Boo

What a day today was. Man, it was too busy.

Today started out with the usual taking dogs/puppies out to potty and exercise; got the (human) girls up and took them both to their schools; came home and cleaned the pup areas; cleaned the house; then answered emails. I had to rush to get all that done and then hurry to the airport to pick Ashes (a Velvet/Koby girl that is 1 1/2 yrs old and coming back to live with us) up at 1:30 p.m. That is an hour drive each way. As soon as I got back home I had to drop Ashes off and pick up Bryony and take her to her appointment. Then I went out and picked Mera up, went back to Anderson and picked up Jill from school, picked Bryony up from her appointment, took Bry and Jill home, took Mera to yet another town for her Porgesterone testing, then took her back to her home and then went home. By the time I was finished with all that running it was 8:00 p.m. and I had missed seeing Bryony and Jill Trick-or-Treating. Bummer...I am such a bad mom. They had a great time. As soon as I got home Bry's friends came back to our house and we all sat around watching a movie and eating candy and french fries that Bryony made. It was fun.

All the puppies got dewormed and the shots today. They are getting so big and are so cute. Rosie just spends a little time with them, but not too much.

Lewis (the remaining Josie/DaVinci pup) is in with the big dogs now. Last night he slept in a crate in the living room. I put the crate up on an end table and slept on the couch right beside him. He just whimpered a very little bit and only a couple of times. I put my fingers in the crate and he immediately quieted right down. I took him outside to potty around midnight and again around 5:00 a.m. or so. He is doing really well with housetraining so far. He hasn't had any accidents yet.

They better poo gold

Another puppy, Leland, went home today. That leaves poor 'ole Lewis all alone with the babies and the grown ups.

Holly was supposed to come here today and stay until after she has and raises her puppies. Dangit! She isn't pregnant after all. Remember, she had the ultrasound that showed she was having a small litter? Well evidentally it is so small she isn't even showing or anything and she is due in a couple of days. The vet probably just saw the bladder or something and not a puppy. Dangit, and this is her last litter. That is what I get for not doing the progesterone testing on her. I put a time limit in the guardian contract so their obligation wouldn't drag out indefinately. According to her contract, she is to be spayed by Feb '07. Since she has only had one litter, her guardian mom has graciously offered to let me breed her one more time. That is very nice of her. I may take her up on it, but maybe not. I'll have to take inventory of all the dogs (that makes it sound like they are in a closet) and figure the breeding plans for the next two years.

I need a chocolate ALD stud.

Holy cow Batman! I have switched doggie food and have I mentioned how expensive it is? I stopped at the store last week and bought almost $200 worth, thinking it would last a long time. I just stopped in today to get more and it came to $275. That will probably be two weeks worth. It is http://www.naturesvariety.com/ It is good stuff and a great way to feed a raw diet with the convenience of just opening a bag and giving it to them. Jeepers, I guess convenience comes at a price. The bag of dry food is $40 for a 25 pound bag. I can feed them a raw diet from the meat dept of the grocery store for less than that. Well anyway, they give me coupons to give send home with the puppies and it is best to try it before just recommending it to the families.

Brooklyn flew home this morning. He got to fly out with a cousin. Well, maybe they weren't technically related, and maybe they didn't get to fly in the same crate, well I don't even know if they were on the same flight. There was another local Labradoodle there just finishing up dropping off a puppy when we got there. They had another Fancy puppy with them and man, was she ever a cutie.

Lonnie/Fizz went home this afternoon. His daddy has a really nice camera and took classes so we should expect some good pictures of him (Fizz, not the dad). They also hope to be able to come to Doodle romps now and then. Won't that be fun?

Louis Louis, Louis Louwow

Louis went home this evening. His family is going to take lots of pictures of him and take him places. They don't live too far from here and will hopefully come to some Doodle romps.

Rosie's puppies are certainly turning out wonderfully. I just love 'em so much. Here, look at SteveNow doesn't he look like a model puppy? Oh, and look at Mike He has the perfect sad puppy dog eyes. He looks that way all the time.

What a Honey!

