DragonRam Doodles

Health test results for Galena

2012-03-01T05:49:00.000-05:00

When thepups went in for spay/neutering back in January, Galena also visited the vet toget her hips and elbows x-rayed to assess their soundness. This is one of theessential health screening tests we do for breeding dogs, as hip dysplasia is arelatively common problem among both Labs and Poodles. By breeding only dogswith “Good” or “Excellent” ratings the goal is to reduce the incidence of hipand elbow dysplasia in the Labradoodle population.

I am thrilledto report that Galena rated an “Excellent” for her hips on the official OrthopedicFoundation for Animals (OFA) assessment report!! (And “normal” for elbows,which are rated a bit differently.) As she is not yet two years old, this isa preliminary grade, but for pups aged 10 months and over the preliminarygrade is a quite reliable indication of the soundness of the hips and elbows.The test will be repeated after she turns two, when she can receive a “final”grade.

The dayafter the hip x-rays were done, Galena went to a veterinary ophthalmologist fora CERF exam. This is an eye exam where the vet looks for any anomalies,problems, or issues with the eyes, similar to visiting a human eye-doctor. Galena’s eyes checked out as normal on all fronts – great news!!

The finalrequired test is a thyroid check and full blood panel. These will be done in mid-Marchafter she turns one, as that is the earliest point at which the OFA willcertify the results.

Assuming allgoes well,

we can expect Galena pups

in summer or fall 2012!

DragonRam Nightingale - A lively black girl

2012-02-29T06:15:00.000-05:00

Our DragonRam Nightingale is a lively black girl who lovesto give kisses and snuggle. Nightingale is all black with just a couple ofteensy white spots on her paw pads. She has shiny black eyes and the mostwinsome expression on her face.

As I was saying...

In personality, Nightingale is a very sweet and quiet littlegirl.She is playful but not overly rambunctious, a good listener, and quick to come when called. She is obedient and snuggly, and absolutely the best kisser!

Nightingale has a non-shedding soft fleece coat that is verythick, straight and short. This is not standard for a Labradoodle, whichnormally have longer coats ranging from loose wave to tight curls. Because ofher short fur, it is easy to see the love in her eyes when she looks at you.This also means a coat that will be very easy to maintain.

I'm ready to play if you are!

Nightingale will likely mature to around 20 lbs and 15-16”at the shoulder. She is the third smallest of the puppies, beating out Arieland Scarlett. She currently weighs 3.8kg.

Or then again, maybe I'll just take a nap.

Nightingale would love to find a family with children tolove, or some adults who are home in the daytime to play with her. She has hadall her vaccinations except rabies, which is due in a few weeks. She is also spayedand microchipped. Nightingale could go home any day now!

Amore: Agility star!

2012-02-28T06:05:00.000-05:00

Amore just completed Agility Level II classes on Sunday 12February. She had a super last class, performing the best she has since thisround of classes started! One of the other dogs picked a fight with her andsome of the others a couple of times – nothing major, but some unexpectedgrowling and snapping – which had seemed to cause her some anxiety. But thislast class she outdid herself, managing very well with all the obstaclesincluding the weave poles, which are the hardest to learn.

I'm getting dizzy with all this back-and-forthing!

Down I go!

Her forte is the dog walk (bridge) and A-frame. We thinkit’s because every night she climbs the ladder – with some assistance – to getinto the top bunk of the bunk bed to sleep with my daughter. So climbingheights is old hat for her!! She also loves the jumps. She started off quitehesitant with the teeter, but by the end of the session she was doing okay –still cautious, but willing to take it at a slow pace. For some reason she wasvery hesitant with the tunnel this session after loving it in Agility I – whoknows why? But at the last class she performed all the obstacles very well andwith little hesitation.

Whee!!!!

Way to go, Mo!

DragonRam Galaxy - A beautiful black parti girl

2012-02-27T05:58:00.000-05:00

Our DragonRam Galaxy is a beautiful black parti girl.Technically she might be called “abstract” instead of parti, as she doesn’thave quite 50% white on her body, but if you count her legs and belly it wouldbe close.

What's that funny smell?

Galaxy looks like she is wearing a black toga, with oneshoulder and her chest all white, and white “tucks” at the hips. Her legs arespotted with black – we’ve had some people ask if she’s part Dalmation becauseof her spotted legs, though she doesn’t look the least bit like a Dalmation!! Herface is mostly black with a white band around the muzzle, a bit more pronouncedon the left side of her face. She has white whiskers, too!!

Whassup, kid?

In personality, Galaxy is a very playful girl, and verysweet. She can sometimes be a bit uncertain in new situations but it doesn’ttake her long to adjust and feel right at home. She gets along great with herbrother Leo who is a feisty boy, and is right in there with the tug toywhenever Leo gets going. The two of them are very similar in colouring and whenthey were younger we sometimes got them confused (though Leo has a patch on hiship).

Where'd that funny red light go?

(Puppies were chasing a red laser light.)

Galaxy has a very short and straight coat, which is notstandard for a Labradoodle. It is a non-shedding fleece and very soft to thetouch. Her coat will be very easy to maintain and the short facial hair makesit easier to see her eyes and her expression.

Ain't I good-looking?

We expect Galaxy to mature to around 20-22 lbs and 15-16” atthe shoulder. Until the age of 2 months she was the smallest of the puppies,but she has since surged ahead and is now third largest, after Cardinal andLeo. She currently weighs 4.2kg.

You won't get away from me!!

Galaxy will be a great companion to a family. She would alsodo fine with a couple or single person with time to play. She will be getting her finalbooster vaccinations tomorrow and will only need a rabies shot in a few weeks’time. Galaxy is eager to find a home full of love with her forever family. She’sready to go home any time!

The latest doodle romp

2012-02-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

Our February Doodle Romp was held at Conroy Pit on Sunday 12February at 11:30. We met Helios Zigzag from Montreal (who hasn’t been able tomake it before but enjoyed meeting his uncles and grandma!), Carni and Galena, Oliverand his new playmate Leila, and of course Amore and Aspen were in attendance.Cassi and Lyra, Zigzag’s full sisters, also came but they were a bit latearriving. As we had set off after 5 minutes of waiting, we missed them and theyhad to romp just the two of them.

It was a cold day at -11° but the sun was shining brightly so it wasn’t unpleasant. Thepaths were a bit icy and slippery from all the recent warm weather and lots oftraffic, but again not horrible. What with the cold, we made a shorter walk ofit and did one of the smaller loops, staying out for only about 45 minutes soas to keep the dogs and people from getting too cold.

The next romp will be sometime in March, with perhapsanother over the Easter long weekend and definitely in May sometime. Watch for an announcement!

DragonRam Cardinal - a rare red parti girl

2012-02-25T13:14:00.004-05:00

Our DragonRam Cardinal is very rarered parti Labradoodle. I’ve been calling her apricot, but in reality she hasbecome a rich deep red.

Coffee, anyone?

Cardinal’s coloured patches started off so faint I wasn’teven sure that “apricot” was a good description, but they have grown darker anddeeper as time passes. It is now clear that she is a luscious rich red,darker even than our stud boy Zip. “Cardinal” was an aptchoice of name for her!

Stare deeply into my eyes - You will fall in love with me!!

The red colouring is very rare and highly sought after amongLabradoodle owners and breeders. The deeper and richer the red, the better! As Cardinal is a redparti, she has more white than red, but her red patches are placed veryattractively on her body – she has a nice red saddle over her back, some red atthe base of her tail, red ears and and red “bandit” spots over eyes. She lookssuper cute! Her nose started out as a very distinctive "butterfly nose" or "rose nose" - speckled white, pink, red and black. It is still somewhat speckled but has also grown darker with time, just like her coat. Now it is more black but still has specks of pink and red.

What is that spot? How come it's moving so fast!!

(The puppies were chasing a red laser light all over the floor.)

In personality, Cardinal is a very confidant little girl.She loves to wrestle with her siblings and play tug with anyone at all! As thebiggest puppy in the litter, she does sometimes throw her weight around and tryto be the boss, but she knows better than to tangle with Grandma Amore, who isthe real boss! Cardinal is very huggable, quite content to be petted but alwaysready for playtime. She is generally a quiet and docile girl except when her sister Scarlett gets on her nerves. Cardinal is also very fast - the fastest of the lot!

