Time continues ticking by, and all the puppies continue growing. Here’s a quick update on both litters!

Duchess’s Irish Setter puppies are now three weeks old. At this point, Duchess still fully cares for them, but I will be introducing solid foods in the next couple days. All five girls are doing well. There is one that is a bit smaller than the others, so I’m supplementing her to help her pack on a little more weight. She’s feisty and active, though, and otherwise has no trouble keeping up with her big sisters.

Duchess healed very well from her c-section. Her staples were removed last week, and her incision healed very well. She is now back to normal activity, and she was cleared by her surgeon to have a future litter. We are grateful for her quick and easy recovery!

Mia’s Mini Goldendoodle puppies are becoming much more fun and interactive. They have begun to show interest in a few toys that I added to their pen, and I hear all sorts of yips, whines, and play growls throughout the day. Mia is being a wonderful and attentive mother, and I couldn’t be happier with how they are all doing.

Remember the little male puppy I shared about previously? He was born very weak, and I supplemented him for several days to keep him alive. That extra love and effort has paid off! He is fully thriving, and he is now the biggest of the litter. Seeing him growing and thriving makes my momma’s heart happy!

In the last week, Mia’s puppies got to start two very fun things- solid food and potty training.

They got to start solid food last week, and the weaning process will continue slowly until about 7 weeks old. Right now they get two meals a day of softened Life’s Abundance Small/Medium Breed Puppy Food. The food that puppies (and adult dogs) eat has a HUGE impact on their health. Puppies have young digestive and immune systems that are just beginning to develop. The immune system, in particular, doesn’t fully mature in dogs until 18-24 months old. It’s very important for puppies to have a food that is gentle on their digestive system and full of essential nutrients. It’s also important that the nutrients come in forms that the puppies’ immature digestive system can absorb. Many cheap and low quality dog foods contain corn. While corn does have nutrients in it that fill in the boxes for the nutrition label, dogs can NOT digest corn. Whatever nutrients are there come straight out in their poop, completely useless to them. Low quality foods are harsh on the digestive system, leading to more bouts of diarrhea and a weaker immune system.

This is why I feed my puppies Life’s Abundance. Here’s a quick summary of the good things that are in the food and the bad things that you will never find in Life’s Abundance products.

• A proprietary blend of vitamins & minerals
• High-quality, multi-source proteins for growing muscles & healthy development
• An antioxidant system with vitamins C & E
• Prebiotic fiber & guaranteed probiotics
• Omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin & a shiny coat
• Enriched with DHA
• Dietary fiber to help maintain a healthy digestive tract
• NO artificial flavors
• NO artificial colors
• NO corn or corn glutens
• NO wheat or wheat gluten

Around the time I introduced food, I also started potty training. This is a later start than usual for potty training, but this litter is doing exceptionally well, despite the late start. I start the puppies on paper training, which teaches them the basic skill of recognizing a “potty area.” This foundational knowledge helps so much for later crate training and house training. What I teach them is that there is a specific place to do their business. They usually are quick to catch on to this concept, because dogs and even young puppies instinctively want to keep their sleeping area clean. In the next couple weeks once the puppies outgrow the indoor pen, they will get to move to our outdoor pen. Then they get to transfer this knowledge and learn to do all their pottying outside. I do all of this potty training work for two reasons. First, it’s so much easier for me to keep the puppies and their pen clean, neat, and sanitary. Second, it’s training I provide as a service to help puppies adjust more quickly once they head to their new homes. With this foundational knowledge, most families find that crate training and house training go much easier.

And that’s about it! Our weeks have been full of puppies and all sorts of other summertime things like picking strawberries, splashing in the sprinkler, and enjoying cookouts with our friends and families. Enjoy your upcoming week, and check back later this week for updated pictures of the Mini Goldendoodles!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. No matter how your holiday was spent, I hope you experienced joy and thankfulness for God’s many blessings, large and small.

For me, and probably many of you, as well, the holidays are a time of family. Of anything in my life, I am most thankful for the gift of my family- for my immediate family and for the heritage and blessing of extended family.

It’s humbling to look at my family and see the amazing blessings God has given me, especially knowing I don’t deserve them. I haven’t done anything worthy of God’s grace and goodness, yet His grace and goodness are evident every day. And while I am certainly very thankful for the “good things,” God’s goodness is also evident in the bad days, too. His blessings aren’t limited to peaceful, prosperous times. His blessings abound in all times and circumstances. And knowing God is present at all times is truly the greatest blessing of all.

And I’m also thankful for these ten bouncing balls of fur! Can you count all ten?

You guys, these puppies are adorable. Every one of them. They are each so different and so much fun. And it’s great knowing that there are going to be so many homes enjoying a new puppy this Christmas. I’m so excited to share these sweet pups with you!

Here’s what we have been up to! I don’t feel like there is too much to report. We’ve been practicing a lot of the same things as last week, but the puppies certainly have been learning and maturing.

