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Post by hooligan on Sept 24, 2013 20:05:10 GMT -5
Woot, woot for the W-litter. Jack says, "Way to go, Mama Eden."
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Post by susanw on Sept 24, 2013 21:16:20 GMT -5
Congrats to Eden and all the new W-litter "parents"
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Post by jordanjamesv on Sept 25, 2013 8:13:24 GMT -5
W-litter has arrived! 10 healthy pups consisting of 6 males (3B/3R) and 4 females (3B/1R). After the reservations have been met, I think I might have a couple red boys available. Everyone else has homes awaiting them. It's so great to finally see these pups! Glad to see Mama Eden and the newborns are all doing well My family and I are overwhelmed with excitement. Every morning my 6 year old daughter asks me when we will be able to see them. Currently, we are in the "Name-choosing" process. My wife and daughter wants to name him after a villain in their favourite video game lol It's 2 against 1, so if the name fits we're going to go ahead with it. I'm just glad they didn't choose a name like their first dog, Muffin (very hard to call him in public without feeling embarrassed). If anyone can help me, I am also looking for a good sized, quality-made, crate to purchase. I'm not sure if I need a durable one, but my previous Pitt Bull Terriers used to destroy their crates like nothing. I'm thinking I may have one for both upstairs and downstairs. Do you think it's necessary? He'll be sleeping in our room until he is trusted to roam the house unattended. Any advice on crates would be much appreciated. Lastly, since we will have the pup during winter, I don't want him to freeze to death on the extra cold days. For these situations, I am thinking of taking him out quickly to do his business and bring him in to walk the treadmill for his exercise. Does anyone have experience with this (I never had this problem before because I lived in Texas)? Even with this the pup would still be socialized, as I have plans for that too. Thanks!
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Post by susanw on Sept 25, 2013 10:34:50 GMT -5
I can tell how excited your family is to get to see the pups - it's so hard to be patient once they're born isn't it. Re a crate - I think most folks have a metal one that has a spacer/divider option to adjust the interior volume as your pup grows. My boy was a bit of a weenie and never liked the plastic one I bought for the bedroom/travel so he was always in the big crate - covered with a blanket to make it cozy. As he matured he graduated to being allowed the run of only a certain area defined by using a baby gate. He was never destructive so he earned that freedom. You'll have to play that by ear. When he was 3 moths old he experienced his first snow and he has always loved it. He wore a sweater from the pet store to keep him toasty and while his ears were still posted and it got close to Xmas, people we met thought they were antlers. How embarrassing for him...lol. Here's a shot . . . after that he graduated to a proper chilly dog sweater and looks so much more :dobe-like". Monica can set you up with both a good crate and winter coat. Have fun shopping!! Attachments:
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Post by jordanjamesv on Sept 25, 2013 10:46:06 GMT -5
I can tell how excited your family is to get to see the pups - it's so hard to be patient once they're born isn't it. Re a crate - I think most folks have a metal one that has a spacer/divider option to adjust the interior volume as your pup grows. My boy was a bit of a weenie and never liked the plastic one I bought for the bedroom/travel so he was always in the big crate - covered with a blanket to make it cozy. As he matured he graduated to being allowed the run of only a certain area defined by using a baby gate. He was never destructive so he earned that freedom. You'll have to play that by ear. When he was 3 moths old he experienced his first snow and he has always loved it. He wore a sweater from the pet store to keep him toasty and while his ears were still posted and it got close to Xmas, people we met thought they were antlers. How embarrassing for him...lol. Here's a shot . . . after that he graduated to a proper chilly dog sweater and looks so much more :dobe-like". Monica can set you up with both a good crate and winter coat. Have fun shopping!! Very nice picture, Susan! What's his name? I keep forgetting that Monica has supplies available. I will definitely ask for her suggestions, too.
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Post by Andreina on Sept 25, 2013 19:38:02 GMT -5
Congratulations to all the new parents! I can feel your excitement, I remember anxiously counting down the days!!! If I can offer some advice on our experience... We had 2 crates and both were given to us (otherwise we would have only gotten one) Scarlet originally was put into a wire crate, and hated it from day 1. We switched her to the plastic "vari kennel" type crate and she LOVES IT! I guess she felt more at home in the confined space and more comfortable... We even tried her more recently in the wire crate because it was bigger for her, but nope she loves curling up in her plastic crate! I guess it depends on the dog what they prefer? As for coats, just buy a cheap one for this year. By next year your pups will be grown and you'll be able to invest in something nice for them . Oh and something if you're creative... get a childs hoodie and cut the sleeves off a little bit - and you've got yourself a cheap doggie sweater!! haha. For beds, toys and blankets, you won't really know what they like until they try everything. All dogs are different. Scarlet never liked beds, she prefers a pile of blankets and does not destroy them. Cajun on the other hand, has inherited all of Scarlets beds we bought when she was a puppy cuz we thought she would use them ... She likes beds but will suck on them, and she will rip up blankets. So who knows what your pup will be like! Just dont be disappointed if they chew through the nice things you buy them with their little T-Rex teeth. Ah they're too cute to be mad at Oh and puppy training... whew! I remember that.... Try to keep your sessions short. Maybe two 10 min sessions a day or so... Depending where you are located I would also highly recommend Monica for training... I'm biased because I've been going to her for a while now, but she really does know Dobes the best... She does puppy classes up to level 3 which if off leash stuff, etc. I went to three different local trainers around here which were all treat training, and really repetitive even at the "advanced" level. I always felt Scarlet was very much beyond the rest of the class and that the trainers really had no idea how to tailor their classes to dobermans. So, she got so bored and we knew we had to look elsewhere. Monica challenges us, and really pays attention to each individual dog and their needs.... We've done Level 1 and 2 (twice for more practice) and heading to level 3 next week with Scarlet. We will also be brining Cajun for Level 2... Anyways, if you source trainers in your area, just do your research, maybe ask to sit in on a class they teach so you can observe. They shouldn't have a problem with it! "FlipFlopz" I hope you don't have to call your dog muffin haha but you are outnumbered by girls !!! We wrote down a list of names and looked at it all the time.... We actually were set on a totally different name for months but didn't officially decide until we met her and saw her personality. We wanted to name her something related to her colour "red" so Scarlet is who she turned out to be! My advice, pick something meaningful to you and something with 2 syllables so it's easy to call out haha (you'll be calling their names a billion times a day) Hope my experiences have helped you all just a bit!
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Post by dobermoms on Sept 25, 2013 21:31:34 GMT -5
Great advice Andreina.....I will again say that what you need you can purchase from Monica, and at a reduced price. Even though she's "a little" busy right now ( lol ). Names.....it's easiest to use a 2 cyllable name..ie Dan-te, Scar-let, Ash-a, E-den......it helps for when you get into obedience training with them also. As for crates---we tried the vari-kennel but we changed it out for a wire crate instead.....more pleasing to the eye for us....but, Monica prefers the vari-kennel as the dogs are "safer" in them.
Don't worry about the winter's cold weather.....our girl Kazi will stay outside for as long as we let her. She is an outdoor dog, loves being outdoors, spring or fall, summer or winter....she loves it. Then there's Dante---he enjoys being outside, but he also enjoys a drink by the fire....lol. So you will have to wait and see what your dog prefers....you may be pleasantly surprised. Dobermans aren't supposed to like water either....yet our dogs do, and as you read thruout this forum, there are many other dogs that also enjoy water. In the winter months, if your dogs ears are getting cropped, they will be very sensitive to the cold weather. So use your own ears as a guide....I don't wear ear muffs when I'm out with the dogs....so that when my ears are cold then I know the dogs ears are cold and we go back inside. A good Chilly dog or Hurtta coat will keep your dog warm, each which can be purchased thru Monica.
