These sweet babies will be ready to go to their forever homes May 2nd-8th. All of these puppies have already found forever families. We do not have any puppies available for adoption at this time.
happy birthday: March 7, 2021
Maple & Boaz are the proud parents of EIGHT gorgeous new babies: four beautiful girls and four handsome boys. These little ones are absolutely precious. And they’re teeny tiny, not even weighing an entire pound yet. It’s fun to see the rainbow of coat colors. When puppies are first born, they depend heavily on their mama, so we’re blessed that Maple does such a great job caring for them. She nurses them almost constantly it seems. Maple often lounges with her pups, laying on her back with her belly up in the air and puppies nestled in all around and even on top of her.
How sweet are these faces? The pups are less than 24 hours old in the picture above and they’re about 3 days old in the picture below. Isn’t amazing how much they change in from one day old to three days old?! Can you see how they’re already chunking up and their faces are already looking more mature?
At first, puppies can’t yet walk. Their eyes and ears are closed. They can’t go to the bathroom on their own. And they can’t maintain their own body temperature. Fortunately, God gave puppies a natural instinct to pile together for warmth, so they snuggle together in a giant puppy heap. And they also cuddle around Maple as she snoozes on her back surrounded by her new family. EEGs have revealed that the brain activity of infant puppies is the same when asleep and awake. But these little pups are busy eating, growing, and developing. Maple’s puppies twitch and pop in their sleep, as all healthy newborn puppies should. This activated sleep helps them build muscle tone.
weekly puppy tip #1: nap time is essential!
Think about a napping place – The puppies spend most of their lives sleeping now, but did you know that your new furbaby is going to need lots of sleep when you bring her home, too? Puppies, just like small children, require naps throughout the day. When your puppy is sleeping, try to allow her to rest untouched (it’s okay for noisy life to carry on around her while she snoozes, but it’s best not to physically disturb her as much as possible). This may mean that you need to guide her to a different spot than the one she’s initially chosen. AKC gives some helpful insight into the importance of puppy sleep:
Although puppies may seem like little bundles of energy, in fact, they sleep 15-20 hours a day. One minute your puppy may be a miniature tornado, and the next he’s fallen soundly asleep, almost mid-activity. Sleep is essential to healthy growth: during sleep his central nervous system, brain, immune system, and muscles are developing. All of that sleep also helps him rest up during growth spurts… household members, especially children, should leave your puppy alone while he is sleeping. Plan his day so that active time is followed by quiet time for sleep. He’ll most likely be ready for a nap after playtime or a walk, sleep for a while and then wake up ready for anything. Your puppy may nap every hour or so, sleeping from 30 minutes to as long as two hours. All of this sleep is perfectly normal.
Jan Reisen from the American Kennel Club (AKC)
You can read the rest of the article here.
11 days new
I realized that I forgot to share the special temporary names that our kiddos picked out for these sweet nuggets. The girls are: Emmy (a favorite name in our home), Rosie, Frosty, and Charlotte. The boys are: Wilbur, Dump Truck, Tonka, and Peter Puppy Tail. In case you can’t tell, we’ve recently been enjoying reading Charlotte’s Web and Petter Rabbit 🙂
These puppies may still seem incredibly small but in just one short week they’ve nearly doubled their birth weights. They’ve each crossed over the one pound mark. These sweet little pumpkins continue to dedicate their entire lives to eating and sleeping. They twitch and pop involuntarily during their sleep, developing muscle tone for the near future. This phenomenon is known as “activated sleep.” The puppies received daily doses of petting, stroking, holding, and kisses.
The puppies have now had their toenails trimmed for the first time. When you take your puppy home, it’s important that you continue to regularly trim her nails. Right now we trim the puppies’ nails with human baby nail clippers. For our adult dogs, we use a dremel to keep their nails short. We like to keep the puppies’ nails short so they don’t accidentally scratch Maple while nursing. Plus nail trimming is going to be a regular activity throughout their lives, so we want to introduce them to it at an early age.
weekly puppy tip #2
Make a puppy experience plan – Compile a list of places you want to take your puppy and experiences you want your puppy to encounter. Any day now, these little eyes will be ready to soak up the sites, and we’ll now start introducing the puppies to items that differ in appearance. We have a thought-out socialization plan, working hard to expose your puppy to as much as possible during her time with us. When you take your puppy home, that responsibility then shifts to you as you continue the socialization process. Exposing your puppy to new people, situations, sounds, smells, textures, etc. is extremely important. Give your new puppy a few days to adjust to her new home and new routine. Then begin giving her short, positive experiences (yummy treats make everything more positive!). Don’t try to do too much in one day, as you don’t want to overwhelm or stress her. Start developing ideas of how to want to socialize your new puppy.
