Liberty Labradoodles
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Kona Bean; call name Kona left this week to join her forever family at the beach in Oregon. We have received several phone calls and messages but I want to be sure I can post them. I can tell you that the family reports Kona is settled into the pack and is loved by all. She has had only 1 potty accident and has been doing her business outside. She is walking on the leash taking to the lead instantly and also is watching TV with the family at night, her favorite is the Dog Whisper on public broadcasting although she tilts her head and barks back.

She has checked out perfectly with the vet and is scheduled to start basic training after the series of her shots. Max (name used by permission) still wants to sneak her into bed with him but the rule is she has to be fully house trained prior to this happening. Max has been waiting for 10 years to get his dog, and is reportedly performing all chores quickly as was the agreement in order to bring Kona into the home. Here to a happy family, boy and Kona!

Please keep me updated!

Mocha Man; Call name Mr. Snickerdoodle went to live in Nevada this Wednesday with a wonderful family who flew in and picked him up at the McMinnville Airport. Below are a few copy/pastes of emails keeping me updated; most recent on top. I think this is a wonderful match and I am so happy for them all!

(8/25/07)

Hi Vicky and Jeff;

Yes, he follows my every move – and by that I mean if I sit at my desk at work, he is under the desk.  If I roll my chair the 18 inches to the computer, he moves to beside me there.  He accompanies me to the copy machine, microwave, and ladies room!  At home he keeps me in his line of sight at all times, except that he’s gotten brave enough to jump into the house through the doggie door if I’m right behind him opening the door for myself.  Now under the computer desk at home he has his head on my foot.
 

So far he has spent at least six hours every night in the crate, but I seem to wake HIM up if get up in the middle of the night.  Then he cries.  Soooo, I take him out to potty and then WE go back to MY bed.  Still I think six hours in the crate in the kitchen is good and will continue that for now. He discovered his tail this morning and barked at it as he turned round and round trying to catch it!…

(8/23/07)

Hi Vicky and Jeff;

Snickerdoodle and I had a full day of activity together and by 3:30 pm we both went down for a nap!
 So far we have had a poop with every meal, and numerous wee wees – all but one outside!  (Only a puppy lover and a breeder could have this conversation)! I worked a couple of hours this morning and he made himself at home under my desk.  We went outside twice and he widdled both times.  Luckily I was alone at work today, so we could experience all that new stuff together just him and me.  We came home around lunch time and he ate, but not the whole amount I had measured into his bowl.  Tonight he has eaten it all, so I guess it was just that he wasn’t comfortable at lunch:  …He used the doggy door by himself this evening.  I went out and closed the door then lifted the flap so he could see me…I let the flap go and he jumped right through.

After supper this evening we went outside in the back yard and then out to the front yard.  Now he’s napping at my feet under the computer table!  Today he played big time with his squeaky ball both in the back yard and in the house.  He also saw his shadow and tried to jump on it!  He also played with the water coming out of the backyard hose as I watered my potted plants.
 

This afternoon we went to the vet and of course Mr. Snick checked out perfectly – I’ll scan and send the form to you tomorrow.  I was the typical overbearing mother and refused to put him on the scale in the reception office, and when I explained I was afraid of exposure to dogs that might have parvo , they agreed to weigh him on the cat scale in the back office.  I also wouldn’t let him be on the floor or table in the vets office for the same reason and held him in my lap in the sherpa carrier…they seemed okay with it!  They wanted a stool sample, so I went back with that late this afternoon.  He seems to ride well in the sherpa carrier in the front seat.  I put him in it but leave it open enough at the top that he can put his head through and look around.

Well, enough from me – will send the doctor’s report and a note tomorrow.  Thanks for everything.

Well here we are. The end of the 7^th Week. This Saturday marks the start of the 8^th week and the puppies from Belle’s litter begin to leave for their forever home. The 7^th week was marked with Mocha Man; named Mr. Snickers by his new owner being de-sexed prior to his new owner flying in to pick him up. He shall make his forever home in Nevada.  He is back to his spunky self and they are frolicking and running like the wind now. No stumbling but there is the kind of sideways run when it appears their back legs go faster than their front; and oh; the smiles on their faces. There is posturing for the pack in full play and both Belle and Libby play and remind them of the pack. They are all happy, healthy, playful with each their own quirks that are similar yet different from their siblings. They are now on a 3 meal a day plan. Belle has weaned them, but; you know grandmas… Libby still feeds them as she is such the nurturer.  We have continued working on X pen training and crate training and they are comfortable in the crate although prefer to be with others of their pack or us. Australian labradoodles are very social animals and crave social interaction.

