Bella's puppies are here!

On Christmas Eve I received a call from our guardian for Bella Luce, Patty Mills.  Patty is keeping Bella with her for the first four weeks  of the  new puppies lives.  

Bella was due on December 29th, but on Christmas Eve Patty was calling to let me know that Bella was very agitated and nesting.  "Do you think she is going to have the puppies early like she did last time?" Patty asked.  I told  her "I don't know, but I am not going to be able to get out to Sisters tonight if she does."  

Patty has delivered a litter with Bella already, and Ann and I drove out to "help" with the whelping last February.  As we drove we were getting updates on the number of puppies that were being born.  We arrived just after the last puppy was born.  I knew that if Bella had her puppies Christmas Eve that Patty is up to the job of helping  her to deliver them.

Five minutes after Patty called, she called back.  "The first puppy  has arrived.  He is a male and is 12 ounces."  Over the next three hours, and before Christmas arrived, Bella delivered another seven healthy puppies.  She had a boy, four girls, and then three more boys.  Eight puppies.  Four boys and four girls.  All apricot or red.  Both Bella and Patty did a great job in bringing these puppies into the world.  

Stay tuned for updates on these puppies, and on Scarlett's litter that is due on the 1st.  We will keep you all posted on what is going on with our puppies.

Upcoming Litters

We have had a surprising week.  

Our family was in Maryland last week honoring Ann with all of our family and friends.  On the day that I arrived I learned that Bella Luce was in heat.  She was not expected to go into heat until November, or possibly December.  We had to arrange to have her picked up from her guardian home four hours away, while we were all the way across the country.

We got her picked up and began the series of progesterone tests to determine when she would be ready to breed.  On top of Bella being in heat, we knew Scarlett would be going into heat very soon.  When I got back to Maryland on Monday the 22nd we learned that Scarlett had also begun her heat cycle.  We have two girls ready to breed at the same time!

I took both girls south to Spring Creek Labadoodles where Rochelle Sundholm is keeping them as they breed with her stud, Bentley.  

We expect that both girls will deliver their puppies sometime around Christmas.  That means they will have puppies that will be ready to go home at the end of February or the beginning of March.  

We already have some reservations on these puppies, but we still have spaces available if you want one of these puppies.  They will be red to light apricot with fleece coats.  They will also be medium to standard in size (30 to 45 pounds).  These puppies will be wonderful pets that will love to be with people and will be great additions to any family.  You can contact me at Steve@EvergreenLabradoodles.com or at 301-335-5920.

Two Upcoming Breeders

We have received the results from the health tests on our Seattle's Sundance and Evergreen's Tank.  Both dogs have passed their breeding health tests with flying colors!  We will be bringing these two dogs in as breeders as soon as they are mature.

Sundance is a cream colored, fleece coated medium and she will be about 19 inches at her shoulder when she reaches maturity.  She will be around 32-38 pounds.  She loves to play with people and other dogs.  When people come to visit our puppies and they meet Sundance and Tank, they almost always ask if the are available.  The good news is that now that they have passed their health tests, we are looking for a guardian home for both Sundance and Tank.  We are looking for families or individuals who live within a short distance from our home in Newberg, Oregon.  Guardians will need to provide a safe home environment and loving attention to our dogs.  All reproductive vet care is covered by us, and regular vet care is covered by the guardians.  We ask that you feed high quality food and provide lots of love and socialization.

Evergreen's Tank is a male who is standard in size and will be about 23-25 inches at the shoulder when mature.  He will weigh over 50 pounds.  He is our gentle giant.  He loves to play with people and dogs.  He has a deep red fleece coat.  When people visit our puppies they ask if they can get a puppy with a coat "that color" and point to Tank.  He loves to lie down at our feet, unless our granddaughter, Annalee, has come over to play.  If Annalee is here Tank wants to play with her and give her kisses.  

We love both these dogs, and feel the bittersweet of placing them in other homes.  We want to have them around us, and yet we know they need to have homes of their own.  

You can check out our application on the web page (www.EvergreenManorLabradoodles.com) and go to the Guardian Home page.  You can also call us at 301-335-5920.  

Two Growing Litters

 Scarlett's litter continues to grow into small dogs, and they are having a blast in the puppy run we have built for them, as well as in our fenced field where they can play with us and chase each other.  They are eating, playing, meeting new people, and having a wonderful life.  You can see from the pictures below that they are loving life.

 We also have been giving the puppies their medicines to make sure they stay healthy.  We have given them two doses of de-worming medicine, and their first immunizations.  They will have one last dose of de-worming medicine before they go home to their new families.  

 We had friends over to the house last week to enjoy the evening and to spend time together.  We had about 15 people over.  All of the ladies went down into the yard to sit with Scarlett's puppies and play with them.  The puppies loved the attention and were snuggling up with the ladies.  As it got late the puppies all decided to go to sleep on the grass as they sat with the people.  We had to wake them up to take them back their pen and to make sure they were safely settled in for the night.

