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!

A few birthdays

What with breeding Topaz, my son’s soccer tournament and my daughter’s Europe trip, we kind of missed Phoenix’s birthday almost 10 days ago, on 4 March. She turned 5 (already!!) and remains an active, happy-go-lucky dog who loves cuddles and chasing squirrels. Really, she acts like she’s still only 2!!

Our girl Phoenix

Plus, last Thursday, 9 March, was actually the birthday of Galena and her brother, Teddy Malachite, who turned 6!! Teddy lives in North Vancouver, while our Mama Galena, who had her final litter last summer, enjoys a happy retirement nearby in Gatineau.

Gorgeous Galena

In fact, one of Galena’s puppies from her last litter joined Uncle Teddy in North Van last October!! Teddy took a little while to get used to having an annoying little pup around, but they are now best buds. For her part, Galena’s half-brother Frisou is happy to have her all to himself again – even though she does compete for human attention…

We wish you all a very happy birthday, and all the best for the year ahead!

Guardian home needed!

As I mentioned in my last post, we are planning to keep one of Harmony's puppies as a potential breeder. 

That means we are looking for a Guardian Family to keep this lovely pup and help us make our breeding program a success. By placing breeding dogs in Guardian Homes, we ensure our breeders are raised in a family setting, given lots of love and attention, and well-looked after. This also helps to make an urban breeding program viable, as we could not keep enough dogs in our home for a full-fledged breeding program, and we do not believe in rehoming adult dogs unless absolutely necessary. When our breeders retire, they do not need to go live somewhere else - they simply stay with their Guardian Family in the home they have known since puppyhood. 

Since our Guardians are working with us to make our breeding program a success, the price of a Guardian dog is reduced and/or rebated. Since we are not 100% certain how much use we may make of the pups we will be keeping this year, we are taking a slightly different approach - the Guardians will pay a reduced price for the puppy, and if/when we choose to breed her, we will pay the Guardians a set amount for each litter up to the full purchase price of the dog. In this way, if we end up not using a puppy, we will not have simply given away one of our best pups. 

Guardians must live within 40km of central Ottawa (preferably less) and be willing to bring the dog to us when necessary. This involves a couple of medical checkups during the first year, checkups once every 18 months after that, and access to the dog for breeding purposes. For females, the dog comes to us to be bred, and then comes to stay with us one week before the expected arrival of her pups. She stays until the pups are weaned at age about 7 weeks, and then goes back to her family. 

We normally have three or four litters with each female before she retires. She would have her first litter at around 2 years of age, and then we would aim to com8plete all litters by the time she is 5 years old. 

The pups we will choose from for Harmony's litter are:
Harlequin (chocolate/white parti girl)
Bella (black female with white markings)
Dakota (chocolate female)
Which one is ultimately selected depends on the results of the temperament test and initial vet checkup. As such, the decision will be made after March 13. 

If you are interested in being a Guardian, please send an email to roma@dragonramdoodles.com. We will be looking for three Guardians this year - one puppy from each of Harmony's, Topaz's, and Phoenix's litters. 

Life gets exciting!

Harmony's puppies are now six weeks old!! 
The next few weeks will be eventful and be the first steps towards life away from Mama. 

On March 8 we will be taking them to my son's school for a visit with a couple of classrooms. The kids always love meeting the puppies (as do the teachers!) and the pups generally respond quite well to the attention, noise, hands, pats, and new surroundings. This will also be their first car trip. 

On March 13 they will undergo their temperament assessment in the morning and first vaccinations in the afternoon. The following weekend, March 17-19, the families that have reserved puppies will come and select which of two choices we offer them. 

Then on March 22 they will be neutered and have a couple of days to recover before heading home with their new families on March 25-26. 

As of today, four of the puppies have been reserved and we plan to keep one as a potential breeder, leaving two still available. If you are interested, please send an email to roma@dragonramdoodles.com. 

(As usual, photos of the pups can be seen on our Facebook page. )

Happy birthday to Galena's first puppies

It's hard to believe, but Galena's first litter of puppies is turning four today!! How time does fly!

Cupcake Kiera, Tara Firefly, Kacey Lunette, Hershey Crispin, Oscar Apollo and Matilda Nubia were born on a Thursday afternoon in January 2013, Galean's first litter when she was not quite two years old. As I recall, she had an easy and quiet birthing experience and settled right in to the job of mamahood. 

Of these six puppies, Kacey Lunette is now living in Toronto, Cupcake Kiera went to be a breeding mama for Barksdale Labradoodles in Mississippi, and the other four remained here in Ottawa. We see Matilda fairly regularly and have also had the good fortune to see Hershey, Tara and Oscar from time to time. 

Happy fourth birthday to all of you!!

And the winner is...!

With each litter of puppies we have a “Guess How Many Puppies” contest, where we invite our puppy families’ to guess both the number of puppies will be born and the date and time of arrival of the first one.