This is Lincoln Manor Honey She went home to her guardian family this evening. She may end up being just a little spoiled. She is going to get all the attention of her parents.

Poor Lewis, did I mention what happened to him? Something came up with the family that had chosen him and they have to wait until after the first of the year before they can bring home a pup. That means he doesn't have a family and will be stuck here all alone after this weekend when the rest of his siblings go home. This means he will get lastofthelitteritis. No matter how wonderful and perfect a puppy may be, people think there is something wrong with the last pup. "Why hasn't he been picked yet?" "Is there a reason everybody has passed on this pup?" "Why is he still there?" and some people come right out and ask "What is wrong with him?" He was originally going to a family that was going to hunt with him. I took this picture for them Have to say, I thought that was pretty clever.

This is Leon.His name is Brooklyn. He is going to move to Brooklyn, NY. Isn't he such a cutie? I love the shape of his face. DaVinci passes that along to his puppies. Brooklyn is going to fly home this Saturday.

This is Lonnie. His new name is Fizz. He is moving to Chicago this Saturday.

What a busy stressful today was. Rick and Bryony both stayed home because they were sick. However, they were not too sick to get out of bed and bug me. Jill stayed home because she and I were supposed to get together with others from our little adoption group. That was canceled at the last minute because some of the others were sick. I spent the day running doing family stuff and not doggie stuff.

Kami flew back home to Texas today. She is all done with Chevy. He stopped by yesterday for a quickie, but she would have none of that.

Luke and Mira went home this weekend. Wow, how they grow up so fast.

Cleaning and more cleaning. So many pups = so much poo.

Josie is what?!?

Josie just has not been recovering quite the way she should. She
just...well, she is just not nice. She has been a female dog. Something
is not right with her. She used to be so sweet, but not lately. First I
attributed it to her being in heat. Then she settled down and we
thought everything was o.k. Then when she came here to have puppies she
was not nice toLiuda or my sister and I blamed it on the brand new
puppies. After a couple of weeks she was fine until all of a sudden a
couple of days ago she growled and acted unfriendly to a friend. She
has never bitten anyone, but still, that is so not right for her or for
aLabradoodle in general. There is really no choice in what we have to
do for her. Something is wrong with her so she must be spayed. If her
hormones are all out of balance then that will take care of it. These
are some of the best puppies we have had yet. She had very quickly
turned into my most valuable breeding girl. But...(don't you hate big
buts)...this is not all about Lincoln Manor. This is what is best for
Josie. It is best for Josie to be spayed to see if that is why she is
not as calm andsweet as she was. Also, if she is just a bad dog then I
certainly don't want to breed her. So bright and early this morning I
took her to the vet to be spayed.

Lewis, the unclaimed chocolate
puppy boy also went to the vet this morning to be neutered. Every
litter I say I am not going to spay/neuter the pups until they are
chosen. This time, based on how Josie is acting, I think it is prudent
to not keep a stud from her. Oh, but he is so scrumptious and has been
my favorite all along.

Honey, our little female we are keeping
back for breeding went to the vet this morning too. Her two lower
canine teeth are coming in wrong. They are going in too far and if not
pulled they will poke the roof of her mouth. So she is just going to
get those teeth pulled. I was so afraid they would not be careful and
just spay her without reading her card to see what I want done. Before
I took her in I got a red Sharpie marker and wrote on her belly. I drew
a big red circle with a line through it and wrote "do not spay". The
techs there thought that was pretty funny.

I wasn't home from
the vet's office very long when I got a call from there. It was one of
the techs. This was the conversation:
Tech: Jane have you tried to breed Josie recently?
Me: Her puppies are not yet 8 weeks old. How recently do you mean?
Tech: Well, she is pregnant. Do you want us to go ahead and do the spay?
Me: What? No, her puppies are barely weaned, they are babies, she can't be pregnant.
Tech:
Well, they have her opened up and the vet found nodules and she is just
a little bit pregnant. So do you want us to continue and spay her?
Me:
(at this point I'm thinking I would not terminate a pregnancy. I don't
care if she is pregnant by the neighbor's cat. I still wouldn't
terminate. On the other hand. I'm not stupid. Josie's puppies are not
even 8 weeks old. She hasn't gone in heat yet. There isno one here who
has impregnated her. She is not pregnant. What they found could be our
answer) Yes, I'm certain she is not pregnant. Even if you think she is,
please continue with the spay.
Tech: O.k.

