The developing of an Aussalier

First you start with an ASDR Reg. Toy Australian Shepherd named "China". A true Aussie, with a spitfire personality and herding instinct packaged in 10" tall, 13 lb blue merle colored, blue-eyed body.

Then you add in a AKC Reg. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, "Noah". A gentle, sweet soul, happy, playful in a gorgeous coat of black, tan and white. Weighing at 20 lbs and standing a bit taller at 13".

And what do you get? Viola' this beautiful bundle of gorgeous Aussalier puppies!

 Today we're following one of those sweet babies as she grows up. We call her "Concho" and she is the beautiful blue merle with the big white face in the front left side of the picture.

Here she is looking sweetly into the camera at four weeks of age.

Looking more grown up at five weeks!

Taking a ride at six weeks!

At seven weeks we have lots of pictures of her playing outside with her littermates!

(Sorry, not a clear shot, but I love how it shows her "in action")

(You can see from previous pictures that the pigment on her nose is filling in all black:)

And here she is today at eight and a half weeks of age!

She is definitely an Aussalier; a wonderful combination of both mom (Aussie) and dad (Cavalier). Her body build is more like her mom with the Aussie coat and coloring. I'm guessing she should mature around fourteen pounds as an adult. She obviously has the beautiful Cavalier ears and her temperament is more like the Cavalier; sweet, cuddly, but still playful and happy!

She is here waiting for her perfect, forever family!

Will it be you?

He passed!

About eight weeks ago, Noah and I started our basic obedience class. 

Now, I had been a bad dog "mom" and the poor guy wasn't hardly leased trained at that point. Noah has what we call a "soft" temperament. Another word for "wimp" *wink* Usually when you leash train a puppy/dog and it's not used to the pressure of the leash, they will hit the end and stop or some will turn into bucking broncos! Noah on the other hand, would hit the end of the leash and yelp! Which made training a bit of a challenge.

So we started Noah off the first half of the class on a flat collar instead of the usual training collar. He seemed to catch on quickly to what was asked of him. I had to be careful with my corrections though, because of his sensitive nature. And use a lot of praise and encouragement!

Class gave us the basics; sit, down, come, sit-stay, down-stay, stand for exam, walking on a loose leash making different turns and staying together as a team. The teacher always likes to throw in some fun stuff too; relays, Simon Says, and fun agility courses. (I highly recommend basic obedience and CGC testing (if available) for all our Pinewood puppies and families!)

Last week she gave us a sample test of the basics that we had been learning and scored each one on how we did. Noah did really well and got in the 1st place category along with quite a few others.

Last night we received our graduation certificates (and treats for the dog!), plus the chance to go through the CGC test. For those who don't know, the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) is a test that the American Kennel Club (A.K.C.) puts on all over the country by various instructors.

Here's a quote from the CGC pamphlet:

"The AKC's Canine Good Citizen Program is designed to recognize dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. This rapidly growing nationally recognized program stresses responsible dog ownership for owners and basic training and good manners for dogs.

The AKC CGC Program provides an excellent foundation for training in other fun activities such as Rally, Obedience and Agility and results in a well-mannered dog who is a joy to live with. Some therapy dog groups require passing the CGC Test as a prerequisite, some insurance companies recommend CGC training, and and increasing number of apartments and condos are requiring CGC training for resident dogs."

So you can see what a benefit passing this test can be. There are 10 parts to the test that the dog must pass. Test 1: Accepting a friendly stranger. Test 2: Sitting politely for petting. Test 3: Appearance and grooming. Test 4: Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead). Test 5: Walking through a crowd. Test 6: Sit and down on command and staying in place. Test 7: Coming when called. Test 8: Reaction to another dog. Test 9: Reaction to distraction. Test 10: Supervised separation. (AKC has a pamphlet with more specifics about each portion of the test. Contact them at cgc@akc.org)

Well, I was worried about Noah not passing the "down". This is one thing we've had trouble with. And I'll be honest, I hadn't practiced it as much as I could have. But, he passed that part and every test before it! The last part; "Supervised Separation", was the part I didn't think we'd have any problem with. You hand your dog's leash to another person and they hold it for you while you go out of sight for three minutes. He almost flunked! Whiner! But thankfully, he passed that portion also.

So now Noah's official title is "Rose City's Noble Heir CGC" (pending AKC approval)

Waiting our turn!

Test 1: Accepting a friendly stranger

Test 2: Sitting politely for petting

Test 3: Appearance and grooming

Getting ready for Test 4: Out for a walk

Test 5: Walking through a crowd

Part of Test 6: Sit-stay

Test 7: Coming when called

Test 9: Reaction to distraction. (She used the walker around him and now is slamming a book shut). Test 8 (Reaction to another dog) was in this area too. We didn't get a picture of Test 10: Supervised separation.

Ahhhh...testing is over. Noah takes a break to play with his friend, Little Bear.

Good job Noah!

From Coco's mom

This was a recent message I received from one of our Pinewood puppy adopters...(totally unsolicited by me!)

