Aussie Haven

I don't usually play inside dog parks but I have been working on socializing each one of my girls with their confidence around other dogs. Today Raven wanted to play instead of watching from outside of the park.

Nova and Ruby had a big road trip to Kingsville today and we stopped at a few beaches on our way back home. Ruby loved her first adventure at the beach and even did a big plunge in the lake while chasing a seagull flying over the water. Good news...she can swim!

Walking our 4 dogs is turning into date night 😆

Call me crazy...but puppy play sounds are the cutest

Nova had to race her sisters getting all the food hidden in the puzzle

These gals are looking lonely in their play yard today

Pups had a little taste of freedom today

This is a memory that popped up 4 years ago to the day and thought I would be a little more transparent with you. This was our only litter we had with Ginger and its when I became obsessed with raising puppies. We never tried to breed Ginger again after that litter. I would so very much love to let her be a mom again. She was an absolute amazing mom. Our window of opportunity will soon be closing and I am still sitting on the fence about it. I feel like whenever I think about breeding her, it's feels like me trying to jump in a skipping rope game like double dutch (never could I ever just jump in) and then I would chicken out. Even though I have had my vets blessing many times. There's still so much about breeding that terrifies me. The more you know about it, the more you worry. I go through this every time I plan a litter, even with Raven. The possibilities are endless of what could go wrong. There's always something new that you have to learn how to do. Always a new obstacle. Being a breeder, you take on a certain element of risk. Weighing out those risks and benefits and doing everything humanly possible with health testing, diet and nutrition, supplements, genetic compatibility within the cross, a healthy strong dam and a safe whelp and then there's raising a litter... I always relax more when my pups get to be about 3 weeks old. I am sometimes hesitant to let people come visit the pups before they've had their first shots because I don't want people to bring any virus to the litter from their shoes. As you can tell I am super cautious. When I have a litter on the ground I don't even walk my girls on ground that other dogs could have travelled on in fear of them bringing something back. With all this said...I feel like when we get to the end of the 8-9 weeks, its such a huge relief. I always thank God for keeping my momma's and little babies healthy and safe

Today I desensitized the pups to the blowdryer. This video is condensed quite a bit, but its awesome to watch the progression from being timid of it, to being curious and brave, to loving it

Sleeping in their crates at night has been going very well! Third night at it and this time they slept 5.5 hours straight from our last outside potty.

I made up this little training game since I have to move these guys around so much throughout my day. I started this off with whoever sits gets the reward of coming out of the pen. However they're getting so good at sitting and waiting that I have to make it a bit more challenging. I'm now picking the one that holds their sit the longest. I do this excerize every time we go from point A to point B.

Do you think I should let them sleep through the night?

7 weeks old and these pups are on the move!!

I set up a new outdoor potty space yesterday. This will be so much easier to just open the door and let them go potty. Potty first then play in our other pen, then back to potty area before we head back inside. Using the "potty" word as our marker word and celebrate their potty victories

Making progress everyday with our crate training. Each time I clean out the pen, all the pups go in their crates and the doors get closed. I take my time, have a coffee and get cleaning. They will protest at first but then all will settle.

Pups all are having a great day! Some play time outside and are enjoying their own flat rib bone in their crates

I have started our second round of crate training/car rides. Everyone has had their turn with an hour in the car. Willy had a bit longer today as I travelled to Ingersoll then Woodstock and back to town. All the pups take a little bit to settle on their own but then they all nod off and settle into a sleep.