I received a note this weekend from what we can the official “Pinewood Retirement Home” as they’ve adopted several adults over the years and have become like family to us. ❤️❤️❤️
“Since you posted a pic of Asher, I thought you might like to see our girls taking their daily rest!
Much love, E”
Girls in the picture are our sweet retirees Glory, Joy (sisters of Hope) and Rosie.
I don’t talk about this a lot, but our family observes the Bible Sabbath as a day of rest from the chaos of the world. It’s the only day our Creator said to “remember”. He made it for us, to reconnect and spend time with him and the things He created for us. It’s also a day to connect with like believers, to get out in nature, and to spend time with family. It’s a 24 hr period from Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown to leave the cares of this world behind.
So we take a day off from doggie “business” and other regular work that we do the other six days. Obviously the needs of people and animals are taken care of still.
This past weekend our church had their annual church campout in the woods. The place that was chosen was a good two-hour drive from home and though we couldn’t go for the whole campout, we did go for Sabbath (Saturday).
One benefit of being so far out in nature was there was no cell phone reception! Boy, did I need a break from that! (A lot of people turn their phones off for that 24 hr rest period. But since it’s one day when the kids are more likely to check in, I leave mine on.) When we got home and back to cell reception, there was a lively conversation going on in the family message thread with 45 messages!
It also got us out of the smoke in our area. The lake we went to was beautiful. The air was clear, with a slight a breeze, the sun was out and it was so peaceful.
We enjoyed church outdoors in a rustic amphitheater nestled in the woods, had a delicious potluck lunch of taco salad with friends, went for a nice walk through the forest and just enjoyed a quiet day in nature.
And of course, I couldn’t leave home without at least one dog in tow. *wink
Much to hubby’s annoyance, Cajsa sat in the back seat and panted into his ear and drooled down his shoulder much of the ride. You see, I had Dally’s crate behind me so Cajsa had to sit behind him. And poor Dally… maybe I shouldn’t have picked a mountainous, windy road trip for her first big trip away from home. She got so carsick. By the time we arrived her bed was wet with drool and that morning’s regurgitated breakfast.
Thankfully, her tummy settled down after a while and she ate a late lunch and had quite an adventurous day. And I remembered I had some children’s Dramamine so I gave her part of one for the drive home and she did much better.
Have a great week everyone and don’t forget to turn your phone off once in a while 😉
I have sad news. Sasha (our sweet red Poodle) went missing on Monday.
We’ve searched through and around our property and neighboring ones, notified our nearest neighbors, put up posters, notified the vet and microchip company, etc but with no luck.
Sasha has one bad habit. She climbs fences. Our whole property around the house is fenced in. Connected with that and the dog house are a girl dog yard, a boy dog yard and the back yard off the house. Many times after letting all the dogs out in the morning, silly Sasha would climb the corner (where those three yards converge) and end up in the back yard at the back door. Or she’d just hang out with whoever happened to be in the back yard (puppies, aunties, or other moms).
Sometimes she’d climb the fence into the front yard where the big dogs hang out. She was intimidated by Zuma so she would just lay in the yard by the girl’s gate until I would come out front. Then she would see me and walk back to the door and go inside.
Two times in the past six months she’s done something new. She went visiting to my sister-in-law’s house up the hill from us. Both times was when I wasn’t home, but hubby was. She’s never gone on one of those “walk-abouts” when I was here.
But I’m guessing that’s what happened on Monday. With our smokey weather from the wildfires, the dogs have been spending a lot of time inside. Monday the smoke had cleared a lot and the day was fairly pleasant. So the dogs went out in the morning and were able to enjoy the nice weather all day hanging out in their respective yards.
That evening I went to the dog house, dished dinners into all their bowls in their individual crates. (I feed each one in their own crate so I can monitor what they get and who is or isn’t eating). I opened the door and the girls all rushed in and into their own crate. Sasha was not with them. But I wasn’t worried because I figured she was in the back yard. I started calling for her hoping she’d climb back into the girl yard and come in. Then I walked out to open the gate and let all the boys in. It was dark, so I couldn’t really see in the back yard.
After the boys were in their crates, I walked to the house, grabbed the big flashlight and checked the back yard, but it was empty. Silly girl must’ve climbed back over as I was walking through the house, I thought. I walked back towards the dog house and didn’t see her in the front yard or the dog yards.
Now I was starting to get worried. I let hubby know, called the neighbors (aka in-laws) that she liked to visit, and started a more thorough search around the yards. We all looked all over our properties and neighboring ones late into the night. I drove down the driveway and up and down the main road. But I highly doubt she went to the road as it’s quite a ways from our house and she had never gone that direction before.
