Tag: Goldendoodle puppy

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Echo’s Six Week Old Sweeties

Looking back

The puppies are six weeks old today. We have had another busy week caring for them and introducing them to many new things. They have grown bigger, and you can see each unique personality developing. Echo continues to wean her puppies, and they eat softened kibble. We continue to work on Potty training. Some puppies are more consistent than others, but we are making progress.

Crate Introduction

This week, we said goodbye to the whelping box and started crate training in a new puppy area. I start the puppies with a few crates, leaving the door open. This is the beginning of crate training. The puppies go in on their own to explore, and the door is always open.

Selection Day

This past Saturday was Selection Day. The weather was beautiful, and excitement was in the air as we met each forever family and introduced them to their new puppy! It always brings me joy to know that all our puppies are joining such amazing families and will be loved!

Outdoor Play

We’ve been having wonderful weather, and the puppies really enjoy their outdoor play time. They love running, chasing each other, playing with the activity center, and climbing the “rock wall.”

Echo, Willow, and Maui teach the puppies proper doggy manners during the outdoor play sessions.

Looking Ahead to Week 7

  • Awake will continue to increase
  • Puppies will begin dry kibble by the end of week seven
  • We will continue to encourage puppies to use potty box
  • Puppies will continue to socialize and learn from each other through play
  • Exploring and playing together outdoors as weather permits
  • Puppies will continue learning from their mama as she disciplines and teaches them to behave
  • As always, puppies will continue to get lots of cuddle time
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Willow’s Puppies Turn Two Weeks Old

The Transitional Period

Willow’s puppies are now two weeks old and have entered the Transitional Period from day 14 – 21. Each litter is different and enters the next period, the Critical Socialization Period when the puppies “first startle” at a sound.

Two week old puppy huddle

Milestones

When raising puppies, we watch for Milestones to gauge the progress of our puppies. This weekWillow’s puppies reached two milestones.

Weigh-In

The first milestone the puppies reached this week was Doubling Their Birthweight. We are pleased to say that all Willow’s puppies have double their birth weight. Great job Willow!

Eyes Opened

Day 11

Another milestone was reached later in the week – Eyes Opening. Puppy’s eyes open between day 10 and day 14. On day 11, I was excited to notice that Yellow Girl had opened her eyes. Seeing the puppies look back at me is always exciting – I think they look more “alive”!

Soon after, and day by day the rest of the puppies opened their eyes too.

Daily Cleaning

As we stated before newborn puppies are susceptible to disease. For this reason, it is important to keep their area clean. We clean and disinfect their whelping box daily.

What is Vet Bedding? At first glance, you may think it is sheepskin. It is a manmade version of a sheepskin. It’s made from artificial fibres and has two sections: first, an underlying mesh, similar to the “skin” part of a sheepskin, and second, the comfy, soft, springy artificial fleece part that is attached to the mesh.

Puppies must have proper traction while nursing, moving around the whelping box, and learning to walk as this traction protects the puppy’s growing joints.

Time to Add a Panel

While cleaning in the whelping room Willow was resting on the elevated bed. I looked over to see some of her puppies had climbed out of their box and were nursing.

It is time to add a panel to the entrance

Looking Back at Week Two

The puppies spend their time eating and sleeping.

DAY 14
Puppies return to a clean whelping box. Notice how the puppies are starting to use their hind legs.

Those Beautiful Eyes

The Boys

Red Boy
Blue Boy
Black Girl

The Girls

Dark Green Girl
Orange Girl
Yellow Girl
Pink Girl
Purple Girl
Light Green Girl

Looking Ahead to Week Three

  • ENS exercises will continue until day 16
  • Puppies will continue to eat and sleep most of their day
  • Sight will become clearer
  • Ears will open and they will begin to hear.
  • Puppies will practice walking on all fours, strengthening their hind legs
  • They will become more aware of their littermates and start to interact
  • Puppies will start to vocalize
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Maui’s Sweet Babies Turn One Week Old

It is hard to believe that Maui’s puppies are already one week old. Maui and her babies are doing well and growing quickly. Maui is an amazing mama and takes wonderful care of her puppies. She spent the first few days in the whelping box and only left for potty breaks. After a few days, she started taking longer breaks away and even reprised her role as puppy nanny to Echo’s puppies when they started their outdoor playtime.

