Sugar Babies

Sitting Pretty

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My babies will all sit together at the same time now!  Getting a photo of nine, 4 week old babies sitting at once isn’t easy, but these sweet pups are getting better at it each day.

5424C437-630B-411C-B9D2-7DB02F60407BWhy does it matter to me?  Well, I don’t like to be jumped on, first of all.  And if I can get a puppy to sit down quietly and look at me, instead of being an excited little hooligan, it makes life easier for all of us.

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Oh believe me, they have their hooligan moments, they are happy healthy puppies full of excitement! But I like to know that they will listen when needed. 
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Funny, on our trip out east last fall to take pups to new homes, I’d let the overwhelming horde of dogs take over.  We’d open the kennel door and everyone would try to come out at once like a furry waterfall, as we vainly did our best to push them back, hook on leashes and let one out at a time. 
At our very first stop, I was frustrated and feared the rest of the trip- I was out numbered!

After a day of struggles, it occurred to me to tell them to have a seat.  

Magically, all five plopped right down on their cute, fuzzy bottoms and waited their turn for leashes.  Puppies will do whatever they want if allowed, but if you teach them what to do, they want to please you.
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 I am also working on  “come, puppy, come!” They already come running to me when I walk up to them, so it is usually an easy lesson.

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Teaching a dog to come to you can save its life   Always make this a priority to work on with your pup.  As these little ones get older, we will play “Ping Pong Puppy” with them, by having two or more people with treats in hand, calling the pup back and forth.  They learn to answer to multiple people, not just to me and they think that running to someone when called is a fun game with tasty rewards.

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There is no way I can promise a fully trained, 8 week old pup to anyone.  But I can give those babies a great start and foundation for the future by teaching them how to listen and to be receptive to what their family reaches them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Four cute little boys

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For look a likes, these brothers are quite a bit different.  The one on the left seems to take after his poodle dad while the one on the right has more of a golden retriever shaped face.
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Both are sweet as pie! 
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As is this big boy.  Well, I call him the big boy, he is the largest of the litter, but he is just a little baby, not really big at all.

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Isn’t he a handsome fella?

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This little dumpling is growing into his looks.  He has lovely coloring, but wasn’t as photogenic as the other bros ( please don’t ever tell him I said that).  As he grows and fills out, he is becoming a gorgeous guy.

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See what I mean?

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These four boys are still available.  Please contact me for details if you’d like a sweetheart of a good looking guy to be a part of your family.  

 


Two Weeks Old

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The pups have grown too big for their whelping box and have moved into the wading pool as their new nest.  We put a fence around it to convince Sugar that I’d rather not be woken up at 5am.  I guess she thinks that if she is up, I should be too.  Maybe she just wants some company who appreciates watching the sweet babies as much as she does.

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Albie also loves watching the babies.  He has been completely fascinated by every litter, and spends a lot of time up on the back of the recliner with a bird’s eye view into their nest.

But as soon as the little guys get playful and want to wrestle him, he keeps his distance and stays up on the back of the chair so they can’t reach him.  
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Today is their 2nd week birthday, and all eyes are open.

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I love their befuddled looks when they are trying to figure out just what is going on and who is holding them.

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They have also had some experiments in trying to bark.

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I just heard one a few minutes ago that was definitely a real, live  bark- not a squeak.

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There is a lot of squeaking, the sound effects are pretty dang cute.

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Tomorrow, they get their first worming.  And I’m going to trim up their sharp nails too.  Sugar should appreciate that.

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If I can, I’ll make a video of the nail cutting.  I try to post videos regularly on Instagram at Cottage Doodles.

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Check out the videos if you want to hear just how cute the little squeaks are.

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The Sugarbabies at 4 Days Old

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The babies are doing great, gaining daily, nursing well.

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So far, this has been the easiest litter I have ever cared for.

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Typically, there is one rough birth where my heart leaps in my throat and the puppy needs help getting it’s first breath.  But each one of these guys was born with fully pink tones, very vocal and in motion.

Not a single hitch.

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None need supplemental feedings, all are getting cute, little round tummies and growing nicely.

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But best of all, Sugar is so gentle with them, that there are no cries during the night from a puppy trapped under her that causes me to run to check on them.  Shuggie carefully wraps herself around them and always seems to have the babies neatly lined up and happily nursing or napping.

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I’ve just had the fun parts of being with a newborn litter.  I cuddle, pet, and then weigh them, sit by the box and talk to them and stroke them as they eat.  
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And of course, I get to pose them for sweet photos.

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It has been a joy.

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Holding these warm, soft bodies against my face and kissing their tiny heads got me through my first Mother’s Day without my son.

