After many years of sharing our Barbet news and writing about the growth and development of our Barbet puppies we retired the blog at the end of 2020. All of the past entries remain posted so feel free to take a look around and scroll through previous posts to get a feel for the breed, our dogs and how we raise our litters. More information about the Barbet (French Water Dog) can be found on our website: www.northrockbarbets.com
It's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed for the Oreo x Sophie puppies. Their 8th week was a busy one with many visits. They had their appointment with a canine chiropractor, structural evaluations and a check-up at the vets. Last Friday they turned 9 weeks old and two of the girls have left for their new homes. We are so happy about where these puppies have gone and we look forward to hearing stories of their many adventures with their new families.
Violet has gone to live with Glenna and Keith in Alberta. Her registered name is Northrock's Dance With Me and she is now called "Lyric".
Lyric - en route to her new home.
Lily now lives in Kingston, Ontario. She shares her home with Julie and Jamie and their three wonderful children. Lily is now Northrock's Dare to Dreem and she goes by the name Sadie.
Sadie is a delight to her new family and is settling in well.
Rose is still with us and is now Northrock Diamond in the Ruff. We are calling her Gemma as it seemed that when the litter disbanded we ought to change her litter name too. Gemma is a joy and a blessing and she will remain with us for the time being.
The puppies were busy during the last two weeks. We have continued to have visitors to our home so the puppies are always meeting new people.
We have also begun taking the puppies on excursions outside of the house. They have gone on several car rides now where they have experienced riding together in a crate as well as riding alone in crates. I'm pleased to say they are very good little travellers.
They have all had solo expeditions to another house where they experienced being away from their dam and litter mates in an unfamiliar environment. Happily they all walked into my mothers house and quickly made themselves at home!
During their seventh week we temperament tested the litter which was a fun time for all involved. We are delighted with how confident, curious and clever these little moppets are and are looking forward to seeing what adventures they will get up to with their new families.
The Barbet is in the Canadian Kennel Club's Sporting Group of dogs. They were traditionally used as waterfowl retrievers and also hunted small game and upland birds. Some Barbets are still used in this capacity today. Sophie has her CKC Working Certificate. In order to earn this title Sophie had to do two single retrieves on land and also two in the water. The birds are thrown by a gunner out in the field and the dog is sent from the line to bring them back. Ducks were used on all marks in Sophie's test but sometimes a test will have pigeons or chukars in the land portion of the test. Preserving the Barbet's natural instincts is important to us at Northrock. We expose all of our puppies to birds while they are with us so that we can see how they react to them. We want to know how interested are they in the birds. Do they pick them up? Will they retrieve them? Happily all of the pups in this litter were interested in the duck wings and pigeons when exposed to them.
The puppies celebrated their 8 week birthday with a trip to a farm where they were able to run around, explore and meet some chickens. It was a long car ride and they all did well on the ride and had fun checking out the new sights and sounds that country life has to offer.
Kelly had a fantastic weekend at Nickel District Kennel Club. Thank you to Breeder/Judge, Wendy Schira for awarding our girl a Group 4. This gives Kelly her Championship with points garnered entirely from the group!
Judges Alan Ewles and Guy Jeavons each awarded Kelly Group 2 placements. Thank you judges for these placements. We are so thrilled with our homebred girl’s success! Once again Kelly was expertly handled by Peter Scott.
Socialization Period (5-16 weeks) and the Curiosity Period (5 -7 weeks)
It’s been a busy time for the puppies here at Northrock.The last two weeks have seen many changes in development for Oreo x Sophie’s little girls.Their pen has expanded and the whelping box has been packed away.There are lots of interesting things for the puppies to explore in their pen.Mirrors, stools, toys, hanging objects, a pool filled with balls, a tunnel etc....They are certainly enjoying their new space!
The pups have been taken outside for several excursions.
They have mingled with the big dogs and hung out with our cat. They have also had the opportunity to explore different rooms in the house.
“The more chances a puppy has to be properly exposed to something new during the critical socialization periods, the less bothered it will be throughout the rest of its life when confronted by other new or frightening things.” (Hastings and Rouse 2004:28)
The puppies still nurse from Sophie but they are also eating 3 meals a day that consist of ground meat and bone, organ meat, tripe and goats milk.They are given raw meaty bones to gnaw on which helps to exercise their jaws, neck and shoulder muscles and ease their sore gums as their teeth continue to erupt.
The girls have all been given their first bath and blow dry this past week. Here is a photo of Lily in the tub looking rather unimpressed with the experience.
