satisfied that it was okay, she went back in the whelping box with the rest of her puppies, and we proceeded with our photo shoot. It takes a lot of time because the puppies don’t cooperate. They kept moving around, trying to get settled into sleep but the problem was it was not towards the camera – LOL. We were finally successful and got some great singles!
Willow’s Puppies Singles
Introducing ………..The Boys
Introducing ………..The Girls
After we finished the photoshoot and returned the last puppy to the whelping box, Willow gathered her babies close to her and they all settled in for a nap.
L.A. Doodles is excited to announce the arrival of Willow’s puppies. It was a long night of labour and no sleep but it was worth it when the first puppy arrived at 5:47 am
This is our first merle litter
1 Gold
1 Chocolate
1 Chocolate Merle
3 Blue Merle
All Willow’s puppies are Abstract; meaning the all have lovely white markings
March 8, 2022
4 Handsome Boys and 2 Little Princesses
Our Newborn Puppy Huddle
Willow is a loving and caring mama. She is tired after her long night. Willow spent the day caring for her new babies and getting some well-deserved rest! Great job Willow!!!
I have heard it said, “The only thing goldendoodles like better than water is SNOW”. This is true for my goldendoodles as well as my poodles. One afternoon in January, Tom went in our yard with the dogs and took pics and videos of them playing in the snow. The snow was so deep!!! It is funny to watch as they hop though it trying to run.
Fun in the Snow
Will we have a Spring Litter?
After breeding, I intently watch for the signs that my dogs are expecting. I look for things such as, a decreased appetite, morning sickness, and sleeping more. Ellie and Willow showed all of these signs. Yes, it looked very promising that puppies were on their way, but I am never completely confident of pregnancy until l use my doppler and hear those tiny heartbeats.
There are various ways to confirm pregnancy in dogs – abdominal palpation, an ultrasound performed early in pregnancy around 28 days or my chose – waiting patiently for five weeks and using a Doppler Ultrasound to confirm if they are actually expecting puppies.
Yesterday was day 35 and the long wait was finally here. I got the doppler out and nervously began. Ellie has experienced this before and just laid patiently while I search for a puppy heartbeat but, Willow was a different story. This is her first experience, and she didn’t enjoy the process at all. At this point the puppies are very small making it difficult to pick up their heartbeats. The doppler kept picking up Willow’s heartbeat (125 bpm) but, while trying to keep Willow calm, I persevered. After a couple minutes of searching the doppler finally picked up that quick tiny heartbeat (210 bpm). It is always exciting when I finally find it!
YES, we will have two spring litters – both our girls are expecting!
L.A. Doodles is please to announce that both Ellie and Willow are expecting. Puppies will arrive Mid-March
At day 35, puppies have completed the development of all their major organs and have reached approximately 20% of their size at birth. Today – Day 36 – ends the period of slow growth and tomorrow – Day 37 – the puppies enter the rapid growth stage. It is important for our mamas to get regular exercise, rest, and, lots of TLC. We will continue to feed our expectant mamas high quality food and treats. Over the next weeks they will begin to increase their food intake.
Happy New Year! 2021 has been another long and trying year due to Covid. Like me, I’m sure everyone is longing for the day when Covid is a thing of the past and we can visit with family and friends without restrictions!
Our goal at L.A. Doodles is “To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies”. Ethical Breeding starts out with a complete understanding and knowledge of the breed and the desire to better the breed for future generations with a willingness to constantly learn. As I continue to strive to be a responsible, ethical breeder, I am always on the look out for any new information that I think could improve our breeding program. We are excited to add the well-known Puppy Culture Program to our puppy raising process. Our previous litters have been raised with most of these protocols but we look forward to adding a few new ideas to our future puppies. To read more on the Program click on the icon below
Long term planning
Two year ago we decided to expand our breeding program with the introduction of colour coat patterns. It has been a two year wait but, I am excited to be introducing the merle gene into our breeding program through our beautiful Willow. When dealing with the merle gene, extra testing is needed to produce healthy puppies with merle markings.
What are Merle Markings?
Merle marking is a pattern of colouring in the coat of the dog and is characterized by patches of diluted pigment. The merle gene makes the solid colour of the dog lighter in areas resulting in a marbling effect. Below is an example of a Blue Merle Goldendoodle. The solid colour of the dog is black as you can observe in the dark patches, and the lightened colour is a grey. This is called Blue Merle.
Image blue merle taken from clicker.com website
Looking ahead to 2022 – L.A. Doodles is excited to announce that our breedings have taken place for our spring litters. Both Brinkley and Tulo have been bred to Ellie and Willow making both litters “Dual-Sire Litters”. Although it is possible for the puppies in both litters to have two fathers, it is also possible that the litters may have only one father.
I always wait anxiously for the day that I can listen with the doppler ultrasound for puppy heartbeats to know if our girls are in fact expecting. The pregnancies will be confirmed Mid-February. If all goes well, we should be expecting puppies mid-March.
Our Mamas
Willow
Willow is a Standard Brown Merle Parti Poodle measuring 22 ” at the shoulder and weighing 43 pounds. She is a beautiful dog with stunning Blue-Brown marble eyes. Willow is such a sweet girl, super smart and full of life! She loves playing outside in our yard with our other dogs and spending time inside by my side. Her tail never tires of wagging, and it looks like she always has a smile on her face. This will be Willow’s first litter. She has had nanny experience this year helping raise Ellie and Ruska’s puppies. Willow will be a great mama!
ELLIE
Ellie is our beautiful Café au Lait Standard Poodle. She measures 23 inches at the shoulder and weights 50 pounds. Ellie is always up for a game of fetch. She enjoys running in the yard playing with our other dogs as they search for squirrels. Ellie is a smart, loving, gentle dog with so much love to give. She is an amazing mother, and her puppies are gentle and loving. Many of her puppies have inherited her beautiful grey-green eyes.
Our Daddy’s
Brinkley is our handsome 85-pound Red Flat Coat F2B Standard Goldendoodle from Ruska and Tulo’s litter. He was born and raised in our home. As can happen in a F2 breeding, he has obtained an abundance of the Retriever Genes. Soon after he was born, I was impressed at how calm and gentle he was, and Brinkley continues to impress me as he has matured. He is very smart and always willing to please. Brinkley has passed on his wonderful disposition to his puppies!
Tulo is a proven stud and has produced beautiful, calm puppies in the past.Tulo lives with our son’s family. He is a Cream Standard Goldendoodle measuring 25 inches at the shoulder and weighing 67 pounds. Tulo is a calm obedient dog, who loves to please. He is very affectionate and loves spending time with his family, whether going for walks, watching the kids play soccer and baseball, camping or just hanging around at home. Tulo has produced many wonderful calm loving puppies in the past.