I have the nicest spots!

We expect Cardinal to mature to around 20-25 lbs and 16”at the shoulder - a bit bigger than Grandma Amore. She will be a great companion to a family, couple, or singleperson who has time to romp. She will be getting her final boostervaccinations this coming Tuesday and will only need a rabies shot in a fewweeks’ time. At 3 months of age, Cardinal is ready to go to her new homewhenever a family is ready to take her!

I live in the lap of luxury!

A romantic date for Amore!

2012-02-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

On February 14^th Amore celebrated her fourthbirthday!! A Valentine’s Day baby, she was named for love… In celebration ofher birthday, Mo received a lovely new bright red Martingale collar. It standsout nicely against her black fur.

Amore is now in heat and we are breeding her to Puppy Love’sMoto Moto, a red parti boy. She travelled to Alberta last Friday and arrived home yesterday.

We have a confirmed mating!! The two of them tied twice, onMonday and Wednesday, so we are expecting puppies!! This pairing will producesome fine red/apricot and black puppies, all parti carriers. We are hoping for atleast two apricot/red females to retain/trade, and the rest will be gravy!

Moto is described as having strong pigment, a stocky build,and sabre tail (the Labradoodle ideal). He is “a wonderfully fun loving littleguy” who is “extremely smart … the star of the Agility class … incrediblyathletic and eager to please.” He “loves children and gets along really well withthe other dogs.”

Amore has some red in her lineage – her maternal grandsireand great-granddam were red – so we are sure hoping she has the ability toproduce some nice reds, but we shall see.

These puppies will be due around April 20^th, giveor take a couple of days. Pregnancy will be confirmed based on an ultrasounddone in late March. The pups would be ready to go home around June 22^nd– just in time for summer holidays!

Stay tuned for an invitation to submit your guesses for thenext instalment of our “Guess how many puppies & whelp date” contest!!

A scary day! by Galaxy

2012-01-25T05:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was kind of a scary day. It started out with the fact that we didn’t get ANY breakfast. What’s up with that? Scarlett and Ariel got some, but nobody else. That’s not fair! Then after the human pups went outside, the four of us starving doggy pups got put into a crate and into the back of the big noisy car machine! It was a looooong drive and I figured maybe we were going back to the building where we got poked last week, and I was right!

Once we got there, instead of letting us run around a room and explore, like last time, we got put into a big cage and our human Mommy went away and left us there. Yikes! Don’t go!

Then after a while we got taken out of the big cage, one by one. When it was my turn I was trembling cause I’m a bit of scaredy-dog, you know. Then I got another poke and… I don’t really know what happened after that.

When I woke up, I was back in the big cage and I had a small sore spot on my leg and a big sore spot on my tummy and in my insides, and I felt kind of dopey. Leo and Nightingale seemed the same way. Every time we tried to walk, we wobbled!!

FINALLY our human Mommy showed up again and put us back in the small crate and back into the car machine thingy and we drove a looooong way back home. When we got home I was hungry and ate and drank a bunch and then I really needed to pee. So I did. (On the pee pad, of course.) Scarlett and Ariel asked me what happened and why I smelled funny and I told them I wasn’t sure but my tummy still hurt so please don’t bug me. But after a bit it didn’t hurt so much anymore so I decided to go play and then I practically forgot all about it.

This morning my tummy was a bit tender but when I play I hardly notice it. And I’m not wobbly anymore either. I wonder what that was all about? Well, it’s done now so no sense dwelling on it.

Yours,

Galaxy

Guardian Home needed for Scarlett

2012-01-23T05:53:00.000-05:00

Scarlett is our “pick of the litter” for us to retain for breeding. She is a lovely solid apricot female with a black nose and a white patch on her throat and chest.

Scarlett is playful, alert, friendly, and confident. When she sees us, she doesn’t like to be stuck in the puppy playpen but wants to come out, say hi and be close to us. She loves her cuddles!! Scarlett is starting to ring the bell on occasion to go outside, though she hasn’t yet connected that to doing her business outside, but that will come. She generally does her business on the pee pads, though not 100% of the time. (Our focus is increasingly on getting her to go outside rather than use the pee pads. She loves to play with Uncle Aspen (our 6-month old puppy) and to chase after balls.

A Guardian Home for Scarlett should be a home where she will have lots of interaction with people and other dogs (either another dog in the house or the opportunity to meet them outside at play) so she maintains her well-socialized and friendly nature. It could be a home with children over age 4, a couple who are not always away, a retired couple or single person, or a working single person who is home enough to provide lots of attention or can make arrangements for that to happen (dog-sitter, dog-walker, other family members or friends, etc).

The Guardian’s responsibilities are to provide a loving, safe and secure home for an “intact” female dog where she will receive training and ongoing social interaction with people and dogs. Having an intact female is not generally difficult, you just need to be sure to avoid close contact with unneutered males when she is in heat (and most females are not receptive to a male’s advances except for the few days where she is actually fertile, though you must still be careful). Guardians should live within a one-hour drive of Ottawa.

The Guardian family is responsible for general day-to-day care of the dog and associated expenses, such as food, grooming, annual vaccinations, etc. As the Breeder, I am responsible for any care and expenses related to breeding and whelping (birth) of the puppies. This includes taking her to appointments for health screening relating to breeding soundness (hips, elbows, eyes, and thyroid), choosing a mate and seeing to the actual breeding, and overseeing the birth and care of puppies at our home.

Scarlett is a very sweet little pup who will bring joy and action to whatever family she joins.

If you are interested in being a Guardian Family for Scarlett, please contact me at roma@dragonramdoodles.com or call 613-552-3066.

Aspen in search of his forever family

2012-01-22T14:38:00.000-05:00

Aspen arrived here at the end of September, 2011, as a stud prospect puppy. Unfortunately, he has turned out not to be of breeding quality, though a very find dog indeed, so we are looking to sell him as a pet.

Aspen is a caramel and white parti male with a lovely disposition. he will be six months old on February 1, 2012. He currently weighs around 10kg (22 lbs), standing between 16”- 17” tall at the shoulders. We expect him to mature to around 30 lbs and 18”, which makes him a medium Australian Labradoodle. He is a lovely dog with a sweet and very friendly personality. He is a big suck, always wanting to say hi to everyone and get snuggles and cuddles. Aspen is completely house-trained and rings the bell to go outside. He likes to play outside even in the cold winter weather (unless it gets VERY cold or messy). Aspen loves the puppies – he has been interested in them from the time they were born, and now they are big enough to play with him decently, though he is still much bigger than them! But he is generally gentle, seeming to realize that he can’t play rough with these little critters. Aspen loves to go for walks and off-leash romps. He is good at coming when called. He is friendly with other dogs, though a bit nervous of meeting other big dogs – he is still interested in saying hi but he wants to be sure they’re friendly back.

Aspen will do well in a home where he can have lots of attention and play time. A family with children age 4 and up, another dog (or cat?), a couple where one is home at least half the day, or a retired couple or single person would be ideal.

We are asking the pet price of $2500 for him, which includes all his vaccinations. For that you get a fully house-trained dog who is past the worst of the puppy phase.

If you are interested in being Aspen’s family, contact me at roma@dragonramdoodles.com or 613-552-3066 or Linda at cooldood@doodlepuppies.ca or 613-720-5589.

Available puppies

2012-01-21T07:22:00.001-05:00

These are the puppies still in search of forever families.

Cardinal

Cardinal is a beautiful apricot parti girl with “raccoon” eye patches, apricot ears, a saddle on her back and a large apricot spot at the base of her tail. She has the cutest “butterfly” nose – it normally would be black but with all the white on her the pigment on her nose hasn’t fully come out, so it is spotted pink-liver-black.

Cardinal is the largest pup in the litter, weighing in at 2.6kg at 8 weeks of age. She will probably mature to around 10-12kg. She loves to play with Uncle Aspen (our 6-month-old puppy), whom she closely resembles. The two of them can go at it for minutes on end. Cardinal would have been kept for breeding except that she has a slight underbite, which she may grow out of (or may not). She has a lovely soft, wavy fleece coat.

