Cute Goldendoodles.com: Adorable Puppy Update! (4/8)

Penny (Mom) came down with a mild eye-infection. That meant we stayed in the Vet's parking lot while someone in a hazmat suit came out and took Penny inside for a check up. The verdict was an eye infection, probably originated by a scratch from a puppy or a hair caught under the eye lid. Nothing major - BUT, because she is a nursing Mom, we had a choice to make.

The only way to give Penny the medicine she needed, was to not let her nurse any longer. The medicine wouldn't be good for the puppies. So, on the advice of the Vet, we started weaning the puppies about 3 days earlier than normal. Again, nothing major.

Doggy Moms always have a huge task in front of them. They feed their puppies almost every 2 hours every single day for weeks and weeks. They clean the puppies regularly, "talk" to them - which sounds more like a whine with some Moms (I'm looking at YOU, Penny!) - and generally worry about their puppies whenever they hear a loud noise or smell some animal outside.

After 4 weeks of this, most Dog Moms start to lose interest. It is incredibly common, and expected. The puppies nurse aggressively and relentlessly. The puppies' teeth start coming in, and their claws get sharper, and BOOM!, Momma looks at me and says "Tag, you're it!" This almost always happens about 4 to 4 1/2 weeks after the puppies are born. This is the time we start adding food to their diet.

We start with dry kibble blended with water to an almost liquid consistency. Editor's Note: We use Purina Puppy Chow for our food, as it has provided the basic core nutrients to puppies for generations at a reasonable price, and without controversially adding - or subtracting - ingredients in an effort to be trendy. There are MANY wonderful dog foods out there, and I am not going to tell you that you have to use one you can only get from me, at a ridiculous mark-up. I send each puppy home with a bag of food and you may feel free to use that to transition the puppy to your preferred food - or just keep it as a bonus bag of food. Transitions work well, and everyone is happy!

Over the next few weeks, as the puppies get more used to "normal" food, and their teeth become stronger, I slowly thicken the food from "liquid," to "honey," to "wet, soft, and whole," to fully dry kibble. I am able to monitor their transition and I keep an eye on their weights to make sure they are growing as expected.

This process usually goes until about 7 weeks. Week 7 is the time the puppies are juuust about ready to go home. (Some breeders do send their puppies home at this stage.) We use week 7 to schedule a Vet check, get the full set of vaccines administered, micro-chip the puppies, and make sure everything is going as it should.

As we've talked, or I've written, this year is a little bit unusual. It doesn't look as though we will be able to have face-to-face play time with the puppies prior to final pick up. I have some ideas on how to provide the best interaction possible, under the circumstances, but I'd love to hear what would make you feel most comfortable.

I am planning to have extensive one-on-one video time with each puppy so you can see a little about how they play and interact with others. I'm planning to describe their observed personalities - usually as described by my 11 year-old daughter, and I'm open to other ideas. If you have an idea, or something I should consider, please drop me an email or text and I'll see what I can do.

I'm hearing voices yelling: "ENOUGH WORDS! MORE PICTURES!!"

Here we go:
You might notice that in some of the pictures, the puppies look like they have "greasy" hair. This is due to Penny spending less time grooming them. Over the next week, the puppies' own, natural, oils will start functioning, and once we give the puppies a good wash, their hair gets back to "normal". No worries!