Monday, January 30, 2012

Doing What Lola Does Best...

(...besides retrieving tennis balls, that is!)

Lola's sacrifice and dedication to her puppies is remarkable in that she clearly enjoys her babies like nothing else on earth (including retrieving tennis balls!)  She lines them all up between her paws (on the heated warming tray, which cannot be that comfortable with her luxuriant fleece coat) and she gazes at them adoringly...

We try to lure her away  with treats so that she can go outside and do her "business", but she will have none of it and has to be forcibly picked up and carried out.

But we can certainly see what is so alluring about them!


These puppies are not yet 24 hours old, and can neither see nor hear well,  but I am picking them up gently to get them used to being handled.  I can hear their tiny little noses snuffling as they sniff at our hands and faces. 

They are waiting for the milk to come in, but in the meantime are full of Mom's immunity-boosting colostrum.

(From their Mom's perspective...!)
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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Happy Birth-Day Puppies!

Lola let us know unequivocally what she had in mind for the day through her persistent efforts to lure all her family members (canine and human) to attend her in constantly changing potential whelping locations.  She varied between several attractive venues that we had created for her such as under a small table with a sheet tented over the top, a large dog kennel filled with luxurious bedding to shred, and of course the super expensive ultra-deluxe sanitized professional heated whelping box.  However her lair of choice, which required some considerable effort to dissuade her from, was the dirt, beetle- and and humus-filled hollow which she had surreptitiously dug out under the rusty wheelbarrow and old ladders in the backyard, under the deck.)

As it was, this first little chocolate girl made her appearance at about 2:30 PM in the tented boudoir, but waited it out on the heated warming tray in the whelping box until her next sibling was born.


This gorgeous caramel hunk squeezed out next...

The whelping box has a heating lamp that warms a tray which radiates constant heat up into their bellies. Mom is ever-so-proud of her babies, but did take a few minutes away from admiring them to wolf down a bowl of vanilla ice cream...for that added hit of calcium and glucose!

The second caramel Golden Boy was barely dry but set to work right away!

5:10 PM and the last sister is born...she immediately bulldozed the boys right out of the way. It is remarkable how much they are born already knowing how to do.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Welcome Talaki Ridge Whitney!

We are so excited to welcome this beautiful girl to our breeding program!  After spending some "quality time" with Whitney snuggled on my lap, it was with a pang of reluctance that we introduced her to her new Guardian family, where she will be even more-loved!  We expect Whitney's next litter this summer!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Rutland's Baby Joey

"Joey" is a gorgeous chocolate-cafe standard, originally  imported directly from one of the founders of the breed Rutland Manor in Australia. His parents are the legendary "Cool Dude" (Read about this remarkable dog HERE ) and the celebrated Rutland's Kismet.  Thanks to Hudson Labradoodles in New York, Joey has come out to provide us with an opportunity to perpetuate this unique authentic Australian Therapy/Service Dog line out West. 


  



















Joey will be co-owned with Elizabeth Ferris at Country Labradoodles and will be available on a limited basis to other breeders (Australian lines only). Joey's most recently-sired litter was born in December 2011 at Hudson (eight gorgeous puppies). We look forward to seeing Joey's laid-back temperament, goofy sense of humor, and special Therapy/Service Dog heritage in his future offspring. Please contact us if you are interested in these classic Australian lines for your program. (Joey has just had all of his Health testing re-done in 2012.)

"You weren't planning on finishing that sandwich, were you?"

Friday, January 6, 2012

Happy New Year (and a Guid Hogmanay!)

Here we seem to have beat last year's tally for the highest number of Labradoodles we can get to pose our holiday picture!  All the Best to Everyone from Our Family at Golden Gate Labradoodles!

     "And Here's a Trusty Paw, My Friend..."
                                               "...For Auld Lang Syne!"

link to view photo larger:  https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wj9gNdnpVlDVN_cJsrvdN3VWMJNNwccaUgTtBUGgNCs?feat=directlink
                                                             Sláinte!