Sadie's puppies at 9 days

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Nasty Little Creatures That can Plague us.

  I don't like to talk about them but as a mother I have to confront the fact that when my puppies sniff poop, eat dirt and roll in rodent droppings they can pick up little worm eggs.  Kids will be kids and sadly worms are a part of life.
  Sometimes ailments like coughing or stiff joints can be caused by various kinds of parasites.  Did you know that puppies are all born with worms?  Even well bred, lovely puppies like mine need to be wormed at three weeks of age.  There is a regular worming program of three, seven and nine weeks until the puppies go home.
  It's a good idea  to worm doggies at the change of each season which is every three months.  I know it keeps me well.  Sometimes mum has us checked out if she is not sure.  She does something at the vets called a fecal float.  Not sure about the sound of that!  Anyway my advice is to ask your vet about a worming program for your darling.
 The picture is Lexi feeling good, happy and parasite free!

Car Ride!

We have a friend, a little boy who is almost two who doesn't like to go in the car because he lives in a lovely town where he can go almost everywhere in his stroller.  Interestingly enough I have a puppy who hates the car as well.  Most likely he feels he can walk everywhere he needs to go.
    If you want your puppy to love the car make sure you start taking him out in it every day.  Even if there isn't a good reason puppy should travel with you until it is second nature.  I suggest our mum put puppy in a crate with a dog bone.  If the puppy drools or is upset make it short with a treat or a walk at the end whenever you have time.
   Everything you want puppy to do as a grown up dog it is a good idea to start doing as soon as you can.  Myself, I love the truck.  I live to go to the dump.
 This is a picture of an enthusiastic Ruby puppy with his new mum on his first ride home.
Guini.

You're Going Potty Again!

When my puppies are very little I keep them clean and nobody has to worry about where they go to the bathroom.  As they get older we encourage them to go in a litter box in the pen.  When they are preparing to go to their own families it is time to think about waiting to go to the bathroom outside.

New parents are often amazed at just how often a puppy has to go to the bathroom.  Often!!  My puppies are bigger than little mini puppies and have bigger bladders, they can last a bit longer however, when they are running and playing in the kitchen they can have to go pee once every hour or so.

When you take puppy out it is likely he will go to the bathroom fairly soon after he feels the nice absorbent grass under his little feet.

   Praise puppy as soon as he pees so he knows he has done the right thing.  

  I notice that in this house it is easy to forget a puppy playing in the corner and Jean sets a timer on the oven so that she remembers to take the puppy outside. 

   Don't be upset when he goes to the bathroom under the table or in the corner.  He really doesn't know what he has done wrong but thinks to himself "gee...peeing couldn't be good".  Then he will slip away and try to pee when you are not looking...maybe behind the sofa. 

  Our friend read in a book that when a puppy pees in the house take a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself over the head with it. I thought that was pretty funny.

Cheerio

Guini

Labradoodle Puppy Advice. No from Puppy Should Not Mean No.

No!

I must tell you I hear that from my puppies every day.  Puppies, like human children, get to an age when they realize they can do just as they please.  I don't allow that.  I gave mum some good advice when new puppy Lexi decided she didn't want to go on car rides.
   Puppy Lexi (who is a little spoiled) came to us at 10 weeks old and right away decided she didn't want to go in the car.  Now I ask you what dog doesn't run when they hear the words 'car ride'?
Lexi ran but in the opposite direction!  So mum did just as I suggested.
  Every day, sometimes twice a day Lexi was picked up and put into a crate in the car.  In the crate was a really good chewy bone.  It was the kind I really wanted to steal from her but I wasn't allowed.  The car crate was the only place that Lexi got that great chewy.
  We just went five minutes away.  She was too young to walk on the town streets so we went to a friends house to play or we would have a really great treat like chicken at the end of the ride.
  When Lexi was older she went on little walks at the end of the ride and walked around showing off her long coat.  I think she's a bit of a show-off.
   The crate helped her understand that you don't jump all over the place when it is a car ride. Now she lies on the floor of the van and sometimes chooses to go in the crate.  Sometimes she has a chew but she doesn't need one.  It took some time and some coaxing but step by step and little by little Lexi became a good car dog because mum followed my good advice. 

