Bye-bye Helios!

Helios has now joined his forever family, too. The daughter of the family, who lives in Ottawa, and her partner had visited earlier in the week to view the puppies and give a report to Mom & Dad in Montreal. With a positive recommendation, Mom & Dad drove up from Montreal this afternoon to decide between Cassi and Helios. In the end, it was Helios's friendly personality, sociable nature, and willingness to listen that won them over (not that Cassi doesn't share many of those qualities, but she's quieter and a bit more reserved). 

Unfortunately, in all the excitement, I forgot to take pictures - so I'll have to ask the family to send me some. 

Now Cassi is the only pup still waiting for a home (since we're keeping Lyra). She is a very sweet and playful little girl, but quieter and less outgoing tht her brother. We've started to take her out on leashed walks to get used to the leash, and at first she definitely did not like it, but she's getting used to it now after the 3rd time out. She gives lots of kisses when cuddled, and is very huggable. She loves to play chase and tug-o-war. Cassi will be great for a family that is looking for a quiet, calm, yet playful puppy.

Bye-bye Corona!

Corona Borealis has now gone to her forever family! They called on Sunday, saying a friend had pointed them to our website and they were very interested in a doodle, and could they visit. When they arrived it was clear they were not only seriously interested, but ready to buy. After some puppy play-time, observation and interaction, and discussion of the puppies' temperaments, they chose Corona as lively but not demanding, and very cute!! 

If the banks had been open they would have taken her on the spot. but instead they had to come back Monday evening to fetch her. (Good thing, too, as I needed to finish off some of the paperwork and complete her puppy care package.) Dad and the older son came to pick her up, with a neighbour friend.

Good-bye and good luck, Corona! We hope to see you at a puppy romp some time in fall.

Now just Cassiopeia and Helios are still waiting for families.

Puppy chow-time!

The other morning I took a few photos of the puppies as they chowed down for supper. They’re big enough now that we give each of them their own dish (since we don’t have a single large dish that can accommodate five puppy head!), so they were all lined up in a row.

With the sunlight shining through the kitchen window, the pups fur really shone. The colour of Antares’ fur was particular striking! (This was a day or two before he went home.) Though all the pups were in sun, Cassi’s black fur is truly black, while Antares’ silvering really shone through. Even without sunlight on it, it has enough of a different sheen that a quick glance at the pups is generally enough to tell which one he is, despite there being three “black” ones. I expect that by the time he is a bit older, and especially he’s had a hair-cut, the silver colourwill be very prominent and he is going to be a very handsome dood!

This type of silvering is quite rare among Labradoodles. Lucky Tigger! (And lucky Warren, to have picked such a gorgeous dog.)

Last week's Doodle Romp

On Tuesday 12 July most of DragonRam’s local pups gathered together at Conroy Pit Dog Park for a Doodle Romp. Everybody was there except for Oliver (Jasper) and our new stud puppy Magnum. (And of course our current pups were too young to come and run around, as they haven’t been fully vaccinated, although we did bring Antares in the puppy pack so he could meet his new owner a second time before going home.) Garnet was still with us, so she came and met some of her half-siblings, and Galena was also there – it was great to see her again!

Zirci has faded from his original dark brown to a café colour. We figured he was likely to fade, given that his fur was not as dark to begin with as Sapphire’s (who is still deep chocolate). He looks very handsome!

Carni was his usual gentlemanly self, good to listen and eager to please. He has a coat with fairly close curls, like his father Ranger.

Galena stayed on her leash the whole time – at four months of age, she is still not quite trustworthy to come when called if she’s off leash. Apparently she copies everything Carni does – he’s a great big brother and good at teaching her what to do!

Garnet, our very petite Mama, is barely bigger than four-month old Galena! They weigh about the same (12 lbs) but Galena is not quite as tall yet. So Galena will likely be about 24 lbs when full grown and a good 16” tall – just a bit bigger than her mother Amore.

I’d brought along a ball and we took turns throwing and letting the dogs chase. Garnet, for all she’s little, is very fast and VERY ball-crazy, so she was after that ball like a rocket and frequently beat out the bigger dogs! Though sometimes one of the bigger boys or MoMo would get it.

It was a fairly warm evening and VERY buggy – we were slapping mosquitoes left, right, and centre as we walked since no-one had remembered to bring bug spray. To keep the bugs down we tended to stick to the more open spaces where the breeze helped blow them away. Next time we’ll go earlier in the day!! (And by fall there shouldn’t be nearly so many bugs around, either.)

We look forward to our next doodle romp sometime in late September, and hope that (Jasper) Oliver, Magnum, (Antares) Gatsby and Lyra will be able to join us, along with whichever other dogs ending up being local as well.

Bye-bye Antares!

On Tuesday we said goodbye to Antares Gatsby. His new owner had come three times to visit, so “Tigger” was familiar with him and welcomed him with kisses and snuggles. (Not that he wouldn’t have done so even if Warren were a stranger!)

