Beach Bunny

No snow dog here! This is Samson (Cotton/Brogue) who lives in southern GA and is glad of it!

Samson spends his days walking his kids to school, hanging out with their mom and then supervising them at soccer. He and his family were made for each other!

No News

Everyone is healthy and seems to be getting along with everyone else. It looks like Boon has convinced Jennifer's pups that HE is boss and now that they're all back in line, he's reverted to his old sweet, calm self. Interestingly, Peri (my Di/Brogue keeper pup who is VERY small compared to all the other pups) is still his second in command even though I never saw her get snarly with anyone. I wonder what it is about MY subconscious attitude toward the pups I'm keeping that tells everyone who is staying.

More snow dog pix


Still Winter in Utah!
Beckett still lovin' it!

Natural Instincts

The two litters of pups are now together all the time, inside and out. They get along fairly well although there have been a few dominance tiffs between Boon (my Wheaten pup) and the new guys. No real fights, just some sparring. This IS Boon's house and I think he just figures he's in charge.

The whole gang is going outside every couple hours... thank goodness for the great weather we've been having... AND it is making a HUGE difference in my "new newspapers for used newspapers" workload. Generally, I don't have to change any during the entire day and even in the morning, things are not terrible. The babies are growing up! It is interesting that they just "know" the outdoors is the better place for some things and are making the effort to wait on their own. They will be really easy to housebreak in their new homes.

Also, they are eating just adult food. No more puppy food. Maybe their growth rate will slow a tad!

Another Snow Dog

This is Luna in MD. She is perfectly at home outside in the white stuff although she is not particularly fond of meeting strangers. Some pretty strong "home body" tendencies coming from the Wheaten side of the family tree.

Surprise!

So, the pups quickly got used to going outside every 2-3 or 4 hours... it took all of one day and they think they've got me trained to their schedule. They use the newspaper in between times and at night and don't yet have a working relationship with the "put all this stuff outside" concept, but they like it out there. This evening I let in the last group of adults and noticed that it had begun to rain. The pups and I eyeballed each other while I debated letting them go out. They won. Or so they thought. I opened the pen. I open the front door. They went running out. They slid to a halt on the wet surface. I shut the door. Then I went about filling up all the food and water bowls from one end of the house to the other and picking up the used paper in the big puppy pen. And then I heard it... an absolute down pour. Followed very shortly by the sound of unhappy puppies. A LOT of unhappy puppies. Now the debate became let soaking wet pups in BEFORE putting down fresh newspaper. Or put down the paper before letting in the pups. How much wetter could they get in those few minutes? I'll tell you... they got a lot more unhappy in that time and when I opened the door, they came busting through in one tsunami tidal wave, washing straight into their pen. They did not pass "go," they did not collect $100, they did not stop until they were clumped in the very back of the corner and then, en masse, they whirled around and glared at me. Of course, all the fresh newspaper was soaked through to the floor. And I hate to tell you how fast 6 drenched long haired pups can
smell up a whole house. But I thought it was fun. They need to get a sense of humor.

The New Guys
Good thing I got everyone microchipped last weekend. I'd never be able to distinguish one from all the rest if I hadn't. Right now, the two groups are separated, but in a couple days I'll let them go outside together to work out the kinks and then put them all in one pen. The new pups are very quiet... still in shock... which won't last long. They have each other for moral support and after only 24 hours, are already showing interest in their new neighbors. Jennifer forwarded all the mail she'd gotten... a TON... and said she would email everyone to tell them how to get in touch with me. A couple people did so right away. Of course everyone wants pictures and when (and if) I ever get the time, I'll oblige. As hard as it is getting decent shots when pups are little, it's a hundred times worse at this age when everything is much more interesting and worth looking at than the person with the camera. Guess I could drug them into sitting still.... (That's a joke, folks.)

Snow Dog


9 months old Beckett in Salt Lake.
According to his main man, Beckett loves snow more than anything else in his world. Tony is convinced the pup is part Malamute.

United Parcel STINKS

Yep, UPS. I know many of you find it hard to believe there is any place in the country that doesn't have home mail delivery or where residential streets are not maintained (or even MARKED) by some governmental agency, but such is the life out in the country. Be that as it may, I recently order vaccines and a bark collar from Revival, where I purchase most of my dog equipment and supplies. The vaccines came overnight via Fed-X. Two weeks later, I still don't have the collar. So I put Revival on to tracking it down. The lady there told me the file said UPS tried to deliver it but couldn't find me and directions were needed and they had sent me a postcard to let me know that. Well, the postcard is obviously going to the street address... which isn't going to work because I don't have mail delivery out here. SO the Revival lady got in touch with UPStinks to advise them of that and the woman she talked to there said the note in HER file said the truck could not get up my driveway. Now, my little Ford Focus has no trouble getting up my drive (when it's not snowy or icy) and the Fed-X truck had no trouble getting up the drive when it WAS snowy and icy and the various vehicles the tree company uses have had no trouble getting up the drive.... But the worse part is: my actual drive is maybe 25 feet. I guess UPS has taken "hire the handicapped" to a new extreme and their drivers are unable to walk. I have lived places in town where the parking lots were more than 25 feet from the buildings.... So my Revival file now says NO UPS PERIOD just in case I forget to tell the person taking my order. By the way, I told the young man who took this last order and he chose to ignore it. And Revival is having a collar sent out to my son's address in town and THEY are picking up the shipping costs. Good people there. "Service" is not part of their name, just part of their practice.