"Why Pinewood Kennels is indeed the place to go for a puppy.

 

When looking to buy a Cavapoo we chose Pinewood Kennels May 2011, a decision we've been extremely glad we did.

 

From the get go, Jennifer was awesome to deal with. When we said we'd like to come see the Cavapoo we chose from pictures, she said, "sure, we'd be glad to have you visit." 

 

Our drive to Pinewood Kennels, took us across the State of Washington, and as we got closer we were as excited as two kids on Christmas. On our arrival, Jennifer warmly greeted us, showed us the puppies with their mother Buttercup and later Scout the father, as well as her other dogs. The love Jennifer and her family have for all their animals was apparent the moment we drove up their road.

 

It was important for us, not only to hold our puppy, but also to meet Jennifer & then see what is the perfect setting for breeding happy, healthy, and lovable dogs.

 

As promised, Jennifer kept us informed of Coco's progress. As scheduled, Coco flew from Spokane to SeaTac, accompanied by Jennifer's friend who met us at the airport. 

 

Here are pictures of Coco when we met her at 5 weeks, her drive home with us from SeaTac, one year on our riding mower, and at two years.

 

Forever grateful to Pinewood Kennels.   G, J and Coco too"

Coco at 5 weeks when they came to meet her.

Riding home from the airport.

A year old and ready to mow the lawn...just kidding, but she is smart ;)

Coco at two years of age.

I was thrilled of course to get "J's" email update. Here was our ensuing correspondence:

"J,
Thank you so much for this heartfelt letter of recommendation! You cleaned out my tear ducts this morning:) I'm thrilled that you so love your Coco girl and the experience you've had with us. I will definitely be sharing your note with others! Thank you, thank you!

Give Coco a birthday hug from her "other" mother:)
Warm regards~Jennifer"

 

 

"Jennifer you are certainly welcome.

 

G was hesitant in our getting a dog at our age (he will be 82 this July, and I will be 75 in June)  However, I knew he loved dogs and when he finally agreed there was no turning back.  Coco of course sealed the deal, the very moment we saw and then held her in our arms at your home.

 

The joy and love we've had from Coco, has been more than we could ever imagine. She keeps us young and active, makes us laugh, helps us relax (she loves sharing our chairs)

Alerts us to when someone comes down our driveway, gathers us up at the end of the day, or getting ready to go somewhere. ( a mother hen sometimes, cracks us up)

 

Have a great summer, enjoy your new poodles (they are adorable) We pray you continued success, as share your 'special dogs' with families everywhere.

 

J, G and Coco too!!"

 

 

And this is what it's all about! *smile*

 

Delivery day!

Just had to share a few pictures of delivery day! This one worked out great as all three families were able to meet me and pick up their pups on the same day.

I always enjoy meeting the families in person and presenting them with their long awaited new furry, family members. Some have waited a long time and some not so long, but all are excited and happy to receive their new baby. Some come from quite a distance and some are local. Of these three families one lives locally, one came from the coast and the other drove from another state to meet me that day!

First little Missy went home. She is going to live with another Pinewood pup, who is also her half brother! Her mom is expecting a baby (human) and her dad had to work so her new "grandparents" were nice enough to drive over and pick her up! Here is a quick note from her new mom; "Molly (her new name) is absolutely precious and we are so happy! Thank you! My parents now want a little cavalier puppy after picking her up. It's hard not to fall in love with them. :)"

Right after little Missy (Molly) left, Kris' mom drove up. She had been wanting a tri-color male Cavalier for a long time and after little Kris (now Cooper) was born the timing was just right! He has two big "siblings" at home, another Cavalier and an older Lab. Hopefully, he won't torment them too much!
She wrote to let me know they got home ok:

"We made it home OK.

Cooper is quite the pup, happy and wiggly and very vocal.

He is happy to be out of the car!

He seems to like his iris pen.

Ruby(Cavalier) has been steering clear cause he pulls her ears.

Hershey (lab) doesn’t know what to think yet."

Then I got another update this morning: "

"Little stinker indeed! He is Baxter(her old dog that just passed) reincarnated. Cooper has a new nickname, “charlie dickens”

He got that one by using his paw to flip over his food bowl and scatter kibble everywhere.....LOL

Hershey likes when he does that!

He finally started eating today, drinking more water.

He ended up sleeping with the pack on the bed last nite, and did really well, and even had his head on Hershey’s back.

I just love him to death.

Thank you so much!"

 

Not to long after Kris (Cooper) left, it was time for Nicholas to be picked up. Nicholas' family as been waiting for months for him! The family has two teenagers that have been wanting a dog for a long time. They decided that the time had finally had come. They were so excited to pick him up! Can't you just see it on her face?! :) And I love this picture of Nick with his little head tilted!

Wishing our Pinewood pups long, happy lives with their new families!

It's 2:38 am

It’s 2:38 am. I should be sleeping. I thought tonight I’d get some sleep. Piper’s pups are four days old and doing well. 

I’m still sleeping on the couch to keep an eye on things. Occasionally someone will get stuck behind her or partway under her and cry and cry. So I stay close to rescue pups when needed.