After the usual paperwork and going over the stuff in the puppy goody-bag (toys, food, blanket, etc) as well as the info in the “new puppy package” (parents’ test results, pedigree, general info, health care, feeding, vaccinations, etc etc), we took a few pictures, and then said numerous, prolonged good-byes.

Tigger, we miss you already!!

(And we’re looking forward to missing your brother and sisters, too… Yes, they are still available! See our post below for details.)

DragonRam Lyra Lemon-Lime: Princess-in-waiting

After much consideration, assessment of temperament, and receipt of genetic colour testing, we have decided to keep DragonRam Lyra Lemon-Lime for our breeding program.

Lyra is our apricot girl with a sweet, pleasant disposition. She is generally calm, playful, a bit wiggly, and very friendly. She is not as demanding of attention as her brother Helios but not particularly shy either. Lyra carries two copies of the phantom gene ("at"), but only one copy of the gene that allows phantom to be expressed ("ky"). She has two copies of the cream-red-apricot gene ("ee"). I have not yet received the results of the testing for her chocolate status. We know she must carry at least one copy of the Black gene ("B") since her mother, Garnet, has two copies and Lyra inherits one of these from Garnet. But there is a 50% chance that the other copy could be chocolate, inherited from her father Hot Sake.

This means that, if bred to our phantom boy Magnum, half the puppies would be cream and the other half would be either - if Lyra does not carry chocolate - black and black phantom (25% each) - or, if she does carry chocolate - black, black phantom, chocolate, and chocolate phantom (12.5% each). If we find or obtain a cream stud, all the puppies would be varying shades of cream, from off-white to potentially deep red, and any shade in between (gold, apricot).

(below: Lyra on the left, with Antares & Helios)

Although I had been hoping to keep a phantom female, none of the three girls is a visible phantom - all of them have only one copy of the gene that allows phantom to be expressed, where two copies are needed for the phantom markings to be visible. Since Lyra will be able to produce phantoms just as well as her sisters, I decided to keep her to increase our ability to produce puppies in the cream colour group as well. Plus, more importantly, she has a sweet temperament and we are sure she will mature into a calm, loving and playful companion.

(The "Lemon-Lime" comes from the fact that earlier this week, we were out on the deck enjoying a glass of cold lemonade with lemon and lime wedges in it, and with the puppies close at hand. Kids being kids, they decided to see which puppy liked the lemon and lime flavours best - and Lyra won!

Available puppies

We have three puppies from this litter still looking for their forever families.

  DragonRam Cassiopeia 

Cassiopeia, the first-born, is our black beauty! She is very petite and will likely mature to a similar size as her mother, perhaps just a tad larger - 12-15 lbs and 13-14" at the shoulder. She has large dark eyes in a soft square face. She is a quiet, calm girl, not prone to whining or making much of a fuss, but not fazed by new experiences either - witness her playfulness at meeting a classroom full of 8-year-olds, or being "treated" to a swim in a backyard pool. Cassi is a great kisser and loves to enjoy a nice cuddle on a lap, but she is also happy to play on her own. Cassi is a delightful girl and will make a great companion for a single person, couple or family.

  DragonRam Corona Borealis 

Corona, the middle pup, is a playful little imp. She is very beautiful, with dark black fur shot through with silver highlights, white hind paws, white hairs on the underside of her front paws, and a white chin and throat markings. Corona is also quite petite - she started out as the smallest but has now grown a bit bigger than her sister Cassi. Despite her small size, Corona does not let her brothers boss her around and tussles back with them energetically. She likes to crawl under the barrier separating the puppy corner from the people part of the house so that she can be with her people, though she has now grown enough that this is no longer possible (at least not without getting stuck!). She will make a good companion to an active single person, couple, or family.

  DragonRam Helios  

Helios (nickname Bowden), the last-born of this litter of five, does not let his status as youngest get in his way! He is the largest of the puppies and is likely to mature to about his Grandma Amore's size - 18-22 pounds and 15-16" at the shoulder. Helios is the most investigative and adventuresome of the puppies. When the others were still finding their legs at 3 weeks of age, Helios was out exploring the world on tottery limbs, frequently falling but continuing to explore his surroundings and figure out this big world around him. Helios will whine and squeal to let you know he wants attention, and then shower you with kisses when he gets it. He is most happy when playing with the children, the other puppies, or when out exploring the big wide world. Helios will make a wonderful companion for a family with children or a couple where there is someone at home a good part of the day.

I am hoping that the right family for each of these puppies will come along by mid-August, when we are taking our holidays!! We have a house- and dog-sitter lined up, but would prefer not to leave her with puppies to look after in addition to Amore.

Despite many inquiries, receipt of several application forms, and lots of e-mails, nobody (except Antares's daddy) has followed through with their expression of interest. I know there are many reasons for this, but it would just be nice to know why people aren't following through, especially if they have submitted an application form.

If you are one of those individuals who has called or sent an e-mail of inquiry, would you mind just dropping a line to roma@dragonramdoodles.com to tell me the reason you have chosen not to take one of these beautiful pups? Thanks!

