Surprise! Marlee's Babies Are Here!!!

Marlee gave us an early Christmas present...EIGHT beautiful babies born five days earlier than we expected! Nature knows best and we just try to keep up, I tell ya. ;)

We have 4 boys and 4 girls. Here are the stats.

Pink Girl-Chocolate Phantom-11.8oz

Green Boy-Caramel Phantom-10.4oz

Red Boy-Chocolate Phantom-13.4oz

Purple Girl-Chocolate-11oz

Yellow Girl-Chocolate Phantom-10.4oz

Orange Boy-Chocolate-6.4oz (He's small but active!)

Lt Blue Boy-Chocolate-10.4oz

Teal Girl-Caramel/Cafe-9.2oz

We will be updating the website with individual pictures tomorrow! Thanks for looking!

Pictures of Puppies!

For your viewing pleasure...I'm taking a nap now... :)

We have been blessed!!!!

We have 7 FABULOUS puppies here and I'm thinking Mia is done, but there could be another one hanging out in there.

So here are the stats:

Chocolate Phantom Boy 14.4oz
Creme Boy 14.6oz
Chocolate Phantom Boy 14.8oz
Chocolate Phantom Girl 14.0oz
Chocolate Phantom Girl 14.4oz
Chocolate Solid Girl 13.8oz
Chocolate Solid Girl 13.6oz

I will post a group picture as soon as I know for sure Mia is done and she'll let me take her babies for a photo op. I'm so happy and tired. :)

Update!

As of right now, we have 2 chocolate boys, 1 creme boy and 1 chocolate girl. :) They are soooo sweet! Mia is doing all the work, I'm just the secretary.

An interesting observation, the chocolates have phantom markings! This means they have lighter coloring on their faces and legs, just like their daddy Bo.

Stay tuned!

We have puppies!

One chocolate male and one creme male so far...stay tuned! Mom is doing fabulous, puppies are healthy! :)

Mia's Puppy Update

Well, here we are again! Welcome to my Blog, for those that are new to Orchard View Labradoodles. :)

I had a great time reading over the past blog entries...I can't believe it's been 6 months since Rosie's puppies were born. Now we're expecting THREE litters in the next month...wow. But, don't worry...this is what I do and I'm looking forward to meeting wonderful puppies and their forever families. I'm so blessed to have AMAZING friends that I've gained from this job.

So, to the details. Mia's temperature this morning was 98.6...which is the DROP we're looking for to signal labor will start in the next 12 hours. This is a tried and true method of helping to determine when the blessed event will occur. Now, keep in mind that means within 12 hours labor will begin...it can be 24 hours or more until the first pup is actually born. But it's still exciting!!

Stay tuned...and as I always say, no news is no news. If there's something to report, this is the place I will post. Also, I'm on FaceBook so if you want to friend request me, send me an email first to let me know you're interested in a puppy so I know to accept your friend request. I will just ignore if it's a name I don't recognize.

Thanks for reading!

Big Changes!

The puppies are 3 weeks old today...and wow! how they have changed in the past week. They are now walking, playing, growling, barking...peeing, pooping...

Soooo....that means it's time for potty training! Already! I started to notice some wet spots on the bedding and I caught a few of them toddling off to a corner to go pee. So cute...but that's my cue that they are desiring to leave the "den" and go out to do their business. This is when my job becomes a bit harder, but I'm always amazed at how instinctual this behavior is.

Dogs really don't want to soil where they sleep!

Step 1: Place puppy pads in the whelping box and hope they use them.

Yay! The dark spots in the corner means they left the bedding to go pee!

Step 2: A few days later, place the soiled pads in the litter box with wood pellets on top. That way they can follow their nose to the right place!

Look at those smart little Labradoodles! :)

Step 3: Well, this isn't really how it's supposed to work but Rosie got quite unnerved by the whole thing so I let her in the Xpen to visit them.

That promptly ended the potty training session.

I guess she figured that's the answer to everything!

So, that was fun...back in the whelping box they went to talk about

this new excitement in their lives...

...and then settle in for an afternoon nap.

So now the litter box is placed by the whelping box and enclosed with an Xpen. The removable side of the whelping box has been lifted out and the puppies can see more of the outside world. They are making it to the edge of the litter box, but soon they'll be getting all the way in.
This is just the beginning of this fun project and it's a great way to get puppies ready for house training when they go to their forever homes at the end of July.

Hope you enjoyed this little peek into their day! New 3 week individual pics will be coming soon!

Puppy Update

Good Morning!