Galaxy

Galaxy is the smallest pup of the six, a mere 2.1kg at 8 weeks of age. She will probably mature to between 8 and 10kg. She is cute black and white parti pup. The black forms a “toga” over her left shoulder and back, with a little “tuck” at the mid-section. She has a black head with a white muzzle and a very cute short-haired face. She has white legs with black freckling over them. Galaxy has a soft, slightly short and fairly dense fleece coat that is relatively straight and may end up with just the merest wave in it.

Galaxy is a somewhat shy little girl, not as adventurous as her sibs. She tends to hang back a bit when encountering new people or things, but it doesn’t take her long to warm up and be friendly. She loves to play tug and chase, and to tussle with her brother Leo.

Nightingale

Nightingale is an active pup who is always going gangbusters. She loves to play tug, tussle with Uncle Aspen, race back and forth through the rooms, and be generally active and rambunctious. And she LOVES to give puppy kisses and snuggle up, too – she is our best kisser. She and Leo are best buds with similar energy levels.

Nightingale is all black with a very thick and short coat that shows little sign of wave or curl, and an “open” face. This is not a standard coat for an Australian Labradoodle, but it is still very soft and she is super cute! With the soft, fleecy texture of the coat we do not expect her to shed even once her adult coat comes in.

Nightingale weighs 2.4kg at 8 weeks of age and is expected to mature to about 9 – 11 kg.

Leo

Leo, the only boy in the bunch, is a dashing, daring adventurer. He LOVES to tussle, play tug-of-war, and chase balls. He goes up the stairs and has already started to come down (no mean feat for a small pup!). He enjoys playing outside in the snow and is a good listener.

Leo is in the middle of the pack, size-wise, at 2.5kg at 8 weeks of age. He will likely mature to around 10 – 11kg, maybe a bit more. Leo is also a black and white parti boy. His shoulders are white, with the black starting just below the shoulders, “notched” by white, with a white stripe across his mid-riff and down the left side of his back, and the black then extending down his hindquarters and ending at the hock, making him look like he’s wearing black shorts on the right and with a black spot on his left hip. He has a black head with a white muzzle. Leo has a soft, slightly wavy fleece coat with a rather “open” face (shorter hair than on the rest of his body).

Scarlett will be kept by us for our breeding program.

Ariel will be sold or traded to another breeder.

Eight weeks old! (by Nightingale)

2012-01-20T06:02:00.001-05:00

I am getting really big by now! I weight over 2kg and my older sister Cardinal is already 2.5kg – she is kind of fat ha ha! (Just kidding.) My Mama went away a week ago, back to her own family, but I don’t really mind – I’ve got my sisters and brother and there’s Uncle Aspen to play with and Grandma Momo, when she’s in the mood. We get really yummy food to eat now that we have lots of teeth.

I can climb stairs (though it’s scary to go down), carry a ball, tug on a rope, pee on the pee pad (most of the time), drink from our fountain, sit for a treat, and ring the bell to go outside. I sometimes pee and poop outside and my people seem to really like that! Outside it’s cold and white and freezing but my nice long fur keeps me toasty warm – at least for a few minutes. Uncle Aspen likes to go outside and we chase him out there and play with him. Grandma Momo goes out too but she doesn’t like playing as much as Uncle Aspen does. I sleep in my crate through the whole night now, from around 10 at night to 6 in the morning, without whining to go out and I NEVER mess my crate!

This is what our day is like: My sibs and I get to play for a long time after breakfast, then we have a nap in our crate again until Nanny comes to let us out, give us lunch, and play a bit more. In the middle of the afternoon is when it gets really fun! The human pups come home and we get to PLAY – well at least for a while, then they go sit at the table to read and write and stuff like that. I don’t know why they spend so much time doing such boring stuff when they could play with US! But when they’re FINALLY finished they play with us some more and we do fun stuff like playing tug of war, getting treats for simple stuff like sitting and lying down, and running back and forth playing tag. Every once in a while the human pups put coats on us and take us outside to play in the fluffy white snow for a few minutes. That is FUN! Then it’s supper time, more play time, and eventually all the lights go out, the humans head for their beds, and my sibs and I settle into our crate for another night’s sleep.

A week ago we took a loooooong ride in that big metal machine thing that goes fast and makes noise – whaddya call it? Yeah, a car! And at the other end we got to go into a strange building with lots of people who told us we were super cute and then poked and prodded us and stuck us with a needle, yikes! Though it wasn’t as big as the needle we got poked with the night before to stick a piece of metal rice between our shoulder blades. I think they call it a microchip. Do you have one too? The man there seemed to think we were really cute and pretty and the best kissers around – especially me of course! He liked my thick coat and cute face. We all got snuggles and treats and then we took another loooooong ride and hey! We were home!

Well, it’s been nice chatting! If you want to come visit I’d be happy to play with you. Maybe you’d like to take me home with you – my people say I’m “available,” whatever that means.

Ciao,

Nightingale

Doodle Romp of Jan 7

2012-01-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

It’s been almost two weeks since the last Doodle Romp! Earlier in the week, the forecast had been for a warm (+4) sunny day. That morning, however, dawned cloudy with a chance of rain (!) and not quite as warm as earlier predicted. We stuck to our plans, though, and met at 2:30 at the parking lot to Conroy Pit.

A total of 8 dogs joined in: our Amore, Aspen, and Garnet; Zirci whom we hadn’t seen since last summer and who has faded to a rich café colour and is now, at 16 months, a big boy of about 30 lbs; Lyra who is still as feisty and playful as ever; our lovely little black Cassi who’s now bigger than her Mama Garnet; Carni who enjoyed meeting up and romping with his bro’ Zirci; and Galena, who is still a dark chocolate and, as a graduate of Intermediate training, was now deemed responsible enough to be let off leash.

The day turned out to be quite a lovely one after all. One family met with a bit of rain/sleet on the drive down, but by the time we were all gathered it was a mix of sun and cloud, not too cold, and very little wind. We set off down the trail, taking one of the smaller paths to help keep our bunch together and keep the interference from other dogs to a minimum. The dogs were happy to see each other, playing tag, pouncing, engaging in mock battles, and generally having a ball.

When we approached the fork that would either lead us back to the main path or down towards the tobogganing hill, we chose the latter, longer route, seeing as the day was fine, the paths were good, and the dogs were still full of energy. By the tobogganing hill we leashed the dogs again to ensure they wouldn’t think chasing kids down the hill was a fun idea, and proceeded to climb the hill opposite the toboggan runs to begin the trek back.

By the time we reached the parking lot we’d been out for about an hour and the dogs were getting tired (and perhaps a bit cold). Before people headed on their way, everyone received a treat – a cupcake or pastry to celebrate my birthday!!

All in all it was a great time.

The next doodle romp is planned for Sunday, 12 February from 1:00-2:00pm.

We'll have another one in mid-March, date to be determined. Stay tuned!

Now we are six!

2012-01-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

… weeks old, that is. A great time to be a puppy!

I still like drinking milk from my Mama, though she seems not to enjoy it very much. She keeps walking away and dragging us along with her. She even stepped on me the other day! Gee whiz, Mama, watch where you’re going! I guess I didn’t want to let go… We also get some food in our own dishes to eat – YUM!! It’s sort of crunchy, sort of sloppy.

This past week we went outside for the first time! It was cold – BRRRR! But I liked it. The fluffy white stuff on the ground is fun to play in, and it tickles my bum-bum when I pee outside. When I did that my people were really happy and gave me lots of praise! I think I’ll try it again. We put our jackets on to go outside to play with the people pups, but when we went out on our own with the big dogs we didn’t. I guess we were only out for a few minutes. The other pups scrambled back inside as fast as they could, but I didn’t – I took the time to sniff around and figure out everybody who’d been there. But all I found was the smells for Mama Garnet, Grandma MoMo, and Uncle Aspen. Oh, and the people pups and the big people, too.

Last night we had some visitors who sat on the floor and played with us. It sounded like they might want to take one of us home with them! They really liked Nighty. Hey, what about me?!! But then I’d have to go away from here. That’s scary. But exciting too. I’m sure it won’t happen for ages, though. At least two or three more weeks!

My favourite game is chasing my sisters and brother and tussling with them. That’s so much fun! Most of the time we can only play in our own corner of the kitchen, but after we’ve eaten and peed and pooped we get to go explore the rest of the house and hide in all sorts of fun places – under chairs, on the warm air vents, by the boots and shoes that are so much fun to chew. Except I keep getting chased away from there.

