Happy third birthday to Harmony and the other pups of Topaz's first litter!

Harmony's second litter just went home in late March, so at the age of three she is the proud mama of 14 beautiful babies (two litters of seven each).

 

Sweet Harmony

We have also had the pleasure of seeing Brio and his family fairly regulary and Rusty a couple of times at our Doodle Romps. Darwin lives in Toronto and Sheeva in Montreal, so they haven't been able to join us. :-(

The sixth puppy in this litter, Celeste, was stillborn after a difficult attempt at delivery. We hope you are looking down on us from puppy heaven!!

All the best to the five of you! Happy birthday and enjoy those doggy cupcakes (or whatever your humans give you to celebrate!)a

Happy first birthday to Phoenix's second litter: Kinoko Ivy, Peanut, Boomer Ash, Cooper Indigo, Poppy and Lavender!

I would wager to state that these six pups were/are the biggest (as a group) that we have ever had. Mama Phoenix is about 30 lbs, and Papa Jackson was around the same. By the time she was eight weeks pregnant, Phoenix was huge and probably weighed over 40 lbs!! When born, the smallest of these was bigger than the biggest we’d had before, and the the biggest was just under 400g – huge by our standards!

Peanut at 8 weeks old

 Now one year old, I believe most of them (with the possible exception of Lavender, who was the smallest pup) are over 40 lbs. We have the good luck to see Poppy regularly at our Doodle Romps, and Peanut has also joined us on occasion despite living in Montreal (now that’s dedication!!). Ivy and Lavender have also come once or twice, but Boomer and Cooper live far away in Toronto.  (One of these days we’ll have to organize a Toronto romp for all our pups who go there!)

Cooper at eight weeks old

Poppy has a canine sister, Lily, whom she loves like crazy, along with three human brothers. All the other pups are single dogs, though most have human siblings (except for Peanut).

We wish you all the best on this momentous day of turning ONE!!

Happy squirrel dreams!

Happy 5th birthday to Topaz, Pearl, Sid, Banjo and PJ!

Well, it’s been five years since Topaz arrived on the scene, along with her sister Pearl and brothers Obidian (Sid), PJ & Banjo!

Topaz had her first litter just after her second birthday and her second litter just after her third birthday. Now she is pregnant again with her third and final litter due just after her fifth birthdqay!

Topaz is a beautiful apricot girl who is very happy in her guardian home. Her human siblings are growing up and moving on, but she loves to run out the back door and out the yard to the wide open park behind her home.

We’ve been lucky enough to see Pearl and Sid at the occasional Doodle Romp, and PJ showed up once too. We always love seeing our former pups and their people! Banjo lives in North Bay which is a bit far to drive in for an hour’s walk, but we know he’s doing well up north.

Reminder - Guess How Many Puppies

As the days continue to warm up, what little snow remains melts away, and we dream of crocuses, tulips, and fresh green leaves... so do the days count down until Topaz’s whelping date.

How many puppies do you think I'll have this time?

 We have a few guesses already, but it’s always nice to have a good competition, so – remember you have just four more days to submit your guesses for this spring’s Topaz edition of our Guess How Many Puppies contest!

If you missed the details in the first post here is a summary: Topaz’s first two litters consisted of 6 and 5 puppies and were born in late afternoon to late evening; and her most likely whelping date is estimated to be around 3-5 May. 

You have until noon on April 3^rd to send in your guesses – how many puppies, and the date and time the first one arrives – for your chance to win a $10 Timmy’s or Chapter’s gift card!

Happy puppy dreams!

Happy belated fourth birthday to Galena's first litter!

Galena’s first litter was born on 29 January 2013. She had six beautiful babes:

• Oscar Apollo, Cupcake Kiera, Hershey Crispin, Tara Firefly, Matilda Nubia, and Kacey Lunette

 

Matilda

Kiera is now a breeding mama with Barksdale Labradoodles in Mississippi.

Kacey lives in Toronto, while the other four live here in Ottawa. We see Matilda fairly regularly at our Doodle Romps (when her family isn’t travelling) – she looks just like her mama! We wish you all a happy belated birthday (four years and two months today!). Hope you are enjoying the (almost) spring!

Happy birthday to Phoenix's first babies!

Happy third birthday to Katniss Alice, Cumin Chino, Chewy Zurry, Marley Juniper, Nelly Iris, and Tobey Lupin! (Our St Patrick's Day puppies!!

Cumin Chino has sired two litters totalling 15 pups with Galena, so he’s an experienced stud – though I wouldn’t say “father” as the stud’s involvement in puppy rearing is non-existent!! All he gets to do is put things in motion and leave mama (and us humans) to do all the work. Hmph.

Just kidding, we love Cumin Chino!! (But we’re happy human fathers don’t take that route…)

Big boy Cumin Chino

atniss Alice is the only other of this litter that we have regular contact with, as her family brings her and her canine sibling Leo (one of our other pups, though unrelated to Katniss) to the occasional Doodle Romp.

Katniss Alice - a beautiful girl!

 Tobey and Nelly live in Montreal, though Marley and Chewy are local. 

Happy birthday to all of you!! Best of luck as you move into your fourth year. 

Guess How Many Puppies - Topaz edition

So, Topaz is (most likely) pregnant, meaning it is time for another edition of our Guess How Many Puppies contest!!

Topaz-Mama to be (for the third time!)

 Please send us your guesses! Each guess needs to include:

• ·         how many puppies she will give birth to
• ·         the date and time of the arrival of the first pup

The person who guesses the correct number of puppies, with the date and time closest o the actual arrival, wins a $10 Timmy’s or Chapter’s gift card!

This will be Topaz’s third and final litter. Her first was six puppies (of which one was unfortunately still-born), and her second was five puppies. So I expect lots of guesses for five or six pups – but four or seven could also be possible! (Or three, or eight… !!)

As for timing, Topaz ovulated on 3 March. Gestation is roughly 63 days after ovulation, but Topaz gave birth on the 61^st day with her first two litters. That would put her most likely whelping date around 3-5 May, give or take a day or two.

Topaz’s ultrasound to confirm pregnancy and get a preliminary puppy count is scheduled for 3 April, so we will accept guesses until noon that day. Once we announce the initial puppy count from the ultrasound, no more guesses will be allowed. That gives you just over three weeks to send us your guesses.

So go to it!