I can't believe how quickly the pups have grown! I get so nostalgic about this. I love our time together. My pups are hugged, kissed, cuddled, patted, sang to, talked to, attended to and loved beyond measure. I think they might be a little spoiled, but this is the part of their lives I can control, and I want them to have a start filled with love and promise. I plan my litters painstakingly, arranging for weeks off of work to be with them. My friends invite me out to this or that and I decline, saying "Puppies on the way" or "New puppies and I won't leave them" or "On puppy watch" or "Can't stay overnight" or "Quick lunch/dinner & I'm home to them!" I can't tell you how my back pains me from stooping, bending, squatting, scooping, scurrying, up and down, back and forth. I bend down and usher the gang out of their ex pen, grabbing up the stragglers and hurrying them to the back door. I'm there for them, one by one, hurrying to poop scoop behind them so they don't step in it and always stay clean. I take them outside 4-5 times a day, all at once, for sunshine and potty time.
By 5 weeks they know the drill, and will poop and pee outside. I sweep and mop and change out newspaper daily so they won't attract pests or be stinky when my kids pick them up and put their cheeks and noses to a sweet puppy face for puppy breath. I am down on the ground, shaving faces at first when they are just 3 weeks old, while they are relaxed. I sit there with the clippers so they will know the noise and the sensation of my hands picking up their feet, separating their toes, opening their mouths, checking their ears. These are Standard Poodles, after all, and they SHOULD know a lifetime of grooming! This is where it starts. I trim their toe nails every few days when they are nursing so as to keep mom from being in pain while they claw. I shave their feet, tummies, bases of their tails and sanitary areas multiple times before they leave me, so they will not be having these sensations for the first time in a strange place. All said, I pour my heart and my soul into each and every pair of bright eyes, wet puppy nose, set of puppy needle teeth, precious puppy foot and each wagging tail. My puppies meet the sunlight with their tails up in the air. They are happy, a little over fed, playful, and confident. Sending them to their new homes leaves me with a myriad of human emotion.
This was going to just be an entry with some fun photos. I have so enjoyed my puppies and our time together is drawing closer to the next chapter, which will be them leaving. I have a couple of puppies left that will be available after evaluations in the coming weeks.
I have received a ton of inquiries, and I sincerely appreciate every one who has begun their email with "Thank you for your breeding practices." I cringe when I get the "How much are your puppies?" as the opening line, or just "I want a cream."
You know, folks, if you want a nice dog, and you have taken the time to visit a page, maybe send a few emails, and look at some photos. If you have considered the addition of a gorgeous, well-bred, even tempered standard to your family, at least have the decency to not open your greeting with the tone of a fast food drive through. I am not breeding dogs for as a public service for you. I will help you find the ultimate companion. I will refer you if you feel my price is unreasonable. There are other breeders who occasionally have that pup that is just perfect for you at a lesser price. I am giving you a life time of support, information, and a pup that has been raised in an environment to stimulate and promote problem solving, trainability, and companionship. I am not desperate to sell my puppies and at no time do I ever want them to end up in rescue because all you cared about was an "inky black coat" and it faded or "a cream" whose energy level didn't fit in with your family. Sorry! I will screen you, and I expect you to screen me. This is how that works. I will try to help you, and we can even become friends. If you take one of my puppies, you will become family.
By 5 weeks they know the drill, and will poop and pee outside. I sweep and mop and change out newspaper daily so they won't attract pests or be stinky when my kids pick them up and put their cheeks and noses to a sweet puppy face for puppy breath. I am down on the ground, shaving faces at first when they are just 3 weeks old, while they are relaxed. I sit there with the clippers so they will know the noise and the sensation of my hands picking up their feet, separating their toes, opening their mouths, checking their ears. These are Standard Poodles, after all, and they SHOULD know a lifetime of grooming! This is where it starts. I trim their toe nails every few days when they are nursing so as to keep mom from being in pain while they claw. I shave their feet, tummies, bases of their tails and sanitary areas multiple times before they leave me, so they will not be having these sensations for the first time in a strange place. All said, I pour my heart and my soul into each and every pair of bright eyes, wet puppy nose, set of puppy needle teeth, precious puppy foot and each wagging tail. My puppies meet the sunlight with their tails up in the air. They are happy, a little over fed, playful, and confident. Sending them to their new homes leaves me with a myriad of human emotion.
This is my passion.
At times I want to give it up because it is SO very hard. It is so very difficult to answer each and every inquiry. I am always left wondering "Where will they go? Will they support the backyard breeder? Will I be helping their poodle out of a kill shelter later on?" It is difficult to know that someone who had a loving home turned your puppy down, surely unaware of what goes into each puppy, for the cheaper puppy who doesn't meet the breed standard, has untested/untitled parents, who is just as deserving of love as any other pup, but whose breeder produces puppies with no regard for health, temperament, where the puppies end up, or the AKC breed standard set forth by the Poodle Club of America. It is SO difficult to hear that someone just lost their beloved 10 year old poodle to bloat, and had NO IDEA what bloat was. I cannot imagine sending one of my precious puppies to someone without a ton of information accompanying them. It is SO hard to stay in touch with every single person that I ever sold a puppy to, and some I referred who still feel comfortable speaking to me about a skin infection, a yeast outbreak, or a diet change or the latest vaccine protocol, or coat care, or weird dentition. It is so emotionally, mentally, and financially exhausting at times to have this as a passion, but it is a part of me and no matter how much I curse myself for being "too" something, the joy I get when I get that email and someone has earned their Canine Good Citizen, or the photographs of MY puppy comforting someone who is ill or sad, the joy and pride I feel, are what keeps me going.
This was going to just be an entry with some fun photos. I have so enjoyed my puppies and our time together is drawing closer to the next chapter, which will be them leaving. I have a couple of puppies left that will be available after evaluations in the coming weeks.
I have received a ton of inquiries, and I sincerely appreciate every one who has begun their email with "Thank you for your breeding practices." I cringe when I get the "How much are your puppies?" as the opening line, or just "I want a cream."
You know, folks, if you want a nice dog, and you have taken the time to visit a page, maybe send a few emails, and look at some photos. If you have considered the addition of a gorgeous, well-bred, even tempered standard to your family, at least have the decency to not open your greeting with the tone of a fast food drive through. I am not breeding dogs for as a public service for you. I will help you find the ultimate companion. I will refer you if you feel my price is unreasonable. There are other breeders who occasionally have that pup that is just perfect for you at a lesser price. I am giving you a life time of support, information, and a pup that has been raised in an environment to stimulate and promote problem solving, trainability, and companionship. I am not desperate to sell my puppies and at no time do I ever want them to end up in rescue because all you cared about was an "inky black coat" and it faded or "a cream" whose energy level didn't fit in with your family. Sorry! I will screen you, and I expect you to screen me. This is how that works. I will try to help you, and we can even become friends. If you take one of my puppies, you will become family.