We had good participation this time, with about 20 guesses ranging from five to eight puppies and from 17 to 24 January.

And the winner of the 2017 Harmony edition of the contest is…..

MONICA!!!

Congratulations Monica! We’ll pass on your prize, a $10 Timmy’s gift card, when we see you next!

Puppies have arrived!

I am thrilled to announce that Harmony and Hugo are the proud parents of a second litter of seven beautiful puppies – one male and SIX females!!

I got a call at work just after noon from my father saying the first puppy had popped out a few minutes earlier. So I finished up what I was doing and headed out the door.

By the time I got home, puppy #3 had just arrived. I checked them all out and everything seemed fine, so I sat down beside Harmony to wait and lend a hand. Puppies #4 and #5 came in fairly short order, but then she took a long break – about 75 minutes before puppy #6 arrived. Another long break followed and puppy #7 popped out just as we were finishing supper preparations.

So here’s the list:

Puppy #1 – born at 11:54, male, cream parti, 243g (Domino)

Puppy #2 – 12:48, female, curly solid cream, 258g (Jyn)

Puppy #3 – 12:59, female, solid black with a couple white spots, 256g (Bella)

Puppy #4 – 13:30, female, chocolate parti, 274g (Roxy)

Puppy #5 – 13:45, female, cream with white chest, 269g (April)

Puppy #6 – 15:07, female, solid chocolate with white toes, 263g (Dakota)

Puppy #7 – 16:52, female, chocolate parti, 227g (Harlequin)

Puppies are nursing heartily and squeakily, Mama is tired but well, and humans are happy and excited. 

Puppies on the way!

It’s official! Harmony is pregnant! She had her ultrasound on Christmas Eve morning and the vet counted seven puppies under development. That is a great number – she had seven with her first litter, so she’s being consistent!

Harmony - the mama

Hugo Nico - the papa

 These pups could come in any colour or pattern – cream, chocolate, or black, in solid, parti, phantom or tri-colour. Harmony is black parti and carries phantom, while Hugo Nico is cream (invisible phantom – i.e. he has the genetics for phantom colouring but because his coat colour is cream it’s not expressed) and carries parti. We loved the pups Harmony and Hugo Nico produced with their first mating , so we decided to repeat it. Her first litter in June produced two caramel parti pups, one black parti, two solid black, one chocolate parti tricolour, and one black parti tricolour. This litter is likely to be similar.

Pascal Cirilla
from Harmony & Hugo's June litter

Aristotle
from Harmony & Hugo's June litter

Herschel Harley
from Harmony & Hugo's June litter

Harmony’s due date is 22 January 2017. Last June she gave birth one day before her due date, so we expect these pups to arrive around Jan 20-21. If you are interested, send us an email (roma@dragonramdoodles.com) and we will send you an application form. We will be accepting up to 5 deposits on this litter (and may either keep or sell one or two pups as breeders).

Happy puppy dreams!

Doodle Romp coming up!

The next DragonRam doodle romp is taking place this coming Sunday, 11 September, at 4pm at the usual location (DragonRam HQ). While the forecast is currently calling for a cooler day than we've been having recently (22 degrees) with a 60% chance of rain, we are hoping the rain takes a break for the hour we will be out. We are hoping for a good turnout! 

P.S. September 11 is Ethiopian New Year - the first day of the year 2009 according to the Ethiopian calendar!! 

The latest news

Okay, so I'm behind in my updates!!

The last two of Harmony's puppies both found homes. Levy went to his family on 20 August and Aristotle on 27 August. 

So now we have just Galena's puppies, which are growing like weeds! They turned six weeks old yesterday, so the next three weeks will be the eventful ones. We microchipped them yesterday. Wednesday of next week they are having their temperament assessment in the morning and going for vaccinations and checkup in the afternoon. The following weekend (Sep 16-18) will be puppy selection time for our families. Then Wed 21 they will be neutered and ready to head for homes as of Sep 23. 

Six of these puppies have been reserved, and we expect to place one or two as breeders, so might have one or none left depending on the breeding prospects. 

Both Phoenix's and Harmony's litters had a couple pups that were quite noisy and demanding, but this litter seems much quieter. They do whine a bit when they are hungry or want attention, but none of them get too loud about it. That is nice for us when we want to sleep in a bit of a weekend!! Of course, now that school is in there won't be as much sleeping in happening, especially not on weekdays for the kids!!

Two puppies ready to go!

Five of Harmony's seven puppies have already gone or will soon go to their new homes. But the two black boys are still waiting for homes. (Sad to say, but black puppies are often harder to place than others.)

I am offering a $100 discount to anyone who takes one of these puppies by Sunday 21 August - so just $2300 (plus HST - yes, as of this summer we have had to start feed the govt...). 