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It wasn’t an easy day for me, but I had my dogs to hold, the flowers Ryan planted for a past Mother’s Day fully in bloom, and my husband to pamper me.

The first anniversary of Ry’s death is approaching and I know that these furry sweethearts will be there for me to pour love into and help heal my heart.

I am blessed to have them in my life when I need them most.  And I look forward to raising them to be loving pets that will be there for their new families when they are needed for comfort or cheer.

 


The Sugar Babies weigh in

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What a colorful bunch of babies!
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On my birthday, Sugar had nine pups!

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Well, she started on the evening of my birthday, half were born after midnight.  I was up til almost four am.

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And I have to admit, that at 63, not getting enough sleep seriously makes me feel old.  Oh well, I’ll sleep when the babies are gone, the time will fly by.

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No matter how old and tired I am, it is never a chore to stay up all night waiting for babies to come.  

Seeing what color comes next is as exciting as opening presents.

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Shuggie had two apricot parti, two black and white parti, two black abstract, and two cream, so I was very excited to see if another pair of colors would arrive.

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She stopped birthing for almost forty minutes after those eight, but I knew she wasn’t done yet.

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The anticipation was very suspenseful.  My body was tired, but I was not sleepy.  Then she had one more cream colored boy, and I was sure she was finished.  There wasn’t going to be another pair of colors.  

Her body language changed, and she just looked finished.  And she was.  Sugar is one of the best dog moms I have ever had, so I doubt if I will be lacking too much sleep.  She curls herself carefully around the pups, nestles them near her and tucks them in.  When she climbs in and out of the nest, it is gingerly.  

It’s funny how different dogs can be as moms.  Honey was all business.  She treated motherhood as a job that she was going to be the best at,  but wasn’t exactly gentle and was known to step on or lay on the little guys.  Her pups had me up and down all night for weeks, yelling for me to save them from being squished, or cold. 

 Sugar not only takes good care of her babies, she nurtures and snuggles them.  And when they are older, she will welcome Honey to come in and help out,  there will be lots of work to do and Honey is the dog for the job.  

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This will be our only litter, Honey’s breeding didn’t  take.  I am kind of relieved, one litter at a time is plenty.  Nine pups will be enough to keep us all busy!


Pupdate- Some of the babies at five months

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Well, these guys sure don’t seem to mind the snow!  Must be that fluffy, cute fur keeping them toasty.
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And adorable.

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They seem to be happy to share the warmth with their families.

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It makes me happy to know that they are still as cuddly and sweet as when they were here with me.

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This is Ruby, in NY.

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Freddy on the west coast.

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My Molly here in Kansas.

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Ryder in Indiana.

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Olivia, down in Florida misses out on playing in the snow, but I hear she has a snowball of a sister, a Bichon named Bella that she gets to wrestle with.  Also that she has had her second puppy cut and loves her days at the doggie spa.

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Molly could use her first trim up.  I’ve been snipping away around her eyes sometimes, and shaving her backside, but she has yet to go to a groomer.

When she finally goes in, I will tell them to never trim those gorgeous eyelashes.  
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The mama dogs are probably about ready for their own trip to the spa.  We will be heading out in the camper on a trip to the beach, and Sugar’s tight curls tend to trap a lot of sand on our walks.  Her curls are so pretty, but for practicality, I have them all shaved off a few times a year.

Lots of inquiries are coming in about new pups.  Many people who got a Sugarbaby or Butterball in November would either like another or have a friend who wants one. That makes me feel like Sugar, Honey, and I did a good job with the last batches, thank you!

As I mentioned, we will be traveling soon, and hopefully a lot this year.  (To make up for the loneliness enforced by all of the problems in 2020). Having puppies is one of the happiest things I do, I love those babies to pieces! But we will have to see if breeding the girls fits into our travel schedule.  Fingers crossed that their heat cycles don’t coincide with our camping reservations.  

You can check on this blog or at Cottage Doodles on Instagram for birth announcements if you are interested in a pup.   


Tales (or tails?) from the road, part one

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Our cross country adventure with four dogs unexpectedly turned into five dogs instead.

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This guy needed to be picked up in Nebraska the night before we left for NY.  My husband was my hero, Rich sped off to get the Butterball on a moment’s notice after his new owners decided that his puppyness was a bit much for him.

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I stayed behind to get this Sugar Baby sent off with his new family.

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It looks like he is happy at his home with a forever best friend.

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I’d also made an airport drop off for this baby to go to her mom who was arriving from California.

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Plus, we were in the midst of a too short visit from Dewdrop and her daddy.  A drive to Nebraska wasn’t in our plans the night before we headed out on a cross country jaunt.

