Today was a vet visit day.  The vet is not exactly the girls’ favorite place to go, but they do cooperate.

Lovie had an appointment.  She is in season so I took her in to have her blood drawn.  It is routine to have a brucelosis test with breeding dogs.  Brucelosis can be transferred in the environment from other wild animals, so as a precaution, that test is run.  She also had a  progesterone test done.  This test tells where she is at and when will be the best day to breed.  We found out Lovie is very early in her cycle.  Perhaps this weekend, but probably the beginning of next week Lovie will have a date with Kokanee.

A very round Jodie also went it.  Jodie is due to have her puppies on Sunday, May 20th.  She had an ultra sound done several weeks back and the vet was able to determine that not only was she pregnant, but that she had 6 puppies!  My concern was that it all still looked ok and was she really having 6 puppies???  It seems like most of the time these puppies come in the middle of the night.  I didn’t want to be keeping myself up for puppy number 6, if she was only having 5!  So at this age, a girl can be xrayed and the bones of the puppies are calcified enough that they show up fairly clearly on the xray.  And here is what they saw: (click the xray to enlarge)

The vet drew red along the puppies spines and a circle at the skull.  I am so happy to announce that there are the same number of skulls and spines!  We are looking at delivering 6 puppies around May 20th!  We have room for one more reservation!

We flew over to Idaho last weekend to see Izzy!  Well, ok, we actually went to see our son and daughter-in-law who own Izzy, but we saw her too. You probably are wondering, “Who is Izzy???”

Meet Izzy.

Izzy was born to Cherry and Funnie Fella a few years back.

What is special about Izzy is that she is “Differently Abled.”  Izzy is a three legged labradoodle.  When she was born, I didn’t notice anything particularly different about her.  Cherry had several puppies so I was just watching to see that she cared for each puppy well.  And she did.  It was the following day when my little friend Emillee came over,  that something odd was discovered.  Izzy was missing a foot!   Upon taking her to the vet, we found out that  it could create a problem.  It was very easy to have a constant bloody ankle, from using the ankle on the ground.   We did have to have her leg amputated at the hip.

Izzy was always a happy and active little girl.  She did not even seem to miss her leg!

She is grown now.  She enjoys a walk.  Playing fetch.  And letting everyone know it is time for bed!  She is not much of a night owl.  Izzy lives a fairly normal life now.

Thanks for the great visit Izzy!

Today we would like to share with you our latest trip to the groomers.

There are many good groomers out there.  Finding one you feel works for you is the key.  I would start by asking other labradoodle owners where they go and what they like and don’t like about their groomer.

We have a terrific groomer.  This is Amy talking to Mazy.

Mazy having a conversation with Amy, her groomer.

Mazy told Amy she was not quite ready for her summer hair do yet.  She wanted it left kind of long, with beachy curls.  She does like her tummy shaved, under arms and under her ears.  She wanted to keep her youthful look with her eye’s being hidden in her curly locks…

Mazy started like this….

Mazy before she was groomed.

And after she was groomed she looked like this…

Mazy after she was all groomed.

Notice the very chic Easter egg scarf?  Amy suggested it to finish off her new look.

Georgia Peaches also went for a day at the doggy spa…a.k.a. the groomers.  She enjoyed soaking in the bubble bath and getting both a pedicure and a manicure.  Her puppies are 6 weeks old and she feels she needed a big change with her hair!  She had quite a bit of hair falling out, due to hormones and had some big matts.

“Take it short Amy!” she told her groomer.  “I want to be ready for that warm summer sunshine, and I don’t want to be fussing about my hair while I lounge on my doggy lounger by the pool!”  (The pool is only a kiddy pool, but Georgia does like to think she lives the good life….)

Georgia started out like this….

Georgia before being groomed.

Remember she is matted, even though you cannot see it.  Amy took her WAY down.  We will spare you her full body shot, post whelping and nursing.  Here she is after her grooming.

Georgia all groomed.

Georgia is also sporting a lovely Easter scarf.

The girls had a good day with Amy.  They feel good about their new looks, but both girls are exhausted!

One exhausted, beautiful Australian Labradoodle!

And an exhausted Mazy Doodle.