Your goal is for your puppy to meet a minimum of 100 different people by the time she’s six months old. Dr. Ian Dunbar, a puppy socialization expert, raises the bar even higher by recommending that puppies meet 100+ people during the first month at home. BUT THERE’S A PANDEMIC RIGHT NOW! How do you socialize your puppy during a pandemic? AviDog has some great ideas about different ways to creatively and safely socialize your puppy during these unique times. So make a plan about how you will start introducing your puppy to new experiences. Since your puppy can’t meet tons of people right now, YOU might be the one donning different hats, hoods, and sunglasses. If you hope to visit a local nursing home or hospital when your puppy gets older, secure some crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs to expose your puppy to at home. Meeting people is just one component of socialization. Think about outdoor experiences that you and your puppy can safely enjoy together. Consider what predictable dogs you can introduce your puppy to (dogs who are predictable, friendly, healthy, and will model good behavior for your pup). Remember, adult dogs aren’t always fond of puppies so be sure to monitor them together. Do you know anyone with woods or creek where you can take your puppy for a short romp? Remember, you want every experience to be POSITIVE. Making a plan now, before you bring your puppy home, will help ensure that you follow through with a variety of positive exposures once you have your new little fluff ball at your side.
Check out AviDog’s free e-book for more ideas about what to add to your puppy experience plan. Baxter & Bella also has some great ideas for socializing your puppy.
two and a half weeks
Apparently, our photo session was boring this week because we captured a number of puppy yawns and sleeping puppies! But aren’t puppies yawns darling?
My amazing sister-in-law helps with puppy pictures on Thursdays, for which I am incredibly grateful. Taking puppy pictures becomes increasingly difficult with each week that goes by because the puppies become more and more mobile (and less inclined to sit still), so I am very grateful to have an assistant. The best new development since the puppy photoshoot last week is that these cuties have opened their eyes!! Eye opening is a process that doesn’t happen all in one day. It’s so fun to see them looking back at us.
Aren’t they getting cuter and cuter each week?! These sweet dumplings are getting so big! The puppies continue to enjoy nursing regularly. It’s a crazy, active puppy pile as they all search for the perfect milk tap. Once the milk starts flowing, they all settle down and enjoy the delicious warmness filling their chunky bellies.
Now that their eyes are open and these chunky pups can see where they’re going, they have started climbing out of their whelping box. Consequently, they’ve graduated to their first puppy pen. The puppies are still in a calm, quiet environment. Soon they’ll be ready for the chaos of our main living area but not quite yet.
weekly puppy tip #3: age appropriate exercise
Glance over Puppy Culture’s exercise chart. Familiarize yourself with what sorts of activities are appropriate for your puppy at different stages of development. You want to give your puppy a variety of unique positive experiences, but your puppy is still growing & developing, so you don’t want to push your puppy too far. For instance, climbing up one to two stairs is an appropriate challenge but climbing a flight of stairs is not a good idea for a young puppy (a study done on 500 dogs showed that puppies allowed to climb a flight of stairs before 3 months old were more likely to develop hip dysplasia). Remember, free running and playing is a great option because your puppy can rest whenever she feels the need to do so. If you’d like to read more about puppy exercise, check out AviDog’s puppy exercise guidelines. This article from AKC also gives some helpful puppy exercise tips.
(almost) four weeks
The puppies are really beginning to look and act like little dogs. The pups are starting to let out little barks (much to my kids’ delight). They’ve added a variety of little squeaks and squeals to their repertoire. Sometimes the sounds that come out of their mouths seems to surprise the puppies themselves! The puppies are having fun playing with each other now.
The puppies are already friendly and enjoy human attention. They love showering us with kisses. Hopefully you saw the Instagram story video today of sweet Rosie handing out kisses.
