Here are the latest pictures from yesterday and today. The pups are almost housebroken and they are now 8 weeks old.

My 1 1/2 year old, Bobo with both of the pups.


Brandy sleeping...on her back as usual.


Brandy picking out her dinner....just kidding. Her first meeting with my chickens.

here are a couple of new shots from this morning. If the weather is better tomorrow, I'll get some better shots.
The one pup (Brandy) seemed to put on at least ten pounds this week. Her diet has been mostly chili dogs, cheese burgers, bowls of cereal and everything else the kids drop on the floor for them. She also eats puppy food and cat food on occasion.
Dave


I made Whiskey look like she was mad while she was sleeping.




Brandy is getting big!

Cute little things. I remember when my Golden was that way. He is still cute but in a different way. He sleeps on his back as well.

A couple of cute pics from Monday. Whiskey is such a sound sleeper. You can put food in her mouth and she won't wake up.

ok, I took these pictures today. The puppies are getting a lot bigger and seem to be eating everything in sight. They come to the shop with my wife a few days a week and seem to like the cars and customers. We shaved them for the spring/summer. They were getting too hot and panting like crazy, so we figured it would make them more comfortable.

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 03-31-2007).]

Jeez they grow up fast. They'll be breeding soon!

Are you nuts?

Or just plain stupid?

You shaved an 8 week old puppy.

Panting is how dogs sweat.

All dogs pant. The hotter it is the more they sweat.

Shaving them now make them more susceptible to sun burns.
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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 03-31-2007).]

Yep. Their skin & fur is what makes them comfortable. Panting for them is not like panting for us. It's normal. Let the hair grow back out.

This thread is a fun one.

no, I shaved an eleven week old puppy.
I used to shave my last golden every spring without issues. I did it early in the season so they would have some protection when the sun does show up...April NJ weather is much like Seattle...rainy.
Dave

edited to add.

They are also to young to be out in public. That is also a reason for there panting.

Have they had their shots?

They need puppy 5 way shots before they ever go outside.

If another dog was where they are, at the park, friends house, any parking lot, has worms or anything else they will get it.

Also forgive my rudeness in the beginning but you may be a wonder under the hood but as far as puppies go you have a lot to learn.

Melanie has been raising Goldens and Pyrs for over 15 years and none of them leave here before being wormed several times and there first puppy shots.

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

no problem. I don't mind learning from others. I've also given my 6 year old daughter taco bell at three days old.
The puppies actually seem happier with the shave job. Before they were looking for any cool place to lay on. Now they lay on whatever and seem to be more active. We didn't shave them down to the skin...just a decent trim.
I am not a puppy expert, but they seem healthy.
Dave

here are a few pics from today. In the first picture I am holding Brandy's paw...I think she is going to be a big dog.

Here is me with Whiskey.

Here is Brandy laying on her blanket.

This thread is kind of drawing to a close. The pups are becoming dogs. Or at least looking like dogs. They are about 4 months old now. Housebroken. and damaged about $3000 worth of my house (not including furniture).
Here are some pics from this weekend.
Whiskey sleeping with my daughters stuffed animal.

Brandy

Brandy next to my brandy

Puppies chew, all puppies. If that is the problem and you haven’t cured them of it.

I can suggest a solution of hot pepper sauce, or Tabasco mixed with water, brush it on table legs, spray it on soft furniture.

They will only chew on those things once. But they should have lots of chew toys. Melanie’s favorite is a white sweat sock with a couple of knots in them, soak the knots in water then put them in the freezer. Do 2 that way when one is freezing they can play with the other.

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 05-27-2007).]

Brandy likes to sleep on the bathroom floor. We closed the door one evening and she was so determines to get in, she broke the door down. I try to buy them chew toys and bones, but if they run out of chew stuff, they chew on the doorjams. When I woke up this morning, they dug a hole in my living room carpet. Also, I HAD a screen door on my back door. It was fine until the dogs jumped through it.
The good side. One of my chickens escaped and it was just to fast for me to catch. Brandy brought her back to me. They are really tollerant of my kids jumping on them. They also seem to keep their poop in the same spots, so that makes for easy cleanup.
Dave

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 05-27-2007).]

