A Whirlwind of Puppies
Here at High Desert Family Doodles, the past couple weeks have been a whirlwind! We are in the middle of week three with our three current litters, of mini Goldendoodles, mini Bernedoodles, and medium Bernedoodles. All of the puppies are healthy and thriving, gaining weight and showing all the signs of healthy puppy development. We also have three more of our Goldendoodle moms - Honey, Luna, and Rosie - have come into season over the past two weeks. So, as good Goldendoodle breeders, we’ve been playing matchmaker with them and some of our Goldendoodle studs. In the midst of all of this, we sent two of our Goldendoodles - Maple and Luca - off to a board & train program. We’re excited for what’s in store with them!
First, let’s talk about all the puppy joy we’ve been experiencing! Winnie’s “Winnie the Pooh” litter of nine mini goldendoodle puppies are becoming more social and vocal. There is a pretty large size difference between our largest puppy in the litter - currently Pooh - and the smallest puppy, Piglet. This mini goldendoodle litter had their first bit of semi-solid food today. I think it’s safe to say that these puppies fell instantly in love with it!
Belle’s “Grove of Puppies” litter of eleven medium bernedoodle puppies are becoming more mobile, and Belle is displaying a great maternal instinct. These Bernedoodle puppies love cuddling, and Belle really enjoys showing them off. Many of Belle’s bernedoodle puppies strongly resemble Bernese Mountain Dogs, however some of these Bernedoodle puppies have some pretty distinctive markings.
Klaire’s “Klassical” litter of six mini bernedoodle puppies are cheerful and thriving, and show a growing desire to be with people. Like Belle’s bernedoodles, some of Klaire’s litter resembles Bernese Mountain Dogs, while others have a unique tri-color coat pattern. We began their first round of dewormer, to help protect them from any parasites that they may come in contact with. We’re thrilled to see these little puppy nuggets begin to teeter around, and learn through playing with each other. We’re doing daily enrichment activities, where we introduce various strange and foreign items into their pen. This helps them become more confident as these goldendoodle and bernedoodle puppies see new things!
We have also had some of our female Goldendoodles come into heat over the past couple weeks. Our petite Goldendoodle Rosie was the first as she came into season a couple weeks ago. We tracked her progression with progesterone testing, and got her alone with Brownie when her levels were right. Classic Brownie wasted NO TIME, and they tied a few different times over her season. We should be able to give Rosie an ultrasound this week to confirm her mini Goldendoodle pregnancy.
Our Goldendoodle Honey was the next to come into heat. We were curious about what would happen with her cycle this time, because she had a split heat last time. However, it was different this time. Her progesterone levels quickly rose this time, and she was ready to breed pretty early in her cycle. We did a repeat breeding this time with Luca; their last litter of medium goldendoodle puppies were too sweet to not repeat! We can confirm her pregnancy via ultrasound in a couple more weeks. Luna’s pulling up the caboose, being the last to start out of these three. She started spotting this last week, so we will be testing her progesterone this week. Mango will be joining this week as well, coming from his guardian home in Portland. We’re excited to spend a week with this majestic and joyful beast, and will be cheering him and Luna on. We’re looking forward for another litter of beautiful and friendly standard English Cream Goldendoodle Puppies. They should tie this week, leading to a standard goldendoodle litter later in April.
We also had two of our dogs - Maple and Luca - go to training for the month. Our goal is that this will equip both of these dogs with some strong self-direction skills, along with helping our guardian homes out with tools to coach both Maple and Luca, so they can both flourish even better. We’re excited to also learn skills and training tips that we can spread across our whole program as well!
It’s been a busy couple weeks for us in Oregon’s high desert, but we are thankful for this journey, and the ability to share the joy of these bernedoodles and goldendoodles with a continually growing group of people. Stay tuned for more updates, and watch as these puppies continue to grow and learn!
Warmly,
Erin and Jay