We have:

DragonRam Levy 

black with a tiny white spot on his chest 

and white toe-tips

Thoughtful, Independent, Gentle

Levy is a cautious boy who enjoys exploring his environment slowly with his mouth. He takes his time to bond to a new human, but once he does, he will check in regularly with his people, and will benefit from an owner who encourages him to continue these behaviours. 

DragonRam Aristotle

black with white toetips on one paw

Cautious, Gentle, Patient
Aristotle is a sensitive pup who will explore his environment slowly by bumping his nose against objects and people. He takes time to bond to a new human but once he does he becomes more engaging and interactive. He will benefit from a safe space with regular routines and a familiar environment. He will respond poorly to harsh correction. He has a low-average energy level. 

Six weeks old! (Harmony's pups)

Well, Harmony's babies are now six weeks old! We are seeing definite personalities in them by now - feisty and playful for some, quiet and subdued for one or two. All are happy, healthy, growing well. 

The next two weeks will be eventful for these babies. Next Wednesday, 3 August, they will be assessed for temperament. That is fun for us and, we hope, for them - it's a chance to see how they react to a new person (the dog behaviourist) in a new environment (our basement, where they've never been before). We will get the results of the assessment on Friday, and then over the next two days the prospective families will come and select their puppy. 

Then on Monday 8 August they visit the vet for the first time, for a check0-up and vaccinations. Three days later, on 11 August, they will be neutered. Then just two or three days after that, they will head home to begin life with their new families!

As of today we still have two puppies available, but we expect another will likely be reserved today or tomorrow, leaving just one. We keep getting new inquiries almost every every day! By the time comes for puppy allocation - in just 9 days! - I expect they will all be spoken for. (But five of Galena's eight pups are still available - they are now four days old.)

We have MORE puppies!

Well, Galena did it again! Last November our vet had counted six pups on the ultrasound but she gave us six. Now, I am very pleased to announce that Galena surprised us in the wee hours of Sunday morning by giving birth to EIGHT beautiful babies, rather than the seven our vet had counted at the end of June. Cumin is the sire to this litter as he was to the last.

We have:

Puppy #1: male, 201g, caramel, born at 12:38am (Qibli)

Puppy #2: male, 238g, chocolate silvered phantom, born at 12:56am (Apex)

Puppy #3: female, 187g, light caramel, born at 01:21 (Mica)

Puppy #4: male, 255g, chocolate with white chest, born at 01: 49 (Bruno)

Puppy #5: female, 209g, chocolate phantom, born at 02:06 (Brooke)

Puppy #6: male, 250g, very pale cream, born at 02:53 (Zeus)

Puppy #7: female, 233g, solid chocolate, born at 03:17 (Piper)

Puppy #8: male, 221g, dark caramel/red, born at 03:22 (Flame)

So yes, my daughter Tristan and I had a pretty sleepless night, getting to bed around 4am (once we were sure she was done) and sleeping in until around 11.

This means that the winner of the Guess How Many Puppies contest is Catherine, who guessed eight puppies with the first born on 24 July at 3:00pm. When she submitted her guess, I remember thinking “24 July? No way, that’s way too early!” So much for my assumptions! In fact, Galena had been scheduled to come to us the afternoon of July 24, but her Guardians called up mid-Saturday asking if they could bring her over that evening as they didn’t think she would last until Sunday afternoon. Were they ever right!

Three of these puppies are already reserved, leaving five available. If you know anyone who is thinking of getting a puppy, send them our way!

Pregnancy confirmed!!

Galena had her ultrasound yesterday afternoon. We are happy to announce that YES!! We are expecting more puppies!!

The vet counted (most likely) seven little active healthy pups - give or take one.

Galena is due the week of July 25. So far we have a reservation for one of her puppies, so there are still lots available - but that is likely to change quickly enough. 

Here is the list of puppy guesses on her Guess How Many Puppies contest. We have a number of likely finalists - remains to be seen when the first pup arrives to determine the final winner. 

Name	# of puppies	date/time
Martin	4	28 July 14:30
Janet B	5	26 July, 19:20
Adrienne TC	5	27 July, 16:30
Melissa B	5	27 July, 17:00
Suzie Baril	5	27 July 18:15
Jennifer O	5	28 July 15:00
Barbara B	5	28 July, 23:00
Emma P	6	25 July, 17:00
Susan CB	6	26 July, 13:42
Sarah P	6	26 July, 16:30
Suzanne	6	28 July, 16:45
Tristan	7	27 July, 21:00
Amélie L TC	7	27 July, 17:30
Patrice P	7	27 July, 19:07
Karen P	7	28 July, 14:00
Joséphine L TC	7	28 July, 15:00
Monica	7	28 July, 16:00
Catherine C	8	24 July, 15:00
Katie GM	8	25 July, 16:00
Laurent L TC	8	28 July, 19:30