Happy Hippy Doodles

11/12/2024

As the holidays approach, pups are often checked into boarding facilities, are out visiting with family and friends, or could be even sharing a water bowl at the local cafe while out on a brunch date. Be sure your families know how to avoid kennel cough, how it's contracted, and what to watch for.

30/10/2024

One more reason we do not use or recommend the "gentle leader or other harnesses that come across the dogs face.

Here is the vascular system in a canine head. This highlights the enormous amount of blood flow in the dogs nose. This blood flow serves many purposes, fuels the scent chambers, aids in temperature regulation, allows dogs to effectively track, but this also makes the dogs nose incredibly sensitive to touch. This is the main reason you should not use face harnesses. There are plenty of tools designed to communicate with dogs that do not put pressure on one of their most sensitive features. I Credit this post to Grant Teeboon AKA the PawMan

22/08/2024

Well we’re so bummed. Sadie was just in heat, and we missed the window to breed her. We are planning to breed her to Kuzco, a gorgeous Blue Merle Parti Mini Poodle, for our first litter of Minis! I figured that Ringo, our stud, would let us know when she was ready, but somehow we were still too late. I know that many of you are also waiting for our next litter. We are praying for better luck next time!!!

30/07/2024

[NOTE: This photo is just picture of a pond in the summer. NOT a picture of a pond with the toxin.] Cyanobacteria can have many different looks, including not being visible at all. Link to Kentucky Division of Water for more photos and information: https://eec.ky.gov/Environmental-Protection/Water/Monitor/Pages/HABS.aspx #:~:text=Harmful%20Algal%20Blooms%20Division%20of%20Water&text=A%20harmful%20algal%20bloom%2C%20or,skin%20in%20animals%20or%20humans.
"Death follows minutes to hours after exposure to a small amount of this toxin." As the weather gets hotter, ponds can start to have "algae blooms." The water itself can look like pea soup, or like green paint is spread on the surface of the water. Sometimes it is not visible at all. Some of these blooms are cyanobacteria, which can produce potent toxins. Dogs are exposed when they wade in the water and either drink the water directly, or lick it off themselves when they come out. There is no antidote; treatment is supportive and many dogs don't survive. If you believe your dog has been exposed, bathe him immediately. If he has any symptoms, bring him right in to a veterinarian. See comments for more information about signs and treatment. (Most ponds that look like this are not dangerous, but it is not possible to tell which ones are toxic and which ones aren't except by having the water tested; If in doubt, keep pets out.) Edited to add links to more pond phots.

15/06/2024

Wow! So impressive!

15/06/2024

This is good info.

Let's talk about this photo. It's cute, except it's not. I see a dog who cannot get up without telling the child to get off. How do you think a dog is going to do that?

The 7 Golden Toddler Dog Rules:
#1: If a dog walks away from you, you DO NOT FOLLOW.
#2: Always leave room for the dog to walk away from you.
---that right there is 90+% of dog bites eliminated---
#3: We do not climb on the dog.
#4: We do not grab or pull on the dog.
#5: We do not hit or throw anything at the dog.
#6: We do not touch the dog's food.
#7: We do not go into the dog's kennel.

I promise these are not overly difficult concepts for littles, nor will they rob a kid of their bond with the family dog. It will deepen that bond, while keeping everyone safe.

"Oh, it looks like Moose is walking away from you. She is saying she wants a break. Let's play with this instead!"

"It's Moose's dinner time! Let's give her space to enjoy her yummies."

"That is Moose's room(kennel) and only she is allowed to go in there."

"If Moose wanted a break, could she walk away from you right now? No she really couldn't. Let's move away from the play house. You can keep playing but now she can leave when she wants a break."

In conclusion, ***parent your child or your dog will do it for you, and you will not like how they do it.***

04/06/2024

Interesting stuff. I plan to share with my Badass Breeder friends, for more opinions and insights. Maybe some of them will comment here!

Updated information from the University of California study on the effects of spay/neutering.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/when-should-you-neuter-or-spay-your-dog

03/05/2024

28/04/2024

Interesting post, from a group I’m in.

Every time I see a post about doodles in an all breed FB group, someone is bound to pipe up that "the shelters are overflowing" with them.

At first I accepted this pretty much at face value - I know what popularity means to dogs, and I used to volunteer at a shelter in the early 2000s and know how many bully breed dogs we got in - it was constant, we were indeed literally overflowing with them and when I check my local shelter pages and petfinder, it's still an issue.
So I figured that doodles could easily be the same.

Not wanting to ever be a burden on shelters, I set my breeding plans in place including microchips that always list me as a contact, and using Spay Secure to make sure my spay/neuter contract is upheld.

I also wanted to see HOW overflowing my local shelter was with doodles, so I checked. I live in the greater Salt Lake City area, and checking the 6 most common doodles - golden, lab, bernese, cavalier, aussie, sheepdog - I found on Petfinder... 6 dogs out of 1800 total dogs in a 100 mile range.

This made me go "hmmm". So I checked a zip code I used to live in, 95376, a very populous area, and searched all the top doodle breeds - - and found... 11 total doodles available out of 6800 dogs.
Checked 100 miles around Los Angeles - 25 out of 12,700.

Then I thought: I should check a known “puppy mill” state, picked Ohio at random - 24 out of 3300.

Guys, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m starting to get a little suspicious.

I know that every single shelter doesn’t advertise on Petfinder, but a whole lot do, and if they list dogs available on their own site they almost always also list through Petfinder. Every rescue group I’ve ever heard of advertises on Petfinder.

29/03/2024

I can’t believe I missed it yesterday!

Happy happy birthday to the Tree Litter!!! Time sure flys when you’re having fun! Let’s see those beautiful trees! 🎉🎉🎉