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
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 theirarea 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!
I moved the puppy play area out of the garden and onto the front yard. The garden spot was getting so dirty and dusty…ugh. The product of our hot, dry summer and not enough water to have a lawn.
The spot in the yard doesn’t have grass, but it does have a green, ground-covering weed of some sort. It’s not optimal, but it beats playing on the dirt!
I like to get the puppies out there first thing in the morning, right after breakfast so they can potty and stretch their legs. Then when I’m done with all the farm chores, I fix myself breakfast and go sit by the puppies to eat.
Hubby and I moved the canopy with the shade cloth over it today so now the play area is back looking like a circus tent. Which is okay, because the creatures that play under it are little monkeys sometimes!
Apparently I’m not moving that table either because hubby thought it made a great anchor 😉
And someone got a group shot!
❤️
Same spot from Wednesday to Saturday. You couldn’t even see the river today!
Apparently I’m not moving that table either because hubby thought it made a great anchor 😉
A few things I picked yesterday. 
And we got to spend some time with family. 
Uh oh! He learned how to climb the stairs today! ❤️