Howl-O-Ween Party 2018!

On Sunday October 21st Barbets and Berners and their humans gathered together at the home of Erik and Susan Luyendyk for a Howl-O-Ween Party.  We played games, ate treats and enjoyed one another's company. 

Sweet Marie (UKC/CKC CH Northrock's Forever Yours CGN) is from our Boomer x Ellie litter and she and her housemate Thea (Bernese Mountain Dog) had lots of fun running around, bobbing for apples, eating witch's fingers and strutting their stuff in costume. 

It was a wonderful day and we are all grateful to Susan and Erik for their hospitality and for sharing their beautiful home and property with us.

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Leave the Nest

The Tux and Ellie puppies have all left for their new homes.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with this litter.  The puppies all have such fabulous personalities and I will always enjoy hearing about their new adventures with their people.  I happily look forward to reading the updates and seeing the photos that their new homes share with me.  These special pups are living with great families and without further ado here they are in order of departure...

Ruby was the first to leave for her new home. She will have a great life with her new owners and now goes by the call name Vimy. Her registered name is Northrock's I'll Walk Beside U. It's a song from WWII and is a perfect fit for this sweet pup. 

I'll walk beside you through the world today
While dreams and songs and flowers bless your way
I'll look into your eyes and hold your hand
I'll walk beside you through the golden land

I'll walk beside you through the world tonight
Beneath the starry skies ablaze with light
And in your heart loves's tender words I'll hide
I'll walk beside you through the eventide

I'll walk beside you through the passing years
Through days of cloud and sunshine, joy and tears
And when the great call comes, though sunset gleams
I'll walk beside you through the land of dreams.

Onyx gets to join a family that already has a Barbet! He's now called Cooper, Northrock's I Believe In Magic. He's a great puppy with great owners and I'm glad he won't be living too far from me :)

Jade has also gone to live in a home that already owns a Barbet <3 This pretty pup is now called Frankie and her registered name is a Frank Sinatra song. Introducing; Northrock's It's Always You.

Some of the puppies didn't travel too far from home which is always nice. Hudson, formerly Flint is now Northrock's I'll Drink To That and also living close by. Here's to a great new life Hudson - Cheers!

Here is Garnet with his new family <3 He's now Northrock's It's De-Lovely and is called Toby - a name that suits him perfectly.

Jasper joins a family that has lots of love to give. His owners and their two children are delighted with their new addition and I'm ever so happy that he has joined their family. He is now known as Mati after the french artist Matisse and his registered name is Northrock's It Had To Be You.

 The future is bright and beautiful for the Tux and Ellie puppies I wish them all the very best in this next chapter that life has in store for them. 

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Weeks Seven & Eight

Weeks 7 and 8 are always a busy time with puppies.  Unfortunately for a few days during this time I was quite ill and am very grateful for the wonderful teamwork from the rest of the family as everyone pitched in to care for the puppies.  Visits were curtailed while I was sick but before and afterwards we had lots of people come over to help socialize the puppies.  
It's not just visitors that help to socialize the puppies, the older dogs in the house are good "nanny" dogs to them and it helps the pups with learning to read and understand canine body language.  




During these weeks we work to help the puppies develop good housebreaking habits.  First thing in the morning they go out to potty and have become very comfortable eliminating outdoors.  

Before bedtime they are also let out into the pen which means they've gotten used to being outdoors in the dark and are now completely unfazed by it.

Puppies at this age are busy!  They bite and chew and run and bark and need to be stimulated with new experiences.  In order to provide an enriched environment to the pups we make sure that we regularly rotate the toys in their indoor and outdoor pens.  They have different types of equipment to climb on and crawl under.  They enjoy the tunnel immensely, not only using it to run through but also to jump on it as a type of trampoline.  On warm weather days we gave them water to play in which is a fun activity for them.  

In addition to playing outside in their pen the puppies are also taken out into the yard to run and play on the grass and explore.  It's a nice time of year to have puppies with milder temperatures allowing for lots of time in the fresh air. They also get to explore other rooms in the house which they do with much delight.

Meal time is a lot more civilized than in the previous couple of weeks and the puppies have been introduced to different proteins including chicken, turkey, beef, boar, lamb, venison and duck. They've also had salmon and pollock oil and probiotics added to their meals. 

Individual one on one time with the puppies has been important to their development as well and it's so nice snuggling with them and working on little exercises such as sit and attention where they are rewarded with small treats. 

The puppies has car rides in this time as well. Trips for their structural evaluations and chiropractic assessments as well as their veterinary check up went well.  They also had their temperament tests and I'm delighted with the gentle, fun and confident puppies that Tux and Ellie have produced together.

Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.