Well, it’s been fun talking to you! Come visit us soon!

Yours,
Cardinal

(and my sibs:)

Scarlett

Galaxy

Nightingale
(with me and Galaxy)

Leo

and Ariel

One month old on Christmas Day!

2011-12-25T14:01:00.036-05:00

Yes, we are One Month Old today! And it's an exciting time to be around! It is so much fun to see the funny pokey green thing with lots of sparkly balls and strings and things hanging on it, and lots of bright packages underneath, and to snuggle up with our people close to the warm fire-spot and listen to stories...

We are getting big and strong now! We can climb in and out of the sleeping cave ourselves, and in and out of the sleeping mat, too. We try to remember to pee on our pee pads, and we never pee where we sleep, oh no! And we've just started to eat real FOOD! just like Mama. Well, not quite JUST like her - her food is round and brown and crunchy and my sister almost choked on one piece when she tried to eat it, so our people are putting it were we can't reach though it smells so yummy, but instead they are giving us soft white stuff that's almost like Mama's milk but with some other stuff mixed in that makes it even yummier and a bit thicker and we have to lap it instead of sucking.

Mama is starting not to be too keen on us drinking from her all the time, I'm not sure why.

Sometimes when my sisters play with me they poke those sharp things growing in their mouths - whadya call them, teeth? - into me and it hurts!

Hey, maybe that's why Mama doesn't like us to drink so much from her all the time now... I didn't think of that before!

On Friday I took a ride in a loud rumbling machine to this BIG building and inside one of the rooms there way my boy! with lots of other human pups. They sat in a circle on the floor and I got to meet them all. It was kind of scary, but fun, too!

Hey, did you notice something strange last night? In the middle of the night I heard some strange noises upsairs - like some big fat strange human was coming into the house through the roof and fussing around with stuff by the fire-spot. I squeaked and squealed but Mama told me to be quiet, it wasn't anything to be worried about, just a guy bringing the people in the house some surprises. Weird. I wondered if any of them would be for me?

And you know what?!? THEY WERE!! (Well, some. And I have to share with my sisters. But that's okay.)

Signed,

Leo

and my sisters

Scarlett

Cardinal

Galaxy

Nightingale

and

Ariel

(who might be last, but is now the biggest of the bunch!)

Doodle Romp Report

2011-12-16T06:02:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday’s Doodle Romp was a great time! Besides our three – Amore, Aspen, and Garnet – we were joined by Cassi & Lyra from Garnet’s last litter and by our stud prospect Kodiak & his house-mate Snickers (who is not a doodle).

The day was fine – a mix of sun and cloud, warmish but not hot, with a bit of snow still on the ground (which has since disappeared owing to rain and continuing warm weather). We tried out Pine Hill, a small NCC park in the Rockcliffe Park part of town. It is definitely smaller than Conroy Pit – we did the circuit of the park twice and were still done in under an hour. Just as we were leaving, two members of Garnet’s family found us and said hello to us and to Garnet – she was very excited to see them and I’m sure disappointed that she couldn’t go home with them yet.

Cassi & Lyra have both grown! They are a bit bigger than their Mama though not yet Amore’s size. Both look happy, healthy, and well-cared for. They definitely remembered each other, as well as Amore (not sure how much they remembered Mama Garnet – but she was gone by the time they were 8 weeks old so they didn’t spend as much time with her as with Amore). Apparently Lyra has learned that she can’t tackle all the big dogs in the park!

Puppy update - week 2 (ish)

2011-12-15T12:59:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I`m a bit behind – giving you the “two-week” puppy update when the pups are almost three weeks old already!

They are continuing to grow and develop. From itsy-bitsy things you could easily hold in the palm of one hand, they have tripled their birth weight and are becoming daily more mobile. While the vast majority of the time is still spent sleeping and nursing, they do on occasion liven up and tussle about a bit, or go exploring on their wobbly legs. They are starting to be able to carry their own weight with the legs underneath them, instead of “swimming” along the ground like little crocodiles with their legs splayed to the side.

The big difference, of course, is that they have EYES!!! They all opened their eyes between 13 and 15 days of age. What a difference it makes to see them with their eyes open, gazing back at you – it makes their faces more alive and interesting. Their vision will remain blurry for several weeks, but will slowly improve as they get outside the whelping box and begin to become more active and explore the big wide world.

They had their first deworming on Sunday and took it well. Everybody seemed to like the medicine - it's made to taste nice!

Uncle Aspen and Grandma Amore are now allowed inside the puppy area – Garnet has reduced her level of protectiveness and no longer growls when the other big dogs come to say hi. It is really fun to watch Aspen with the puppies – he lies on the ground and they toddle towards him; he licks them and they fall over; they tussle with each other and he nudges them with his nose. We’ve caught a few of the pups trying to latch on to one of his teats with little success!!

Aspen & Amore meet Santa

2011-12-09T06:01:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday afternoon, after the morning romping at art lessons, we headed out with Aspen & Amore to cut our Christmas tree. It is an annual ritual with us to go to a local tree farm and select and cut our own tree.

Last year we had taken Amore along to the tree farm we have been to many times in the past, along with our friends and their little dachshund, Jenna. In previous years no one had commented on Jenna’s presence and we had met other dogs there, too, so we expected no hassles, but we disappointed upon arriving to be told “No dogs allowed.” So this year I hunted for another nearby tree farm and called in advance to be sure we could bring the dogs. Fallowfield Tree Farm was happy to welcome the dogs and we even met their German Shepherd roaming freely around the property.

While we waited for the tractor wagon ride to take us to the tree cutting field, we roasted a couple of marshmallows by the fire, and then along came Santa, so of course we had to introduce the dogs!

(We found the perfect Christmas tree, and it’s now standing well-decorated in our loft, where Aspen can’t get at it as he’d no doubt strip off all the ornaments he could reach and chew them to bits… )

When we got home that evening, Aspen was totally exhausted after all that activity! He went into his crate (something he doesn’t often do voluntarily) around 7pm and didn’t make a noise (highly unusual when crated!!) until 10pm when I let him out before hitting the hay myself. Then he went straight back to bed and slept soundly all night long!

Upcoming Doodle Romps

2011-12-07T05:44:00.002-05:00

We have organized three Doodle Romps for our DragonRam Doodle families (and any other interested Ottawa-area doodles who might care to join us!).

First, this coming Saturday, 10 December, from 10am to noon. For this romp we will try out the NCC park at Pine Hill, in Rockcliffe Park area. Meet at 10:00at the parking lot just west of Lisgar at the corner of Willingdon (very close to the east side of the Governor General’s estate). We are looking forward to meeting Lyra & Cassi again, and whoever else can make it!

A second romp is scheduled for Monday, 2 January from 2-4pm (for everyone who gets Monday off in lieu of the first). For this romp we will return to our regular venue of Conroy Pit.

Finally, a third romp on Saturday, 7 January from 2:30-4:30pm (to give us time to get there after skiing lessons). Again we will meet at Conroy Pit. This one promises to be fairly well attended!

We look forward to meeting as many of our doodles as can make it to one or more of these events.

If you are a prospective purchaser of one of Garnet’s puppies, come out and join us and meet some of these puppies' half-siblings, uncles and aunts!

Playtime!

2011-12-06T05:49:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, as usual, we took Amore and Aspen to play in the ball field outside the place where the kids have art lessons. Since their lessons overlap only half an hour out of a three-hour stretch, most of the time there is one kid with me and the dogs to play.

This past Saturday there was a bit of snow on the ground, so we put jackets on the dogs, parkas on ourselves, and headed out. Aspen’s jacket didn’t stay on long, what with the rip-roaring good time he and Amore were having. Amore loves to chase the ball, but Aspen isn’t really into ball – not yet at least. He just wants to tussle with Amore! (Typical guy.)

My son was also very tired after a VERY late night the previous night, so after making a couple of snow angels he mostly just lay on the ground and rested, while I threw the ball or just watched the dogs play.

Puppy update - week 1

2011-12-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

The puppies are now just over a week old and growing by leaps and bounds. They have at least doubled their birth weight. The largest is Nightingale at about 450g; the smallest is Galaxy (formerly Daisy but we decided we weren’t keen on Daisy as a name) at about 360g. We weigh them morning and evening to ensure they are steadily gaining weight.