I got a std. poodle pup last summer, kept the chewing to less than $100 by getting her every darn toy I could find--Nylabones are good for teething pup, but a Cuz (4 inch rubber ball with legs and a squeeker) was/is her favorite play and chew toy. She also has had stuffed toys (a couple of cats) that she destroyed, tennis balls, rubber toy basketballs, a couple of those rope toys (she destroyed those, too.)

Chewing is a natural behavior for a dog, but it can be redirected towards 'okay' chewables.

Stay away from Greenies--they can kill your dogs.

As for clipping, looks to me like they're house dogs--clipping makes housekeeping easier and as long as they don't get long periods in the direct sun they'll be okay. Nice looking dogs btw. My std. poodle got her first clip at about 20 weeks, not because she couldn't get it earlier but because until she had all of her initial shots I didn't want to expose her to potential parvo virus that might be present in places where lots of dogs were found. It's important to limit puppies contact with outside dogs until their first year shots are full completed (and have had time to build a little immunity.)

What are you feeding your puppies? As I recall, retrievers are prone to food allergies--so probably starting them on a lamb and rice formula that's free of corn & corn products, soy, and wheat will help. And beef based foods are more likely to cause problems. My puppy, from the start, has been eating Innova and is energetic, and size/weight appropriate. Innova is from Naturapet, they are a premium dog food producer and have their own factory for making their dog foods. (So there was no recall of their products, and so far I've fed my dog with confidence.) If you're interested, they have a dog food comparison wizard at www.naturapet.com.

I supplement my dogs diet with whole grained rice and nonfat live culture yogurt. It keeps her digestive system cleaned out, and robust. She considers it a treat, btw. You can also supplement with a little chicken breast (pull off all the skin and fat tho.) And if they'll eat them fresh or cooked vegetables, moderate amounts of salmon (canned is fine) and salmon based fish oil. Limit the tuna to a very occasional thing--it's got mercury and other heavy metals.

Canine diet is one of those 'pay me now or pay me later' things. The mass marketed dog foods will provide enough nutrition to allow the dog to grow and be moderately healthy, but they are really sad if you get to looking at the ingredients. But as dogs are onmivores (sort of like people) I think that they will do better on a diet that has clean (human food grade) sources of protein, whole grains, vegies and fruit, and that's low in sugars and animal based fats (just like us.) Keeping a dog lean and with healthy cardio/vascular will help in later life with heart/circulatory problems and keeping the dog's weight down will help to avoid (or at least delay) back and joint problems.

Keep up the occasional pics. They look like wonderful dogs.

The dogs have had all their shots to date. They are due back at the vet in a few weeks for the Lyme's shot and a few others. I feed them Kibbles and bits. It seems to be the only food they will eat. I have tried Iams and puppy chow but they won't eat it. I've mixed it in with the kibbles and bits and they'll actually eat around or spit out the Iams and puppy chow.
My last retriever was a beagle mix so I am learning a few things about bigger dogs. First off, I made a nice sandwich yesterday. I left it safely on the stove while I went to the fridge to get the mustard. I came back and it was gone. I didn't think they were that tall. I'm learning.
As for the chew toys...they destroy a toy a week, but it keeps them away from the stuff I don't want them to chew. Pig ears last about a minute. Rawhide bones are good and last a few days if I get the big ones.
Their diet is pretty steady, but not good. They clean up the leftover food from the kids and dig through the garbage...which I am still trying to break them of that habit. Now they only do it when I am not around. I really think raising kids is easier.
Dave

I have a cure for the food off the counter surfing.

Everyone thinks it’s mean, it’s not.

Go get yourself some of those small mouse traps, the little ones. Set a few on the counter around your sandwich. They will set the traps off before they ever get to the sandwich and scare themselves.

Even if they do get one on there paw it is not that painful.

This works for cats also.

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Don't take what I'm writing as preaching at you--if we were meeting in person, my Angie would be rough housing with your pups as we talked

Kibbles and Bits is pretty bad stuff. Full of sugar and artificial stuff. The soft parts are pretty much identical to the recalled stuff--and those soft dog foods are really terrible stuff. Corn itself isn't bad stuff in small amounts--but dogs (and people) aren't built to subsist on it (and I prefer fresh, canned, or frozen sweet corn.) Iams is just fancied up dog chow (it's dreck!) If your dogs are farting alot, btw, changing to a no corn, no added sugar dog food will probably help. Changing dog foods may cause diahrrea for a while--digestive enzymes help, so does yogurt. (I make Angies with reconstituted dry nonfat milk and live culture--healthy stuff for about 60 cents a quart.)

