Leslie du Mont's Blog (10)

Well, our boy Atticus went into Beach Pet Hosp. for xrays under sedation today to check for hip dysplasia. Ugh. While we were on vacation I noticed his walking funny after playing with my nephew as well as his favoring his leg a bit after walks and a trip to the puppy park. :-( I just got the call that the vet wants to go over his xrays with me when I go to pick him up. I assume that is a positive diagnosis for it. My poor puppy. I did a search on hear for hip dysplasia posts and joined a group… Continue

Atty update: 17.6 lbs and growing.



Well, call us crazy, but we're loading up our three month old GD Atticus on a trip to the Gulf Coast for ten or so days! We've packed up bags full of his food, treats, toys, his medical records/rabies cert. etc. We bought a travel crate at Target that just pops up like a tent. We've mapped out hotels with pet policies. We're taking his life jacket for beach and boat play. Ugh. We're pretty much potty trained and I hope we don't get set backs along… Continue

Well, Atty is now 14 weeks old. We love him SOOOO much!



{{{Our boy!}}} He's the star of his puppy class. His two instructors fight over who loves him most and call him their star student! He's mastered sit, down, leave it, take it, and walks on a loose leash and sits when we stop. :-) He "gets" potty training, but still doesn't really let us know he needs to go so I just bought Poochie Bells to help with that. I've got my fingers crossed that he gets the hang of it.



His… Continue

I don't have long to stay on here as we're giving Atty his first bath tonight, but I wanted to come back to DK to tell you what a joy having our young Atticus is! We love every inch of his little puppy body! Sweet, smart, playful, smart, stinky, smart...Did I already say smart? ;-)



Here is a photo of him on our way home from Old Mill Doodles in Staunton, VA. :-)

We took him to the vet today and he was immediately fallen in… Continue

Puppy. Puppy. Puppy! It seems to be the chant around here as the countdown continues. We're so nervous. We're so excited. We're just so.... SO! :-) What is he going to look like? Is he going to look just like his photo or is he going to be different somehow? Fluffier? More shaggy? What is he going to be like? Inquisitive? Or hesitant? Is he going to be happy with us? I hope we make him comfortable. I hope he has a good ride to his new home. I hope he loves us half as much as we already love… Continue

(Not sure if I should have done this on the forum or on my blog. )



Out of curiosity, I've looked at tons of other 6-9 week old puppies on DK.com and haven't seen any other apricot puppy that had the same similar dark coloring on the bridge of his nose with more blonde hair around his eyes quite like future pup Atticus seems to. I'm sure someone out there had a puppy that looked similar. I know there is no "one way" for any puppy to look and that their coat changes a gazillion times… Continue

Holy cow! I feel like I've been on a GD crash course with all the information found on this site! I'm almost finished with "The Art of Raising a Puppy" which is an excellent read, btw. I've finished two other quick read training manuals that were just so-so, but I pick up little gems from each one. It's all good.



So, I'm drafting up my plan of attack for when we go to pick up our new little guy. (Can you tell I'm a wee bit obsessed at this point?) We have to drive from Virginia Beach… Continue

It is a small Goldendoodle world! Today my daughter bumped into an apricot Goldendoodle at Norfolk Academy's Field Day and she stopped and talked to the owner. Anybody on here that took their GD to Field Day today? Just thought I'd see if we could connect.

[jumping up and down]



We picked a pup and now have less than two weeks until we pick him up at Old Mill Doodles!

Whoa! Holy cow! There's our boy! Atticus Doodlie du Mont



I'm calling Tidewater k9 trainer on Monday. I bought two sizes of Kongs, a small gentle leader, an Orka tuggie chewie thing, a squeaky Kong Wubba, and "the Art of training a puppy" by the Monks of New Skete. I need to get so much more that my… Continue

Well, after waiting until the perfect time (house with fenced in yard, settled in place for a while) we are getting an Old Mill Doodle Goldendoodle! I pushed the purchase button tonight! The soul searching is over and now I need to prepare for our little bundle of puppy joy to come home.



There is so much information on here and I've been pouring over it. I'm going to head to the library tomorrow and see if I can find copies of Puppies for Dummies and the Art of raising a puppy. Any… Continue