They still aren’t doing much besides nursing and sleeping. We do neural stimulation exercises with them on a daily basis, to stimulate the develop of brain cells and a coping response to unfamiliar stimuli. This takes about 30 seconds per puppy so it’s not a lot, but apparently promotes calmer, more resilient puppies who are not stressed out by new and unfamiliar things.

Ariel

Nightingale

Garnet is already a bit less anxious about spending all her time with them. We take her on short walks around the block, though she doesn’t like to be gone for too long. Amore knows not to get too close to the puppies and Aspen has also learned that. One of the early days he approached the whelping box with curiosity and got snapped at by Garnet. She didn’t hurt him, but boy did he yowl! You would have thought he was being murdered!! Now every time he sees her he hesitates or steps back. You gotta watch those Mamas! He is still curious and occasionally, when the gate to the puppy nook is open, wanders in furtively to take a look. Garnet isn’t usually too far away though and will come stand between him and the puppies, though she hasn’t snapped at him that way again. Garnet is actually fairly relaxed about her pups – at least compared to Amore – and doesn’t mind too much if strange people get close and handle them, though we do limit total strangers during these first couple of weeks.

Galaxy

Scarlett

They are starting to show early signs of eyes and ears opening – the eye slits getting “thicker” and ears starting to grow and flop a bit more, instead of being very small and thick. By next weekend some of them might have eyes open.

Cardinal

Leo (x2)

Guess how many puppies... And the WINNER is...!!

2011-11-26T00:22:00.000-05:00

First, we can add to the guesses:

Carole 6 28 Nov, 14:00

Second, the x-ray was taken at about 16:45 pm on Friday Nov 25. The technician, Sarah, thought she saw six. The vet, Dr. Gumley, said no, just five.

I didn’t get a chance to look at the x-ray at the vet’s office, but when I got home I took a look. I could clearly see five, and was searching for signs of #6. Then I noticed that the date on the x-ray was 20.05.2011 – they gave me the x-ray from Garnet’s May litter, when she indeed had only five puppies!! So if that’s the one the vet was looking at, no wonder he said five. I’ve asked them to e-mail me the correct x-ray. I will likely get it tomorrow and I’ll post it then.

But for now I can say that:

THE WINNER IS….

Heather!!!

Who correctly guessed six puppies and had the closest date/time guess of Saturday Nov 26, 22:15. She was a full 17 hours and 8 minutes out, but everyone else guessed the 27^th or 28^th!

So here’s the scoop:

The x-ray, as I said , was taken at about 16:45pm. We were waiting in the lobby for the vet to finish what he was doing and take a look at it with us. Mo (who had had her teeth cleaned that day) & Garnet seemed to need to go out to pee, so we took them out to the little grass patch. Mo pooped, Garnet did a little pee. I was waiting outside for one of the kids to bring me a poop bag while the other took Garnet in. When I got back inside, Garnet was shaking and seemed to be pushing – and lo and behold, there was evidently a puppy on the way!

The vet staff quickly got some blankets and a doggie bed and put us into one of the exam rooms with the lights on dim. Garnet panted and pushed, squealed and – at 17:07 out popped a little red girl!!

So what do we do now? The vet’s office closed officially at 17:00 but they weren’t going to kick us out. But birthing five (or six) puppies could take a few hours. Seeing as we live a good 30-60 minutes drive from the vet’s office (depending on traffic and route), I wasn’t about to get in the car and head home right then. With it still being the height of rush hour, our trip would be closer to 60 minutes and anything could happen in that time!

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. My son went next door to the Indian take-out place and got us some supper. I called various people to tell them the exciting news. One of the people I called was Linda of Canadian Doodle Puppies. She called back a few minutes later to suggest we come to her place, which is much closer to the vet’s than we are. I decided to wait until after the next puppy – as then there would likely be another break – and come over after that.

But by 18:30 there still was no second puppy. We had our food, the vet staff were wanting to go home (nobody said so but I knew they would like to go, heck I would want to get home on a Friday evening!) and Garnet didn’t seem to be pushing. So, with rush hour more or less over, I decided to make a break for Linda’s house. The vet gave us a basket to put the pups in, along with some blankets and a hot spot, and we piled into the car and got on the highway. We were almost at Linda’s when my son said “there’s another puppy coming!” It was born in the basket in the backseat of the car, and a minute later we pulled into Linda’s driveway and carried mother and pups into one of the bedrooms where Linda had set up the whelping box for Garnet to use.

Puppy #2 was – a red parti girl !!!!!!! What a SURPRISE!! I knew there was a chance that Garnet carried parti, since her grandfather is parti, but I didn't really expect she did. But I had no idea that Idol did! This girl was born at 18:50. We got her comfy, tucked into our supper, and waited some more…

An hour later, at 19:51, #3 arrived – another parti girl, this one black!

From this point on, they started coming faster. As the puppies nurse, that promotes the formation of oxytocin which stimulates the uterus to contract some more, so with three pups out, #s 4 and 5 followed quickly. At that point, since Dr. Gumley had said five pups I went to the living room to relax and have a cup of tea. But barely had I settled in than my daughter, who’d nipped in to check on Garnet & pups, called out “there’s another puppy coming!” Puppy #6, yet another black parti girl, arrived at precisely 21:00, a mere 12 minutes after #5.

So in summary:

17:07 – red girl, 238g, Scarlett

18:50 – red parti girl, 256g, Cardinal

19:51 – black parti girl, 253g, Daisy (lots of black in a saddle pattern over back, head, & legs)

20:20 – black girl, 244g, Nightingale

20:48 – black parti boy, 218g, Leo (lots of black but a bit more white around neck & hips than Daisy)

21:00 – black parti girl, 225g, Ariel (mostly white; black head & a couple black spots)

We may change the names yet, but that’s what we’re using for the time being. (Daisy started out being “Saddle,” then the kids called her “Cowy” as her pattern looks a bit like a Cow, but we figured that wasn’t such a great name. Lots of cows are called Daisy, so that’s what we’re using for now.)

We left Linda’s very shortly after Ariel was born. Mom & babes are now sleeping in the puppy corner with kids sleeping beside them. I’ll be heading to bed very shortly too!

We took a few pictures after we got home but camera batteries died before we got too many. Here are a few shots, more to come tomorrow.

Ariel is the black parti closest to the foreground. Leo is behind her, then Cardinal, with Daisy in the back. Scarlett to the left and Nightingale to the right.

Guess how many puppies - 2nd instalment!

2011-11-25T14:33:00.000-05:00

Can it really be over two weeks since my last post? Time has flown, and here we are expecting puppies any day now!!

Garnet arrived at our house this morning from her guardian home and will go for her x-ray late this afternoon. Then we will know (pretty well) how many puppies to expect! For the record, here is the current status of guesses as to date and time of arrival of the first puppy (for those who guessed 5, 6, or 7):

Teya 5

Melese 5

Roma 5 27 Nov, 16:15

Mary 5 27 Nov, 22:30

Beth D 5 25 Nov 12:00

Wendy 5

Francesca 5 28 Nov, 12:00

Tristan 6 27 Nov, 18:45

Mathom 6 27 Nov, 15:00

Carole 6

Heather 6 26 Nov, 22:15

Haragwan 6

Barbara 7 26 Nov, 02:00

Zirci (Yolande) 7

Linda A 7 27 Nov, 06 :00

As you can see, we still have a few blank spots… Watch for a post later tonight with the results of the x-ray. Then those of you procrastinators who figured you weren’t going to win but guessed the right number can get your guess in before midnight tonight to make the official (and final) deadline!! So far everyone except Barbara has been very kind and guessed times that will mean I won’t miss any (or much) sleep… Though if Heather is right and the FIRST puppy comes at 22:15 tomorrow I may be up the better part of the night waiting for the others to follow. And if Linda A. is right, I may have been up for half the night waiting for #1 to arrive… though in May, Garnet obliged by just waking us at about 2am for a first delivery within less than an hour. We shall see!!

(Sorry, Beth, you didn’t win for sure – past noon on the 25^th and no puppies yet… or if there are, nobody’s called me to tell me to get home now!!)

Guess how many puppies!