It was a long time coming. This will be the litter that I will remember for waiting and exercising my patience, Not only did we spend time, eleven months, waiting for Maui to go into heat but she also kept us waiting for her puppies to arrive. Now that it is over, this lovely litter of puppies was worth the wait!

Whelping Day

It is always a day that is full of anticipation and awe. Even though we had two whelps in less than a week, I never tire of the miracle of birth and the instincts God has given animals.

Maui’s labour started early Friday morning, May 9th. She was very clingy and spent her day by our side both inside and out trying to get comfortable and rest.. While I was tending our other two litters, Maui spent the evening with Tom resting on the couch. He informed me that he was sure she would have a puppy any minute because she was panting so much.

Time is Near

Tail Wrapped

When the time gets close for delivery, I wrap the mama’s tail with a compression wrap. This helps to keep her tail clean during whelping. 

We took Maui to the whelping box just after 11 pm when it was apparent that her time was getting close. She was very restless and nervous going in and out of the whelping box. I sat inside the whelping box with Maui while Tom sat outside the entrance. We tried to keep Maui calm and reassure her. After about 30 minutes of pushing, Maui’s first puppy arrived at midnight. It was a lovely red male weighing 325 grams.

Maui settled into caring for her new arrival and her labour continued more calmly. Over the next 90 minutes, Maui delivered four more puppies. She now had three boys and two girls.

Because I was only able to see five puppies on her last ultrasound, I was guessing that her labour was finished. So I told Tom to go to bed and I would stay up to care for Maui. As can happen in whelps, her labour took an hour’s pause as she relaxed and concentrated on caring for her babies. Then to my surprise, Maui delivered two more male puppies. One arrived at 2:37 and the last puppy arrived at 3:11.

First Time Mama

Maui being a first-time mama, was nervous just before delivering her first puppy. But, after the first puppy arrived, she relaxed and settled into care for him and things continued to go smoothly.

When all was said and done, she had seven puppies in four and a half hours. Well done Maui!

Clean Up Time

Next was cleaning time because as you can imagine, whelping is a messy job. I cleaned everything up and sanitized the whelping box. Now that everything was clean, it was time to take pictures before Mama and the babies settled back in the whelping box to nurse and sleep.

This was an early morning whelp so, as you can imagine, by the next evening we were all tired from lack of sleep.

Maui has had lots of practice in raising puppies because she helped our other girls with their puppies. She is already doing a great job with her babies. We are looking forward to watching Maui raise her puppies and seeing them grow!

Settling into a Routine

Neonatal Period

Newborn puppies are in the Neonatal Period. During this time, they spend their days eating and sleeping. Willow has done an amazing job caring for her new babies. I have been pleased at our daily weigh-in and I’m happy to say that they have all been gaining weight steadily. 

ENS

On Monday, day three we began our ENS exercises. These exercises are done daily from day 3 – day 16. Through ENS, we introduce little stresses to the puppies which has been proven to produce calmer puppies. It also produces greater tolerance to stress, greater disease resistance, a faster adrenal system, a stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeats. 

Socialization

We handle our puppies from birth for daily cuddles in addition to ENS. This is to make them comfortable with the human touch early in their life.

Puppies Returning to Whelping Box

Looking Back at Week One

Sleep, eat, and more sleep. Did you know that newborn puppies sleep more than 22 hours a day?

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO

  • Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
  • Puppies will continue growing rapidly 
  • Puppies still crawl; hind legs will become stronger
  • Contunie ENS
  • Eyes should begin to open towards the end of the week – so exciting !!!

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Echo ‘s Adorable Three Week Old Babies

Three Weeks Old

Looking Back

Echo’s babies are now three weeks old. This week the puppies have been progressing rapidly. Their vision is improving, their ears are now opened and they are beginning to hear and react to sounds. The puppies are now walking on all fours with a cute wobbly gait.

Door Added

The puppies are more aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other during their short “awake” time. During this time, they have become quite noisy as they practice their vocalizing. Echo’s puppies are becoming more adventurous indeed as they attempt to climb out of the whelping box. So, to keep everybody safe inside, we added a second panel the entrance.

Growing Daily

Echo has done a great job caring for her puppies. Ten puppies is a large litter and I’m amazed at how quickly these sweet babies have grown. Because they have done so well, we are now weighing them weekly.

Our Red Girl is still our smallest puppy and we have continued to supplement her nursing with puppy formula. I still weigh her daily to chart her progress. This sweet girl has become so accustom to me feeding her. Whenever I pick her up she thinks it is time for her bottle.

Dedicated Mama

This week while Echo was in the whelping box feeding her puppies, I was working at the desk in our Puppy Room . As usually, I had two puppies in the waiting basket just outside the whelping box.

When I looked over to check on things, I got a surprise!. I don’t know if I took too long to put the waiting puppies back into the whelping box but Echo didn’t want her babies left out. She had gone into the Waiting Basket to feed the two puppies. 😂 Now that is one dedicated mama!

Puppy Culture

This week the puppies were in the Transitional Period. We continued our ENS exercises which cause tiny stresses in order to benefit our puppies with greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat. Friday was Day 16 of the puppies life and the final day for our ENS exercises.

Critical Socialization Period (weeks 3 – 12)

The next period for Echo’s puppies is the Critical Socialization Period. We know that puppies have entered into this period because they now react to sounds. We raise our puppies following many of the Puppy Culture protocols. Following these protocols helps us reach our goal “To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies“.

Over the remaining weeks we will be working on lots of new experiences for the puppies by exposing them to as many different things as possible in order to raise the best possible companion for their forever families.

Emotional Intelligence

Because Goldendoodles are companion dogs, it is important to teach emotional intelligence to young puppies and start them on a great beginning. With this intention we follow the following 7 key things that will nurture the emotional intelligence of a puppy.

  1. Communication – giving a puppy his own voice i.e. Communication Trinity: power up clicker, box game, manding and attention/distraction protocols
  2. Emotional stability – the ability to recover easily from fear as well as stress i.e., startle recovery, barrier challenges etc
  3. Habituation – familiarize the puppies with the maximum number of things during their Critical Development Period. In particular, Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises as well as meeting different people and dogs.
  4. Enrichment – teach the puppies that novelty and challenges are opportunities for enrichment not things to be feared or avoided. For example, ongoing introduction of new novelty items, activity centre, car ride, outdoors, etc.
  5. Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way . For instance, daily weight checks, grooming, proper nutrition, fecal checks, and deworming, vet health checks and vaccinations)
  6. Skills – learned behaviors which teach the puppy to function in human society i.e. recall, manding, simple commands, potty box training, crate introduction, resource guarding, bite inhibition etc.
  7. Love – teach puppies to seek out the company of both dogs and humans as emotionally positive experiences: i.e., Daily cuddles with humans and puppy’s mom.
  8. Shaping emotional responses: happy and calm CER (Conditioned Emotional Responses). For instance, treats and encouragement during puppy training.

Aware of Their Surroundings

This week the puppies have become more aware of their surroundings. The video shows them eating, sleeping and now interacting with their littermates. Through these interactions, the puppies begin learning dog manners. These interactions are short as the puppies still spend most of their time eating and sleeping.

Looking Ahead to Week Four

  • Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
  • Interacting with littermates through play which will help develop important social skills
  • Practicing walking on all fours and consequently strengthening their hind legs and steadier on their feet
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor towards the end of the week
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Already two weeks old …how they have grown!

Two Week Old Puppy Huddle

Echo is a loving and attentive mama and she continues doing an amazing job caring for her babies. We have been kept busy this week as well with many of our daily tasks. For instance, some of the tasks include ENS exercises, cleaning, laundry, watching as puppies nurse, bottle feeding, weighing, and collar checks. As a result of both Echo’s and our care, our two weeks old puppies are growing bigger and stronger with each passing day.

While watching this video, notice the small movements made while the puppies are sleeping. These movements are called “Puppy Twitches” and are signs of a healthy puppy.

Why do puppies twitch?

A quote from the Puppy Culture Program we follow while raising our puppies explains Puppy Twitches.

“This twitching actually has a functional purpose – “activated sleep” helps build muscle and form the connections that will allow the puppies to develop motor coordination. This is why twitching is a key indicator that the puppy is healthy and developing normally.”

Puppy Culture

Milestones

When raising puppies, we watch for Milestones to gage the progress of our puppies. This week Echo’s puppies reached two milestones.

Weigh-In

The first milestone the puppies reached this week was Doubling Their Birthweight. Unquestionably, this is a milestone we pay close attention to because when puppy isn’t gaining enough weight it indicates there is a problem.

On average large breed puppies double their birthweight between day 10 and day 14. Because Echo has a large litter we justifiably would expected that the puppies might be delayed in reaching this milestone.