A couple of hours later I spoke with the vet. She said it was a good thing they spayed her. She had a row of cysts
on her uterus. She said they most likely wouldn't have resolved on
their own and that Josie really did need spayed. She also said the
history I gave on Josie makes perfect sense with thecysts. Cysts cause hormonal imbalances and can cause aggression. Who wudda
thunk it? She said this not anything at all worry about with the
puppies. This is just one of those unfortunate things and now that she
is spayed life will be good.

About an hour after I spoke with the vet about Josie, it dawned on me...oooohhh noo...Lewis!
That wonderful little perfect chocolate wool unspoken for puppy boy. I
ran from the garage into the house and dove for the phone. I called the
vet, but it was too late. Lewis had already been neutered. I asked if
they could dig them back out of the trash and put them back on. I think
the tech thought I was teasing.

Did I mention that Josie is not
a big fan of getting combed? Have I ever mentioned that after a Doodle
has puppies it is like she goes through coat change? They get so matted
so quickly. It was around 6:00 p.m. or so when I got home with Josie
and the puppies. The pups were doing great, playing and running around
like nothing happened. Poor Josie on the other hand, she was acting
like she just had major surgery. Oh wait, she had just had major
surgery. She even puked, poor thing. If I wasn't already a big fan of
early spay/neuter, I sure would be now. Just seeing first hand over and
over the huge huge difference in their recovery is enough to convince
me. Anyway, back to Josie's coat. She is really matted quite badly. The
minute I got home and got Jill settled and put Lewis and Honey in their
own areas, I grabbed the mat buster and comb and went to work on
Josie's coat. She was letting me work through her coat with not one
protest. Wow, this was exciting. I wanted to work quickly and get as
much done as possible before she woke completely and/or before her
guardian came to get her this evening. I was so intent on getting her
done that I didn't want to stop for supper. My husband, bless him,
fixed a really nice supper for us. I figured I'd eat later. I wasn't
even half way done when Josie's guardian mom came to pick her up. She
was excited about the progress too. She has a son that is Jill's age
and they always enjoy playing together. So, Mason and Jill played and
Heather and I chatted while I worked on Josie. When it was time for me
to takeBryony to her friends house, Heather took her for me so I could
continue working on Josie. Finally at about 10:30 or so we were all
worn out and decided to call i quits. All the mats were out except the
outside of one of her rear legs. Not too bad at all.

Lewis did get chosen today. A family that wants to train him to be a bird dog is getting him.

Surprise! (added something)

Chevy came over at 7:00a.m. again this morning. He and Kami were sure
glad to see each other. Ally was barely out of the driveway when the
happy couple were...uh...coupling. She doesn't yell anymore.

I took Jill to school then ran home and did the usual cleaning routine.

At 1:00 p.m. I took my van to the shop for new brakes and other stuff.

