More puppies (soon to be) on the way!

Well, our girl Harmony just came into heat this past weekend. This is almost a month earlier than I had anticipated, but no problem, we'll work it out. 

I had hoped to use our new stud boy, Hugo, with her, but he may be too young. We're testing his semen quality Wednesday morning, along with a progesterone test for Harmony to check whether she's ready yet or not. If it turns out Hugo isn't yet mature enough to make babies, we'll use a Canadian Doodles stud - most likely Rogue, Oscar or Clifford (to be determined). 

Watch this space for more details over the next week or so. (And also for news of Phoenix babies, due to arrive in about two weeks!)

Welcome to Hugo!

Over the past couple of months I have been working to obtain another stud puppy for our program. I am happy to announce that as of last Thursday, we welcomed Scotia Doodles Hugo to our dog family!!

Hugo was born on 31 July 2015, so he is now 3 months old. He is a lovely apricot colour, and carries black and chocolate. Not to mention that he is an invisible phantom, so bred with a black or chocolate phantom female they would have lots of beautiful phantom pups! He is expected to mature to about 30 lbs and 17" at the shoulder. His sire is Puppy Loves unDante and his dam is Scotia Doodles Amber. 
 

He has already been tested for EIC, PRA, OSD, and had an initial CERF exam. All that remains is to check his hips, which we will do early in 2016, check vWD and get a genetic ID. Once he passes all testing and matures we expect to use him with our girls Harmony and Phoennix, and possibly others. We will also consider studding him out to approved females, if there is interest.
 

One of our prime reasons for getting a second in-house stud is specifically to have a match for Harmony. We had intended to use Cumin with her, but they are both EIC carriers so that is out of the question. Also, having an in-house stud suitable for use with Phoenix (and possibly Katniss) is good, as Cumin is Phoenix's son and Katniss's brother, so those pairings are also out of the question! 

Hugo will be joining Cumin in his guardian family, so both our studs will live together. Here's hopint they get along!

Happy birthday Katniss Alice, Cumin Chino, Nelly Iris, Marley Juniper, Tobey Lupin, and Chewy Zurry!

This was our Saint Patrick’s Day litter, turning one today!!

In addition to the plant theme we are using for Phoenix’s pups, we gave all these pups a second name with a Saint Patrick’s Day or Irish theme in honour of their birth date. Of course, most of our puppy families give them their own name, so the Saint Patrick’s Day name was dropped in their registered name for all but Alice and Chino (who are our breeding hopefuls), but I’ll give you the list here just for fun.

Tobey:         born “Lupin Leprechaun”

Marley:       born “Pot o’ Gold Juniper”
Nelly:           born “Iris Rose”
Alice:           born “Katniss Cloverdeen”
Chino:          born “Cumin Blackthorn”
Chewy:        born “Zurry Rainbow”

Cumin Chino

Katniss Alice

Happy first birthday! May you each find your own pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow!

 

DragonRam Cumin Blackthorn ("Chino")

Cumin was the first of Phoenix's pups to go to his new home, on Tuesday May 13. Cumin is a very handsome chocolate phantom boy. While officially called chocolate phantom, his colouring is unique - he has a darker chocolate stripe down his back, but his sides are a lighter almost cinnamon-mocha-cappucino colour - so his new family intends to call him "Chino." As a result, the phantom markings on his eybrows, muzzle, paws and butt are not as distinct as on our other phantom pups. But he is still a handsome boy!

Cumin-Chino has been placed in a Guardian Home as we are keeping him as a stud prospect for our breeding program. Over the next year we will conduct health testing and hope that he passes and that we can use him as a stud to enable us to produce a line of phantom pups with select females.

This is the desciption of him from the temperament evaluation done a couple weeks ago:

FOCUSED, INTELLIGENT, CURIOUS
Cumin is a smart puppy with an excellent ability to focus on objects in his surroundings. He retains some very ‘Lab-like’ hunting and retrieving qualities. When in doubt, he will align himself with his owner side-by-side, He will not hide, but sit or stand confidently knowing he has a power alliance. Due to his heightened focus, it can be difficult to redirect him. He will need practice following and maintaing focus on his owner. Teaching the cue “look at me” will be helpful. He is not easily startled by his environment, but will move slowly and cautiously in new situations.

Cumin-Chino has gone to live not too far away from us. His Guardian, Laurie, has had dogs before and believes in good training, which will be very beneficial for a stud boy.

Good luck together, Cumin & Laurie!

Puppies on the way!

It has been a while since I have used this forum to communicate anything of interest to the dog-lovers out there. The time has been spent focusing on home and work. It’s been crazy busy at the office, and on the home front I’ve had my hands full with arranging childcare for after Christmas and finding a housecleaner to keep things in hand, since my previous Nanny/ housekeeper gave notice in late September. I’ve had the chance to spend more time working with the kids on their reading and school work, and take Mo & Phoenix for training.

But all that will change soon enough.

Galena in heat

Our girl, DragonRam Galena, went into heat in late November. We did progesterone tests last Wednesday and Saturday and determined that Sunday and Monday would be the optimal mating dates. After deciding that Kodiak, my earlier choice of studs, would be too large for Galena to do a natural mating, I settled on Springville Spirit, a lovely caramel parti boy who lives not too far away from us.

(Pix of Galena & Spirit as younger pups.)