Food Glorious Food at Over The Moon Labradoodles

As you can see by this family photo I am a busy mum.  With nine babies I haven't had my hair done
in two months.  They are now three weeks old but my pregnancy was as you can imagine exhausting.
      I supervise everybody rather carefully so that all nine can grow up certain of themselves, fat  and happy.
     Happy to me has a great deal to do with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  When I am not planning a family or having puppies to nurse they give me a cup in the morning and a cup in the evening.  Really, a paultry amount of food but Dr. Ruth is worried that I will run to fat which is hard on the joints.  Although I love to eat I don't want to become old before my time and apparently that is what I will do if I eat too much.
   Now with my nine I am in heaven.  I have two cups first thing as my first little breakfast and then I get a second little breakfast with gravy.  I look forward to a good lunch, teatime, dinner and then a little night lunch.  Life is good.
   I have a little goats milk with some of my meals and sometimes a little vegetable or tinned food. I love a good culinary surprise.
  I have a  quality diet and now my puppies are having my food ground up with warm goats milk to supplement my feedings with them.
  Quality is everything when it comes to dog food and how is a person to know?  It all looks alike!
  Jean and Liz go to www.dogfoodanalysis.com to find out what exactly is in all those kibbles.  They are also rated.  If you want your puppy to grow strong bones and be a healthy boy or girl it is a good idea to check out what exactly is in his lunch.  Even if it says 'organic' and other fancy things and even if it costs more than your steak it still could not be the best food.
  We are eating Horizon Legacy right now.

Over the Moon with Visitors Visitors Visitors

Expecting Company!

  Mr. March is out of the nursery with his sisters and is waiting on his cushion for company to arrive.

Every day Mr. March meets a person or maybe more than one.  He is getting happier and happier with being picked up. and cuddled 

  I have puppies of my own but they are just two weeks old and not yet receiving many visitors.  I do allow people to pick up my puppies but I am very understanding and they have to wash their hands first.

  Mr. March is four weeks old and he and his sisters are regular social butterflies.  

  When his family takes him home my advice to them is to keep the strangers coming.  Big ones, man ones, baby ones and everybody in between.  The more people he meets the happier he will be meeting people.  As soon as he can get out to walk about town and be admired the better.  

  A puppy about town who develops social graces will never be the puppy that is shut in the basement when company comes because you just don't know if he will bite Aunt Minnie our growl at the baby.

Over The Moon Labradoodles puppy walking

Walking the puppy is the most natural think in the world.  How else are you people forced to get excersize??  My puppies are usually wonderful walkers but sometimes people forget that walking nicely on a leash isn't the most natural thing for a puppy.  Puppies want to move it and shake it and smell it!

      First step is to have puppy walk beside you without a leash.  Bring a treat and puppy will happily trot along in hopes to get the treat.  Next do the same thing only attach puppy with a leash.  Sometimes a harness is a good way to go if puppy pulls at the leash and pretends to be a bucking bronco.

      When puppy pulls stop the fun.  Stand still and have him sit nicely.  When he looks at you to ask 'what happened? ' begin again and when he pulls stop and have him sit again. 

     With young puppies they will quickly learn this is dumb and begin to look up and pay attention to you so that together you can explore the world.

     Older puppies are often not so motivated.  Our puppy Lexi sits and pulls, sits and pulls.  My mum put a halti on her, it is called 'gentle leader'.  Some people think it's really really mean but the little cloth halter around her muzzle just makes it not fun to pull.  In five minutes she was walking like a dream instead of pulling mum down in the snow....so nobody got hurt.

  Hopefully she will soon learn the habit of walking nicely and the halti will go back in the closet.

I enjoy walks still although being pregnant I don't want to walk so far.