I bet someone filed a complaint with the ILA/ALAA
about me. Oh gee, I wonder who that could have been. Can you hear me
rolling my eyes? No, it wasn't crazy neighbor. This afternoon after I
got back from running errands, someone from the ILA showed up with a
camera and announced that she was here to do a kennel inspection. For
some reason she brought another breeder with her who is not affiliated
with the ILA. So she looked around and took pictures of the stupidest
stuff. That was probably because she had to really stretch it in order
to find something that may be construed as wrong. See, the puppies were
in the house and all nice and clean and warm. The areas they were in
were clean, no poo, they had ample fresh clean food and water, and
fresh bedding. The nighttime area where they sleep was also nice and
clean and cozy with nothing wrong. She took pictures of the area where
the puppies sleep when they are 2 and 3 weeks old. I don't have any
puppies of that age now so that area was not set up at all. I didn't
have
the barricade or heat lamp or anything at all set up. I told her that
but she insisted on taking pictures anyway. Does this mean we will all
have to have every area cleaned and ready to go even when we are months
away from using that area? The next thing she took a picture of was a
hole in the drywall in an area where the puppies do not ever hang out.
Wow. A free home inspection is now a benefit of being a member breeder
of the ILA/ALAA. Someone will now waltz into your home and take
pictures and tell you what you need to fix in your home, even when it
doesn't have anything to do with the puppies. And now get this, this is
the kicker, she took pictures of my couch. Yes...my couch. I had the
couch cover and chair cover off because Chevy and Kami were active. I
even told her that I keep them covered (not that the condition of my
furniture is any of the business of the ILA). I quiver with
anticipation just waiting to see how the pictures of my furniture will
be part of the report. The only reason I can think of why she would
have done that is way back a year or two ago when her daughter was
playing with some of the baby puppies that were 2 or 3 weeks old, one
of them peed on the couch and her daughter wasn't paying attention and
sat in it. Bet I'm the only breeder with baby puppies that pee on
people.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the yard. It has been raining so much here lately that part of our yard is flooded and really muddy. We had a storm last night that broke some branches off the big tree behind the garage that fell on the old dog house that we never use. I dragged the biggest branch to our burn pile this morning. The inspector focused on the flooded muddy part of the yard. I told her I would never let puppies out in that. She just said "I know" but took pictures of it anyway. She didn't even go over to the separate fenced in area where the puppies hang out when they are outside. So now what? Are we to control the weather? Are we not allowed to have any part of our yard muddy or flooded even when it storms and even though that is not the area the puppies stay when outside?
Unless I missed something, she didn't take pictures of the cute, healthy, clean, and cuddly puppies. Nor did I notice her taking pictures of the area where they were. As I said, the area is/was clean, warm, and cozy with fresh clean food and water. It would seem to me those two things are the most important. Instead, she took picture of:
1) a hole in the drywall behind a door in an area where the puppies don't go
2) my couch with the duct tape, even though it is normally covered and my furniture is none of their business
3) the area where baby puppies stay even though I won't have pups that age for a couple of months so it isn't set up
4) The muddy flooded part of the yard even though: it has been storming, I wouldn't let puppies out in that, that isn't even the area the pups hang out when outside

grrr

It is a good thing not many people read my diary now
that I changed it over to this format, otherwise the ILA people just
might have something to say about this entry.

I had to rush those guys (still haven't figured out why that other breeder came along) out in order to get Bryony to her appointment. After Bry's
appointment and after picking up Jill we were on the way home and I
made a wrong turn. Now I have lived in this town my entire life except
when I was serving in the Navy and when I lived in NY. There is no
valid reason for going the wrong way. Anyway, I found myself driving my
my mother's-in-law office and decided to stop in and say 'hi'. I
haven't done that in years. We were there less than 5 minutes when she
got a call from the retirement community where her father lives. They
told her he is not doing well. Since I am an RN she asked me to go with
her. After a quick assessment I had to gently tell her that he will
likely die and she needed to decide how she wanted to handle it. Wow.

Today was a computer day. I needed to work in my breeders program and start working on the booklets I make for the new families. One of these days I need to work on making a booklet for the guardian families.

Happy anniversary Sweetie!

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary! Most of our friends have been married, divorced, and remarried at least once. It is such a nice feeling having so much history and being so comfortable with my sweetie. I love you Sweetie.

Today started bright and early. Ally (Chevy's guardian mom) brought Chevy over at 7:00 a.m. and dropped him off so he could spend the day with Kami. Ally hadn't been gone more than 10 minutes when I heard a dog yelling in pain. Ooowwwww...poor thing. They are both first timers. It hurt her and made her bleed. I felt badly for her and sat there with her and comforted her. On the other hand.....Chevy is a man!! Yesss!!!
Here is the happy couple
Chevy (left)is an Australian multigen Labradoodle. Kami (right) is an American F1B Labradoodle, she belongs to Canine Crossroads.
They did it three times today. Woohoo!

As soon as Chevy and Kami were done with that first time, I took Jill to school then ran three of Josie's puppies to the vet in Chesterfield to get neutered/spayed.