Montana Valentine

FYI

A number of people have emailed me that they've written Jennifer about her pups and haven't received a reply. I got hold of her a little bit ago and she is just swamped with trying to get things together for her move at the end of the month, going through all the lay-off business at work and frankly, the depression. (She didn't say that, it's MY diagnosis.) I'm going to meet her after work tomorrow and pick up the 3 boys to bring them here. At least she won't have to worry about that. (That is, I'm going to meet her IF I'm over this blasted virus! It feels like the one I had a couple weeks ago and I don't like it one bit!) Still haven't figured out if I'm going to put her 3 in with mine or try some type of quarantine for a week... which is practically impossible... no, it's just plain impossible. Half my fencing is down so the guys can get in to remove trees, which means everyone has to use the same yard. Perhaps I'll just divide the big puppy pen and put the new guys on one side, mine on the other, until they make friends. Puppies don't usually have a problem with that, but you never know. ANYWAY, we haven't decided what to do about all the email... so, if you haven't heard from Jennifer in a while, you might want to email me at the kennel address (off the website, not the blog address) and forward copies of all the correspondence so I'm not changing anything in mid stream.

When will I Learn

Montana and her best bud, Tug (a mini Goldendoodle about the same age as she.) The pups live in the same building and have play dates... where they run through the halls, scaring the living devil out of little old ladies. Montana, for those who don't know, is from Diamond and Brogue and at 16 months weighs 26 pounds (one of the smallest pups from that combination.)

Now for the learning part
Recently my vet's office referred a lady to me who had some Whoodle pups about the same age as mine. Due to a death in the family, the pups have not been placed although they have been well cared for. I've been trying to help with setting up a website and advertising and advice on things like contracts (which they never did before.) Now there are further complications in that the company the lady works for is reducing its work force and she is going to be laid off before the end of the month (after almost 2 dozen years.) When it rains, it pours. In her case, misfortune. In mine, puppies. She is going to relocate to the east coast to live with an adult daughter. And I'm going to take in the pups who haven't been sold by then. She is asking just $500, with no contract or warranty. We're microchipping them this weekend and they've had all their shots. I'll keep them at the same price but will "guarantee" them to their first birthday. (The parents are "middle aged" and healthy which is about all I know about them.) Luckily, most of my kids have homes and right now I'm used to being over worked. ANYWAY, if anyone knows someone looking for a bargain basement Whoodle, for the next week or so they can email Jennifer at swheatenpoo@gmail.com. After that, they'll have to email me and say they are specifically interested in her puppies. (In case you didn't know, "S'wheaten-poo" is another name for the Wheaten/Poodle cross.) Oh, and just to make things interesting, all 4 remaining pups are... wait for it... MALE.

Difficult Decisions

Bad day last Friday. I had to put down my old Lab, Ravin. She was a great dog and I find myself looking for her, waiting for her to come in after all the others have. About this time last year, she had surgery for mammary tumors which were benign. I was warned then that they would reoccur. But several months ago, I noticed unusual plumpness in her abdomen and then, in December, some small mammary lumps. And there were other things going on which meant we had run out of options. No matter how necessary, it was a hard thing to do.

No Double Doodles here
And I've decided to NOT breed Double Doodles which means I have a year old Labradoodle guy and a 9 months old Goldendoodle gal looking for homes. I still love the cross... Double pups are just stunningly beautiful... but I have all I can do with the Whoodles. If anyone is interested in seeing Ost and Wombat, you can visit
http://doodle2doodle.com
I'll be updating pictures... eventually.

Boon

Introducing my "new" Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy:
Mountain Summit Bel's Boon
4 months old

Boon came to live with me the day he turned 8 weeks and has been a typical Wheaten puppy... sweet, loving and as stubborn as an old mule! For instance, as I reported in December, after the Crested puppy, Crockett, arrived, Boon voluntarily moved in with Di, Emy and Cotton's pups. I think that was supposed to teach me a lesson. Unfortunately for him, I'm even more stubborn than an old mule!

Boon is going to take over Brogue's duties, possibly by the end of the year.

Sigh

I'm having trouble shaking this virus or whatever it is. One day I feel pretty good, even have energy and the mental inclination to get going and the next I just want to pull the covers over my head and pretend it's still the middle of the night. What a pain!

Atlas has a home
The so called "special needs puppy" is going to move to Virginia NEXT weekend and live just a few doors from his niece, Phoebe. He's turned into a real puppy now that he's not intimidated by every dog he comes in contact with. I even had to correct him, for the first time, this afternoon for playing too rough with Crockett (the Crested pup.) I think Atlas really likes being the "only" puppy... herecognises that Crockett is more baby than puppy (just as Crockett does!)

New pictures
Posted a couple new photos on the website of the available pups. Emy's both hate having their pictures taken and it shows. Wonder if THAT's why they haven't been chosen as they are quite attractive babies.