Here are some nursery pics taken today and yesterday. The puppies are growing and getting cuter and cuter every day. A few brave pups are starting to hobble around on their little legs rather than squirming on their tummies to get places. Their eyes are beginning to show signs of opening...I can see the eyelids even though they are still sealed shut. I am beginning to see signs of independence when the pups leave mama and the group after nursing. Some will stick around and lay with each other, others will hobble off and find a nice quiet place to rest. They take turns so it just seems to be whatever mood they're in at the time.

Enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend!

Orange Boy always puts his arm over Lavender...so sweet...

As you can see, Rosie is shedding her undercoat BIG time...it's due to hormones and the change of season. Pink Girl doesn't care...she's just content as can be.

The Group! This is a good chance to see their different coat colors.

L to R: Orange Boy, Pink Girl, Lavender Girl, Scarlet Girl, Pink Checks Girl,

Yellow Girl (laying the opposite direction as all the others...wonder what that means...hee, hee), Blue Checks Boy, and Turquoise Girl.

Updated Weights for June 12, 2010

Scarlet Girl: 2#3.6oz

Pink Girl: 2#4.8oz

Blue Checks Boy: 1#14.4oz

Lavender Girl: 2#1.0oz

Orange Boy: 2#4.6oz

Yellow Girl: 1#14.8oz

Turquoise Girl: 2#2.8oz

Pink Checks Girl: 1#13.0oz

For future reference, Tuesdays will be my individual picture taking day. That's when they turn a new week in age, so be watching the website for updated pics in the afternoon!

June 15, they'll be 2 weeks old! :)

Thanks for reading, following and looking!

I still have 4 puppies available if anyone would like an Application!

We are 4 days old!

Here is a great picture of all the pups together!

Blue Checks and Orange are the 2 boys.

Here are their weights today:

Scarlet Girl: 1#4.8oz

Pink Girl: 1#3.0oz

Blue Checks Boy: 1#3.4oz

Lavender Girl: 1#4.8oz

Orange Boy: 1#4.2oz

Yellow Girl: 1#3.8oz

Turquoise Girl: 1#5.4oz (oink, oink)

Pink Checks: 1#3.6oz

They are all gaining wonderfully and are very quiet, content puppies. The only time I hear them cry is when Rosie gets up to go potty and they make a little squeal. They quickly huddle together and then they're quiet again.

I have slept all night in my own bed (!) for the past 3 nights...ahhh...

I'm feeling ready to go tackle some weeds in my flower beds that all this rain has produced!

So, enjoy the picture, thanks for looking! Have a wonderful weekend!

Rosie's Puppies 1 Day Old :)

The puppies had a wonderful first night and Rosie is once again proving what a great momma she is. She only leaves the whelping box to drink, eat and go outside. She is very attentive to each puppy and they are all thriving equally well. So far, there is no "runt" or "boss" when it comes to nursing.

Enjoy the pictures!











Now that all the pups are dry I can better identify their colors.
Here is how I am describing them with their ribbon color, coat color and their birth weight in order of appearance:
Scarlet Girl-Creme (1# 0.4oz)
Pink Girl-Red (15oz)
Blue Checks Boy-Apricot (15oz)
Lavender Girl-Red (15.6oz)
Orange Boy-Red (15.6oz)
Yellow Girl-Creme (14.2oz)
Turquoise Girl-Apricot (1# 1.2oz)
Pink Checks Girl-Apricot (15oz) She looked Red last night, but she's not as dark as the others so we'll call her Apricot.

We still have 3 puppies available at this time! Email me for information!

Rosie Pups-Newborn

We have been blessed tonight! :) Rosie has 8 wonderful, healthy babies...6 girls and 2 boys. I will get a better picture when there is daylight, but I wanted to post this for now.

I will be resting easy tonight!

#8 is a Red Girl!

She might be done...we'll see...

Apricot girl!

She's still panting...

Red boy and Creme girl just born!

Rosie is doing great, puppies are beautiful. I'm sure I can feel a few more in there...I will post a pic as soon as I'm sure she's done.

Stay tuned!

Another Red Girl!!!

there are more to come!

apricot boy!!!

Rosie's doing fabulous, puppies are coming out with arms waving and ready to nurse. Oh, they are gorgeous!

2 girls so far...

One creme, one red! yahooo!!!!!

I don't think "panted" is a word, LOL, is it?

I was so tired when I posted that last blog entry...I read it again and thought "Panted and Nested?!" Is that proper English?? :)

Thanks to my wonderful SIL and the coffee she brought me, I'm a little more alert now. Rosie is still pooping, panting, nesting, sleeping...her temp is 98.7...all those things point to puppies soon!

Ever heard of marathon labors in humans? Rosie wants to be part of that crowd that has the mother of all Birth Stories to tell..."I was in labor for 36 HOURS!!!"...yada, yada, yada...

Stay tuned...

Rosie panted and nested all night long with me sleeping off and on beside her. At around 4am she settled in and seemed to get some rest. She's waking up and moving around, lots of BMs. Now we're just waiting for those pushing contractions to start.

Stay tuned...

Welll....

Rosie has been panting for 2 hours now. That is a good sign. She's acting more alert and hasn't slept in the past few hours either.

I cut all the ribbons for the puppies' collars so I can tell them apart. I have 6 girl colors and 5 boy colors. ;)

Stay tuned...

My Theory :)

I *reeeaaallly* thought we'd have some pups by now...

So, I've come up with an explanation as to what may be happening here...

Obviously, I'm way off on Rosie's ovulation date. Her first tie was on day 12 of her cycle, which is completely normal. Usually, a dog is in what's called "standing heat" the day that she ovulates. This is the first day that she will allow a male to breed her. The day that she ovulates is counted as day 1 for pregnancy, even though the eggs don't get fertilized until 3 days later when they are mature. The gestation period of 63 days is actually the age of the eggs from the time they're released from the ovary. So normally, a girl is bred on day 12, 14, and 16 if possible, so that on day 15/16/17 when the eggs are ready there are sperm in there waiting to do the job. Ok, that's how it *normally* works.

Last fall, Rosie was bred on day 12 and 14 and didn't get pregnant. Now I understand why not. Rosie must not ovulate on day 12, even though she will allow a male to breed her. Rosie is a very submissive girl and it's not surprising that she would stand earlier and later than most girls. This time when it was time for her to be bred, I took her up to Robin's house and his wonderful owner kept Rosie there so we would not have another miss. I love ya, Sharon! Rosie and Robin tied on day 12, 14, 16, 18, and on day 20 when I was there to pick her up they tied again before she left. Crazy...she obviously was already pregnant at that time and day 20 is extremely overkill and most girls wouldn't even stand for a male at that point. I know Maggie wouldn't have! But Rosie is absolutely the sweetest girl you will meet. I mean it. :) Robin must have thought so too, because they developed quite the friendship while she was there.

Another point that confirms my theory that Rosie is a late ovulator, is that on day 54 I took her in for her puppy count Xray. Normally this is a good day and all the puppy bones are ossified and the vet counts skulls and backbones and tries to match them all up for an accurate count. Well, on Rosie's Xray the vet felt comfortable saying she could count 5, but there were other bones that were just too faint to match up. Plus with her size of belly, the vet just said "I know there are 5 and I know there are more." This was probably due to the fact that Rosie was more like day 51 or so and I have never tried to get an Xray that early because you run the risk that not all of the bones will be seen.

So, in hindsight...I should NOT have counted 63 days from the first tie. I should have added a few days because now it all makes sense that Rosie's eggs are probably not 66 days old right now...or we'd have puppies!!!

Now I feel better. Well, not really but it helps me pass the time to try and figure out what is going on! :)

I hope you can see that I'm an extremely patient, positive person. I've thought about screaming a few times, but that wouldn't really be productive. Thought about chucking that thermometer in the dumpster, but then I'd have to go buy a new one.

So in the end, all I can really do is wait...and take you all along for this ride called "Dog Breeding" otherwise known as "Guess What?...You're Not In Charge!"

Blessings Everyone!

Hangin In There...

Rosie is taking her sweet time and there are no changes to report. Puppies are moving and all is well. :) I will post an update AS SOON as there is something to report. Hang in there everyone...

Rosie's so pretty...even at 65 days pregnant...

So, her temp dropped to 98.6 this morning which is usually what I would consider low enough to mean labor would begin at some point today. She's not really showing any other signs, however, as of right now...not really sure what to think about it. If she were early, I'd say today must not be the day...but since she's not I'm thinking today really SHOULD be the day! :)

This is a testament to Rosie's layed back nature...she's late coming into heat, late ovulating, and late whelping. But, in reality, who am I to say what's late?? She's perfectly healthy, perfectly happy, and practically perfect in every way. hee, hee

And *I* have decided to keep my sense of humor about this!

Rosie Day 62

The worst part about waiting for something is waiting. :)

The best part about waiting for PUPPIES is that you know they have to come SOMETIME!

I think I'll focus on that, they have to come sometime. I think Rosie would agree with me on that. She's sleeping a lot, eating a little, licking a lot, moving around a little...well, generally acting like a mom who's belly is full of puppies. Earlier this evening I was spending some quiet time with her in her whelping box and feeling the puppies move around in there. I think they're already doing puppy wrestling moves! It was like a Jackie Chan movie going on in there...yikes. She just slept right through it all. That's the kind of girl she is. :)

More to come...I promise!