I hurried home from that vet and picked up Kami, Chevy, Mera, and Honey (a Josie pup that is going in a guardian home) and took them to Indianapolis for their annual eye exams. Even though they were all well behaved, they were still a handful. Kami and Chevy looked so cute with their diapers on. That took several hours, man.

We were home long enough for Kami and Chevy to...well...you know, before I took Mera and Chevy to another vet for another annual health test. Then we picked up the puppies that were spayed/neutered, took Bry to a lesson, picked up Jill, went to two different fast food joints, picked up Bryony, then went home.

Sometime along the line today I found out that Tinkerbelle is pregnant! yeah! She is the 20 pound mini multigen Goldendoodle (daughter of Bella that I got way back when from TN) that I bred with Da Vinci. She is due Nov 21st. I'm so excited.

Chevy and Kami did it again as soon as we got home. They seem to really have the hang of it. I'm so proud *sniff.

When Ally came to pick up Chevy this evening we took some cute picture of them. I was bummed to see that they ended up being dark.

Forgot to mention that Mera's guardian mom picked her up from the vet this afternoon. She didn't come back home with us. I just be she goes in heat next week (Mera, not the mom). Dogs that go around another dog that is cycling tend to start their cycle. The timing would be great.

Worms be gone

Today was a day for cleaning cleaning cleaning. Monday's are always the busiest days. I try to take as close as possible to a day off on sundays in order to spend more time with my husband and children.

Today all the puppies and doggies got their deworming medicine. Josie's puppies and the adults got Panacur, and Rosie's pups got Pyran. Yum yum, Pyran smells like banana candy, but it doesn't exactly taste like it. It is labled and dosed for humans, so what the heck, I dewormed myself too. Turns out I didn't have any worms thank goodness. I'm sure I would have fareeaaked out to see something like that. oooo, yuck, quick, change the subject. I miss Duchess.

Mera came over this evening. She is going to spend the night tonight and go to two different vet appointments for annual breeding health testing. I like her.

Da Vinci goes home

Another of Rosie's puppies was chosen by a family. We don't know exactly which one yet. We are waiting for their personalities to be more obvious.

Da Vinci went to his new home today. This will be a great match. He is living with Lacey, a Velvet/Koby breeding daughter. He is terrific, I wish we could keep him here with us.

IDOG Doodle Romp

Bryony and I spent the day at a doodle romp today. We didn't host this one. It was hosted by IDOG. This is the first one I didn't post on our website and didn't notices to anybody. There weren't as many as usual but it was still fun. Francie and Tucker (Rosie pups) were the only 2 Lincoln Manor dogs there. They really aren't exactly of my breeding. They came from Michael of Sunshine Acres. There were lots of Michael doodles there. Most of them were related to Francie and Tucker.

...and speaking of Rosie...she is snoring really loudly right now.

Chevy's fired...again

Chevy just isn't getting it on with Kami. He looks like he will, but
just doesn't. I took the two of them to my regular vet today to have
him collect from Chevy and do an AI. I got so irritated. I told the vet
techs to please give us some privacy and don't through the room when we
are in there. I tried telling them this is Chevy's first time and he
needs to be able to focus. Sill, the vet had us go in the one room that
connects the front from the back and doesn't have a door in the back.
Chevy was just standing there watching the other vets and techs buzzing
around in the back. I was really irritated. I think the vet thought I
was only kidding. I wasn't. Chevy wasn't able to give it up. He was far
more interested in watching what was going on around him and not the
least bit interested in smelling Kami's back side or with what the vet was trying to do. He certainly isn't like his father...yet.


Speaking of Chevy's father. I sent Chevy back to his guardian home and had them bring Da Vinci back. Did I even mention that I had them trade Chevy for Da Vinci yesterday. Good 'ole reliable Da Vinci. He is filled with liquid gold. He and Kami were doing a little flirting as soon as he got back home. I thought they might do it, but they never did.

Kami's Progesterone level is 2.69. That means she will likely ovulate tomorrow evening or Saturday, depending on how quickly her body goes.