However this was not the case for Echo’s litter because some of Echo’s puppies reached this milestone early. Three puppies doubled their birth weight on day eight. Following close behind on day 9, one more puppy reached the milestone. Four other puppies followed suite with one puppy doubling on day 10 and three on day 11.

However two or Echo’s puppies, took a little longer to reach this milestone. Because they are our smallest puppies it is hard to compete with their larger littermates. Therefore we have been intervening to help them achieve this milestone. Firstly with a waiting box to separate the largest puppies during feeding time and secondly by supplementing with puppy formula.

Puppy Formula syringe

Finally our last two puppies reached the milestone. First of the two was Black girl on day 13 followed by Red girl today on day 14.

Eyes Opened

Another milestone was reach later in the week – Eyes Opening. Puppy’s eyes open between day 10 and day 14. While doing our ENS on day 11, I was excited to notice that two of our puppies had opened their eyes. Black girl and Purple girl, our two apricot parti puppies tied for the title “First Puppy to open their eyes”. It is always so exciting to see the puppies look back at me – I think they look more “alive”!

Soon after, and day by day the seven more puppies opened the eyes too. We are still waiting to see our Dark Blue Boy looking back at us…..maybe today he will open his eyes too.

Day 11
Purple Girl
Black Girl

Daily Cleaning

As we stated before newborn puppies are susceptible to disease. For this reason it is important to keep their area clean. We clean and disinfect their whelping box daily. During this time we put the puppies in the basket.

Disinfectant
Cleaned whelping box
Echo keeping an eye on her babies in the basket

Vet Bedding

In addition to the daily cleaning, we will replace the Vet Bedding when needed sometimes two or three times a day. As you can image, this makes for a lot of laundry LOL

What is Vet Bedding? At first glance, you may think it is sheepskin. It is in fact a manmade version of a sheepskin. It’s made from artificial fibres and has two sections: first, an underlying mesh, similar to the “skin” part of a sheepskin, and second, the comfy, soft, springy artificial fleece part that is attached to the mesh.

Vet Bedding is a costly investment but when we began our breeding program without reservation it was imperative that we provide our puppies with the best. Undeniably, vet bedding provides excellent traction for our puppies and keeps them warm and dry. It is important that puppies have proper traction while nursing, moving around the whelping box, and learning to walk as this traction protects the puppies growing joints.

Clean whelp[ing box and vet bedding
DAY 9
Puppies return to a clean whelping box as mama Echo looks on. When all the puppies are back in the whelping box, Echo checks things out 😊
Day 12

Too cute not to share

I thought I would share a cute video that I caught of one of Echo’s puppies. Echo had poked her head into the whelping box making sure all was okay. While doing so, dark blue boy, whose eye’s had yet to open, could smell his mama. He then crawled over to the opening and began to climb out. LOL😂

Transitional Period

The first 12 weeks of a puppy’s life are incredibly important. This is an almost magical time when a breeder has the power to change the outcome of a puppy’s life by what we choose to teach them. By doing just the right things at just the right time, we can give your puppy the best start possible.

Because every puppy and litter is different, we look for “Behavioural Markers” to identify the beginning and end of each developmental period. The transitional period begins when the puppy’s eyes open and ends when they first startle upon hearing sounds. Now that the puppies’ eyes are open they have entered the Transitional Period.

Looking Ahead to Week Three

  • ENS exercises will continue until day 16
  • Puppies will continue to eat and sleep most of their day
  • Sight will become clearer
  • Ears will open and they will begin to hear.
  • Puppies will practice walking on all fours, strengthening their hind legs
  • They will become more aware of their littermates and start to interact
  • Puppies will start to vocalize
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Look How Much Our One Week Old Puppies Have Grown

One week old already….It is hard to believe the seven days have passed since Echo’s babies arrived. We have had a busy week because raising newborn puppies is a 24/7 job. As you can see from the comparison pic below, our one week old puppies have grown so much!

See how we have grown
Picture on the left – Friday – Day 2
Picture of the right – Wednesday – Day 7

Caring for Echo

As with her last litter, Echo suffered loose stools for a couple of days. Although this is a common occurrence after whelping, we need to treat her symptoms before it affects the puppies. So, we gave Echo a diet of boiled chicken, rice, pumpkin, and added a probiotic supplement. By doing so, she recovered quickly and is now doing well on her regular diet.

