Sarah and Piper

Sarah in AR is fostering Piper for us and I think she is keeping her name.  She’s a super sweet girl who is just what Sarah and her family need.  Her future will be Therapy and Rally-O.

Summer in AK is taking home Cole (name might change) to live with her and Radar and work on his service dog training!

Sherri and Mark in CA have selected Zane as their next therapy dog and he will be keeping his name!

Jennifer in TX will be taking home Kai, who’s name is now Gatsby!  Gatsby will also be training as a service dog.

Laura in TX has joyfully selected Hazel to be her partner in her job and her name will remain the same.  Hazel will be going to work with Laura, who is a therapist to severely disabled children.

Tara in TX is taking home Nia and hopes to also do some Therapy work with her new little girl. (name might change)

Jay is AVAILABLE to the right home.  Jay is a high drive and dominant boy who needs a job.  Only a working home for Jay at this point, or I will keep him for 6 months and get him trained up before placement.  He has my personal favorite temperament.  A little pushy, confident beyond measure, very high prey drive, high retrieving drive, forgives you easily if you make a mistake (some dominant dogs do not forgive and that makes them very hard to train).   He would excel as a Hunting partner, Agility, SAR, or other sports.  Jay is a lovely Blue color, already fading at 7 weeks of age.

I am thrilled with the quality homes, as always.  I hope all these pups excel at their future jobs.  Nothing makes me happier than dogs who are helping people.  All of these pups will be either helping the community in Therapy work, or helping a specific person cope with life, as their service dog.  This is why I breed dogs!!  Theses guys are going to be true heroes!

When I find a moment, I will be taking new photos and video of the pups.  Watch for blog updates as I get settled in and back here in the real world of TX heat.

~Becky

Volhard’s Puppy Aptitude Testing

Hopefully you all will get an email or phone call by this evening at the lastest.  I will test the pups then pack up and drive back to TX today.  Keith has to be at work tomorrow!!  Yeah I know, I’m tired just thinking about it.  Absolutely worth it, though.  I am excited to have puppies in the house again!!

~Becky

Wet Poodles.Playing Poodles.Nosey Poodles.Tug of War Poodles.Chillin’ Poodles.Chewin’ Poodles.Suspicious PoodlesCute Poodles.Dirty Poodles.Curious Poodles.Sweet Poodles.Companion Poodles.Confident Poodles.Fishing Poodles.Thoughtful Poodles.Puppy-dog Eyes Poodles.

Checking out the water.

What is that?

One brave puppy.

Oh boy!  A giant water bowl!

 Everyone’s in, but quickly everyone jumped out!

Since they were wet and dirty I decided I should just go ahead and give them a quick bath while they were playing in the water.  My mom and brother were in town visiting, so their job was puppy drying and snuggling.

This is Jay with my brother, Chris.  He loved the puppies and enjoyed helping out with the bath.  Chris has cerebral palsy and is a great puppy snuggler.  They love him, and I’m pretty sure he got his fair share of kisses.

Nia

Piper

Cole

Hazel

Kai

Zane

We are all having so much fun with these great pups!  They are growing and learning something new everyday.  They love to play with toys, and wrestle.  They love to be outside and romp through the grass.  They give lots of kisses and enjoy being held and cuddled.

We love them so much!

~Courtney

ZANE – BOY

ZANE- BOY
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PIPER-GIRL

PIPER-GIRL
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NIA- GIRL

NIA- GIRL
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KAI – BOY

KAI – BOY
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JAY – BOY

JAY – BOY
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HAZEL – GIRL

HAZEL – GIRL
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COLE – BOY

COLE – BOY
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Thank you Courtney for getting these picture of the babies!!

~Becky

Let me give you the Good, Bad, and Ugly and then I can sum it up.

The Good!

1.  They have a built in play mate.
2.  They probably won’t ever cry at night when you bring them home..
3.  Crate training is so easy because they have company.
4. Socialization is easy because it is highly likely one will be more outgoing and will encourage the less outgoing to socialize and be more adventurous.  We are all more confident surrounded by friends.  Dogs are no exception to this rule.

