April 10, 2019 – We finally have some time to post our family pictures! We don’t have everybody represented, but wanted to post the pictures we have. We are hearing great reports! Thank you to all our families. We’re glad you found us. We miss these sweet pups!
April 5, 2019 – And just like that, they’re gone. Wow, the past eight weeks feels like a whirlwind. From the time this litter entered the world, everything else kind of faded into the background and they became the focus. We’re happy to have found all of the great families we did (or did they find us?) and now each pup is moving forward into a very loving home. Some of the puppies will become therapy dogs, one was retained to become a stud for another breeder in the area (after he passes extensive medical and genetics testing,) at least one went home to a grieving widow, and some of the pups went home just to love and be loved.
Because of this litter and the families that supported us (along with our team of helpers!), we were able to contribute $3,900.00 to Amazima Ministries to help children in Uganda, eat, learn and simply LIVE! That feels good. It’s not just about all the hugs and smiles (and some tears) we got when turning the pups over to their new families. It’s about the children thousands of miles away that will never meet a Labradoodle, but will have the joy of a bed to sleep in and a hot meal, because another litter of puppies was born in Dundee, Oregon.
We took some great pictures of the pups and their new families and we’ll post them soon. We appreciate all of the families that adopted from us! Thank you. xxoo
March 31, 2019 – We wanted to post more insight on personalities, temperament and progress, as the selection time is drawing near and we know each of you are wanting more information. We’ve been watching and testing temperaments in past few days and even those of us that are with them daily have a difficult time deciding on significant differences (though we’ve noted a few below.) One thing to note, is this has been one of the quietest and most calm litters that we’ve experienced! The staff members at the vet’s office mentioned the same. For well over an hour, our litter of fourteen remained calm, quiet and patient as they had to be confined in crates, have nails done, shots, microchips, and hold their bladders. They impressed everyone!
After doing this for many years, and having had many pups leave our home, this seems to ring true:
What we see mostly, is that the personalities are just starting to develop at seven weeks of age, and the pups will continue to develop and change as they pick up much of the energy level, personalities and training styles of their humans and the new environment they are going home to. Families will have a bigger say perhaps, then we or mama have, in the overall personality of the pup. We’ve seen the most energetic pup become the biggest couch potato when going home to live with more inactive seniors, living in a quieter environment. And we’ve seen the most laid back, laziest pup in the litter become the most energetic, and rambunctious puppy because he went home to a louder house with very active, energetic kids.
Specifics we note on individual pups in the litter right now:
We see that Astoria, Florence, Keizer, Sandy, and Salem have been the more sensitive, less adventurous and more shy overall. For the past week, they showed to be a bit more whiny when separated from their litter, in the crate alone. They’ve been more prone to want to stay close to their humans when brought out of the puppy room and they’d rather sit at our feet and observe instead of explore a new environment. But in most recent days, now they are all becoming more confident daily. They will continue to grow in confidence as the days progress. All of the darker boys, and Aurora, have stood out to be very chilled out, most laid back and calm. Their added confidence sometimes comes with their bigger size.
None of the pups are showing anxiety issues and they’ve all been introduced to close to a hundred unique people! They love to be held by everyone. Strangers don’t scare them. Sudden loud sounds may startle them (expected!), but they recover super quickly with confidence. No cowering or hiding. They see people as good and safe. Fireworks, thunderstorm sounds etc., put them to sleep. 🙂
We know that pups within every litter develop individually at different stages. If you choose a more sensitive pup, they may be a bit more sensitive and sad about leaving us and our litter and may need a few days adjusting. But in the long run, every single pup will be loyal, gentle, loving and if you keep up all the socialization they’ve already experienced, they will be a very confident puppy/dog.
Families, please continue to challenge and socialize them, but be aware that young pups can still experience trauma. Continue to help them to know that humans are safe and trustworthy.
WEIGHTS RECORDED AT VET ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Tillamook: 9 lbs., 6 oz, Portland: 9 lbs., 4 oz., Canby: 9 lbs, Salem: 9 lbs. 5 oz, Gresham: 8 lbs. 2 oz, Keizer: 8 lbs., Sherwood: 10 lbs. 3 oz, Dundee: 8 lbs., 9 oz., Cornelius: 7 lbs, 8 oz, Medford: 9 lbs. 2 oz, Florence: 6 lbs., 3 oz., Aurora: 9 lbs., 8 oz., Sandy: 7 lbs, 8 oz., Astoria: 8 lbs, 6 oz..
March 27, 2019 – The pups are doing great! As I write this the pups are practicing leash training and “come” in the kitchen. They are building confidence in new experiences. We are working on crate training a little bit each day. Hoping all will be sitting quietly in a crate for a couple of hours a day by the time they leave us. Right now, some are a little more secure than others and some are a little more consistent than others. What we know for sure, is that within a litter, the pups always seem to develop at different stages. Some get teeth way before others and some are confident before others. We are sure that each and every puppy will be confident, loyal companions to the people they are going home to. This Friday, the pups will have their final vet check with nails trimmed, micro-chipping and shots. They’ll have their final wormings done along with temperament testing to ensure each pup is ready to come home. We had fun with photos and here they are at almost seven weeks old!