These cute puppers went on a road trip this morning. They have already been on a few road trips. We know they each have a lifetime of car rides ahead of them, so we want to make sure they’re familiar with the feeling of being in a moving automobile. The pups all piled together into a two crates and cruise around town. While neither Maple or Boaz struggle with car sickness, we want to do everything we can to set these sweet puppies up for success. There is some thought that early exposure to car rides helps decrease the risk of a dog being prone to car sick as an adult.
When your puppy joins your family, continue to take your puppy on car rides to fun places. If your puppy only rides in the car when she’s going to the vet or groomer, she’ll learn to associate the car with those things and won’t want to go on rides. Remember, puppies are highly impressionable at a young age, so a few “bad” trips can give them a distaste for the car. Make sure the good, fun trips outnumber the bad trips. Our parent dogs LOVE the car because they go to the park, to the nature center, to the homes of friends and family, to dog friendly stores, and so forth. Sometimes they even ride in the car to pick up our ClickList order with us. Our dogs associate the car with fun and always eagerly hop in whenever we tell them to “go for a ride.”
The biggest news of the week is that the puppies have now moved downstairs. At first they needed a calm, quiet environment without too much stimulation. But now they’re ready for the chaos that exists in the main part of our home!
weekly puppy tip #5: be the leader your puppy wants you to be
It’s essential that you establish yourself as the pack leader. Your puppy doesn’t want to be in charge – that’s a scary place to be! Your puppy wants to look to you as the leader, but you have to show yourself as worth of the role by being the leader. Some easy ways to establish your leadership include:
- Do bonding exercises each night with your puppy (see below) to establish that you’re allowed to touch your puppy anywhere and everywhere.
- Set boundaries so there is at least one place in your home that your puppy isn’t allowed to go in your home (i.e. not allowed to jump on your bed, not allowed to sit on a particular couch or not allowed into a certain room).
- Teach you puppy to sit and wait for you to walk out the front door before her and give her the “okay” before she is permitted to walk through it. When she’s old enough to start walking freely up and down stairs, teach her to wait for you to finish climbing/descending the stairs before she comes.
- Encourage your puppy sit and wait for you to give her the “okay” before she is allowed to approach her food bowl. Periodically pick up your puppy’s food bowl while she’s eating, reward her with a yummy treat, and return the food bowl. See the Toy Trade Game from last week’s puppy tips.
- Teach your puppy to do a long down during meal times. Buy a soft rug or bed and teach your puppy to go lay on it on command. We have our own adult dogs lay on a rug in a down stay during dinner. Maple was doing a down stay along side them at 6 months old for the entire length of our meal – which means your puppy can do it at a young age, too!
Bonding Exercises – Do this every night with your puppy just before putting her in her crate for bed. Puppies benefit from a routine plus everyone benefits from a puppy learning that you’re the leader and that you are allowed to touch her anywhere and everywhere. The this video shows bonding exercises being done for the first time with a new puppy. Yes, your puppy will resist and squirm at first. Eventually, your puppy will come to LOVE and EXPECT you doing bonding exercises with her. Take 30 seconds each night and do it. You’ll be thankful that you did (and so will your vet and groomer!). There’s a second video of bonding exercises being done with an older pup here at the bottom of the post (notice how much he has grown to enjoy doing bonding exercises). It’s easy to periodically incorporate parts of grooming into bonding exercise time, trimming nails one night and cleaning ears a different night.
five weeks (almost)
This is such a fun age! These puppies are cuter every day! Their individual personalities are showing through. They’ve transformed from little guinea pigs who can’t see or hear to actual miniature dogs who run around and play and give kisses. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the short video clips on our Instagram story. The puppies are walking about, exploring the world around them. They enjoy playing with the different toys in their pen, and they enjoy playing with each other, too. In between their short bursts of energy, they still spend much of their time sleeping. If you sit on the floor, you’re sure to have a lap full of puppies! The pups were able to experience the great outdoors for the first time! It’s fun to watch them pick up leaves, explore behind plants, and trot around the yard after our kiddos. The pups don’t sit still for long, except for when they’re on your lap or sleeping, so pictures are challenging!
Earlier in the week, the puppies enjoy lapping warm goat milk from a bowl and licking it off each other for the first time today. Shout out to D & L Meadows for supplying us with fresh, local goat milk for these little pups to enjoy. Now the puppies have transitioned from milk to a softened kibble/goat milk blend. Your little one will be accustomed to eating TLC puppy food. You should be receiving an email directly from TLC in the next week.