I crashed on the couch about 10:45 tonight (technically last night). It didn’t take long for me to be asleep. Puppy noises woke me up.

Fancy had been a bit restless tonight, but I really didn’t think she’d do anything until tomorrow night. Now how I could tell in my sleepy state that the noises were coming from Fancy’s crate across the room instead of Piper’s crate next to the couch, I’ll never know; “motherly” instincts maybe. ;)

And so the night started. And I wait, because I don’t think she’s done.

Let me just say how pleased I am with Fancy. Granted she did grow to be a bigger Poodle than I had planned. But she has such a wonderful disposition. She’s just a sweet dog! And now to see how well she’s doing as a first time mother, I am thrilled! Her deliveries so far have gone very smoothly. She’s cleaning and taking care of the pups. They all seem very strong and vigorous and it wasn’t long before they were all lined up at the milk counter filling their tummies.

I know I’m being very vague here, giving no details as to how many or what we’ve gotten so far. The first few days after birth can be critical. Occasionally we’ll lose a pup. So it’s easier to wait a few days and make sure everyone is doing well, gaining weight and growing before we share details. Let me just share that we do have both boys and girls and some fabulous colors. I am happy, and tired.

Think maybe I’ll catch a few winks while I wait for more action. Night all! Or should I say, good morning.

Wonders never cease!

I had prepared everything in readiness for Piper's upcoming litter. The crate was ready with a layer of newspaper. My whelping kit was stocked and handy. And my thermometer told me it would be soon. Wednesday was my "town day", but I decided to postpone that when I saw what Piper's temperature had dropped to. (For those unaware, a dog's normal temperature is usually around 101.5. About a week before whelping (delivery) it will drop to around 100 degrees. Then 12-24 hours before the big event it will drop between 98-99 degrees.) Just before leaving for town her temp had registered 98.4 and now she was "nesting" in her crate. Town could wait.

Murpy's Law of course kicks into affect now. Had I gone to town she would have had the pups while I was gone. (I know dogs have been having puppies on their own for thousands of years, but I'm the type of person that likes to be there to make sure everything is going as it should.) But since I stayed home she didn't do anything all day. Of course, I knew what that meant, I'd be up all night!

My normal routine is to park the whelping crate between the couch and the wood stove. Momma dog goes in the crate for the night and I "sleep" on the couch so I'm close by when things start happening. "Sleep" is relative when you're talking about being next to a dog that's panting, scratching, digging and shredding papers in her crate of course.

I had somehow dozed off when in my semi-sleep stage I heard a "kitten" meowing. When my brain translated that to "puppy crying", I was suddenly awake! It was 1:15am when little "Romeo" made his appearance.

 Only about 45 minutes passed when Juliet showed up.

Now if they would all pop out in that time frame I'd be happy. But it was not to be. I dozed off and on, checking and rechecking Piper's progress, or should I say, lack of progress. I was getting a bit concerned when a couple hours passed and no puppy appeared. (She wasn't very big for this litter and I had guessed there were only three pups. Feeling her gut confirmed there was another one still in there.) I did my usual thing, pray that something would happen soon and give her an herbal supplement that is suppose to help with contractions.)

Finally around 5:15 am, little Cupid was born!

I was happy and relieved that all three puppies were finally here. And pleased with the beautiful colors. I was surprised though that we hadn't gotten any black pups. Piper's last litter consisted of a ruby, a blenheim, two tris and two black and tans. Oh well, that's what's fun about this "business", the element of surprise.

I rechecked Piper and she seemed done. So I let her settle in with her pups while I caught a bit more sleep before it was time for me to start my day. 

Soon enough my day began. After giving Piper a new bed, making sure the pups were all nursing, and making her the customary "post delivery" meal of a warm scrambled egg, I headed out to do my regular chores and get ready for my trip to town later.

I left for town later that morning, ran my errands and headed home in time to pick up my youngest son from school at 3pm. When we arrived home, I opened Piper's crate to let her out for a potty break and spotted something black! What?! There was another puppy! He was already pretty dry, so he had to have arrived quite some time before. Voila' Casanova!

So we had our black puppy after all.

Six o'clock rolled around and it was time for Piper to have a break and me to change her bedding. She came out, I looked in and; I know math is not my strong point but I do know the difference between four and five. You guessed it, there was another little body in the crate!

Hello little Valentine!

All I can figure is Valentine was probably in there when I spotted Casanova, but since Piper was in the crate and there were already two ruby pups, I must have missed her. There's just no way a dog could go that long in between delivering puppies and have them come out alive.

Don't you just love Valentine's Day surprises? Wonders never cease!

Why taking puppy pictures is not easy (but is rewarding)

Fact #1~Puppies are cute, soft, sweet and adorable.

Fact #2~Puppies rarely sit still for pictures.

I guess my main "complaint" about taking puppy pictures is not having a camera fast enough to catch them!
Let me present some evidence why taking puppy pictures is not easy.

But when you get one of these....."Ahhhhh" pictures it's all worth it!