Vitamins

Looking after the mama both prenatal and postnatal is an important part of producing healthy puppies. During labor we give our mamas Oral Cal Plus which is a Calcium Supplement between each puppy’s birth. This supplement helps support productive labor with 3 calcium sources.

We also give our Postnatal mamas a daily vitamin Oxy Momma to support lactation and recovery.

Mother’s Pudding

Another thing we give our mama’s to help them recover is Mother’s Pudding. The recipe comes from the Puppy Culture program. We follow many Puppy Culture protocols while raising our puppies.

Mother’s pudding helps Echo produce lots of milk because t is high in calcium and calories. It is also something every mama loves to eat!

Ingredients: goats milk, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla pudding.

Neonatal Period

ENS

The puppies are in the Neonatal Period. This period is from day 0 to approximately day 14. During this period, the puppies spend their time eating and sleeping. On Saturday, day 3, we began ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation). These exercises will be continued daily until day 16.

The ENS exercise causes tiny struggles and stresses in small doses which are a benefit to the puppies. For example some of the benefits include greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeats. This is a gift that a breeder can only give their puppies during the 3 to 16-day window.

After we finished our ENS, Echo was happy to have all her babies safely back in the whelping box with her.

Feeding

Before puppies are born, they receive immunity and everything they need to grow from the placenta. But, after birth, newborn puppies do not possess immunity.

A mother’s first milk called colostrum. This first milk contains a nutritious protein-rich, balanced protective food. Colostrum provides passive immunity. This immunity can last several weeks and protect the puppies from various infections and diseases. For this reason it is vital for the puppies to nurse soon after birth and over the next twelve hours. This will help the puppies build up their passive immunity. 

Passive immunity is the short-term immunity which results from the introduction of antibodies from the puppy’s mother. Active immunity on the other hand is an immunity built by producing antibodies from the immune system that responses to the presence of an antigen.

For the first two weeks of their life newborn puppies spend their time eating and sleeping. Did you know, newborn puppies sleep for 90% of their day/night?

Puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut so, they cannot see or hear. Therefore they have to rely on “smell” and “touch” to find their mother. Puppies are born with a natural instinct to nurse but as the days pass, they have become more proficient at it.

Echo is an amazing, attentive mama. She has a large litter of ten and spends most of the day and night in the whelping box feeding, cleaning and caring for her babies.

With a large litter, we have to keep a close eye on the puppies making sure everyone gets their fair share of milk. So, to keep tract of each puppy’s progress, we weigh our puppies daily and keep a record. This charting showed that most of Echo’s puppies are gaining weight as expected.

Unfortunately though, it was apparent that Red collar girl has been slow at gaining weight. Lagging behind the normal progress is cause for concern.

So on Monday I had to intervene. I spent the day making sure when she was nursing, she wasn’t being pushed off by the larger puppies.

The Waiting Basket

Echo can only feed eight puppies at once so, during feeding, I now put two of the larger puppies in a basket to wait their turn. The basked is placed just outside the whelping box where Echo can keep watch.

Supplementing With Puppy Formula

On Monday, Red Girl was weighed throughout the day with encouraging results. They showed that she was making some progress. But, it was short lived because when I weighed her when we woke Tuesday morning she had lost weight overnight. Because of this set back, I decided I needed to intervene again.

The next step would be supplementing her with puppy formula in addition to her nursing from Echo.

The two puppies in this picture shows Green boy who is our largest puppy compared to Red girl who is our smallest puppy.

With the supplementing it has helped her gain weight. But, we still need to continue monitoring her closely, weighing her throughout the day, and supplement her nursing with formula.

Hopefully she will continue to gain weight and soon catch up to where she should be.

Puppy Pics

Now that is one relaxed puppy! Watch Black collar girl sleeping – her head is rested on Echo and she’s sleeping on her back, (a favourite doodle sleep position) 😂

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO

  • Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
  • Puppies will continue growing rapidly 
  • Puppies still crawl; hind legs will become stronger
  • Contunie ENS
  • Eyes should begin to open towards the end of the week – so exciting !!!
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The Long Awaited Whelping Day

Echo’s Due Date: April 9th

Echo’s due date was April 9th. When we started our morning, it was apparent that Echo was in early labor because she didn’t want to eat her breakfast. All she wanted was a quiet place away from the other dogs to rest.

During the past few days when Echo was outside in our yard, she would go under our deck to dig. Digging is something mama dogs do when they are close to whelping. I wasn’t too worried because she would always come out when we called her.