Hey, I have an idea. How about if Chevy gets this job instead. Really that was my first thought. Chevy has Velvet/Koby behind him (grandparents). That is a good service dog line. Plus, Chevy is a little bigger and generally speaking as far as service dogs go: the bigger the better. Well, to an extent.
Another reason I was going to use Da Vinci instead is because I was strongly considering sending him to live in Canada and I wanted to squeeze as much liquid gold out of him as I could before he left. Now I'm not totally sure.

Kami and Da Vinci went to the vet today so Kami could get some blood drawn to check her Progesterone level. That will let us know if she has ovulated yet. We will get the results tomorrow. Da Vinci didn't need to go but he likes to go for rides.

Busy busy busy

This morning I took Bryony to her school, then took Jill to her school, then took three of Josie's puppies to the vet. Mira (Josie's puppy) got spayed, and Louis and Luke got neutered. The vet used stronger stitches this time. They will dissolve but it may take several months to do so. The pups did great as always. They were playing and wrestling with each other shortly after I brought them home. I called their families to give them the report.

Da Vinci is getting a last minute job. Remember when I went to be on the Today Show (but due to the London Bombing got pre-empt at the last second while there waiting to go on) and I took Velvet and a couple of puppies? Kami was one of those puppies. She flew up here today from Texas. She is here to breed with either Chevy or Da vinci. She isn't picky. This evening I went to a pet supply store to get her kind of dog food. Ally, Chevy's guardian mom met me there. Ally and I drove over to pick up Liz, Ally's adult daughter and Franci's guardian mom. Liz drove for me and we all went to the airport to pick up Kami. It was fun visiting with them.
Kami sure is a cutie and seemed unfazed by the long time in the crate.
Kami has jet lag. She is the one on the left.
Look, Kami is a Goofadoodle. She is already hanging out in the bay window. I found myself calling her a Goofadoodle. There has only been one other dood I called that on a regular basis and that is Bonnie, Kami's full sister from a different litter.

This was a busy day trying to get everything done. There was all the usual stuff of cleaning the house, cleaning 2 puppy areas, talking on the phone, and errands.

One of my boys is getting a job. I'll be going to the airport tomorrow to pick up a girl in heat. whoohoo there will be doodle lovin' goin' on

Bryony

Leon has a family waiting on him now. He is one of Josie's puppies. He will be moving to Brooklyn, NY.

Rosie is doing a great job taking care of her babies and now keeping track of Josie's pups too. I don't want her to get worn out so I'm having Da Vinci babysit them too.

Josie goes home

Josie is so done with her puppies. She has weaned them and doesn't want them to nurse from her anymore. That means she doesn't want to be in the same area with them. She is funny. She wants to go see them, but she wants to be on the other side of the gate. She just checks to make sure they are safe, then trots off. So she is finished with them. She doesn't want to nurse them, doesn't want to play with them or anything. It is time for her to go. Her guardian family was thrilled to bring her home. I gave her a bath this morning and was horrified to find so many mats on her. They weren't there when she came to me. I didn't do a good job keeping her groomed. I have to say though, the mats are on her back legs and I haven't been too anxious to mess with her there. She has been doing the post partum bleeding and discharge so...yuck, of course I haven't wanted to comb back there.

Rosie is such a good girl. She nursed Josie's litter twice today. Da Vinci likes to play with the puppies, and Velvet is good about disciplining them. The pups are going to be just fine.

Louis' family came to visit him today. He is one of Josie's pups.

Luke has a family now. He is the liver color nose cream puppy.See how vicious Luke is? Luke is Liuda's favorite and she even was the one who named him. His new family is going to keep his name. Liuda will be thrilled about that and thrilled that he has been chosen already. She gets so upset when the pups aren't chosen by the time she thinks they should be. She says things like "Why nobody want him?" ...well never mind. I can't type with a thick Moldovan accent. Anyway, Luke's family came to visit him this evening. He is going to have a good life.

Lonnie was chosen by a family today. They want a dog who will be calm yet not so calm as to be a piece of furniture. They also want a wool coat. I think Lonnie will be a very nice addition to their family.