The girls recommend this guide, for sharing with your new groomer, so that you can get the look you want.

And that’s if for where we go this Wednesday!

This week we loaded up thDoodle-Mobile and headed to Salem.  Our destination is a park, that is kept to respect the naturalness of the environment,  Minto Brown Island Park.

This park consist of over 800 acres.  It is made of two farmers farms.  One was owned by a Mr. Brown on what was called Brown’s Island.  The other by Mr. Minto, on Minto Island.  They laid in the Willamette River.  The river has had a couple of severe flooding years, and in the process the river’s course changed, leaving the islands high and dry.  Eventually the land ended up in the City of Salem’s hands and they have created a very natural park, where you can see wildlife, fruits and vegetables grow and also participate in recreation like running, hiking, biking and a DOG PARK!  And it was for this we went to Minto Brown Island Park.

We first drove around this large park.  There is a very nice, large dog park.  We saw many happy dogs chasing balls and playing with each other.  Because we have puppies at our house, and Mazy is just finishing her heat cycle, we did not go to that part of the park.  Doodles Mazy and Skittles joined us for this adventure.  Granddaughters Keira and Scharae enjoy taking the dogs exploring over bridges and through trails.

Skittles on the run!

Mazy tries exploring down a new trail.

Mazy and Skittles  enjoyed the educational display at the park.  It gave a bit of history about the land in the past, and also gave a lot of interesting facts about the impact of farming and urban growth now in the Willamette Valley.

Skittles and Mazy checking out the helpful information boards.

The dogs and the girls enjoyed posing for a few pictures….

Never can get those dogs to all sit at the same time, but Scharae is trying...

Queen of the rock!

Much of the park was closed due to high waters.  We will have to go back this summer for further exploring!

Thanks for joining us on Where We Go Wednesday!

Hello Wednesday followers.  I  know you have been wondering where we will take you to today!  Today we are taking you to the great state of Idaho!

Pine Lodge Labradoodles began in the fall of 2005.  I found myself living in a new state, in a new town with no children left at home.  The sudden death of my son’s boxer dog, Audrey Hepburn, led me to ask myself, “Self, aren’t you feeling a bit displaced?  Wouldn’t you like to do something new?  How about raising labradoodles?”  Once I had this conversation with myself, I had it with my sweet husband, and Pine Lodge Labradoodles began.

Our first litter of puppies was born in February 2006.  We kept one puppy from that litter, and named the lovely little girl Sadie, after my great Aunt who had the most beautiful white hair you have ever seen and one of the most ornery personalities you have ever met… except to Roy.  He could see right through her and smooze her any day.

This weekend, in Kuna, Idaho, we celebrated Sadie’s 6th birthday!  Sadie lives , with our son Cori and his family.

Sadie was rather surprised to be seated at the table with her very own birthday cake!  She was not quite sure what to do about the candles….

Her children enjoyed her party!

Party hats were a must!

Everyone enjoyed wishing Sadie a Happy Birthday and eating cupcakes.

Gideon is enjoying his first chocolate milk!

And what would a party be, without singing “Happy Birthday?”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYeBJVPMTEM

We asked Sadie if she would like to do something special for her birthday.

Sadie had to think about what she would like to do special for her birthday.

Sadie had to think a minute about what she would like to do special, for her birthday.   She finally had an idea.

“Well,” she admitted, ” because I am a dog, digging and burying things have always been quite intriguing to me.  I have heard of something called Geocaching.”

Geocaching is a real life treasure hunting game.  People hide little containers with a log and little treasures.  You can got to websites, such as the official Geocache site, and find  clues, to a hidden treasure near you.  People generally use a GPS to find the site.

“Let’s get in the car and do that!  ” she said.

The children were very excited!  They followed Gideon and and loaded up the car…

Gideon got in the car, ready to go...

"We're ready!" the children said!

Sadie patiently smiled, and shook her head.  Her children are such goofs!

Sadie led the children to the family van...

The family finally all piled in the family van.  Dad checked on his I-phone for a good place to look.  That led the family to a park.

It’s a nice little park with benches and a man made fishing hole.