The Girls
The Boys
March 20, 2010 – It was great meeting most of you at the open house last week! The best part of the business is the puppies, but the second best part is the great people we meet to turn our puppies over to. We’ve had a busy past week, and we sailed right past getting the blog updated. Sorry! This week, we’re working on crate training, building confidence with sessions outside of the pen, and continued socialization. Mama should be going home soon as the pups are doing very well on kibble. They seem very confident (just as we want to see) and they are progressing well. They are growing in leaps! We thought we’d post weights today, to give perspective of weight differences. The smaller pups will very probably grow to our sire Basil’s size (around 40-45 lbs) and clearly some of the pups will grow to be in that 60 lb. range. We love the personalities that are starting to show. They are playful, engaging and love their humans! We’re pleased with what we see. They’ve got the litter box thing down completely, now and there is rarely an accident outside the box. Here they are at almost six weeks old!
The Girls
The Boys
March 8, 2019 – At four weeks old, we’re so excited to see them walking, hearing, climbing (yes!) and getting more and more interactive. They’re eating kibble now, not great, because their teeth are still coming in, but gaining weight regularly. Lizzy continues to nurse them often. We’re proud of this litter – seems we’ve hit a record at fourteen, and with them all thriving and healthy, that tops it all! All the late nights and early mornings are all so worth it when we see them becoming dogs! They finished the Bio-sensor program and now our focus is sight and sound desensitization and lots of socialization – they have one-on-one with at least several different people throughout the week. Daily they are held and massaged and they’re brought out of their pen for play time to challenge them with new experiences.
Here they are at four weeks old. Get ready for cuteness!
The Girls
The Boys
March 3, 2019 – Someone let us know that Canby was not featured at all in our last blog. Whaaattt???? We couldn’t have it. So we pulled out the camera again today and we had some better sunlight and the pups were more alert. So we grabbed several puppies for a quick picture. Each day they are becoming more and more alert, as you can probably tell by these pictures. They are definitely hearing now and come over to us when they hear us near the pen. We introduced them to the vacuum sound today. 🙂 Here are a few pictures …..with Canby included!
March 1, 2019 – Oh, oh. They started walking. Things are about to get busy! The pups are three weeks old and doing well. We are supplementing their feedings periodically with puppy formula to give mama a break and to ensure that all pups are getting all they need nutritionally. It’s a lot for one mama to handle, but Lizzy continues to be such a good mama. She’s producing lots of milk round the clock and the pups continue to gain weight. They are becoming more alert and a couple of them seem to have started hearing today and they react to sounds. Once their hearing is more evident, we will be very busy with desensitizing with various sounds. For now, they are held and massaged daily and given baths under warm running water regularly to keep desensitizing them and making them comfortable with all kinds of physical touch. Here they are at three weeks old!
THE GIRLS
THE BOYS
February 23, 2019 – Lizzy and Basil’s puppies are two weeks old now. It’s hard to believe,
really, as time has gone really fast here. A bit tiring for us, and mama, of course, as the first ten days we were checking on them round the clock, unsure if Lizzy was able to produce that much milk for all of her babies. Day after day, with her eating around the clock, she has fully sustained the puppies and they have all nearly doubled in weight. We still keep a close watch on them, rotating them regularly to try and make sure they all get their share. We are thrilled and relieved because we know each and every life matters. Lizzy is amazing! (We already knew that though before she had puppies.) The puppies started opening their eyes yesterday and they are moving around a lot more. We’ve doing the Bio-sensor program and massaging each puppy daily. We have high school and college student friends here nightly and on weekends to help us make sure that every pup is held, bathed and cared for lovingly, and that nothing gets missed. We have quite a variety of colors in this litter! Here are the pictures taken at two weeks old, representing Oregon!
The Girls
The Boys
February 12, 2019 – Lizzy’s pups have continued to gain weight and they all are strong, active and nursing well. Lizzy is tired, is being fed all day long and is doing a great job with her pups. She never leaves their side except to go potty outside. She’s careful and gentle with them. We took some pictures of them today as Lizzy let us pull them away from her for just a minute. Here they are at four days old:
February 10, 2019 – Just an update that the puppies are all continuing to thrive! Lizzy is a great mama, giving attentive care to each and every pup. We’ve been doing frequent monitoring of all puppies, during the night as well, to make sure all are nursing well. We regularly are moving smaller pups to the front for nursing on a regular basis. We weigh the pups regularly and are seeing puppies gaining weight steadily. With such a great mama, and a family that is eager to help, feeling good about all the care and attention each and every pup is getting.
February 8, 2019 – Around 11 pm. last night, Lizzy started panting and within minutes our first pup arrived. Throughout the night, pups kept coming. And coming. This morning a few more arrived. We have fourteen pups. Yes, that’s right. Not a typo. Fourteen beautiful puppies that all seem strong and active. Weights are very good, with most pups weighing in between ten and twelve ounces. (Good weights for any size litter!) The three girls are a bit smaller, one is dark chocolate and the other two appear to be a light caramel. It’s typical that girls are smaller in every litter. Three of us are here working with the puppies and we’ll be weighing Lizzy’s pups hourly to make sure they continue to gain weight. We will rotate pups to make sure everyone gets their share of food. Lizzy is content and focused on her pups. We’re keeping her fed with duck patties (she loves it) and lots of water.
We have three girls and eleven boys in colors of chocolate, black, cream and caramel. There are three black pups, one with white markings. The caramel and cream pups will reveal their colors more accurately as days and weeks go by. It was hard to get all fourteen in a photo and we don’t like upsetting mama and the pups at this early stage, so better pictures coming in upcoming days.
We didn’t really expect the black pups in the litter, but in nature, things are always predictable. I personally love the big black dogs. They will look much like their beautiful grandma, Molly (shown on top of our website home page.) We are excited to say the least! But fully realize how much work is ahead.
Here they are:
