At seven weeks, the puppies have been wormed for the second time. They are now drinking,
two gallons, of low-fat milk because they are becoming sensitive to the full milk they have previously been served. We hope
they will do well on this so they can continue to get extra calcium to build strong bones and teeth. Eventually they will
move to non-fat milk and then to non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese. They continue to have an unlimited supply of puppy
Eukanuba but now they have graduated to large puppy size bites. We are always mindful that what is put into them at this
age will effect their future.
The puppies still sleep a lot of the
time but when awake they play with each other and with toys. They now have daily access to the outside, rain-proof exercise
area. By putting their food and milk outside they are encouraged to use the outside for potty. During the day there are
few indoor accidents. The puppies are let out at 8.30/9am and locked in at 4.30pm, when it starts to get
too cold for them to run freely outside. The large inside area is climate controlled and has a great radio station playing!
The puppies now bark at strange sounds but, as expected at this age, stand ready to retreat if it is a monster attacking
them! Last year, a professional trainer came to "test" a ten week old puppy that was going to "work" in
a retirement home. He was amazed that when he fired his pistol off, all our dogs ran towards him to investigate the noise.
He said, "...that doesn't normally happen!" But, he failed to remember, poodle puppies are used to noisey
shears next to their ears from an early age. The pistol was just a new toy to be investigated.
Next week, when the puppies are 8 weeks old and have been given their second full beauty treatment, they will receive
a second shot and most of them will be heading off to their new homes. We will supply two free additional shots and show new
owners how to administer them, should they choose to do so. it is very simple to do and the puppies rarely even squeek. (As
a therapist I used to make bargains with little owners that if their puppy didn't cry when they received a shot, they wouldn't
cry when they had one. The puppies never cried!) The two additional shots, given three weeks apart, are very important
for full protection and we do not recommend taking puppies out of their new owners yard until they have received them.
I will fight the temptation to keep JUST ONE MORE for myself, I don't know if I will succeed. I think one choice
might be chosen by someone else.... but then they are all so perfect, how can I choose one over another? I know
we have some really perfect homes for our babies. Many of the owners have had dogs from us in the past and some new poodle
owners we hope to get to know well over the lifetime of their new family member. We encourage people to
keep in touch with us, send photos and visit with their dog(s). We like to see our puppies at all stages of their lives, that
way we can check we are still breeding our perfect poodles. The father of the puppies, Canadian and American Champion
Seacrest Salidad (Paris) brings new blood to our line, we believe we have chosen him well. Being a champion
does not always mean that a dog is a healthy dog but Paris has successfully completed similar health tests to Mom, Shadow,
so we expect very long, healthy lives for all the puppies of this litter.