Rosie Day 59

Well, she's looking a little more tired today, isn't she?

She's sleeping a lot and I believe I would be too if I looked like she does. :)

Her temp has been stable at 100.4-100.6 so we've got a pretty good baseline temp going.

There's not a whole lot more to report! But...keep checking....

you just never know when things will get fun around here.

Rosie Day 57

This is a picture of a very pregnant girlie. :) We are on the homestretch now, enjoying this last week of pregnancy watching the puppies roll around in there. I am so ready for this.

Today is the day that I begin taking her temperature a few times a day, waiting for that drop to 98.something that signals impending labor! The puppies can be born any time now, but the longer they cook the better for them.

This is the place to look for whelping information and pictures. While you're waiting, you can look back at the April 2009 blogs to see pics of Rosie's past puppies. :)

Rosie's Xray on Wednesday was not very informative. The vet felt comfortable saying for sure 5 puppies, but there were other bony parts that were too faint to match up and count. So we left it at "we know there are 5, and we know there are more". That's good enough for me, last year she had 7 and I'm thinking she'll have at least that many looking at her size this time.

We'll know for sure in a week anyway!

I will post daily from this point on. Check back for more details!

Rosie's Pregnant!

Yay! We are so pleased to announce that Rosie's pregnancy has been confirmed! We had an ultrasound today and we know she has at least 4 pups, vet said probably more. :)

She's filling out really well and acting quite hungry all the time. I'm so excited!

Rosie is in heat!

Finally! ;) Monday was the first day of Rosie's heat and I'm so excited. I will be taking her up to spend a few days with Robin so we can have the best chances for conception. I'm constantly reminded that I can do all I can, but ultimately it's out of my control whether we have puppies or not.

Spring is in the air here. I cleaned out my little fountain pond and got it going again. That always means good things.

I will update as news happens. :)

Not the one I was expecting!

Well, I have been waiting and watching...waiting and watching...expecting Rosie to go into heat sometime in February. It's now March and she's still not cycled. It's not unusual for girls to go 7 months between cycles and on the 10th it will be exactly 7 months since her last heat in August. I can't wait to be able to say that Rosie's in heat!

I got a surprise yesterday from Alice's guardian mom...Alice is in heat!! She's a little early at 11 months old, but it's probably because she's a very tall girl and I think she's pretty much done growing. Alice is a wonderful F1 from Rosie and Bo's April 2009 litter. So, since she's having her first heat now, I'll be able to get her OFA Hips and Elbows tested in early May. If all goes well with that, we'll be looking for a superb Poodle stud for F1b puppies for an October breeding!

In other news, I have selected Marlee's boyfriend for her first litter of puppies this summer. Digby is a chocolate F3 with great boning and a wonderful fleece coat. He is owned by Cris at Virginia Labradoodle. Marlee's coat is quite curly and I selected Digby not only for his excellent test results, but also for his wavy coat and nice square stature. This should produce wonderful pups in our first ALL CHOCOLATE litter.

I'm at my happiest when there's a whelping box full of puppies. I've worked so hard to get to this point where girls from our program are now ready to produce their own babies.

I have great hopes for this year!

Getting ready for spring!

We are anxiously waiting for Rosie to cycle for her spring puppies! Last spring she had a beautiful litter of F1 Labradoodles in Apricot, Creme and Black. They were wonderful puppies to raise and one of them, Alice, will hopefully be a breeding female for us later this year.

This time around we decided to breed Rosie to a Red poodle to begin our new line of Red Labradoodles! This is exciting for us and it will be really fun to see what colors she produces with this stud.

In other news, Marlee has now joined the ranks of our breeding girls. She passed her CERF exam for her eye clearance, and she also got a preliminary OFA rating of "Good" for her hips and her elbows are "Normal". This means when she has her 2nd cycle, around May, she'll be ready to give us more amazing puppies. We are looking forward to our first litter of Multigen Labradoodles for those that are interested in the non shedding traits that Labradoodles are so known for.

Our foundation female, Maggie, is now retired from breeding. She gave us beautiful F1b puppies in her career and she was the mom of the very first litter whelped here at Orchard View Labradoodles. We are happy to give Maggie the gift of retirement and, even though we'll miss her, we'll be happy for her when she joins her forever family. She's a great girl and we know she deserves to be a true pet in a family where the people outnumber the dogs. :)

This year we will be looking for a few good homes for our guardian family program. If you are interested in finding out more about that, please email me for more details!

I will update AS SOON AS Rosie goes into heat for those of you waiting so patiently. I'm going to have a serious talk with her over the next few days, we'll see if it works.