Meggie's puppies have just reached a milestone.  They have opened their eyes and ears.  They are barking at each other now and crawling aroud the pen.  This weekend they will get their first dose of de-worming medicine (given at 3, 5, and 7 weeks of age).  Today I gave them their first taste of goat's milk from a bowl.  They are so much fun to watch as they discover this new treat.  They smell it in the pen, and start walking around trying to find the source of that wonderful smell.  They then step into the bowl and start licking the milk off of their paws.  As they recognize this is a great food source they learn to put their faces into the bowl and lick up the milk.  Their next lesson is how to put their mouth in the bowl without putting their noses into the bowl.  They have to learn not to inhale the milk, but how to swallow it instead.  It is quite funny to watch them figure this all out.

We will keep you up to date on the progress of the puppies.  Please check back and please let your friends know about us.

Steve

Two Litters at Home

We have fifteen puppies at our home right now.  Scarlett and Seeker's eight puppies that are five weeks old, and Meggie and Seeker's puppies that are ten days old.

Scarlett's puppies are between four and six pounds and are running, playing, and very personable.  They are in a pen in our new puppy room that allows them to get used to a crate and to use the potty park (artificial grass in a plastic tray to teach them where to potty and to get them used to a grass texture) as well as a play area.

  

They are also outside in the puppy run for a chunk of the day to give them a place to explore and play so that they do not get bored.  

 

We recently took them all to Home Depot to get them used to car rides (many more coming) and to new sites, sounds, smells, and people.  We took them into the store two at a time (two people each carrying one puppy) and we never made it past the front door.  The staff wanted to hold, love, and pet each puppy.  

  The people entering the store wanted to stop and love on the puppies.  The puppies were superstars and enjoyed all the attention.  In three weeks they will be starting to go to their new homes!  All of you who have bought one of these dogs will need to talk with me about how you want to pick them up, or how you want us to get them to you.  

 Meggie's puppies are only ten days old and their eyes and ears are not yet open.  They stay in the whelping pen where we have kept them since birth.  

They have already had a car ride (they were born either at the guardian home or en route back to our house as my boys picked them up) but since their first ride they have been in our home.  This weekend their their eyes and ears  will open and after a few days we will move them down to the puppy room.  Shortly after they move down the older puppies will be making their way to their new homes!  

We are already giving the older puppies their medicine to de-worm them.  Soon they will get their first round of shots.  Those who will be spayed or neutered will have their appointment at about seven weeks.  (If you have told us you want to have a spay or neuter contract with us to do this later please confirm with me so that we can arrange for that in the bill of sale.)  We will do the last round of de-worming medicine at the seventh week.  These puppies will go home healthy and ready to fit into their new families.  

 We have put together a puppy room that we have long been planning for.  We have put down a vinyl flooring that is completely waterproof and easy to clean.  We have installed a utlity sink where we can wash the dogs and the potty park we use to potty train the dogs.  It also has a door straight out to the dog run which is rain proof with trees covering the run and with a liner and pea gravel that will keep the puppies from getting muddy.  They are really glad to play outside and we are so happy with this space.

On top of the new puppy room, we have a wonderful grassy area where we take the puppies out to explore and play.  They are more and more excited to get time outside and play.  Scarlett comes out to play with her puppies and feed them.  You can see from these shots that there is a range of color in the puppies.  We have dark reds all the way to cream.  These are gorgeous puppies and very friendly.  We are trying to add to their natural temperaments by working on taking them to a variety of places to give them a variety of experiences so that they are comfortable when they experience something new.  

These puppies are eager to get outside to play.  This is a fun time for us each day when we take them to the garden and watch them explore.  

We also have the puppies with us in the kitchen at various times throughout the day so that they are used to noises, and people.  They really enjoy being with us.

Breeders on the way

 We are excited to let you know that we have two up and coming breeders who will be joining our program after we get their test results and they continue to grow up.  The first is Seattle's Sundance who comes to us from Jan Probus.  She is the daughter of Greta and Chipotle.  She has the most amazing personality and loves everyone she meets.  She is gentle with our one year old granddaughter, Annalee, and you can see her making Annalee giggle on our You Tube video of the two of them.

You can find the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlb8IYhLbtc&feature=plcp.  Sundance is a wonderful girl who makes friends with everyone she meets.  She is a medium and has a cream with soft fleece, and has been tested.  We are waiting for the results of the hip and elbows tests.  We will begin breeding her in the winter or spring months.  

 Our other new breeder is Tank, who is growing into a standard size.  He is five months old and already is bigger than his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.  The vet saw him yesterday and thought he was a two year old.  Tank is very friendly and relaxed.  Everyone who meets him wants to take him home.  He is a red that is holding his color, and has a soft fleece coat.  He will sit down with you and soak up all the love you have to give.  Then, he gives it back.

Tank roams around the house and yard and entertains himself until he finds you, and then you are his best friend.

Tank also gets along with all the dogs we have.  Whenever we are out and he meets another dog he has found a new friend.

If you are looking for dogs with great temperaments you want to mark these two dogs and keep an eye on when they have litters.
If you are a breeder looking for a red male Tank is a breeder to keep your eyes on.

Scarlett's Puppies Eyes Open

We have taken the puppies outside to give them a taste of our wonderful weather this week.  They love playing in the grass, hanging out with mom (Scarlett) and wrestling with each other.   

Some of them just want to chill and sleep on the soft grass.  You can see them checking us out and trying to decide if we are good playmates.  They are getting used to our smells and love the fact that we are taking care of them.  We will be moving them on to mush as a stage to moving them on to solid food in a couple of weeks.  They will also be going on car trips to get used to new experiences, people, and places.  This coming week we begin the worming process and in a few weeks we will begin to immunize them.  Until they are immunized we can 't let them out to play in public places, but we can hold them and take them to stores and other places where they will meet new people.  

 They love to cuddle and wrestle with each other.  We want to help them to love to be with people as much as they enjoy each other.  We will keep you up to speed with our adventures.  Check back soon.

Scarlett's Puppies at a week old

Scarlett gave birth a week ago.  She has been a wonderful mom and has been faithfully feeding her puppies and their growth shows it.  The puppies have all just about doubled their weight.  They are no longer newborns, but are now puppies who are crawling around and smelling for their mom.

We are introducing them to sounds, people, and touch.  We are working hard to make sure that they get used to having people around.  The boys and I are spending time with them all day long.  They are getting to know our smells and are comfortable with us holding them.  When we first started holding them they would cry for mom and wiggle out of our hands.  Now they are willing to settle down in our hands or on our lap and sleep.  Next we will work on introducing them to other people, sounds, and smells.  When they open their eyes we will move them downstairs to the puppy room where they can have a safe and warm environment and have access to outdoors where they can play and romp.

I am posting some pictures that show the various puppies and how they are growing.  Enjoy!

We have puppies!!!

Last evening Scarlett and Seeker delivered 8 beautiful puppies.  We have reds, apricots, and light apricots.  We have six beautiful boys and two stunning girls.  Scarlett is feeding them and cleaning them.  When we take her out to potty she does what she needs to quickly and then runs to the door of the house and cries to get back inside to her puppies.

She is very happy with her puppies and we are glad to have them.  They are soaking up our love and enjoying themselves.  We love to hold them and to watch them.  

We will send more information out when we  can.

Steve

Meggie's Ultrasound

We went to the Vet today to have an ultrasound performed to verify that Meggie is indeed pregnant and to get a general sense of how many puppies.  

The Vet confirmed that Meggie is indeed pregnant!  He also said that she has 6-8 puppies!  She will be delivering somewhere around July 25th.  That means that Scarlett, who will deliver in the next days (hopefully not on Saturday when we have Ann's funeral) will deliver around the time we say goodbye to Ann and Meggie might deliver on what would have been our 31st anniversary (July 25th which is the due date).  

It is really good that we have these puppies on the way.  After the funeral things will have to get to a new "normal" for the family living in Newberg.  All the family and friends will have to get back to their "normal" lives and will leave en mass starting Sunday.  We will have a collection of puppies to love on while we adjust to our new lives.

I have relied on Ann to keep in mind the various things we need to do with the puppies: veterinary care, socialization, etc.  We did the work, but Ann was able to focus on the timing and the steps to do.  Now we will have to set up the schedule and keep up with all the details.

I do know that these puppies will be well cared for, and greatly loved as we raise this first couple of litters without Ann.  It will be hard to send them to their new families, but a bit of Ann will go with each of them.  

Keep checking back for updates.  We will post pictures as soon as Scarlett delivers and we will keep you up to speed with the last four weeks of Meggie's pregnancy.

Steve

Scarlett and Seeker Puppies make their debut!

                             

Scarlett had her ultrasound today and the vet showed us that not only is she pregnant, she has at least eight puppies and they are large and healthy.  For those of you with deposits on these puppies, we know for certain that they are growing and that in four weeks we will be able to introduce you to the puppies in this litter!  We do not yet know the gender, color, personality, and final count of the puppies, but we do know that Scarlett is carrying at least as many puppies as we have deposits.  We will even take a couple more deposits at this point because we have a good sense that Scarlett is going to deliver eight to ten puppies (her last two litters were 10 each).

If you want to get on the puppy list for this litter, contact us quickly because we know these puppies will go fast.

Here are pictures of previous puppies these two have produced.

  

Scarlett will deliver in about four weeks.  We will keep everyone up to date with all the events leading up to her  delivery.  Keep checking back in!

Steve