Now remember, Sadie lives in Kuna, Idaho.  This is a short distance from Boise, Idaho.  This is kind of a high desert type climate.  Here are some typical scenes of this area…. picture tumble week, desert and cowboys and Indians…

A Kuna Gulch

Hiking around the nearby Gulch

The makings of tumble weeds...

And so Sadie was ready to begin her great treasure hunt!  Remember, Sadie has never actually geocached before.  She is excited and anxious to try her dog skills at this new favorite past time.  She has been a high desert dog for  4 years now.  She has not learned to fish or swim in the fishing hole.  Here is a little video to share with you how Sadie thought this all should be done….

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPoAPz_Y-M

Well… it was decide that maybe we all should help Sadie a little…. So Cori got the app going on his phone…

After some following the directions on the phone and looking around, a small container was found… now to get it out.

The small container was spotted in a little hole in the rocks.

Lilly tried to get it out…

Lilly's arms were not quite long enough.

Havah gave it a try…

Havah was able to retrieve the container!

We dumped the contents out on the ground…

Wow! Look at those treasures!

You then take one treasure and put something else in the container.  You can see Cori is holding a little, little key.  He took it off his key chain and added it to the container.  Havah then put the container back in the hole in the rocks.

Sadie was very satisfied with her treasure hunt.  She was ready to go home and to take her nap.

We will see you next Wednesday when we take you somewhere else!

Happy Week!

Here it is Wednesday again! Today we would like to take you to somewhere very special, very American. Today we take you to Chemawa Indian School.

This is the oldest Indian school in the U.S. This past Saturday they held a Pow Wow. A pow wow is a social gathering of North American’s Native people. Over the years pow wow’s have evolved. In old western movies the word pow wow was often used to describe a gathering to talk things out. The modern day pow wow is generally held for a specific event where both Native American’s and non-Native American people meet to honor, dance, drum, sing and socialize as they honor American Indian culture.

Located just 10 miles from us is Chemawa Indian School. This last Saturday Chemawa held a pow wow in honor of the school’s 130th birthday. Roy and I took two of our granddaughter’s and their dog, Mazy, to the pow wow.

Mazy is ready to support her girls in her service dog vest.

Mazy and her girls with Papa Roy at the Pow Wow

This was not the girl’s first pow wow. Roy grew up in Montana and had many Native American friends. He holds fond memories of attending pow wow’s at the local Indian Reservation, Fort Belknap. He has taken the girls to a couple of other pow wow’s where they enjoyed the festivities… well one would and one would complain it was too loud! This pow wow was my first one! I have been out of town or busy for their other trips.  Chemawa holds four pow wow’s a year.

Because of the winter weather, the festivities are held inside in the school gym.

The pow wow was held in the school gym.

There were a few vendors outside, that the wind, rain and snow was trying to ruin… Inside the gym, around the edge were venders selling a variety of Native American wares. We bought some salmon, some jewelry and of course feathers… for all three girls.

Mazy sporting her Indian Feathers

The "girls" and their feathers.

The three Indian princesses....

In the center of the gym is a stand where an announcer conducts the pow wow from. There is a center area designated for dancing. Around that area are various drum groups. They each have a name. The announcer does a role call, and the drum circles drum their answer.

A drummer from one of the drum circles.

The announcer is a graduate of the very school and is now on staff there. He announces the grand entry is to begin. The drum circles begin their drumming, the singers the singing and first enters the veterans of various foreign wars, most baring flags. The crowd stands to honor them. Following them comes princesses from various tribes, dancers, junior princesses, and other people,dressed in bright, colorful traditional clothing.

A lovely Indian Dancer. Notice the "jingles" on her dress.

Some of the Visiting Royalty

Here is a video of the grand entry…. it is not the best quality. We were on a bleacher, and as the entry continued, the crowds in the bleachers joined in with dancing or stomping… so everything was shaking… especially my little camera! The feeling there was electric! But not just electric but also reverent. I am not sure how it can be both… but it was.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uIV2glzzJw

This next video shows what took place next. The drum circles. They would call each circle’s name, and they would drum and maybe chant.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMYPjvRGLE

Next the dancing started! They would announce what dance, and who could dance. Like the shawl dance, all those with shawls would go dance. Or the jingle dance, all those who had jingles on their clothing were invited to dance.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siNB5ZqWLK4

Next the all dance, all were welcomed to dance. Last year granddaughter number one was totally into dancing, number two would not.