2011-11-09T12:22:00.028-05:00

We had an ultrasound done on Garnet on Monday afternoon. Before revealing the results, I invited our puppies’ families to guess how many pups will be in this litter. The guesses are noted below:

Linda R 3

Sandi 3

Scott 4

Kim 4

Tes 4

Martin L 4

Erin 4

Teya 5

Melese 5

Roma 5

Mary 5

Beth D 5

Wendy 5

Tristan 6

Mathom 6

Carole 6

Heather 6

Haragwan 6

Barbara 7

Zirci (Yolande) 7

David Q 8

Martin M 8

Monica 8

And the result?

Our vet clearly saw 5 foetuses and was pretty certain there was a 6^th too!!

Before those of you who guessed 5 or 6 get too excited, note that ultrasounds are not always accurate and there may be pups that were not seen – and sometimes pups get reabsorbed for various reasons. For example, with Amore’s 2^nd litter, the vet also said 5, maybe 6, and we had just 4 puppies born. However, that ultrasound was done at around 30 days gestation, when the foetuses were still quite small (about 1.5cm long). This time we waited until about day 42 and those extra 12 days mean the pups are a lot bigger – around 6-7cm long! This both makes them a lot easier to see and also means they are not as likely to be reabsorbed.

Indeed, we saw little beating hearts and little waving legs. At this stage – the sixth week of gestation – their nervous system is already formed, their sexual characteristics are present (though not easily seen!), the eyes are covered by eyelids, the leg buds are lengthening and developing toes, their fur is forming along with pigmentation. As of now they will begin to grow very fast, almost tripling their length over the final 3 weeks. Their bones will calcify around the middle of next week, after which they will be visible on x-ray. Garnet has so far gained about 2.3kg (5 lbs) over her usual petite size and will no doubt gain more over the next 3 weeks. She ate a lot while she was with us – repeated small helpings as there is not much stomach room left!

Full gestation is 63 days (9 weeks) post-ovulation, which puts Garnet’s due date at about November 28^th (best estimate). Some dogs deliver earlier, closer to 58 days and some deliver as late as 67 days, so we can expect puppies anywhere between November 23^rd and December 2^nd. Last time, Garnet whelped at 61 days, which would be November 26^th.

We have an x-ray scheduled for November 25^th – with the expectation she won’t yet have whelped!! That should give us a firm puppy count (though there too, for Amore’s 3^rd litter the x-ray clearly showed 2 puppies but I thought I saw a 3^rd and in effect, a third was born, though she had some deformities and did not survive).

Since so many people guessed 5 or 6, to narrow down the winner’s field, I invite everyone who guessed 4, 5, 6, or 7 puppies to also guess when Garnet will deliver. Specify the date and time you think the FIRST puppy will be born, and whoever has correctly guessed the number of puppies actually born and is closest to the date and time of birth will win the prize.

(For the record, my guess is Sunday 27 Nov at 4:15pm.)

Some nice pix

2011-11-04T06:19:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures I didn’t get around to posting earlier. These are from our gorgeous Thanksgiving Saturday back in early October. It was 26 above (Celsius) and just like a summer day!!

Visit with Galena

2011-11-02T05:53:00.001-04:00

After the Doodle Romp on October 23^rd, Galena and her family, including brother Carni, came to our house for an extended visit. Since Galena will be one of our breeding girls once she matures and will come to our house to have her puppies, it is important that she remain familiar and comfortable with us and our home. This is especially true as she only spent 9 weeks with us after birth, unlike Garnet who was with us 3½ months (or Lyra & Cassi who have been here 5 months, though they won’t be breeding girls).

She certainly displayed no anxiety about coming into our house and playing with the kids and the dogs we currently had around – Amore, Cassi, Lyra, & Aspen. But then she has always been a very friendly girl, happy to go to virtually anyone – guess all that early socialization paid off! Though on the other hand, her recall (i.e. “come when called”) isn’t great, so she doesn’t get to run off-leash unless there’s limited opportunity for her to run off. That’s something her parents are working on.

We humans enjoyed supper together (thanks Martin!) and a pleasant visit while the dogs got some quality time visiting each other.

Galena is a happy, healthy, well-adjusted and very beautiful dark chocolate girl of 7½ months old. We’ll start her health testing in early 2012 and – assuming she passes all her tests – you can look for her puppies in a year’s time. The daddy will be one of our local boys.

Carni says bye!

Autumn leaves

2011-11-01T06:11:00.002-04:00

Every autumn we carry a rake out to the small urban forest near our home and pile up the leaves for some autumn fun. With Thanksgiving weekend so lusciously warm, we headed out on Sunday afternoon (yes, back three weeks ago!) for our annual celebration of fall colours.

The pups had a grand time romping through the woods and fields, and once they learned that a pile of leaves makes a soft landing, they jumped and frolicked in it with abandon.

The kids also buried me in leaves, which took a passing couple rather by surprise when I greeted them from under the pile!!

The latest doodle romp

2011-10-30T06:42:00.001-04:00

A grand total of 13 doodles and 1 “friend” met at Conroy Pit for the most recent DragonRam doodle romp on Sunday October 23^rd.

Lyra was the only one of Garnet’s May puppies to make it, other than Cassi, who was still with us. We also had a chance to meet up with Carni & Oliver from Mo’s 2010 litter and Galena from her 2011 litter.

Galena

In addition, two of our stud prospects were there, Zip & Magnum, each with a doodle housemate (and Magnum brought a non-doodle housemate along too), and Linda brought three of her Canadian Doodle Puppies girls.

Zip & Carni

With so many dogs to track, we took mostly some of the smaller pathways so as not to get too distracted by the multitude of other dogs out on that gorgeous, sunny Sunday afternoon – the first warm, sunny day since Thanksgiving. The dogs got along famously – running back and forth along the path, investigating in the forest, and romping once we got to the field – and the owners had a chance to catch up on news, too. All in all, it was a great afternoon!

Bye-bye Cassi!

2011-10-29T07:59:00.001-04:00

Cassiopeia, the last of our May pupsters to leave, went home to her new family last night. They were very happy to pick her up after being out of town for the past week. Cassi was happy to see them, and didn’t appear too stressed at leaving us. We sent her blanket full of all the smells of home along with her, to help ease her transition.

Hello Cassi!

Bye-bye Cassi!

Since she is also staying here in Ottawa, we expect to be able to see her again in the future at one of our doodle romps.

Love ya, girl!

Bye-bye Lyra!

2011-10-28T12:47:00.000-04:00

Lyra went home to her new family last Friday, Oct 21^st. They had been by to visit 3 times in the previous week (once at her puppy Kindergarten class) so they were somewhat familiar to her and she went home with Mom & Dad without any complaint. We saw her just two days later, at the doodle romp on Sunday, and she was super happy to see us but also happy to stay with her new family.

Hello!

Goodbye!

We saw her again last night at her final Puppy K graduation class. She did very well with new girl Erin, although the three of us (and Aspen, safely curled up most of the time in a PetSmart shopping cart) were a major distraction.

But she passed with flying colours anyhow and got to celebrate with some doggy ice cream, certificate, and puppy mortarboard. Couldn’t miss that!

Another doodle romp!

2011-10-22T08:28:00.001-04:00

DragonRam Doodles will be holding

our next Doodle Romp tomorrow!!

Sunday, 23 October from 2:30-3:30pm

Meet at Conroy Pit, at the entrance to the park off the parking lot.

We hope to hold another romp in November and potentially another in early December if it isn’t too cold and snowy.

We expect to see Oliver, Carni, Galena, Magnum & his housemates Robbie & (sorry, I forget her name!!), and of course Amore and also Cassi. Zip and his housemate Rufus might make it too.

Lyra went to her new home on Friday and won’t be able to join us this time, and unfortunately none of Garnet’s other May puppies are able to attend this time either. Let’s hope to see some of them in November or December! Ziggy (Helios) lives in Montreal but might be able to join us from time to time as his human sister lives in Ottawa so he comes to visit on occasion.

Our two new stud prospect puppies, Aspen and Kodiak, are still too young to come to the dog park, but we hope they will be able to make it in December after they’ve had all their vaccinations.

Welcome to Aspen & Kodiak

2011-10-21T05:58:00.001-04:00

DragonRam Doodles is pleased to announce that we have acquired

Melorich’s Kodiak

a beautiful deep dark chocolate stud prospect puppy

from Melorich’s Labradoodles in Ohio.