This week also marked the day they all began being able to get in and out of the outside doggie dog. They run to greet Jeff when he comes home, everyone taking a turn on the recliner for cuddly time. I have noticed a big increase in their watching Belle and Libby’s response to situations and following their lead. I notice a little fear now in new experiences where there was just that young foolish puppy care free life.  They play hard and longer now and sleep soundly on top of each other. They know what it means when the red feeding bowl comes out and start telling me how starving they are. They are on a mixture of chicken, rice, and dry food and we will finish to dry food so food changeover/finding will be easiest on their new owners.

We also had Silky adopted this week. They are going to call her Latte. She shall make her life in Santa Barbara. Now, don’t ask me to go read your palms or anything; but I was praying about Silky as we had so much interest in her and God impressed upon me Dev. Dev I thought? You mean Deb, right? Dev was the impression. My prayer and impression was about 3 weeks ago as the person who put a deposit down rolled to another puppy due to family issues.  Those calling expressing interest I would casually ask about family names.  Sure enough, someone ended up telling me Dev. I should know by now, never doubt God. I like that I think it is the right place where she is meant to be and although we had another wonder applicant know it will all work out as it should. It is so very important that both the family and the dog match so both will be happy.  I shall wait for it to all unfold as it should.

Kona leaves Sunday to leave by the beach. She is the “wiry” one of the group.  The family adopting her stopped by and she went and sat on the boy she is going to and did not get up. She was saying to the others “this is my boy”. I took that as a good sign as well.

Saturday I shall work on the pedigree paperwork and prepare each puppy packet with information, history, vet visits, vet card, micro chip information and information on puppy rearing. I will burn CD’s of their time together as they were small. I will take pictures of them for their last night of being all together. We will start with a soft collar so they will get comfortable with the feel.  Later, I will develop a web page for each of the pups so we can be on the other side and wait for emails and pictures of the owners as the puppies grow. They are all going to great homes, and will be great additions to their forever family.

Well, week six we have been very busy. The puppies went in and got their first immunizations along with their micro chipping. The puppies are no longer “whelp” they are little doggies; running, playing and jumping. It is hard to take a picture that is not blurry as they are on the move so much unless they are eating or sleeping. Everything is a new adventure as they explore under my favorite chair, the recliner, the stairway gate, the girls doggie door, our back yard area and learn the rules of the road for meeting cats (we have a de-clawed house cat named Elsa that plays very nicely and patiently with the pups), sharing food (mommies goes first), tug of war with their other siblings, how to climb, jump, run and chew.Although still nursing, we began the wean process as they are eating 3 times a day and we are for going the mid night feeding. The future owners of this litter, as you may recall from the information I sent during the 3^rd week, the litter mates learned how to play and were in the most critical social development period. We are learning discipline from mom and she starts teaching them basic manners, including accepting her as pack litter. We now move into the “overlap” stage of development. Our puppies are handled daily but not separated from other puppies or mom for more than 10 minutes except for the vet check ups. This is to keep them from being to nervous, prone to bark or bite and have an easier time with socialization and training. Most experts agree that puppies need to be left with mom and siblings until at least 7 weeks of age; preferable a little longer for optimum social development.We now are in the best time in a puppy life; where experts say up until 16 weeks of age is that window of opportunity you have to make sure your puppy grows up to be a well adjusted dog. This is the time to leave the puppy with mom and littermates as much as possible. We don’t discipline them for play fighting, housebreaking mistakes or mouthing; and it is all normal behavior for a puppy at this stage.

This week we played! This is some of the most important work that of socialization. We had our neighbor’s girl over to visit with our Australian Labradoodle puppies as well as have some romper room time.  Jeff extended the height of the puppy play pen this week. We went from 1 meal to 2 to begin the weaning process. They also had their nails clipped and were brushed out so they could get use to grooming. We have a kennel with no door in their puppy play pen so they can be comfortable with the crate. We took more pictures and have them up on Flickr website. The webcam continues to stream which you can view at LibertyLabradoodles.Com.

Mocha man and Cinnamon have the most interesting colors; they are mismarks and their chest is tan, almost a khaki color; with the top of their heads, ears and back being a reddish brown.

 Silky continues to catch up, but is more demure in personality; her base color is white with light brown; cute coloring. Her nose is spotted as is her belly.

Kona is black as night, with white mismarks on her chest, chin, and one side of her nose. She has a little pinch of white on her back paw.  We hopefully will get the reports sometime this week on the DNA testing and then register the litter and announce puppy availability.  We will have microchip numbers reserved from the vet as well.