Remember that trade game in weekly puppy tip #4? Once your new fluffball is adjusted to your home, you can periodically use your puppy’s dinner bowl to play the game, working on preventing resource guarding. Neither Maple or Boaz display food aggression and neither one greedily inhale their food (in fact, it’s not uncommon for them to leave some kibble in their bowls after eating their fill), so likely your puppy naturally won’t either. Even so, taking a few minutes to work with your puppy while she’s young can go a long way in preventing unwanted behavior. Pick up a pack of hot dogs or other delicious treat and occasionally pick up your pup’s bowl while she’s eating, exchanging her kibble for a sliver of hot dog, and then returning her food bowl to her (see the trade game from weekly puppy tip #4).
Weekly Puppy Tip #6
Pick out and sign up for a puppy class – A puppy class is essential both for socialization and manners. Look for a class that emphasizes positive reinforcement, as learning & training should be a fun game at this point. Clicker training is a plus. This article from AKC gives some pointers about what to look for in a puppy class. Many dog training facilities will allow your new friend join their puppy class around 12 weeks of age, once she has received her second set of immunizations. Allison Camp from Pups Unleashed offers a local puppy class. She’ll be temperament testing the puppies in a little over 2 weeks and assisting with matching. Temperament testing always an exciting day!
We prefer in person puppy class over virtual hands down. But we certainly understand that these aren’t ordinary times! Timberidge Goldendoodles is excited to be partnering with Baxter & Bella. In a time where it’s challenging to attend an in person puppy class, Baxter & Bella’s online resources, virtual classes, and video training tips are an amazing option for every puppy owner. Plus membership is for a lifetime, so you can access Baxter & Bella’s tools repeatedly over the years ahead for each and every furry child that joins your family. Even if you participate in an in person class, I think you’ll find Baxter & Bella is an amazingly helpful resource.
Use the discount code TIMBERIDGE to save 25% when you join Baxter & Bella!
Here’s a short video from Baxter & Bella’s about how to train your puppy to respond positively the someone ringing your doorbell.
six weeks (almost)
It’s been another busy week for Maple’s puppies! They’ve played outside A LOT! They LOVE the great outdoors! It’s fun to watch the pups pick up leaves, size up big sticks, squeeze under bushes, and frolic through the grass.
The puppies also went on several car rides this week. We’re working hard to expose them to a variety of sights, sounds, smells, environments – and in just a few short weeks, it will be your turn to continue that socialization process with your new pup.
weekly puppy tip #7
Get ready to groom! – Your puppy has had her nails clipped and hair trimmed during her time with us, so she has already had her initial introduction to her lifetime of being groomed. Take her to the groomer for a puppy clip after her 16-week immunizations. The groomer will bathe her, trim the hair out of her eyes, give her a sanitary clip, and trim her nails. Since she will need regular grooming throughout her life, both she and her groomer will benefit if she becomes accustomed to being groomed from a young age, even before she’s ready for a full haircut.
When should she have her first big girl haircut? The wavy, curly adult coat will start replacing the soft, fluffy puppy coat around 5-6 months of age. You’ll notice the new hair coming in is kinkier than the pure fluff on top. Waiting to cut the hair until the adult coat makes its debut beneath the layers of puppy plush helps ensure that the adult coat remains soft. Many poodle groomers and poodle fanciers claim that shaving a poodle or goldendoodle down before her adult coat starts coming in could damage the adult coat, affecting the texture. While there isn’t any substantiated evidence that this is true, it’s worth avoiding just in case. That doesn’t mean that your puppy might not benefit from a puppy clip in the meantime! Don’t let your puppy’s hair get out of control! As aforementioned, take her to the groomer for a puppy clip after her 16-week immunizations. When the time comes, check out the grooming section on our website for a variety of goldendoodle haircut pictures. Learn more about your Goldendoodle puppy’s first trip to the groomer.
Waiting until 6 months for the first full big girl clip does not mean you’re off the hook for grooming at home! You should regularly groom your puppy: brushing her hair, cleaning her ears, brushing her teeth, clipping her toenails, and checking her for any anomalies (i.e. ticks, cuts, etc.). You want your puppy to become accustomed to being brushed and handled all over from a young age. It’s easy to incorporate different parts of grooming into your nightly bonding exercises. We have a plethora of haircut resources under the “grooming” tab in the main menu bar.
seven weeks
The puppies are so much fun! They bound around outside, finding things to chew and places to explore. They also sneak around the house, trying to investigate new places. The pups have discovered the big dogs’ crates and go in them hunting for food. The puppies have transitioned to dry kibble, and think it great fun whenever they discover a stray kibble that belongs to the big dogs.