Kodiak was born 3 August 2001, so is still a young pup at 2.5 months of age. He arrived in Syracuse, New York, on Saturday 8 October direct from Cincinnati, and was picked up and brought into Canada by Linda of Canadian Doodle Puppies, who co-owns him with us.

We chose his name, “Kodiak,” after the Kodiak bear, which lives in northern BC, Yukon and Alaska. The name therefore captures both his deep brown colour and his Canadian residence and American. Melorich is the name of the kennel where he was bred – thanks, Rich! He adds a whole new line of Tegan Park and Rutland Manor to our breeding program – some old Australian lines that we don’t yet have.

Kodiak has found a home with Sylvia & Gary & their two sons and one other dog, Snickers, in southern Ottawa. We know he is well-loved and well-cared for there!

We have also acquired

Desert Winds Aspen

a gorgeous caramel-and-white parti stud prospect,

from Desert Winds Labradoodles in Colorado.

Born 1 August 2011, Aspen is just two days older than Kodiak. He arrived a bit earlier than Kodiak, on Monday, 26 September, also flying into Syracuse and brought into Canada by Linda of Canadian Doodle Puppies, his co-owner.

The name “Aspen” was chosen for the well-known Colorado ski resort in the Rocky Mountains, which reflects his Colorado heritage and his snowy white (and caramel) colour. Desert Winds is his kennel of origin – thanks, Tracy!

Unfortunately, at his initial vet visit we discovered that Aspen has a serious overbite and his lower teeth were making holes in his palate. He underwent dental surgery on Tuesday 4 October to alleviate the situation and give his lower jaw the chance to catch up with his upper. If this does indeed happen it will indicate this issue is developmental and he is good to use as a stud; if it does not, it will indicate a genetic issue and we will not use him.

Linda kept Aspen for the first two weeks, but he is now with us where is very much enjoying playing with Lyra & Cassi. Ssurprisingly, it’s been Cassi more than Lyra the action figure that has been more engaged in playing with him – maybe Lyra knows not to beat up on such little pups!

Welcome here, boys!

Announcing our next litter!

2011-10-19T06:14:00.000-04:00

DragonRam Doodles is expecting our next litter of puppies to be born in late November!

Dam: DragonRam Garnet, age 2

Garnet is our petite black beauty, a very good-looking fine-boned girl who weighs in at 12 lbs and stands about 13” at the shoulder. She lives with her Guardian Family in Cornwall, Ontario. She loves to play Frisbee and snuggle with her dad and kids.

Sire: Springville American Idol of Puppy Love Labradoodles, age 2

Idol is a stocky boy with a deep red coat who stands 15” at the shoulder and weighs a bit over 20 lbs. He is owned by Puppy Love Labradoodles in southern Alberta, where he lives with a Guardian Family.

Garnet and Idol honeymooned on 29 September. Seeing as my vet wasn’t available to do the specialized trans-cervical insemination for us, and no other vet in Ottawa has the equipment or training, Garnet hopped a plane to Calgary on the 28^th and returned to Ottawa on 3 October. So it was a real honeymoon (though I’m told Garnet wasn’t the most receptive of brides, but Idol still accomplished the job).

We are expecting about half the puppies in this litter to be in shades of cream, apricot, or red and half to be black. Garnet’s last litter had 5 puppies and we are hoping for a similar number this time. We expect to do an ultrasound in early November to confirm pregnancy and get an estimate as to number, with an x-ray in late November to firm up the puppy count.

With 9 weeks’ gestation, the puppies are expected to arrive sometime between 27 November and 1 December. They will be ready to go to their new homes around 3 February 2012.

Sled dogs, anyone?

Homes for Cassi & Lyra!

2011-10-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

There may not have been much posted on this blog for a while, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy!

Lyra has been in Puppy Kindergarten since late September to help her learn her manners. (We’ve then been having her teach Cassi what she’s learned!)

Amore has been in agility training since mid-September at the Ottawa Canine School, a small indoor facility on St-Laurent. She really likes it and does very well! My daughter has been her main handler and is also doing well – it’s not always easy to remember what order to do things, which hand to use to guide the dog, and to do all the subtle body language cues the dog responds to. We hope to do another short session this fall. Depending on the timing of her winter litter, we hope to do some outdoor agility with her in spring.

Since our visit to the vet in late September revealed that Lyra’s underbite was much worse than we had thought, we took her to the dental specialist in early October to assess the situation. He recommended surgery to remove some teeth to make her more comfortable and to give her jaw a chance to grow more in the remaining growth period before she turns 6 months old. He also recommended not using her for breeding, so we made the hard decision to place her as a pet, and had her spayed the same day as the dental surgery.

But the good news is that both Cassi & Lyra have now found their forever families!! (In the space of one weekend!) And both of them will be staying here in Ottawa, so we hope to see them at future doodle romps.

Lyra will be joining Beth, Doug, & their teenage daughter Erin this coming Friday. They have come to meet her twice, so we hope that bit of extra familiarity will help ease her transition to her new home, after five months with us and her sister. We will post some pictures of “going-home” day on the weekend.

Cassi will be joining Lisa & Mike. They are hoping to involve their puppy in therapy dog work once she matures, and we all felt Cassi’s lovely gentle and (mostly) quiet temperament would be best for that type of work. They will be out of town for a few days next week, so Cassi will join them the last Friday of October. We will post more pictures after Cassi’s “going-home” day too!

With Lyra becoming a pet, that means that we are now short one breeding female that we had planned would be of breeding age in late 2012. I am now scouting around for another breeding prospect female puppy (or maybe two) that would replace her. It will take some time, but once I have news you’ll see it here!

Visit with Garnet

2011-09-27T07:33:00.007-04:00

We drove out to Cornwall on Sunday to pick up Garnet. It was a glorious fall day, warm and sunny. We took Amore and the puppies (Lyra & Cassi) along, but Zip spent the day with Linda of Canadian Doodle Puppies so he didn’t get to come.

Garnet’s family has a large back yard, so kids & dogs all spent a good couple of hours romping in the yard. Garnet is one amazing Frisbee dog and boy she loves to play!! Her family has a play tunnel, so we did some agility tunnel with Amore.

And I napped on the sofa for close to two hours. After about four post-1 am nights this past week, I sure needed the rest!! Garnet will be with us for about a week while we breed her for her second litter – stayed tuned for an announcement of stud & breeding date!

Lyra & Tes

kids on trampoline

Early morning at the dog park

2011-09-26T15:12:00.000-04:00

There are dog owners who make it a habit to get their dogs out early to the dog park every, or nearly every morning. Rain or shine, snow or hail (well, maybe not hail…) I have always thought that would be nice but doubted we’d ever be among the crowd that managed it – I mean, with two kids that need to get off to school, breakfast to be eaten, making sure everything is sorted for the day, who could manage it??!?? We can’t even get out of bed in time to walk the dogs around the block after breakfast and before the school bus comes, let along get to the dog park!!

Well, last Friday we did!

After unsuccessfully pushing the kids all week to get up & out & at’em early enough to do even a short dog walk, I figured – well, who needs to sit down to eat breakfast anyhow? So I told the kids to be ready for a surprise in the morning, then once they were in bed packed a portable eat-in-the-car breakfast, made sure school lunches were ready to be put in backpacks, loaded dog leashes, water bottle & poop bags in the car, set everybody’s glass of milk & morning vitamins ready on the counter, and put toothbrushes, toothpaste & water by the door.

At 6:10 I was up, dressed and waking the kids, telling them to get up, we’re going to the dog park!! At first they didn’t believe me, but they quickly responded and we were out the door by 6:25, at the dog park by 6:40 – the first car in the parking lot!

We took a long walk, exploring several trails we’d not been on before. The dogs loved their romp through fields, bushes & forest. What with the morning dew they got rather wet and bedraggled, but none the less enthusiastic.

By 7:40 we were back at the parking lot and headed to school. As the kids hadn’t eaten all their breakfast yet, we finished it on the way to school and then brushed teeth beside the car out on the street. The kids were a couple minutes late getting in – next time we’ll know to leave the park a few minutes earlier.