When Echo went out in afternoon on the 9th, she went under the deck again but, this time didn’t want to come out. After much coaxing, I finally convinced her to come out. Echo would now need to be on a leash when we took her outside because I sure didn’t want her puppies born under there LOL!

It was now evening, and Echo spent the time with us on the couch as we watched some TV. As her labor progressed, she became more restless, and was panting more but, no puppies yet. At midnight, Echo and I went back to the Whelping Room, and I tried to get some rest while we waited for the puppies to arrive.

April 10th: Whelping Day

Echo spent the next four hours going in and out of her whelping box, pacing the room and taking multiple trips outside on a leash of course. I know from experience that a puppy can be delivered during potty breaks.

Finally, at 4:05 am, Echo’s first puppy arrived into the world. He was a beautiful black curly boy and she quickly tended to him. Echo is a third time mama and knows the ropes well. Her puppies started to come quickly and by 5:51 am, Echo had delivered a total of six puppies.

She then had a 90-minute whelping pause and settled in to care for her babies. At 7:21 the next puppy arrived followed another one at 8:19, 9:35 and the last one close behind at 9:40 am.

Echo did an amazing job delivering 10 puppies in 5-1/2 hours. A beautiful litter of 10 puppies. Well done Echo!

Next was cleaning time because as you can image, whelping is a messy job. I washed Echo with a warm wet cloth, then cleaned and sanitized the whelping box. Now that everything was clean, it was time to take a few pictures before Mama and babies settled back in the whelping box to nurse and sleep.

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Introducing Our New Arrivals

Congratulations to Echo & Riggs

We are excited to welcome these sweet puppies into the world and will spend the next eight weeks helping Echo prepare them for their Forever Families. We love what we do and put our ❤️ into every puppy.

The Boys

The Girls

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Six Week Old, Can They Get Anymore Adorable

Six Weeks Old

Willow’s puppies are now six weeks old and getting so adorable. . They have grown bigger, and you can see each unique personality starting to develop. We have had another busy week caring for the puppies and introducing them to so many new things. Such as new toys, water bath, crates and the new puppy area. Puppies have now progressed to eating softened kibble. They enjoy running and chasing each other during outdoor play time . Also, potty training is continuing both inside and outside. At this time, they are doing very well using their potty box. We still have an accident here and there but for the most part they are becoming more consistent. 

Six Week ‘s Old

Observation Week

Willow’s puppies are now six weeks old and getting so adorable. and they have grown bigger with each passing day. We can see each unique personality starting to develop. It has been another busy week caring for the puppies and introducing them to so many new things. Such as new toys, water bath, crates, the new puppy area, and softened kibble to name a few.

The puppies enjoy running and chasing each other during outdoor play time. Also, potty training is continuing, both inside and outside. which I am pleased to report they are progressing well. They still have an accident here and there but for the most part they are becoming more consistent. 

It is amazing to see their unique personality’s develop as they mature. Although each puppy receive the same care from us, they still have their unique personality and approach things differently. So, this week we have been observing the puppies. Firstly we observe how each puppy interacts with their littermates. Another thing we watch is how they approach something new.

New Puppy Area

With potty training well on its way, it was time to say good-bye to the puppies’ home since birth and introduce the puppies to their new home. On Sunday, while the puppies were outside, I started with removing the Whelping Box. Then it was time to set up the new puppy area. Firstly, we set up fencing to keep our puppies safe inside. Secondly, we added the Potty Box, a couple crates, the evaluated dog bed, carpets, water dishes and, lots of new toys for the puppies to play with. Finally, we brought in the puppies and introduced them to their new area.

Introduction to New Things

When raising puppies it is important to build strong bodies but, also strong minds. Because Goldendoodles are very smart, challenging their minds if vital in developing a well-adjusted dog. This is something that forever families will continue to do when they take their puppy home.

From birth we try to teach puppies to be independent and figure things out of themselves such as finding their way to nurse from their mama. . In like manner, we continued this week and challenged the to exit the puppy area and walk to the door to go outside on their own. Some puppies were quick to figure things out but, in due time with daily practice, all our puppies can independently walk to the door and go outside on their own.

Daily Outdoor Play

Indeed, the highlight of the puppies’ day is outdoor play. During this time, they love to run, chase, wrestle and explore. It is important to note that this is also the time when Willow teaches her puppies to listen and submit.