Be sure to pick up a special extra yummy chew that your puppy only gets during (daytime) crate time.
weekly puppy tip #8
Fostering the children/dog relationship – Goldendoodles are family dogs by nature, but there are a few steps you can take to help set your puppy and your kids up for a lifetime of friendship:
- When your puppy is sleeping, let her sleep – your puppy is growing & developing and she NEEDS that sleep. Teach your children to respect a sleeping puppy by not interrupting her. Your puppy’s crate should be her safe retreat. When she’s in her crate, allow her to enjoy safe, undisturbed quiet time- this doesn’t mean that you all need to tip toe quietly around when the puppies napping! It just means that when the puppy is napping, let her enjoy that peaceful sleep untouched and wake up on her own good time.
- Involve your children in daily puppy care – allowing your children to participate in caring for the puppy will help grow the bond between them and their furry friend. It also helps the puppy learn associate good things with little people and helps her see the children as above her in the pack order. Younger children particularly love being helpers. Our kids enjoy (aka fight over) feeding the dogs, letting them out of their crates, opening the back door to let the dogs in/out, etc. We let them help brush the dogs with much supervision (remember, we want all puppy experiences to be POSITIVE!). Our children also love holding leashes on walks (children should only take your dog on a walk with adult supervision). If you don’t trust your puppy to not pull a young child over, you can attach two short leashes to one dog so both you & your child have a leash to hold. Be cognizant of your child’s age and maturity level. Older children can be more actively involved and younger children can be involved in smaller ways.
- Encourage your children to play with the puppy – puppy nips and jumps can be intimidating for some children. Teaching children how to act calmly around a puppy and how to play intentional games such as fetch and educational games (see some suggestions under week 3) can help both the children and the puppy learn how to interact with each other. Explain to your children that your puppy isn’t trying to hurt them when she’s nipping – she’s asking them to play with her.
- Include your children in puppy training – when you enroll your puppy in a puppy kindergarten class, ask about bringing your child along (assuming he’s old enough and mature enough to participate). Our children enjoy practicing sits and downs with our dogs, dolling out hotdog slivers to the eager participants. Our dogs think it’s great! Be sure to always supervise children/puppy training sessions.
- Teach your children to respect the puppy – sometimes it’s challenging for children, especially young ones, to distinguish between their favorite stuffie and a real-life fluffy puppy. Many children need to be patiently taught to be gentle and kind with animals. “No hugging dogs” is a rule in our home because a preschooler bear hug around the neck is too much our small dogs (our dogs don’t mind but we’re afraid they might accidentally get hurt since they’re significantly smaller than the ones dolling out the hugs). If there are times when you aren’t able to supervise your children’s interaction with your puppy, it might be best (and safest) to put your puppy in her crate. Remember, that crate should be your puppy’s safe place. This article by AKC has more helpful tips about teaching children to respect dogs.
vet check: April 26, 2021
The puppies visited our friends at Companion Animal Medical Centre this afternoon. Going to the doctor is exhausting! I am please to report that all eight puppies are healthy!
The pups received their first of three doses of the DHLPP vaccine. You should schedule an appointment with your vet for your pup to receive her second dose when she is around 12 (around 5.31.21) weeks of age and third dose at 16 weeks of age (around 6.28.21).
In addition to immunizations, your puppy will also need a monthly parasite preventative that covers a range of parasites (heart worms, hooks worms, etc.) as well as fleas to help keep her healthy. Your puppy received one dose of Interceptor today (4.26.21). Be sure to administer heart worm medication with a meal, as the medication can be hard on your puppy’s stomach. Happily, no one had any tummy troubles with their medication today.
getting ready for your puppy
We’ve created a puppy shopping list to help guide you as you prepare to bring your new pup home!
meet the parents
Learn more about Maple & Boaz by visiting their personal pages. There are videos of their past puppies if you’re curious what this litter will look like in a few weeks. Don’t forget to check out Instagram for more pictures of the parents, past puppies, and this current litter.