It’s been two days now and there has been no sign or sighting. I’m heading out into the woods again today to look for clues. And we do live smack dap in the middle of the woods! There are predators all around us which is why we have farm dogs patrolling the yard. But when a dog climbs over the fence into the wooded area surrounding us they can’t protect her. My fear is she was taken by one of those predators on her way through the woods to visit the neighbors.
I still look around every time I’m outside, expecting to see her little face pop up from behind a bush or a hill. And there’s a slim chance she’s still alive out there or someone picked her up, but my heart is leaning towards the reality of the other.
I’m sad because she was such a great little dog with the sweetest personality. Not only have we lost a friend, but an excellent mom to her own babes and a patient “auntie” to all the other puppies. And she was just about to retire! I was hoping to breed her with Legend next year for his first litter and her last. But that was not to be. So if you have a Sasha baby, hug it a little tighter for me.
Life sucks sometimes.
Hi everyone!
Wow, it felt strange this morning to wake up, start my chores, and not have little puppies underfoot! If you missed the last post, Winter’s remaining puppies went off to their new homes yesterday.
We still have our trio of older “keeper” puppies here, and they’re already in a good routine. Now I’ll finally have more time to catch up on some training I’ve been neglecting with them. They’re not even leash-trained yet! Thankfully, they’re already wonderfully crate-trained, which is a great step in the right direction.
I often feel like I need to focus more on other people’s puppies first, so mine sometimes get put on the back burner.
Since there are no littles here right now—and no breedings or litters expected—I’ll probably scale back to posting on the blog about once a week for the time being. There just won’t be quite as much to share.
That said, you can still expect updates! It might be what the “three stooges” are up to, stories about the adult dogs, a training tip, or even a puppy update from one of you. Scaling back a bit will also give me a short break from daily writing and posting.
At this point, we likely won’t have any more puppies this year, but if there’s enough interest, we’ll aim for a spring litter.
And as always, I love sharing “pupdates”! If you have one of our pups and would like to send an update (with pictures), I’d be thrilled to post it.
We made the trip safely to Spokane today and got a bit of relief from the smoke. I think most of the state is affected by the wildfires, but at least Spokane wasn’t as bad as at home.
It was warm, but I managed to find shade for the part of the truck that the dogs were in. They had a potty break and then waited in the crate with food and windows down while I went over all the instructions with the new families.
Then it was time to hand out some cuteness!
Rocket (name to be determined)
Firefly now Izzy
Crossette now Gracie
Willow who will keep her name!
And someone got a group shot!
And then for the hardest good-bye…
Cami went to her new “retirement” home. I know she will have the best life and lots of love and attention, but its still hard to let her go. And in about a week she’ll get to meet her brother/cousin…lol. The couple who got Cami have a “granddog” from us that belongs to their son. The dog is from Gracie and Clancy. Cami is from Joy and Clancy. Joy and Gracie were litter sisters <3
Happy life puppies (and Cami)!
Some pictures from the drive home…
❤️
Well, this week has been interesting and a bit unnerving. Our corner of Washington state seems to be on fire. Hubby went to a friend’s house to help him do some moving and packing because he is near one of the fires and at a level three (Go now!). He has decided to stay at his place because the fire seems to be going away from his direction thankfully. But we have a truck and trailer load of his things here just in case.
Same spot from Wednesday to Saturday. You couldn’t even see the river today!
Each morning when I get up, I check the fire updates and the weather. This morning the air quality was the worst I’ve seen so far this year.
Needless to say, I didn’t want to spend anymore time outside then I had too. So I was quick to get chores down (unfortunately the farm animals; chickens, rabbits, horses and barn cats..which will not come in the house) have to live with the smoke. Thankfully, they are smart enough not to be running around in it. The big dogs were brought in to the garage and Cody to the dog house with the small dogs. Then the house was full with Hope, Reba, Asher, Cami, Ditto, Maple, Dally, Willow, Firefly, Rocket and Crossette!
And of course, there are dog gates separating them all because the “teenagers” can’t play with the little puppies and they harass the adults to pieces!
So unfortunately, I didn’t get to do as much outdoor potty training with Winter’s pups this last week as I normally would because of the smoke and awful air quality. But they had fun inside none-the-less and utilized the litter boxes. Good thing for litter box training!
This is a post I wrote several years ago, but I thought it would be helpful to share since Winter’s pups are leaving on Sunday!
I can pretty much guarantee the first few days with your puppy will be noisy. Please be prepared and don’t be discouraged or think you are doing something wrong if it’s still going on days later. Each puppy is different and will adapt at a different rate.
He (or she) has just left the only home and family they have ever know in their short life, plus their littermates, and/or playmates, aunties, and other familiar canines. It is an adjustment and can be stressful.
But don’t worry, you and your puppy will survive!
The key is to be patient, to be consistent, to set boundaries and stick with them. Don’t give in to the puppy screams and cries. If you do, you have just set yourself back. Don’t let your puppy train you!
