The Oscar x Gracie Puppies: Week Eight and Nine and Heading to Their New Homes

 

Our time with these puppies has been absolutely fabulous. They are all such wonderful and precious individuals and we are grateful for the new families that will be welcoming them into their hearts and their homes.  These last two weeks with the pups are spend going over our notes, evaluating their different traits. Temperament, structure and breed traits are evaluated and with that information and with what I know about the homes waiting for these puppies, I make the matches between them and their families.  It's a responsibility that I don't take lightly as I want the very best for each of these puppies and for the families that I have come to know and care for as well.

This week the puppies went to the Luyendyk farm for an adventure. They did so well and had an incredibly fun time. They were very good on the long car ride there and back.  They were also wonderful followers when we took a walk down into the field.  I'm so glad the weather cooperated because several days this week were quite wet and rainy but we had perfect weather for this exciting excursion.

The puppies have been up on the grooming table several times and we do this so that we can better assess their structure and so that they can get used to being up high on a table. This helps to prepare them for their visit to the vet and it also begins to develop a positive association with the grooming table.

I wish all of these puppies and their families the very best and I look forward to hearing about all of their new adventures in their new kingdoms. It is my pleasure to introduce the Princes and Princesses with their new names, from top left to bottom right: 

Flynn Rider: Northrock's Puttin On the Ritz called Flynn

Jasmine: Northrock's Pralines and Cream called Lucy

Cinderella: Northrock's Persephone called Percy

Snow White: Northrock's Pennies From Heaven called Remy

Ariel: Northrock's Polynesian Princess called Kamea

Phillip: Northrock's Pocketful of Miracles called Cooper

Belle: Northrock's Princesse Théa Pour BleuZorange called Théa

Aurora: Northrock's PS I Love You called Rooke

Charming: Northrock's Prince Charming called Bruno

Rapunzel: Northrock's Peppermint Twist called Hazel

The Oscar x Gracie Puppies: Week Seven

 

The puppies are doing so well!  Lots of time spent outside playing and so many new experiences indoors.  It's a busy time with them and we are definitely going to miss this litter when they go to their new homes later this month.

One of their favourite activities was exploring the loud noisy tarp and hunting for treats on it. 

We are often up before the sunrise and Gracie is eager to nurse her puppies first thing in the morning.  These puppies have no qualms about running outside in the dark to nurse and to potty. While they are otherwise occupied outside, it gives me a chance to get breakfast organized for this large crew.

They sure love their food and we have fed them in different rooms of the house.  

Between Gracie and her puppies we are feeding several pounds of food a day.  It is quite a production. The dogs are thriving and enjoy their meals meals immensely.

The puppies get to explore different areas in the house which they like. Summer is a wonderful "nanny" dog to the puppies and is happy to entertain the little ones.

Sitting nicely for treats

If you would like to follow the litter's progress please join us on Facebook and like our Northrock Barbets page to see frequent updates and photos. 

The Oscar x Gracie Puppies: Week Six

We had such a great week with the Oscar and Gracie litter. This is always such a delightful age with the puppies as they continue to develop and explore their environment.  When they are awake they are full of curiosity and busy playing, chewing, climbing, running and entertaining us. 

We continue to introduce them to novel experiences such as the musical mat. They would walk over it and it would make noises that would initially startle the puppies. Very quickly they realized it was no big deal at all and that the noises were nothing to be concerned about.

When they get sleepy, oh my goodness they are just the sweetest, cuddliest little bobos and it's hard to tear ourselves away from them.  

We had snow this week which was fun for the puppies too. Just like young children they enjoyed eating the snow and jumping in it!

Gracie is such a wonderful mother to her puppies.  She continues to nurse them and is patient and playful with her little ones.  I think she particularly likes this age even though the puppies now have teeth because they will happily engage with her, initiating games and tugging on the long hair on her ears and beard.  

If you would like to follow the litter's progress please join us on Facebook and like our Northrock Barbets page to see frequent updates and photos. 

The Oscar x Gracie Puppies: Week Five

This has been an amazing week with the puppies.  They are really becoming little dogs and their coordination and interest and engagement with their environment has increased tremendously. We've had a great deal of fun introducing the puppies to new objects like the tunnel and their adventure box.

Some Adventure Box fun for these four week old puppies!

The puppies are getting better at eating and meal time is becoming cleaner and a bit faster. They do enjoy their solid food and still nurse from Gracie several times a day.