But it was fun and the kids said they want to do it again. Amazing how it’s easier to get out of bed to go to the dog park than to get out of bed to do morning chores and eat at the table… We’ll see if the enthusiasm is still there once mornings are dark and cold and it starts snowing…

Howdy, Magnum!

2011-09-22T05:44:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday we visited Magnum at his Guardian Family.

One very big yard, eight dogs, five kids, two grown-ups… it was controlled mayhem and a load of fun!

We brought Amore, Zip, Lyra & Cassi. They had Magnum, Robbie & Piper. The neighbour’s Lab, Dodge, joined in the fun.

Robbie wanted to play chase – Amore obliged.

Piper (who is the oldest at 11) wasn’t sure all the action was such a good idea.

The kids – aged 5, 5, 7, 8, and 11 – put puppies in wagons, playhouses, arms, and more.

Lyra likes to tussle – everyone was a target! (Even Grandma MoMo at one point.)

Magnum couldn’t decide whom to play with first – he followed Zip, Lyra, Amore, Robbie… whoever got in the way. But Lyra really caught his fancy – hey, she is a spunky gal with lots of vim & verve.

Zip got lots of snuggles from Magnum’s Mom.

At one point, after the kids had abandoned the little kiddie play structure, Lyra discovered it... It has a slide, a little tunnel at one end, and a door giving access to the inside where one end of the tunnel is. Lyra started racing around in quick circles, into the structure through the tunnel, around & back again, with Cassi & Magnum in hot pursuit. Robbie stood by the outside end of the tunnel whining - he was too big to get through - while Zip & Mo looked on... We were all cracking

By snapping about 150 pictures, I managed to get a good dozen or so of Magnum, some of which are featured here. (Amazingly, not too many of the 150 pictures feature dog parts – tails, legs, butts, etc – from dogs who got out of the camera window before I caught up!)

Cassiopeia STILL available

2011-09-21T06:21:00.000-04:00

Our Cassiopeia, daughter of Garnet & Hot Sake, is still available.

Cassi was born May 21 so she turned four months old today. Cassi is a real little sweetheart. She has a gentle, calm temperament. She gets wound up sometimes by her sister, Lyra, who is the smarty-pants of the puppy family. They LOVE to tussle, romp, and play hard. But when she's not with her sister, Cassi is quiet though still playful, and very very sweet. She will play by herself when necessary, and will not make a fuss at being alone. She loves to cuddle, play tug-of-war, and chase balls (hasn't yet got the hang of bringing them back, though!).

We are still working on house-trainng - she is doing pretty good though not 100%. But within another couple of weeks it should "click" - usually around 4 months of age is when the pups really catch on. Cassi is used to being in her crate at night and for short periods (max 4 hours) during the day when no one is home.

Cassi is already spayed and has had all her vaccinations, including rabies just this past weekend. She has been dewormed (including a first dose of heartworm) and is microchipped. She is good on a leash and doesn't tend to pull (except when the kids or other dogs are ahead of her and she wants to catch up!). She has been well-socialized, with visits to my kids school classroom, meeting other dogs in the neighbourhood, being taken to the vet and to other people's homes, etc.

I have wished more than once that we were keeping Cassi for our breeding program – she is such a sweetie and so good-natured! But I have enough black dogs at the moment. So she really needs a good home.

Direct inquiries to http://www.blogger.com/goog_1846969232 .

Welcome to Zip!

2011-09-20T01:04:00.000-04:00

DragonRam Doodles is pleased to announce that we have acquired Springville Zippity Doo Dah, a red-and-white parti stud prospect, from Springville Labradoodles in Oregon.

Zip was born April 4, 2011, so is still just a puppy. He has already been fully health tested to the Gold Paw standard of the ALAA – meaning he has good hips and elbows, no eye problems, good thyroid levels, and is clear of the genetic disease PRA. We will repeat his hip test once he’s a bit older, to ensure he hasn’t developed any hip/elbow issues during puppyhood, and his eye and thyroid exams will be repeated at least every 18 months.

Zip arrived in Toronto on Friday, September 9^th, after a 4½ hour direct flight from Portland. My family had driven down the night before and, after spending the morning at the Toronto zoo, headed to the airport to get him. Owing to Toronto rush-hour traffic and some issues at customs, we didn’t actually get him until about 5:30. Boy was he glad to see us! Even though we were strangers to him, he came to us willingly (who wouldn’t, after close to 9 hours cooped up a crate?) and was very friendly and calm. That first night we stayed at some friends in Toronto and put Zip in his crate in my son’s bedroom. Zip did not want to be in the crate, so after a few minutes piteous whining we let him out and he spent the night sleeping on the bed beside my son.

Saturday afternoon we drove home to Ottawa, and Zip did very well in the car – other than being unable to hold onto his poop until I could find a spot to pull over. Thanks to the kids for having the presence of mind to haul out a poop bag and hold it under his bum until he’d finished the job!!

Since we arrived home, Zip has settled in nicely. He likes to play with Lyra & Cassi – especially Lyra, the little doggie ring-leader of the family. He loves my kids – and does well with me, too! – and looks to Amore for cues on how to behave. He is a very, very quiet dog that rarely barks. He has a calm, gentle and loving disposition, playful but not wild, very social and laid-back. He adores snuggles.

We hope that Zip will move in with his forever Guardian Family by the end of September. We will miss having him with us, but will look forward to occasional visits to his house and romps at the dog park.

We expect to use Zip with Lyra to produce some beautiful cream, gold, and apricot babies. He and Galena would have lovely creams, blacks, and cream or black parti pups (he probably does not carry chocolate but we will be testing to be sure). Down the road, as we acquire more dams, we will use Zip with them as well.

Welcome here, Zip!

Zip is co-owned with Canadian Doodle Puppies.

Bye-bye Helios!

2011-07-31T15:55:00.000-04:00

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!

2011-07-26T07:15:00.005-04:00

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!

2011-07-25T06:22:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-23T09:03:00.010-04:00

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!

2011-07-22T10:20:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-13T06:33:00.002-04:00

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

2011-07-12T12:37:00.000-04:00

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

2011-07-08T06:51:00.002-04:00

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

DragonRam Doodle Romp

2011-07-07T15:38:00.003-04:00

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?

2011-07-06T07:11:00.007-04:00

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

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

2011-07-05T07:42:00.003-04:00

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!!!

2011-07-04T15:02:00.000-04:00

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!!!

Personalities

2011-06-26T07:55:00.001-04:00

Now that the puppies are able to walk, run, see, and hear, we are starting to see their personalities coming through.

Helios (Lio or Bohden), the youngest, is the most adventuresome of the lot. He is always the first one out to explore, wandering farther and staying out longer than his siblings as he noses his way from spot to spot, discovering his world and learning his place in it.

Corona Borealis (Corona), the middle pup and the smallest, is also fairly adventuresome and very playful.

Lyra, the youngest female and one of the biggest puppies, is a bit lazy and complacent. She’ll be the last one up and the first one napping, but when she plays she does it with gusto! (She’s the only one without a nickname as her name is already short and easy.)

Antares (Tarry or Tigger) is another boisterous male who is curious and friendly.

Last but not least, Cassiopeia (Cassie) is a playful girl who doesn’t attract a lot of attention but enjoys playing with Grandma Amore in particular.

At the dog park

2011-06-25T06:18:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week we took the puppies to the dog park for a visit. Seeing as they haven't yet had their vaccinations, we didn't let them wander around, but put some blankets on the ground, set the puppy playpen up on the blankets, and let them play there while we threw the ball for Garnet close by.

So what's the point of taking puppies to a dog park when they can't run around? Mainly it's socialization. Puppies need to be socialized to all kinds of new situations, new people, new dogs, new objects, new locations, etc etc. The more you introduce them to new things as puppies, the more they will become accustomed to new things and view them as "ordinary" rather than things to be afraid of. Many, many dog bits are the result of a fear reaction, so if we can work to eliminate the fear reaction - or at least significantly tone it down - when they are puppies, then they will grow into secure, confident dogs for whom doing new stuff is pretty blase.

We had a good dozen or so people stop by the playpen to say hi and cuddle the puppies, and many dogs who came up and sniffed at them through the grate. So they got to see big dogs, small dogs, white dogs, black dogs, brown dogs, male dogs, female dogs - and lots of different kinds of people, too. That's another dozen "strangers" to put on the introduction list!