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have a containment area for your puppy. This will be his/her home within your home. There are not too many people who can watch a puppy 24/7, so your puppy will need a safe place to hang out when you can’t actively watch your puppy (a nine-week-old puppy that is loose in your house might squat to pee every twenty to thirty minutes), you’re busy, you have to go to work, or even leave the house for a couple hours.
I love using an Iris pen for this purpose. You can buy the Iris pen on Amazon, Chewy or various sites. Make sure you buy the taller pen (48″). Don’t be tempted to buy the cute shorter version for your tiny puppy. Puppies grow and some of these Cavapoos are part monkey and learn quickly how to get out. Creative adopters sometimes use a piece of lattice and zip ties to cover the top if needed.
The bigger pen usually comes with eight panels that are easily connected with a metal rod at each joint. I normally start a puppy in a six-paneled pen and save the extra panels to expand it later as the puppy grows. In the pen, I place a small crate with a bed or blanket, food and water dishes, a couple toys, and the all-important litter box.
Your puppy has been using a litter box since it was about four-weeks-old and knows what it is for. You can have the litter box available when you are not there to take your puppy outside to potty. And yes, you can still teach your puppy to go outside to potty and have the litter box around for those occasions when going outside is not an option.
So back to the first few days….
Having a new puppy at home to love, cuddle and play with is so much fun!
But make sure, even if you’re a family where someone is always home, to get your puppy used to their area from the very beginning. It is so much easier to set the standard from the beginning then to let your puppy do whatever it wants for the first few days and then try to introduce the containment area.
When you first put your puppy in that pen be very matter-of-fact. Don’t fuss over your puppy or make a big deal about it. Set puppy in the pen and go about your business. Most times, the puppy will immediately begin to “complain”. It might be anywhere from a slight whimper to an all-out scream! This is the hard part (especially if you have young children at home), ignore the puppy.
Sometimes it helps to put a blanket over the front of the pen so the puppy can still hear you, but not see you. Playing soothing music can be calming or having a high value treat such as a bully stick or raw bone to gnaw on can be helpful. If your puppy quiets down even for a few seconds at first, praise him/her or use that time to take him/her outside for a potty break or even just a short cuddle.
But as soon as you walk away, the crying will start again. But be consistent, don’t give in to the cries, reward the periods of quiet. Of course, you will have time with your puppy playing and doing other things outside of his/her containment area, but make sure there is enough “pen time” at the start of this journey so your puppy learns to be content in “home-base”.
The first few days or even week will be noisy and chaotic, but if you stick to the plan it will get better!
Here are some videos I did of Ivy (formerly Thistle) after her littermates left. She was staying an extra week with us. These are from her first day “alone”.
And five days later her she is, not perfectly content yet as we still get a little whining sometimes but oh, so much better!
Well, one day it’s smokey outside and the next day, the wind has cleared some out. So we just see how things are going and whether the pups will play inside or outside for the day. Tuesday, the wind had cleared the sky and it wasn’t bad outside, so I took the pups outside for the morning. But by noon it was getting hot and smokey again so it was time to head back inside.
This time instead of heading upstairs to play, I set them up in the kitchen.
The “Three Stooges” aka Ditto, Maple and Dally hang out in the dining area (with easy access to the back yard for potty breaks. 😉 and I thought once they came in and saw the puppies that they’d all get really noisy. But nope, both bunches we’re just chill and all hanging out together.
Although Dally sure liked hanging out at the divider and touching noses with the puppies!
Just a few more days and we’ll be saying farewell to the last four pups at our house. This Sunday is the delivery day for Winter’s litter. It’s one of my favorite days as I get to personally hand off each pup to their expectant new family. I love seeing their smiling faces as they hold their puppy for the first time!
In the meantime we’re finishing up working with, loving on and tending to these sweet puppies.
It’s funny how it seemed to take a while to get each one matched with that special family, but since then I’ve had several people reach out either interested in an available puppy (but there are none), looking specifically for a blenheim Cavapoo, or telling me I should repeat this litter!
We’ll see what happens and what 2026 brings!
The puppy bags are almost done and I just need to email my families with Sunday’s details. Then Saturday night puppies will get their beauty treatment with toenail trims, face trims and a warm bath.
But stay tuned for more puppy fun while we continue to enjoy these four!
Well, fire season is in full swing. Especially after the thunderstorm we had Monday night with multiple lightening strikes around the area. Thankfully, there are no fires near us. But there are at least three north of us which is making the air quality bad.
I don’t like being outside in it any more than I have too. And I don’t like having the animals out there either. But of course, the horses, rabbits and chickens live outdoors so there isn’t any option for them. But the dogs and puppies can be inside except when they’re out for potty breaks.
And thankfully, the puppies are litter box trained so they’re staying inside for present.
Praying for the brave, hard-working firefighters and those affected by the fires!