Potty training: Woohoo! Potty training is going so well! I haven’t cleaned up any poop accidents in an entire week! You don’t realize how exciting that is until you have raised a litter of puppies. But when all the poop ends up in the proper place, wow, it’s AMAZING.

Crate training: Mia’s puppies are doing well in the crate. Duchess’s puppies still cry quite a bit, but this is very normal at this age. None of the puppies have had accidents in the crate, but not all of them enjoy being crated… yet. Some puppies immediately love the crate. It’s safe, secure, and quiet. But not all puppies like it at first. However, I think all puppies can be crate trained. And crate training is hands-down the BEST way to begin house training. If you don’t have a crate for your puppy yet- get one. It is absolutely worth it.

Weaning: Both litters are now eating unsoftened kibble. Mia’s puppies, now fully weaned, are also enjoying the NuVet Immune System Supplement. I start this after the puppies wean from momma’s milk, because their young immune systems take a dip. Having good immune system support goes a long way in keeping a puppy and young dog healthy. NuVet is made with human grade ingredients in an FDA registered facility, and it’s specifically formulated to boost the immune system. I use it for my puppies, young dogs (under 2 years), and my pregnant and nursing mommas.

Play: One of the most important things I can do with the puppies during these last couple of weeks is play with them. They love to interact, and getting lots of attention, love, and play is so good for them. So the children and I are doing our best to soak up the last days with these two litters! Having such mild weather recently has been great, as the puppies just love to play outside. I have a large play yard set up with lots of toys inside so that they can all play together on the nice afternoons.

Vets, vaccines, & deworming: The puppies get a vet check and their first puppy shot at 7 weeks old, and they also get one last round of dewormer. Once that is done, they are all set to go to their new homes! Mia’s puppies went to the vet this week, and Duchess’s will go next week. The time is really winding down fast.

Have a great weekend!

Oops, I told you weekly updates. You may have noticed the lack of an update last week. What can I say? 🙂 But here we are today. Better late than never, right?

Duchess’s Irish Setter puppies are now five weeks old, and Mia’s Mini Goldendoodle puppies are six weeks old. They are both fully interactive and playful, and we are having so much fun! Now that they have reached this age, they are almost developmentally the same. Mia’s puppies are just a bit closer to being fully weaned.

On the warmer days, the kids and I spend time outside in the yard playing with the puppies. Puppies just love romping in the grass! They are really enjoying some of the new toys in the play pen, and they never get tired of being snuggled. They have gotten to hear and see some new things- like a fire siren, traffic, my husband’s old tractor, etc. I’ve been focusing on outdoor noises this past week. Next week, I’m going to give them more experience with indoor sounds like vacuuming, TV, music, and other household noises. The more they hear and see now from the safety of a familiar place, the better they will handle frightening things in the future!

The two big things that we have been working on are weaning and potty training.

For the first weeks, momma’s milk gives puppies all the nutrients they need. After that, they begin a slow transition off milk onto solid foods. As puppies come off of momma’s milk, they are no longer receiving her antibodies. They still have some of her immunity, but it fades quickly in the coming weeks, making it much easier for them to pick up parasites, bacteria, viruses, etc. That’s why a quality diet is so important. It makes all the difference in a puppy’s immediate health and ability to ward off illnesses, and it makes a long term difference, because good nutrition helps their bodies to grow and develop well. (Of course, good nutrition does not prevent every disease. But there are a lot of health problems, some major and some minor that really can be prevented by good nutrition and exercise. No different than humans, really!)

I’ll post links to the food and supplements I use at the end of the post!

I feed our dogs and puppies Life’s Abundance dog food. High quality ingredients, especially the proteins, and no questionable ingredients. Dog foods made with lower quality ingredients are very telling in a dog’s health- dull fur, more poop (since the lower quality ingredients aren’t as easily absorbed), more cases of vomiting, diarrhea, and food allergies. Excellent quality dog food may be more expensive, but it prevents so many other things, that’s it’s fully worth the cost!

I also give the puppies NuVet Plus, which is an immune system supplement. I like to begin this once the puppies have been weaned from mom’s milk, because of that loss of immunities. I use supplements as they are needed for my dogs. I use it when they are young ( I recommend from weaning until 2 years old), and during pregnancy and nursing. Those are the times when a dog has the highest nutritional, immune system support needs.

The puppies are LOVING their food, especially the Irish Setters. It’s funny watching them eat. The Mini Goldendoodles carefully chew their food and it takes them several minutes to finish a meal. Meanwhile, the Irish Setters devour their food in blink. I’m sure they barely chew!

Along with weaning, comes deworming, which is done at 3, 5, and 7 weeks old. Both litters have been dewormed twice, and they will receive one more round prior to going home. Keeping on top of parasite control in puppies is so important! Their young immune systems aren’t ready to ward off parasites, so they need regular dewormings for the first few months of their lives.