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Post by swied78 on Sept 26, 2013 8:15:51 GMT -5
This forum is a really wonderful source of advice. Thanks so much to those of you who have pups and are willing to share your experiences. It's especially helpful to know that others have similar questions and we aren't bombarding Monica with unnecessary emails or phone calls. On that note I was wondering how the selection process and pick-up works. We have a bit of a drive (at least 6 hours) and children to plan for, so we'd love any and all details about how the process works and time frames we might expect. Is it necessary/advisable to make a trip pre-pickup (i.e. weeks before?). I'm not sure that would be possible for us, but I was hoping for a little feedback as to other peoples' experiences. Hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful fall days
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Post by Andreina on Sept 26, 2013 8:33:18 GMT -5
This forum is a really wonderful source of advice. Thanks so much to those of you who have pups and are willing to share your experiences. It's especially helpful to know that others have similar questions and we aren't bombarding Monica with unnecessary emails or phone calls. On that note I was wondering how the selection process and pick-up works. We have a bit of a drive (at least 6 hours) and children to plan for, so we'd love any and all details about how the process works and time frames we might expect. Is it necessary/advisable to make a trip pre-pickup (i.e. weeks before?). I'm not sure that would be possible for us, but I was hoping for a little feedback as to other peoples' experiences. Hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful fall days You'll meet with Monica for puppy picking once they are 6 weeks old. She doesn't let anyone visit with them before that because they are more vulnerable to catch something from an outside dog or even from your clothing. She will let you know when it's your turn to pick and you'll go probably spend a few hours with the pups and decide . That was the most fun day for us. Going and seeing the whole litter running around and playing. They're sooo cute at that age. Take lots of pictures!!
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Post by susanw on Sept 26, 2013 9:06:02 GMT -5
Totally agree with what Andreina and Barb/Kerrie have said. I should have mentioned myself not to go too crazy overspending on clothing as they grow so fast.Like the hoodie trick - wish I'd known that one ..lol.
I also have brought Quin back to Monica for his advanced training. I hadn't had a dog in many years and didn't have the skills to train on my own. Puppy classes were taken here,with a local gal who was very nice and good with the puppies. Gave him good socializing skills and the basics but way too much "treating" to entice compliance. As Quin got older and became less food driven, continuing with that training style just wasn't going to be effective.
These are smart "thinking" dogs so it's important to find a trainer that knows the breed. I know distance will be an issue for many of you, but the hour and a half it takes me to get to Monica's has been well worth the effort. If that's just not feasible for you, I'm sure either she or one of our other members, can give you advice on how to find a good trainer in your area.
It is great to be able to personally be involved in the "picking" of your puppy. Monica will give you more information on that process herself, when the pups are old enough for visitors.
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Post by swied78 on Sept 30, 2013 21:25:24 GMT -5
The sweater trick is a great idea! My 7 year old will love the idea of the new pup wearing his old sweaters...it's when she grows into his current size that he might not be so enthusiastic! LOL. Any other tips and tricks that people have learned are more then welcome advice.
Susanw; the info on "treating" is very useful. It will definitely take some time to find the right trainer given the number of yahoos that seem to be out there! I'm hoping someone will have some ideas for us.
Love all the pics of pups and adults that people have posted on Facebook and the Forum. Monica really turns out some lovely animals. Looking forward to seeing what Eden and Apollo have in store for us!
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Post by jordanjamesv on Oct 7, 2013 22:35:45 GMT -5
Hi All, I just got last weeks update from Monica on the pups. As I was reading the email I accidentally deleted it and I cant seem to find the email in my deleted messages/trash. If anyone could be kind enough to forward that email to me, it would be much appreciated!!! jorjam.vir@gmail.com Thanks!!! Lol this whole waiting period is killing me!
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Post by king84 on Oct 8, 2013 8:05:49 GMT -5
Hi All, I just got last weeks update from Monica on the pups. As I was reading the email I accidentally deleted it and I cant seem to find the email in my deleted messages/trash. If anyone could be kind enough to forward that email to me, it would be much appreciated!!! jorjam.vir@gmail.com Thanks!!! Lol this whole waiting period is killing me! I just sent it to you
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Post by dobermoms on Oct 8, 2013 19:19:10 GMT -5
To all the anxious new puppy owners......get lots of sleep and rest NOW....lol. You'll be tired soon......but it's a "good" tired.
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Post by Lisa on Oct 9, 2013 22:08:03 GMT -5
I never buy coats for a puppy as I don't take her for long walks. Puppy paws are too gentle to walk on hard surfaces or be exposed to snow and salt. I let a puppy run in the backyard "naked" You will buy a coat for the next winter when your puppy will reach an adult size. They grow too fast!
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