Visitors continue to come over to help socialize the puppies and we welcome the opportunity to have the puppies meet an assortment of men and women and children of various ages. It’s been a great deal of fun helping Sophie to raise her three little girls. Stay tuned for the next update of the Oreo x Sophie litter.
Hastings, P and E.A. Rouse, Editors. 2004. Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development. Oregon, Dogfolk Enterprises. 110p.
The Oreo x Sophie puppies have been busy doing lots of growing here at Northrock. At four weeks of age they now range in size from 4 1/2 lbs to just over 5 lbs. During their 3rd week so much seems to happen from one day to the next. Their motor skills develop rapidly, eyes and ears are open and vision is far improved from what it was initially.
It is delightful to watch how the pups increasingly engage one another in play, rehearsing pawing, biting and pouncing behaviours with one another and with their dam. Sophie is very patient with them and gentle in the way she encourages them to be silly with her. Watching their little tails wagging rapidly back and forth and hearing the little barks, yips and growls they emit never fails to bring a smile to my face. I could sit and watch them interact with one another for hours on end.
During their third week week we rotated various stuffed toys in their whelping box for them to snuggle up against and crawl over and around. The puppies began to be able to eliminate on their own during this time and from very early on they moved away from where they were sleeping or nursing to pee.
The Awareness or Identification Period (21 days to 28 days)
At three weeks of age the puppies moved from the guest bedroom upstairs down into the main living space in the house. They are now in a larger puppy pen that is situated in what would normally be our dining room and is adjacent to our kitchen and living room.
Here they are exposed to all the sights, sounds and smells of everyday household activities. They have many more toys and objects with which to interact and these are changed around on a regular basis. Visitors are welcome and the puppies are exposed to many people right up until the time they leave for their new homes. The radio is on playing mainly classical and jazz. We also have a few sound cd’s that we play that have the sounds of dog shows, airplanes, gun shots, etc... and these get played for the puppies as well. We have also introduced the potty box which is a designated space where the pups will eliminate. We have found that using the potty box not only helps to keep the puppy pen clean but it is a tremendous aid in teaching the pups to have good bathroom habits. Sophie has been a very doting mother, keeping her girls spotlessly clean and yesterday morning was the first time I found a poop in the puppy pen. Gold star for Lily as she did it in the potty box.
Sophie has begun regurgitating food for her pups and they have shown an interest in what she is eating. We introduced the pups to their first meal of solid food (ground turkey with bone mixed with goat’s milk) on March 7th and it was very well received! We are very much looking forward to the adventures that will unfold for these puppies in the weeks ahead.
If you are interested in seeing lots of videos and photos of the Oreo x Sophie litter on a daily basis we invite you to like our Facebook Page and that way you won't miss any updates.
The pups have spent lots of time nursing and sleeping this past week. They have become increasingly mobile as they moved closer to their two week birthday and today they were up on all fours moving about. They are still very wobbly but they're up! Here is a video taken today of the three sleepy girlies.
Their eyes are all open now. Lily was the last of the three to open her peepers this morning. Their ears are beginning to open as well. During the period when their eyes are opening we keep the lights dim in the room. We also have the television on and the shifting light that it emits creates a visual stimulation for the puppies. We play music throughout the day, usually classical which offers further stimulation for the pups' developing brains and we have introduced some soft toys into the whelping box for the puppies to crawl over and around.
We are still continuing with the Bio Sensor and Early Scent Introduction which will wrap up in the next few days.
It is a sweet time for mom Sophie and her puppies. The little ones have certainly received lots of love and cuddles in their first two weeks and we are looking forward to helping them grow into the best little Barbets that they can be.
The puppies are growing by leaps and bounds. They have all gained very well and are strong, vigorous puppies. They are still so small and vulnerable as their eyes and ears are closed and they are not yet able to regulate their own temperature. Sophie is a wonderful and attentive dam and spends lots of time in the whelping box snuggled up with her babies.
Little Rose snuggled up with Sophie
At three days of age we started performing Early Neurological Stimulation and Early Scent Introduction on the puppies. If you are curious about what these things are I invite you to visit the embedded link for the ENS. More information about Early Scent Introduction is available on this AKC webinar where Dr. Gayle Watkins explains the program we follow with the puppies. The puppies are definitely able to use their noses and it's fun to watch how some scents really interest them while others elicit little to no reaction whatsoever.
We are enjoying these puppies immensely. These early days cuddling with puppies and watching them nurse and move about the whelping box are precious. I cherish these sweet and tender moments with Sophie and her girls.