I grew up with dogs, the answer to picky eaters is to just leave the dry stuff on the floor--they won't starve to death if there's dried kibble in a pan on the floor and if they don't eat it today, maybe they'll eat it tomorrow. Important to not give them alternatives, like ham sandwiches, potato chips, or any people food. Until they learn to eat their own stuff, it's dog food or nothing.

The economics of using the premium foods (there are lots of them) is that they cost about $10 to $25 more for a 33 pound bag (I remember when the big bag was 50 lb.) But the food is more concentrated (corn adds non nutritional bulk) so your dog eats less. Piles of poop out in the yard are smaller. Still, for one dog it costs an additional $100 to $200 per year (depending on the size and breed.) I haven't actually taste tested the stuff myself, but I suspect that Innova is significantly blander than stuff like Kibble & Bits, Purina, or Iams--I think this is a good thing as the dog eats when she is hungry, not because the stuff is all tarted up with fats, sugar, and flavor enhancers and so maybe she'll be less likely to be obese. In the long run, theoretically at least, the owner comes out ahead by having fewer canine health issues over the lifetime of the dog. And hopefully, with better nutrition, a dog with a 14 or 15 year life expectency will get old later in life and will live a couple to three years longer.

I changed Angie's food from a moderately high end kibble called Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul (which is made by Diamond dog foods--one of the recalled manufacturers) to the adult version of Innova ( about $40 for 33 lb--lasts about 5 weeks) when she was about 5 months old--the improved stuff almost immediately increased her energy levels and except for getting her spayed (and some other stuff) at Christmas, she hasn't seen a vet (an average of $50 per visit) since she was 14 weeks old.

My dog is genetically predisposed to be small statured (43 lb vs the standard for the breed about 55 lb,) poodles are by nature a very easily controlled (she was obedience trained without using a training collar and mostly without a leash) high energy dog (loves to run, jump, and retrieve/play ball, frisbee,) and are quite slim as puppies. I've spent (easily) $1500 to acquire my dog (and do all the health related things) this first year. She is easily the best natured dog I've owned--and like our friend Cliff is experiencing this week part of having a dog is the eventual decline into old age and the graceful, gentle, and humane end--I am willing to fight to keep those days as far in the future as I can. My personal goal for her is that she helps me celebrate my 75th birthday (in 19 1/2 years.)

The mouse trap idea is good and works well for keeping them off furniture, too. My favorite was using mousetraps under aluminum pie pans on the sofa. Really noisy, scarry stuff for a dog.

The answer to keeping them out of the trash is (of course) taking the trash out to the garbage can.

I have a couple of pretty interesting e-books on my external hdd. If you'll pm or email me your snail mail, I'll make some copies and send them. (I'll even spring for the postage.)

[This message has been edited by Brian Lamberts (edited 05-28-2007).]

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: Everyone thinks it’s mean, it’s not. Go get yourself some of those small mouse traps, the little ones. Set a few on the counter around your sandwich. They will set the traps off before they ever get to the sandwich and scare themselves. Even if they do get one on there paw it is not that painful.

I've used this for my cat and it worked very well. The way that I learned to do it was a little different; I'd place the traps under enough sheets of newspaper so that it couldn't really snap down on her foot, but it still scared the bejeebers out of her.

It also helped to use a squirt gun or bottle, but don't let them see you squirting them. That way they come to associate the action with the consequence, but the consequence isn't dependent on your presence.

This weekend we decided to teach the pups how to swim on a "crash course" basis. These pics are at my wife's parents house in the Pocono area in PA.
Dave

They'll be a year old in a few weeks. Here is a latest pic of them.
Dave

quote Originally posted by bmwguru:

They haven't changed at all.

Golden Retrievers huh?

I just went to a Petland to look at a GR puppy, well I was there for something else and played with it while I was there. I love the dog, but I dont know if I can bring myself to buy one from them for many reasons

1: $1300 for a dog (and I dont think this was near the expensive ones) is just insane.
2: There are a lot of dogs living in worse conditions that need adopting
3: This dog is in no danger of being put down
4: Puppy mills
5: I would only be encouraging this type of practice, and justifying thier price