Does Your Doodle Shed?

Depends on what you’re talking about. And what the heck is a doodle, anyway. A doodle is a mixed breed dog that is at least half poodle, usually mixed with a Labrador retriever, “Labradoodle” or a golden retriever, “Goldendoodle”. They are a very popular hybrid dog, because they are super cute, and have a marvelous personality. They are often said to be non-shedding and hypoallergenic. But don’t count on it. They are, after all, a mixed breed, and will exhibit characteristics of both parents. They may be more poodle-y or more retriever-y.

Our doodle, Bayley, is a Goldendoodle. She is a backcross (F1b), meaning that her mother was a goldendoodle that was bred back to a standard poodle, making Bayley essentially 75% poodle.

Now Bayley doesn’t shed her fur, but she sheds everything else in nature. Depending on the season, she sheds mulch, catkins, grass clippings, leaves, dirt, and even snow. Her cottony soft fur acts like a magnet and attracts absolutely everything in the yard and woods to her. Then, as soon as she passes through the door, the magnetic polarity reverses, and she promptly sheds everything all over the house.

Something to consider if you are a neatnik and are looking for a no maintenance dog. But if you are looking for the most devoted, fun loving, affectionate, and adorable companion, then keep the broom handy, and go for it.

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Recipe for a Pupsicle

To begin, start with one goldendoodle and add 20 inches of fresh, clean, new fallen snow.

Mix well for two minutes.

(Please accept my apologies for the orientation of this video. The Road Warrior left town with the camera, so I had to resort to my iphone for video. I held the phone wrong. Click on the little square at the bottom right of the video to view full screen, and hit escape to return.)

Enjoy

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The Shell Game Trick- How to Teach it to Your Dog

After I posted Bayley’s video of her performing the “Shell Game”, I had several dog people say they’d like to try it with their dog. I thought it might be useful if I shared a few tips that we learned while working out the bugs in this trick.

1. Its best to use clay pots with a drain hole. They are heavy enough that the dog can’t tip them over, and the hole allows the scent of the treat to come through.

2. Start with one pot with the treat under. Wait for the dog to touch the pot with his nose. This will come naturally. Reward the first nose touches with lots of praise. When he is doing this consistently, add your command, such as “find it”.

3. Get more demanding and wait for the dog to touch the pot with the paw. I think natural frustration on the dog’s part will make this happen. Bayley kept nudging the pot with her nose. I had to brace the pot with my hand to keep her from pushing it or knocking it over. Eventually she tried to move it with her paw. At first contact with paw, praise and reward.

4. Keep doing just this one pot for a day or so, or until the dog consistently touches the pot with the paw. You want to dog to have a clear understanding that he is supposed to touch the pot with the paw to get the treat.

5. Next introduce a second pot. At first, just place it next to the “treat” pot and don’t move anything. Encourage the dog to sniff the two pots and touch the correct one. When he does that consistently, then start swapping the position of the two pots and using your command.

6. Again, when that step is solid, put out the 3rd pot. Let him select the correct pot a few times before shuffling them up.

It really didn’t take more that 2 days for Bayley to get this down. The hardest part was transitioning from the nose touch to the paw touch. She had already been taught to nose touch on command, so we had to get past that. But she loves doing this trick.

TIP: Use very high value treats that smell a lot. I started with weenies, and I would rub the weenie bit around the inside of the drain hole to make the smell stronger. Always use the same pot for the treat, so they all don’t end up smelling the same.

When I bought my pots, they had raised letters on the front. Two of them say “herbs” and the third says “basil”. I always use the “basil” pot for the treat. that way I can easily keep track of the right pot, and I tell people that that is her secret for success, because she always looks for the pot that says “basil”.

Have fun with this and let us know how it goes.

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Bayley the Brilliant Beats the House

A Master at the Shell Game!

Bayley the Golden Doodle has been in continuing education for the last year to try to suppress her natural “effervescence”. Her last class in the current obedience session is tomorrow night and as a requirement to pass the course, the dogs have to perform a trick. This is what we are going to do.
Wish us luck!

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Curly Girl

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Never were truer words spoken!

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Don’t Get Buried Under Your Paperwork

A goldendoodle’s first Christmas

Having an overly energetic puppy can bring a lot of extra stress around the holidays when you are introducing a lot of new and enticing objects to the dog’s already over stimulating environment. I can imagine the puppy saying, “Wow, you’re bringing me a tree! I can climb on it, chew and tug on the branches, lift my leg on it, scratch my back on the lower limbs. And you’re hanging toys all over it! What fun! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.”

And then, if you are the sort that likes to tempt fate and throw caution to the winds, you will put gifts under the tree. Wrapped in PAPER… The greatest puppy attractant in the world. Lured by the temptation to dig his teeth into the wrapping and hear the sound of rending paper, the pup gets close enough to sniff the boxes.

Nostrils flare, tongue lolls… brain registers the delectable scents of candy, nuts, cheese and crackers, and DOG TREATS! A dog’s Nirvana right there under his very own tree.

These were my imaginings… my fears. I wrote a Christmas poem, “The Spirit of Christmas” which I posted here a couple of weeks ago, detailing the scenario that kept playing in my brain.

But all these worries were unwarranted. Bayley totally ignored the tree, the ornaments, and the presents that we placed underneath….Until Christmas morning and we started passing out the gifts.

“Let the games begin”

The sound of ripping paper was unbearably alluring. Bayley wanted to assist in unveiling the contents of the boxes, but her teeth didn’t stop at the paper. Cardboard and plastic were fair game as well.

In the interest of self preservation, we starting tossing the sheets of wrapping paper into the middle of the floor, where Bayley immediately set forth to reduce it to confetti. She occupied herself in this fashion all morning.

Even her Christmas gifts of chewies and stuffies were not as much fun as the Great Pile of Paper.

I had to overcome my natural OCD tendencies to keep the room neat and tidy…. to put each piece of paper as it comes off a gift into a trash bag, to gather all saveable bows into a box, to collapse all gift boxes into a pile for use next year. And you know what, I had a blast. One of my best gifts of all was watching my pup having the time of her life on her first Christmas.

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The Reindogs of Twin Creeks

“Oh, Geez, Mayzie. Here we go again with the dress up”

“What the heck is this thing on my head, anyway?”

“Mayzie, you look ridiculous! Is that what I look like?”

“Well, the heck with this!”

“Uhh, Bayley…I don’t think you were supposed to do that.”

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