This granddaughter did not want to dance this year...

This year number one would not dance, but number two thought she would like to. So she, Mazy Dog and Papa Roy went to join the procession. It is very loud on the floor, being surrounded by many drum circles! Mazy and granddaughter number 2 were not sure about that! But Papa Roy loved it! I do believe he was the only person at the pow wow dancing in Dutch farmer shoes!

Can you find Roy and our granddaughter???

Roy was the only person dancing in Dutch farmer shoes....

Mazy was not sure which dance steps she should use....

That was our outing to share with you this week! We would totally encourage you to attend a pow wow, should you have the opportunity! It is enjoyable as well as enlightening to a bit of the Native American’s Herritage.

We couldn't resist buying Moose, and bringing him home to join us at Pine Lodge.

Here it is already Wednesday… and it seems like it was just the weekend.   Wednesday is our day set aside to share with you a little about where we live and where we go.

Pine Lodge Labradoodles is located in the lovely state of Oregon in a little, little town called Silverton.  Silverton is located at the base of some beautiful mountains.  Running right through our little town is a creek, coming from the mountains.  It’s called Silver Creek.  Pine Lodge is not located right in Silverton actually, it is located out of town a few miles.

Today we would like to share with you one of Silverton’s city parks.  It is probably the smallest park.. but it has a couple of features that really make it stand out.

So a few of the dogs and us took a short drive to Town Square Park.

Town Square Park is the home of the cities Christmas tree.

Jody in front of the town Christmas tree... you can see it is very big!

Silverton's Official Christmas Tree

Each December the town holds a Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony here, in this little park.

This park is located along the banks of Silver Creek.  It’s a very natural setting.

Tobias by Silver Creek

Lovie taking a rest at a bench.

But one unique feature is the covered bridge that crosses the creek, connecting the little park with the other side of the town.  Covered Bridges are a part of Oregon’s history.  We actually have a real one here in Silverton…. But that is for another trip.

Roy and Tobias on the bridge.

This bridge is a replica of the old covered bridge.  It is a foot bridge, with some nice benches to sit and enjoy the view from.  It is a little bigger than it appears… In fact I do know of someone who was actually married on this very spot

Silverton's Covered Foot Bridge

The dogs enjoy the leisurely walk along the winding sidewalk…. But of course they enjoy sniffing the shrubbery much more.

Lovie enjoying the stroll.

Jody enjoying the shrubs.

In the U.S. having restrooms nearby is very important!  One of the cutest features is the restroom    It looks like a little house.  And of course it comes in very handy….

The cutest little restrooms!

Silverton is a town that wears its history on it’s walls.  Through out the little town you can find murals, depicting Silverton’s history or U.S. history painted on various businesses  outer walls.  Because this is the park that host the Christmas tree lighting, there is a mural on the outside of the little restroom house.

"We Believe" mural... kind of at a weird angle.

Silverton boast it’s belief in that jolly saint, Santa Claus.  It actually has a couple of real looking Santa’s residing in it’s boundaries.

We hope you enjoyed where Where We Go  Wednesday today.  We’ll see where we can take you to next week!

Roy and Lovie heading back to Pine Lodge

We have been a tad bit busy around here lately.  We have been getting ready for lots of lovely puppies!

Skittles and Puppies

Skittles surprised us and decided to have her puppies a little early.  Both Skittles and Georgia were due on  Sunday or Monday, but I guess Skittles wanted to be first!  She provided us with some good Friday night entertainment on February 10th.  She gave birth to 8 puppies!  It is a very colorful litter.  She has 6 boys and 2 girls and these are tiny puppies!  They are all doing very well.

Georgia and her puppies

We thought Georgia was going to have her puppies on Sunday night… but she didn’t.  On Monday, February 13th Georgia finally had her puppies mid day.  She has 5 beautiful apricot-red puppies.  There are 3 girls and 2 boys.  This is her first litter and all are doing fine.