And for the not so fun part of raising puppies… potty training! I’ll be honest, puppies are messy sometimes! But that’s why I work so hard to get these guys started on potty training and crate training. The better I can get them trained, the less messy poo clean-up I have to do! The Mini Goldendoodles are doing very well. They certainly aren’t perfect, but they have been keeping their bed very clean, and the majority of their pottying has been going outside where it belongs. (Yay!) The Irish Setters are coming along nicely, but they need some more practice. (This is one area where I can see the age difference. In another week, the Irish Setters will have learned a lot more in the potty training arena.)

Next up for the puppies will be vet checks and vaccinations. I’ll do my best to keep my promise of a weekly update for next week. 🙂

Here are the links to the food and supplements that I give the puppies.

Life’s Abundance Small & Medium Breed Puppy Food: https://lifesabundance.com/Category/DogFood.aspx?realname=20552921&cat=0&hdr=&Ath=False&crt=0

NuVet Plus: https://www.nuvetlabs.com/order_new2/nuvet-plus-wafers.asp

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Good afternoon!

All of the puppies continue to grow, and they are all doing very well. Here’s what we are up to this week!

Mia’s puppies are now four weeks old. The one month mark means that we begin the weaning process! This is probably one of the periods of puppy raising that takes the most work. I begin by soaking small amounts of food and giving the puppies one meal a day. Then, I gradually increase to three meals, and then I begin feeding them larger amounts at each meal.

During that time, I also begin allowing momma to be away from her puppies for longer periods of time. Up to this point, momma has been allowed to eat as much as she wants, but I will soon begin to measure and limit her calorie intake. This will encourage her body to slow its milk production. Over-production of milk during weaning can lead to mastitis, so I take a proactive approach in helping mom’s milk supply to dry up in a slow and comfortable way.

The puppies, of course, will be eating Life’s Abundance Small & Medium Breed Puppy Food. The quality ingredients and excellent nutrition works to keep them healthy from the inside out! I have been feeding my dogs and puppies Life’s Abundance for about four years, and I love it! My puppies and adults have always done so well on it, and I was so impressed with the changes I saw in my dogs when we switched to feeding Life’s Abundance several years ago. Seriously, it’s one of the best dog foods you will find.

A few of the things I love the most about this particular kind of food (and I have tried several brands in my years as a breeder) are:

*It contains only high quality proteins. Protein is essential for all bodily functions (brain, heart, muscles, skin, coat, bones, etc), and not all protein is created equally. Life’s Abundance has quality controlled protein sources of chicken meal (which is more nutrient dense than whole chicken) and eggs.

*It is enriched with DHA and contains guarantee probiotics, prebiotic fiber, antioxidants, Omega-3 fatty acids, and a complete array of essential vitamins and minerals.

*It hasn’t been sitting on a store shelf for months! Life’s Abundance makes their food in small, weekly batches. This means when I order food, I know it is as fresh as possible, and fresh food is more nutrient rich.

*It has all of the good stuff and none of the bad! No artificial flavors or colors. No corn or wheat or corn/wheat glutens. None. Ever. Corn and wheat are very difficult for dogs to digest, meaning they can irritate the digestive system and provide very little nutritional benefit.

This isn’t just “puppy food.” This is a top-of-the-line, nutritious diet. I have seen the positive effects of good nutrition, and I simply cannot overstate the importance. A healthy momma and healthy puppies begin with a good nutrition. Their bodies’ simply cannot grow and function well if they are not given the high quality nutrients they need.

Here is a picture of Mia’s puppies enjoying one of their first Life’s Abundance meals. Getting them to eat took no encouragement! It was warm and sunny this afternoon, so the puppies got to spend time out in the yard.

And now for Duchess’s puppies! They are three weeks old, and they are quite the lively bunch. I had to move Duchess’s food bowl up on a stool, because her puppies were eating it! They don’t have teeth yet, but they were getting into her bowl and gumming her hard kibble.

The puppies are now getting fairly steady on their feet, and I am beginning to see some tail wagging and hear some little yips and barks. They still sleep a lot, but they are definitely interested in the big world around them!

Today, Duchess and her puppies moved to our outdoor pen. It was time for them to have some more space. The small temporary pen off my kitchen wasn’t cutting it anymore.

Most times, my puppies spend their first 3-5 weeks inside where I can keep a close eye on them. Then, I often move them outside where they have much more space. Our outdoor pen gives them inside and outside access at all times, which greatly helps with potty training! It’s warmly heated in the winter, and cool and ventilated in the summer. (And just for my peace of mine, we have a camera on them all the time, so I can peek in on them during the night or when we are away from home.)

The puppies will still be spending a good bit of time in our house, though, to continue their training. I bring them inside to practice crate training, and to continue their exposure to sounds like vacuum cleaners, children, TV, etc.

Next week, Duchess’s puppies will begin weaning, and Mia’s puppies will be old enough for the waiting families to begin choosing their puppies. Check back then for another update!