They have a smaller space for long nap times and overnight but during the day they play in the larger pen and have had excursions to other rooms in the house such as the kitchen.  Here they are eating one of their meals.

The puppies also have started going outside.  We had a few warmer days and took advantage of the weather to begin this next stage in acclimating the pups to the outdoors. The experiences were brief but very positive and it won't be long before these pups will be able to stay out for longer and longer periods and begin going outdoor multiple times a day, even in the colder, snowy weather.

If you would like to follow the litter's progress please join us on Facebook and like our Northrock Barbets page to see frequent updates and photos. 

The Oscar x Gracie Puppies: Week Four

The puppies have made the big move downstairs into their new space.  They handled the transition really well and now they are living next to our kitchen and living room in the area.  They are now exposed to all the sights, sounds and smells that come with household living.  Kitchen smells of cooking foods, the clanging of pots and pans, the noise from timers and exhaust fans.  The sounds of the t.v. and radio are all par for the course as well.  

In the beginning we have blankets draped over the sides of their pen to reduce the chance of drafts and to ease the transition to the new space but soon those are taken down and the puppies can look out and take in what's going on around them.  

November 20th - Gracie, Summer and the pups.

We've got potty boxes in their pen and that's where they will learn to go to the bathroom when indoors over the next several weeks.  The space they are in is quite small in the beginning to facilitate potty training but they come outside of their smaller pen to interact with the humans and the big dogs in the house and to play and explore.

We introduced the puppies to solid food this week and they dove into it with great gusto.  It's a messy process at the beginning but it won't be long until they get the hang of it.

The puppies were introduced to several new objects this week. One of our favourites is the storytime dragon.  Enjoy this video when after an evening feed the puppies settled in for some snuggles with their momma Gracie and some stories.  

If you would like to follow the litter's progress please join us on Facebook and like our Northrock Barbets page to see frequent updates and photos.

Puppies Born At Barbet-Frankia

 Congratulations to breeder Annick Lavallee on the arrival of her beautiful litter born on November 20th, 2020 at Barbet-Frankia in Quebec. Sired by CH Northrock's Good Vibrations and out of GCH Barbetdeau Mugsy Barbetfrankia, sweet mama Mugsy and her 8 little Barbichons are doing very well. 🥰

*these puppies have all been spoken for*

Jack x Edie Litter: Week Eight / Nine and Heading off to Their New Homes

This is always an incredibly busy week with a litter of puppies.  Temperament testing, long car rides, structural evaluations and adventures!  Thank you to Susan And Erik Luyendyk for all your help and support on evaluation day. 

At this age the pups have truly become "little dogs". They bark and play and yip and run and do everything with great enthusiasm! In our home we refer to this as the week that's all about containment and entertainment for the puppies!

We focus on giving them fun experiences and were thankful for the very nice weather we had which allowed them to spend many hours outside playing in the fresh air and sunshine.

Novelty is important at this age so we rotate their toys, let them explore different areas in the home and give them the opportunity to experience new sounds, smells, textures, footing etc.  

The puppies have very few accidents and with many trips outside throughout the day they are well on their way to being housebroken by the time they are ready to leave the nest. 

The evening before then went home the puppies all had baths and for the most part they handled the experience quite well. The one part that I always enjoy is the snuggle and cuddle time afterwards when I get to spend all that lovely one on one time with each puppy while they are being dried off.

The go home bags for the puppies are prepared and filled with a blanket and snuggle buddy that has the scent of their litter mates, along with some treats and toys and  information about caring for their new puppy.

It's a bittersweet time knowing that they will soon be departing for their new homes and that our time with them is at an end. We have enjoyed this litter so very much.

They are all such good puppies with sweet and loving temperaments and I look forward to hearing about all of their new adventures with the families that have welcomed them into their hearts and homes. Thank you all for welcoming one of these precious puppies into your hearts and homes.

It is my pleasure to introduce the puppies with their new names, from top left to bottom right: 

Louis: Northrock's Ollie called Ollie

Hugo: Northrock's One Love called Raffi

Belle: Northrock's Once Upon A Time called Belle

Gaston: Northrock's On Cloud Nine called Finnegan

Eloise: Northrock's One In A Million called Ellie

Camille: Northrock's Oh La La called Lola

Claude: Northrock's On Top Of The World called Hugo 

Adele: Northrock's Overture At Rosebush Springs called Molly

Pascal: Northrock's Olympian called Apollo