April 20, 2021

The babies are three weeks old today.  Everyone has their eyes open and this past week the babies all started to toddle around really well and have started to find their little voices. Tomorrow we will introduce a new bed/sleeping area along with our new pee/pooping area to help start these little ones on a path to easier potty training. In the beginning we have one soft bed area and the rest of the pen is potty area.  We use the puppies' natural instinct to keep their bed clean to help with potty training--the minute they step off their bed to go potty they will be in the desired area. Once they are accustomed to use the paper/grate area for potty we will be able to make their play/sleep area bigger. 

This week puppies will leave the transitional period and will enter the socialization period.  During this time their ears open and they begin to hear.  The puppies live in our living room so they are naturally exposed to a variety of noises that will help them adjust to family life: TV/movies in the background, children playing, vacuums running etc.are all familiar sounds to these babies.  Over the next we will also work on some startle recovery exercises. For startle recovery exercises we will randomly make sudden unusual noises that may startle the puppies ever so slightly to help shape their emotional responses. We watch closely to make sure there isn't a fear response and if necessary we will work with individual puppies more gradually to help them adjust to the noises. 

April 9, 2021

The babies are doing great!  They are all growing and nursing and sleeping just as expected.  We are just starting to see little eyes crack and they are trying to get up on their little wobbly legs.  This next week they will start opening eyes and practice their walking skills.  Freya is an attentive mom as always and is just starting to venture out of the box a little more as the puppies get a little older.  As they start walking and become more independent, she will be more and more comfortable leaving them.  We spend time handling each puppy every day but limit our time with them to that for right now.  

March 31, 2021

Freya has seven babies!  They were born Tuesday, March 30, 2021.  We have five boys and two girls. As always Freya is an incredibly devoted and protective mama.  She will barely leave her puppies to go out to go potty and she cries and cries if we try to pick them up and handle them.  We hate to stress mama out so we keep ENS handling to once a day with only me (Kim) in with the puppies with this mama until the babies reach about 2 weeks old.  Once the puppies open their eyes and start walking mom's protective instincts will start to let up and that's when we will introduce the rest of the family and spend more time handling puppies.  For now we are working on keeping mom well fed and happy!  Pictures are coming! 

Previous puppies from Freya

Freya/Teddy Reservation list

1.Crissy Montana Goldendoodles--green boy

2.Sophia (JingJing) and Noel--Pink Girl

3.Janelle Yavruian--Puppy Steps--Blue boy

3.Andrea Brown --Sun Valley--Yellow collar boy

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September 23, 2019

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Seven weeks old! The puppies have mastered using the dog door to go potty and are great at sitting to be picked up or to have treats. They are eating all solid foods and are completely weaned from mama.  We are starting to see little personalities develop--they are very similar.  They love to hang out with us in the family room but they are also happy to relax in their puppy pen.  They will start going to their new homes at the end of this week.  

Six week weights:

Yellow: 4 lbs 7 oz

Green: 4 lbs 6.5 oz

Red: 4 lbs 11.5 oz

Blue 4 lbs 12 oz

Pink girl: 3 lbs 14.5 oz

September 10, 2019

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The babies are five weeks old and they are all doing great!  Everyone started weaning last week--we wean with the lamb and rice formula mixed as a porridge.  Freya is still nursing and spending time teaching the babies about basic dog manners.  They are all using a dog door to go potty (yay!) and are spending lots of time sleeping in a crate.  

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5 week weights:

Yellow: 3 lb 11.5 oz

Green: 4 lbs 2.5 oz

Red: 4 lbs 3.5 oz

Blue: 4 lbs 2.5 oz

Pink girl: 3 lbs 9 oz

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September 4, 2019

Freya's babies are all growing right on schedule.  They all have some of their little baby teeth and they are starting to play and mouth and wrestle with each other. We just started weaning with solid foods today and everyone did great!  Our gorgeous summer evenings are perfect to explore the backyard and to start venturing out of the litter box away from mom and siblings.  We have also introduced the litter tray to the box and they are doing great going potty away from where they sleep.  This next weekend we will introduce them to the dog door and we will move them to the bigger 'toddler' box area.  Freya will start weaning and all of the babies will practice interacting with new toys and sounds and smells.

Yellow

Red

Freya has puppies!  Freya delivered five healthy puppies on Tuesday, August 6.  Labor lasted about 4 hours and Freya did really well.  She is an intensely attentive new mama.  We had to carry her outside to go to the bathroom and put her food where she could eat without leaving the puppies for the first 3-4 days as well.  She doesn't want to leave her babies for even a minute and she protectively covers them with her entire body whenever a new person gets too close.  She will settle down and feel more comfortable leaving the babies for short periods of time as they get a little older and start to open their eyes.  We are adding high calorie supplements and lots of enticing food (she loves macaroni and cheese...) to make sure that mom and babies are getting plenty of good nutrition and they have a quiet, calm spot where they can rest together.