Going to miss these babies

Once again time has flown, the pups are now 7 weeks old and will start to leave for their new lives at the weekend. After much deliberation I have decided that Elmo will be the pup that stays with us, she will be called Eliza from the Audrey Hepburn film My Fair Lady.
They are off to the vets for a quick health check and to be chipped tomorrow afternoon, so that will be their 1st car journey.
They will all be bathed and clipped before they leave here, so if the weather is kind I hope to get a few shots of them looking clean and fluffy before they go, but for now here are a few pics from this afternoon (we got rained on, hence the soggy look!)

Calendars

One of the families having an Audrey puppy has very kindly used some of my pictures of my pets to make fabulous A3 sized top quality calendars for me. There are too many for my family and friends so I am selling the remainder, with all proceeds going to a poodle charity. If you would like one please get in contact, they are priced at £12.50 each plus £2.80 P&P

A busy week for the pups

What can I say, this litter are just little crackers, they are now becoming fun as they play and explore and start to interact with people and anything else they come into contact with, although their stamina is still very limited at the moment, they have about 15 minutes of activity followed by several hours of napping. Taking pics is a bit of a challenge now as every time I get down to their level I get mobbed!

This week they have had their 1st outdoors adventures, ideally I would have liked to get them out more frequently and for longer periods, but it just hasn't stopped raining :-( and they are just a bit too young to be able to cope with getting wet.

They have also had their 1st date at the hairdressers and now look like proper poodles, this went very smoothly with only Jerry making a proper fuss about it, typical girl! They have also had a chew on some raw bones, I think they really appreciated these as they are teething and want to chew.

I have started to allow them to interact with a couple of my puppy friendly adult dogs, I do this gradually and am careful about which dogs they meet and where as not all of my adult dogs tolerate the pups trying to suckle from them or chewing on their ears/tails. Normally they would meet the less tolerant dogs in the garden where there is more space for the adults to get away, but as already mentioned rain has made this impossible.

I am pleased to say that all the pups are now reserved and I have to apologise to those waiting for me to choose my girl, I just cannot choose between two of them and am going to have to take another week to make my final decision, I do understand how frustrating this is for you but would like to assure you that all the pups are lovely friendly characters, as a breeder I am looking for certain traits and all 3 have something I like, so I am quite impressed with myself for getting it down to two to choose from.

Bones

Pups had their 1st introduction to bones tonight, they are teething and seemed very glad of a cold bone to gum on. My friend Amy is staying tonight and she took some pics of me taking pics, which gives you an idea of some of the difficulties involved when taking pics of pups who see you and your camera as some sort of interactive toy/climbing frame

4 Weeks old today

1st bath and blow dry

Pups were getting a bit greasy, due to wading through their food instead of simply eating it! so they had a very quick bath today. Can't say they were terribly impressed and when I went to take pics, before they got grubby again, they were tired and perhaps a little shell shocked :-) Maybe they will stay clean enough for another attempt at pics tomorrow, but here are some to be getting on with for now.

Male v female?

When I get enquiries about puppies about 80% of those enquiring, specifically want a female pup. When I question this the vast majority have no actual reason for their choice, some feel a bitch is easier and some are under the impression that they are more affectionate than male pups. There are of course those who absolutely need a pup of a certain sex due to personal circumstances, ie an existing dog that wouldn't accept a puppy of a certain sex.

Whilst I try to dispel some of the myths about male dogs, such as inappropriate lifting of the leg (I have 3 entire males, none of whom would ever dream of lifting their leg indoors, even when the girls are in season), or dog to dog aggression, again I refer to my 3 boys who live in harmony with each other and are walked amongst strange dogs on a daily basis without issue,  I am aware that some people will think I am telling them this in order to place my male pups regardless of behaviour traits, nothing could be further from the truth as I take great care in placing my pups and won't hesitate to turn down applications from those who I feel are not suitable for my pups. I have recently stumbled across an article that pretty much says what I feel. So if you thought you were set on a female pup, but are not really sure why, it may be worth having a little read, and maybe a rethink :-) Just click the link below.

The difference between male and female dogs

A few pics from our beach walk last week. This was Audreys 1st walk since having the pups (beach is a pretty clean place to visit) and I think it's safe to say she was pleased to be out