Mama love

There's nothing like a mother dog and her puppies (or in this case, puppy)...

DragonRam Doodle Romp

DragonRam Doodles is organizing a Doodle Roma at the Conroy Dog Park on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, from 7:30-8:30pm (not change of date). We are specifically inviting all our puppies that live in the region (and their owners!) to come, but if there are any other doodle lovers/owners out there who would like to join us, we would be happy to have you.

At our last romp in May we met up again with the three boys from Amore's 2010 litter who all ended up in homes close by. They will now be 10 months old! This time we are hoping Galena, from Amore's 2011 litter (4 months old) will be able to join us too, and perhaps our new stud puppy CD Maggie's Magnum Rocky Road (Magnum), also 4 months old and a potential future mate for Galena.

Garnet's puppies are not fully vaccinated, so they are not ready to come to the dog park and wander around (when we bfought them before, they were confined to their playpen). But any potentially interested purchasers who would like to view them would be welcome to visit puppies either before or after the romp. Contact me for info.

Which girl to keep?

We are still in the process of deciding which of the three female puppies we will keep for our breeding program. While we think Corona Borealis is a very cute puppy, with her white paws, beard and "tie," and with her sociable and slightly impish pesonality, we have learned that she does not carry the gene for chocolate (though she does for cream), so she would only be able to produce black and cream puppies.

At this point, therefore, the main contenders are:

Cassiopeia: carries for both chocolate and cream 

or

Lyra: carries for cream (obviously!); 

chocolate-gene status not yet known

Which of them (if any) carry for phantom will also be a factor, and we hope to get those results in the next week or so (along with Lyra's chocolate gene results).

While we wait for those results, we are continuing to assess their personalizites - which, after all, is more important than colour genetics in the overal scheme of things.

Corona is obviously outgoing and social. She loves to be where the people are, and has discovered that she is still small enough to squeeze under the gate that separates the puppy nook from the rest of the house so she can get where she wants to. She's not quite the impish escape artist that Sapphire was, but is definitely pretty smart! (Though whether she's smart enough not to get stuck once she eventually grows too large to fit under the gate remains to be seen!)

Lyra is more reserved than Corona. During the visit to the kindergarten class she was more reticent to go greet all the chattering 7- and 8-year olds than Antares Gatsby and Cassiopeia, but she didn't exhibit fear, just uncertainty. In other situations where she's had to confront new things, she's been calm, confident, and curious. She is definitely playful and very cuddly, but less noisy than the other pups. She will likely be similar in size to Amore once she has matured.

Cassiopeia is somewhat in between Corona and Lyra. She is outgoing and confident in most situations, not afraid to meet new people or dogs, but not as eager to be out where the action is as Corona. She likes to play with Grandma Momo and is very huggable, like Lyra, but doesn't call attention to herself like Corona does.

Water dogs

On Sunday afternoon we visited the home of some friends who have a pool in their backyard and a guide dog. We took Lyra and Cassiopeia along, to give them another new experience and another opportunity to assess their personalities.

The first thing the kids wanted to do was introduce the puppies to the water. Once they (kids) were in swim suits, we took the puppies into the shallow water by the steps leading into the pool. First we let them get their feet wet, then held them up in water a bit deeper than they could stand, then finally let them go and watched them swim! They were great! Neither puppy seemed frightened or upset about being in the water (it was quite warm and pleasant on a hot, hot day), and both of them immediately started to dogpaddle towards one of the kids when we released them. After this novel experience we dried them off a bit (though they continued to shiver for a while, despite the warmth). Cassi fell asleep in a blanket in my uncle's arms, and Lyra explored the backyard for a time before taking a nap in turn.

Cassiopeia: "I'm coming, don't go!"

"Uh, what am I supposed to do now?"

 

"Ah, sunshine!"

"Hey, this is kinda cool!"

Lyra: "Ah, that stuff looks wet..."

"You really think I can do this?"

"Hmm, do I want to go in again?"

"Hey, you guys, 'sup?"

As for reactions to the guide dog, Kazoo, he sniffed them a couple times and they just looked at him, unfazed by his massive size (compared to them!). After that they pretty much ignored each other - they didn't get excited about him nor he about them.

It was a lovely afternoon for all concerned.

Pictures!!!

It's about time I posted some new and updated pictures on the website!

We've been taking tons on pictures over the past few weeks, but it's a question of downloading them from my camera and then sorting through them and optimizing for web viewing (compression, cropping if necessary, etc). So here they finally are - many of these were taken by my daughter while playing with the puppies one day last week.

Antares Gatsby

 note the silvering of his fur...

Corona Borealis - what a bright little face!

 This shows her white paws

Lyra, our sweet apricot girl

And Helios Bowden, the outgoing gold boy who always wants to be where the action is!

Lyra, Corona, and Helios all together:

We don't seem to have any of Cassiopeia among the photos I prepared. I'll post some soon!!!