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But- No Man Left Behind!  We were not leaving him where he was not wanted, so he hit the road with us.

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Good thing that he came along, or he would have missed the joys of exploring a hotel room.  The puppies were completely mesmerized by the toilet.

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They were actually pretty good in the rooms for the most part.  Their excitement of being out  of the car led to some noise control problems, but overall, they were well behaved.

 I am soooooooo happy I trained them to use potty pads as well as to go outside.  Being mostly housebroken really helped.

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Our first stop was Indiana, where the pups could stretch their legs in Sissy’s pretty, custom fence.

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We left Ryder there with Jo Jo.

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Her name is after my Ryan, who is JoRenda’s cousin.  
Ryder has already had her first photo shoot, and she is a talented model.  That girl loves to show off her sitting up skills.

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We missed her, but I have to admit that five dogs on a road trip is a lot.

On our first pit stop, I struggled to attach leashes on the waterfall of puppies pouring out of their crate, and thought I’d walk them all while Rich grabbed coffee.

It didn’t occur to me that five little babies together added up to over 70lbs and i was very quickly overwhelmed.  They wove their leashes in and out and around my legs, then drug me down into a ditch that I couldn’t escape from.  I had to holler for Rich to unwrap me and pull me up from the pit I’d been tugged into.

Did I mention there was a dead raccoon in the ditch that they desperately wanted to get to and I desperately wanted to keep them away from?

It’s been an adventure so far.


Getting the Butterballs Ready to Go

BAB30B78-52E5-43CF-AD68-81AE6ED571EFThese guys are leaving this week!

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How can I bear not seeing these sweet faces every day?

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Even Dorothy, who doesn’t typically like the puppies, seems to be getting attached.  We trade out which ones we bring in at night, so they have one on one lap time while we watch TV, and Dorothy shared her space with them.

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This week, I have been concentrating a lot on the Butterballs since I only have a short time left with them.

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But the Sugarbabies are not left out.  They are also working on manners.

Freddy, our recovering little guy, is the only one who knows his name.  Maybe Ruby, because I used to call her Pooh Bear.  Ruby and Pooh are similar sounds and she answers to both.  

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Mostly they answer to Puppy or Buddy.

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Yesterday, all had baths.  And there were no complaints at all.

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Except maybe from me when I had to wash just about every towel in the house and mop up a sloshy bathroom after.  Those curls make good sponges, and really soak up the water, it took a couple towels each to soak it up.
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That’s okay, I have gotten to be pretty good at keeping the washer and dryer running nonstop since the babies came.  I even wash a load of my own clothes here and there between all of the piles of pillows, toys, and blankets they need to have cleaned every day.
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I get plenty of thank you snuggles in return!

 

 


New Toys and an Old Fave

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The Butterballs and Sugarbabies are so curious that any new item in their area sends them all onto it in a rush.

(That goes for fresh potty pads too, they LOVE to help me spread those)

845BF773-E55B-4FEA-9FDB-0DD358D64BA1So, I go to Goodwill a few times a week to see what new items I can find for them.  Today, I scored big with this footstool and manic monkey. 

(You can see a video of their first reaction to it on Instagram at Cottage Doodles.)

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The pups played so hard that they simply fell over and went right to sleep where they were, didn’t even try to go to their beds.

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They have a variety of toys, most can go in the washing machine.  I rotate them a couple times a day, because novelty is so important to them.  They are always ready to pounce on the latest addition to the pen.

88D2875B-8DE5-452F-B977-6181BB83337FBut this toy?  The cement block never gets old for them.

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Especially for this guy. He adores this brick and is always crawling through it.

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He also fell fast asleep during play time.


Sharing

DD546E0E-3945-4D98-8AE4-43854502B19AThe mama dogs have decided to pitch in and help each other.

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With that many babies running around, it seems like a good idea.

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The only issue is that the Sugar Babies are a week younger and seem to be smaller pups over all.

Honey is starting to wean her Butterballs, so feeds them less often.  I need to be sure that the itty bitty ones get plenty of milk before Sugar is drained by the big guys.  
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Also the older ones play a little rougher and since they weigh more, the teensie ones get overwhelmed.  Although, they are becoming wrestlers too and pretty much hold their own.

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So far, it has been a lovely fall, and the pups have been outside a bit. Not as much as I’d like. Summer puppies sure are easier to care for.  
But we have a system for cleaning them up, and they are getting used to being in crates and watching me as I spray out their areas.  I have even had a chance, although not much of a one, to do some crafting.  I gathered the vines and dried flowers to make this wreath.

But 16 babies in chilly weather takes up most of my time.  I won’t know what to do with myself when they are gone!

(Videos of the litters can be found on Instagram at Cottage Doodles)