We got the paternity test results back today. Did you even know I had that done for Rosie's litter? Yup, I had just a tiny shade of doubt about who the white pup's dad may be. Turns out they all belong to Pepper, the Goldendoodle. None of the puppies are Meeko's. The white puppy is just so big and has a big black nose. Plus they were early so I though maybe Meeko sired at least the white pup. Nope, Meeko is not a daddy yet. Where'd that pup come from?

A crabby rant

I don't get some people. Why would someone go to all the trouble of talking on the phone with me several times, fill out an application, drive 2 hours to pick the pup they want, and only then ask how much they are and act all freaked out at the price? Yes, they read my website and made many references to it. My prices are no secret and are right there on the puppies page and the pricing and policy page? Was that supposed to be my cue to come down on the price? ...not gonna happen. They are already priced lower than other Australian Labradoodles. There are no ugly or defective puppies in this litter. This is a premium litter and I'm not lowering my price on them. I digress. Maybe I'm just an oddball. It wouldn't occur to me to spend so much time and go to so much trouble without addressing the price first. I understand someone not having $2000 to spend on a dog. Just please check the price before calling or coming over. If you want a $500 dog then please don't call me. If you are planning on getting a $500 doodle then please don't waste my time by pretending you are going to get one of mine just so you can come out and see what a doodle looks like. That is not nice and is inconsiderate. I guess I'm wasting my time saying that here because the people that do that certainly wouldn't be bothered reading this. Oh well, I am feeling better already. The issue of people not checking my price before calling is not new. It happens enough that my husband even put a note on the website right next to our phone number:
"Please! Before contacting us with questions about puppy availability and/or pricing, visit our "Available Puppies" and "Pricing and Policy" pages. You can access those pages from the sidebar on the left. Thank you."
It doesn't really help. People still call and say "yeah...I'm calling about yer Goldendoodles...How much are they?" "What?!? You've got to be kidding me? Do people really pay that much? They've got 'em in the paper for $200." Uh huh, I'm just sure those $200 doodles come from health tested parents, have a 2 year health warrantee, and are already spayed/neutered, and all that other good stuff. I'm sure the people selling the $200 doodles have done the extensive research and do this as their full time job. Umm hmmm On the other hand, I do understand that not everyone is willing to spend so much on a dog. People are funny about what they will and will not spend their money on. A friend of my husband thinks it is riduclous to pay so much on a dog, yet thinks nothing of buying a $30,000 car (I couldn't bring myself to do that) , a $3,000 golf cart just to ride around his yard (he doesn't play golf), expensive wine, an expensive home that is not on acres, a boat, etc... Yet, he won't pay more than several hundred dollars for a dog even though his dogs tend to not be terribly healthy and he has to pay a bunch of vet bills. I suppose it is just the mindset we grew up with.

I feel better now. Thank you.

I'm in the mood for a long rambling post about something...but Bryony is kicking me off.

Josie's puppies have been spending the night by themselves. Josie is trying her best to get them weaned. They have teeth and are eating solid food now. She also is no longer cleaning up their poo anymore. She will let them nurse several times a day. They are just so incredibly cute.

Rosie's puppies are really cute too. Her family came to visit yesterday. Most of Rosie's puppies have open eyes now. There are a couple that are still closed but they will be open any day now.

Partners in Poo

Josie and Rosie are buddies now. They routinely check out each other's babies. It also appears they like to give each other helpful tips. Why just today Josie gave Rosie a wonderful bit of advise. See, Rosie has her favorite poo spot in the living room on the freshly painted floor. Josie, on the other hand, prefers to go in Jill's room. So today Josie says to Rosie "Hey, come here, I want to show you something". They both go in Jill's room and Josie assumes the poo squat and says to Rosie "Look here, see how much more comfortable this nice soft carpet is? Oh, and check this out"...she pees now..."See, no back splash! How awesome is this?" Then Rosie says "Well, I am rather fond of the nice open area of the living room. Plus we really need to be helping Miss Jane out. It doesn't have that nice wonderful doggie poo/pee smell anymore. I do appreciate your tip and certainly will give this a try though. Move over"...she poos/pees now. I walked around the corner just in time to see these two coming out of Jill's room.