Outdoor Play, the highlight of the day😊
Watch as the puppies follow their mama Willow. Then she barks to tell them to back-off

Then, eventually the puppies tire and fall asleep as you can see in the pictures. They were so tired that when I carried them inside, they transferred to their bed without waking up. Equally important to note, as the puppies take a long nap they process into their brains what they learned.

Puppies fall asleep outside and cuddle to keep warm
Puppy huddle back inside where it ‘s nice & warm

Looking Ahead to Week 7

  • Puppies will meet their forever families
  • Awake will continue to increase
  • Puppies will begin dry kibble by the end of week seven
  • We will continue to encourage puppies to use potty box
  • Puppies will continue to socialize and learn from each other through play
  • Exploring and playing together outdoors as weather permits
  • Puppies will continue learning from their mama as she disciplines them and teaches them to behave 
  • As always, puppies will continue to get lots of cuddle time

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Our Adorable Five Week Old Puppies

Our adorable puppies are now five weeks old and continue to learn. Without a doubt, the most important thing that they have been working on this week is potty training. extension to our whelping box has been helpful in our effort to teach the puppies to void in one place. All the hard work is paying off because the puppies have made great progress in this area. That being said, they still have some work to do because they are not always consistent when they are given a larger area during their play time. All in all, I am very pleased at their progress!

HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY TOM

Our weekly post is a day late because yesterday when the puppies turned five weeks of age, we had a birthday party for my husband Tom. We had the family over for a party to celebrate with lots of food and fellowship.

As you can see from the photo it was a BIG number for him and he is now officially a senior. Although he is getting older, you would never guess it because Tom never stops. He takes after his dad who turns 90 in a couple weeks. . At almost 90, Tom’s dad never stops either. For example, if you need help with a project you can always count on Tom’s dad’s expertise as a master carpenter. On Thursday, Tom and his dad put in a full day building a workbench and shelving in our garage. I’m hoping Tom is as bless as he father with good health at 90.

Puppy Party

As I have previously mentioned, we raise our puppies using The Puppy Culture Protocols. During the Critical Socialization Stage that the puppies are currently in, here are 7 key things that will nurture the emotional intelligence of a puppy. #3 on our list is Habituation – to familiarity the puppies with the maximum number of things. For example , Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises , meeting other dogs, and different people different.

When raising a litter of puppies, it is important to introduce them to as many things as possibly. One way to accomplish this is raising our puppies in a home setting because the puppies become accustomed to the noises of a busy household.

Another way is to exposure the puppies to people of all ages. So, during the Birthday party, we had a built in “Puppy Party”. Throughout the evening,, the puppies interacted with people of all ages. Indeed, it was easy for lots of socialization with the 10 children all wanting to take their turn. Without doubt, every one enjoyed playing with and cuddling our puppies.

Puppy Party
*Our puppies are exposed to children of different ages. Look how gentle they are interacting with my two year old grandson.
*Listen to my other grandchildren in the background. They were so excited that one of the puppies went to the potty box.
*Did you hear the “GOOD GIRL” and then 👏👏👏clapping for the puppy’s success? What a smart puppy!

One on One Time

One on one time is a daily occurrence for our puppies. I love to sit on the couch with a coffee and cuddle with a puppy. This morning after a few minutes of cuddling, our Black Parti boy decided he didn’t want to sit on my lap anymore. He got off, walked around the couch, and decided that the pillows were a great spot for a snooze 🥰

Outdoor Adventure

One of the highlights raising our puppies is introducing them to the outdoors. This happened today when the puppies are introduced to the outdoors. So, now that they are 5 weeks old, as weather permits, they have daily outdoor exercise playing with their litter mates, exploring and learning about the world around them.

It is important to note that the next few weeks are a vital part of their learning experience. During this time they are taught social skills by their mother along with our other adult dogs and their littermates.

When I took the puppies outside I put each puppy out in the Potty Box. Even though we are outside, I still want to teach them to go in one spot. Often when the puppies have a large area, they don’t alway go to the potty box. I was impressed as I saw many of the puppies head over and go into the box 🙂

Looking Ahead to Week Six

  • Puppies awake time will continue to increase
  • Puppies will continue learning to use potty potty
  • Puppies will continue to socialize with each other through play
  • Puppies will have daily outdoor playtime as weather permits
  • Puppies will continue learning from their mama and our other dogs as she disciplines them and teaches them proper dog manners 
  • As always, puppies will continue to get lots of cuddle time.