The Bad

1.  There is a serious risk of one or both developing separation anxiety.  They eat, live, play together almost 24-7.
2. They tend to ignore their owners when in a distracting or stressful situation, and turn to their litter mate for guidance.
3.  They often do not bond as strongly to their owners.  They have each other!
4.  They will probably pass away near the same time.
5.  You will have twice the vet expenses at the exact same time.  All the shots, worming, blood work, spay / neutering will come up at the same time.

The Ugly (and often messy!)

1.  Two puppies are more than twice the work. One puppy will get into trouble, but two is compounded.  If you leave them alone together, they think up things to do and have someone to help them do it.  One might have time to rip a small hold in a new toy, carpet, or dog bed and make a  small mess before you find out what they are doing.  Two will have time to totally gut the new toy, carpet, or dog bed and maybe eat part of it before you notice!
2.  House training two at once is a full time job and twice the mess if you have a failure.  Which puppy did it?  Are you sure they both emptied their bladder when you sent them outside?  There is a pile of runny poop outside when you went to clean up the yard.  I wonder which dog has the sick tummy?

There is no doubt, having two adult dogs is easier than having one.  Raising two puppies at the same time to get those two adult dogs might not be the best choice for most homes.  What I suggest is to get your first dog, work on house training, obedience, house manners, crate training.  Once you make it into or past the ‘teenager’ stage, then add in a second puppy!  Waiting 6 months to a year will be easier in the long run, believe me.  The first dog will teach the new puppy the ‘ropes’.  You can crate them next to each other or even put the new puppy in with the older pup for company the first few nights.  They are both young and likely won’t mind sharing everything they own, like an older well established adult dog who is not happy about the new addition in the first place! 

If you are set on getting two puppies at one time, here are my tips.

Make time to train and play with each dog separately.  Not only do they learn better with the one on one attention, it also teaches them to listen to you, not the other dog.  Playing with them by themselves is equally important.  This is vital to establishing a relationship with your dog.  I have Twins.  Yes my kids do almost everything together but each day I spend time one on one with them doing something they love.  They need memories of Mom and Dad without their sibling competing for attention.  The same is true for dogs.  On the same note, take time to walk and socialize your dogs separately.  One will be the leader of the two dogs.  Walking them separately will show you who is the confident one and which might need some extra socialization and training.  Teach the dogs to rely on your ability to handle the situation and to trust your judgement. If you have a dog that requires grooming, send them to the groomers on different days, if possible.  Take one on a car ride and leave the other at home.  The one you leave at home needs a high value treat toy to keep them busy and not upset that you are going somewhere fun and they are stuck home.  The dog staying home must learn to be alone, not an easy feat for some dogs.  Start this training the DAY you get your puppies.

snap shot from my phone of the girls on the couch behind me while I was typing this up!

Two puppies at once is hard work, but it can be done and done well if you put in the time and effort to make it happen.  I would not allow a first time dog owner to adopt two Standard Poodle pups, but if someone who really understands dogs, seems educated on both the pros and cons of the adventure, and everyone in the family is dedicated to making it work, I would absolutely allow it.   I have never kept two litter mates from one of my litters, but I did get Jazz and Mocha within several months of each other, and I have raised other dogs similarly.  With Jazz and Mocha I make both of them spend time alone.  I take them to class separately.  Rarely do I take them both on a car ride at the same time.   Rarely do I walk them at the same time here in the neighborhood.  I have never taken them out front off leash at the same time, though almost daily I take one or more out while the kids ride their bikes.  Mocha goes to get professionally groomed without Jazz.  They never go to the vet at the same time.

Adopting two puppies at once???  Not for everyone, but if you have the time and education to do it, who am I to tell you no?

~Becky

~Becky

Mom says I am a really good girl,

But I think I’m FABULOUS!

~Mocha

Quincy (SIRE:CH BRET x DAM: CH BREE)

Heather, foster mom to our Quincy “Anutta Commander and Chief” from our President’s Day litter last year contacted me.  Quincy passed his Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) with AKC!  He will be starting Rally class soon and only need one competition win for his UKC conformation Championship.  Quincy is one year old and lives in San Antonio.  Congrats Heather and Quincy!  The first step to a great future.

ANUTTA COMMANDER AND CHIEF CGC

To learn more about the Canine Good Citizen program, please visit the AKC website

~Becky