Galena came to us from her guardian home mid-afternoon on Sunday. Spirit showed up for a date later Sunday afternoon and again Monday evening. He got down to business right away each time, and Galena was a very cooperative and willing partner. This was a first for her but she knew just what to do and was very happy to let Spirit do his job, even encouraging him with her playful behaviour.

The mating was accomplished within about 20 minutes each time. Afterwards Galena was even more playful than before, bouncing and batting at Spirit like a little hot cookie! It was cute to watch. She went back home to her guardians (and her brother, Carny, who was pining in her absence) later Monday evening. Now we just let nature take its course and wait for the puppies to appear!

Next steps

We will be doing an ultrasound likely in early January to confirm pregnancy and get an initial puppy count, followed by an x-ray the last week of January so we know how many to expect. The expected whelping date is around February 1^st.

These puppies will delicious shades of chocolate and caramel, with some solid and some parti (white with coloured spots). There is a slight chance of a phantom or tri-colour, but it’s pretty slim.

Guess how many puppies contest

As for our previous litters, I invite people to submit guesses as to (1) how many puppies will be born and (2) what date/time the first one will arrive. The person who guesses the correct number of puppies and has the closest date/time to the actual arrival will win a $10 gift card to Tim Horton’s (or, if the winner is 15 or under, to Toys R Us).

Stay tuned for news of the ultrasound early in 2013!

Good-bye to Aspen

Last Saturday we said good-bye to Aspen, our lovely caramel parti boy whom we had hoped to use as a stud but who had a bad overbite, making him unsuitable for breeding.

He is going to a lovely rural property in Haliburton, about 3 hours west of Ottawa, where he can enjoy a fun time with his new family. Derek & Judy are a retired couple who enjoy dogs and outdoor fun and will provide a great home for our lovely boy.

Aspen had a grooming session Saturday morning and was all spiffed up and smart-looking when Derek & Judy arrived with their daughter to pick him up. He greeted them joyously - as he does everybody!! - and went with them without qualm or hardly a backward look.

I do miss his friendly presence and happy outlook on life. Aspen is a great dog and would have made a wonderful stud. He loved to play with our puppies and demonstrated a keen interest in them from the time they were born. He was always friendly and happy.

There is one positive thing about his departure - my underwear is now safe from being chewed to bits. (!!!) And with the imminent arrival of another litter, we did need to make space for more dogs at home. We still need to place Leo and either Scarlett or Ariel.

I am sure Aspen is enjoying himself out in the country right now! Good luck to you, dood!

Health test results for Kodiak

Kodiak accompanied Galena on the visit to the veterinary ophthalmologist in January for his required CERF eye check-up. I am pleased to report that his eyes checked out as normal. 

Kodiak’s preliminary OFA hip assessment was done in mid-December. The official OFA report gave him a rating of “Good” for his hips and elbows “normal” – both satisfactory results. He was only four months old when this was done, but it is still a good indicator of the soundness of his hips and elbows. We will repeat the test when he is two years old to get a final certified rating. 

We also chose to do a first thyroid test in December, and all checked out well. The ALAA requires that the thyroid and CERF tests be repeated at least every 18 months, as conditions can change and disease can develop. Kodiak’s next thyroid test will be certifiable as he will be over one year of age, but this preliminary test is again a good indication of health. 

Kodiak has passed 

all his required health testing!! 

All he needs to do now is to mature before we use him as a stud. By age 10 months – early June 2012 – he should be mature enough to sire puppies.

Welcome to Aspen & Kodiak

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!

Introducing Magnum

We went to the airport again earlier today to welcome a new arrival to Ottawa:

CD Maggie’s Magnum Rocky Road!!!

Magnum is a chocolate phantom stud-quality puppy that I have bought together with Linda of Canadian Doodle Puppies (also located in Ottawa). Magnum was born on March 14, 2011, at Canadoodles Australian Labradoodles in Grand Forks, BC. His dam is CD Sugar’s Maggie Muggins and his sire is Rivermist Colby, aka MacDuff. Both are mini chocolate phantoms.

Magnum arrived just before noon after a long journey from Grand Forks involving a 2.5-hour drive, 3 flights, and about 24 hours in transit. That’s an awfully long journey for little guy! I took the kids to greet him at the airport and he was happy to see us all. He'd actually arrived in Ottawa two hours earlier than anticipated, but we were not made aware of this so by the time Linda arrived he was wailing and yowling and wanting freedom! By the time we arrived a half hour later Linda had let him out, taken him for a pee, and given him enough attention that he was happy, calm, friendly, and outgoing. What a trooper!!

Magnum will be living with Linda’s pack until we find a Guardian Home for him. (Any interested parties, please contact me.)

Magnum is just 5 days younger than Galena, for whom he will be a potential mate once both reach maturity. They would produce chocolate minis with possibly some chocolate phantoms and creams. I also intend to use him with the puppy we plan to keep back from Garnet’s litter to produce black phantom and possibly chocolate phantom or cream puppies.

Magnum Rocky Road gets his name from the high-end ice cream company, Magnum, and the ice cream flavour Rocky Road which, being a chocolate ice cream with marshmallows and walnuts, reflects his chocolate-and-tan colouring and his status as an unaltered male (i.e. with “nuts” – haha!).

 

 

We welcome Magnum into our program.