Rags and Puppies

We have one more litter due this week.  This litter is due in Valkeswaard, The Netherlands.  Pixie is expecting 6 puppies we found out today!  An xray was taken and you could clearly see those 6 puppies!  The sire of her litter is also Kokanee (Don’t tell Rags though…)  These puppies are due on Feburary 28th.  We co-own Pixie with Rob and Miriam of Dutchess Doodles.  We will keep you posted about these puppies.

We will soon be breeding for our late spring and summer puppies.  We do understand that some of you have summer holidays planned and will not be ready for a puppy until August or maybe September.  Please contact us early and we can arrange summer camp here at Pine Lodge for your puppies.

So congratulations to Skittles, Georgia and Rags!  You girls are awesome!

Four years ago we were contacted by a nice  young family, wanting a labradoodle.  They had a young son and they had a desire for their boy to grow up with a dog.  They chose one of Marilyn’s puppies, named Sparky.

And they took Sparky home.  They changed his name to Zico, and began integrating him into their family.

Not long after they got Zico, they sent us this picture.  We determined that Zico was sharing secrets with his new found best friend, the son.

WE have just loved this picture!  If you have looked around our site, you will have seen it!

Let’s fast forward almost 4 years.  We recently heard from Zico’s family.  They describe him as the smartest and best dog ever!  He must be, because he now has an office job with Rafael!  Look at how he has changed from that cute little puppy… to a terrific looking dog!

You can see he's just a little lap dog...

Zico likes to choose his own seat.

Dog friends.

And of course Best Friends….

And yes, they still tell secrets…

Best Friends share everything...

Thank’s Zico and family for the fun update!  It is fun to see how Zico and his boy have grown!  Happy life to you Zico!

When we think about dogs, we often think “All dogs….” and we have a list.  Many things people think all dogs do are bark, chew, fetch, dig and of course swim.  Interestingly enough, not all dogs do these things.  Because of their breed and their build, they may or may not.  Even within a breed, they may not do the same things.   These are all things that were necessary as a dog in the wild, and some have carried over to domesticated dogs.  But not necessarily to all dogs.

For instance, not all retrievers, golden or labrador, swim.  This is a breed we think of taking a dive into a river or pond to retrieve!  But no, some are actually fearful of the water!  The poodle was bred to be a water dog.  That foo-foo hair cut you’ve seen poodles sporting originates from when it was used for hunting- and retrieving the kill out of the water.  But not all poodles swim.

So how do you know if your dog swims?  What do you do if he doesn’t, and you would like him to?  If you have a young puppy, the best thing you can do is expose your puppy to the beach, pool or the river young.  The more exposure, the more confident your puppy is and will try his dog paddle out!  You should not toss your dog into the water to sink or swim… like you hear of people doing.  That could be very traumatizing, let alone dangerous.  With an adult dog, the same rule follows to introduce them and let them build their confidence.  Join them in the water, first to their paws, then their elbow’s etc.

In the past couple of years I have heard of doggy swim lessons.  I am just fascinated!  Ankar is a lucky puppy that has recently had his first swim lesson.  He is a Copper and Gibson puppy.  He must be lmost 11 weeks of age.  He is a puppy student at   www.martingausrotterdam.nl.  Included in his puppy course is the opportunity to have swim lessons at www.hydrotherapiehonden.nl .   This place is actually for therapy for dogs, but they have teamed up with the school to offer swim lessons.

They put a doggy life jacket on the puppy.  He’s not all that big, so finding a small enough one is a bit of an issue   This is what Daniella had to say about Antar’s swim lesson:  “When he went into the water at first he was looking very strange, because his foot became wet, then he was helped into the water and swam immediately. He was swimming very good! He didn’t even want to come out of the water. But when he did, I was there with a nice towe for him. It’s really strange to see him that wet, where is the dog? He looked so small!!!! “

Antar lives in The Netherlands now.  And if you know the Netherlands, you know there is lots of water, so the ability to swim is imperative!

So, do all dog’s swim?  No.  Can a dog learn to swim?  In many breeds, yes, perhaps it could with a little work.

Happy swimming Antar!  Thanks for sharing your swim lesson with us!