Little “Beacon” is loving life in Durango, CO with his new owner. LOVE getting updates on puppies! Beacon is from the CH Rooster x Charlie litter. He is about 10 weeks old in these photos…
“Beacon”
Daily Life For Puppy, “Beacon”
Tag: training
Gratitude
Gaddy, the Duck Dog! I couldn’t be prouder of the handsome hunting companion he is growing up to be!!
On this week of Thanksgiving as we count our blessings, I am truly grateful to have received photos from the CH Rooster x Trevi litter born just over a year ago (10/30/17). Thank you, Sandy, for bringing your lovely girl to my boy, Rooster, for this litter!
Now truly, there is nothing better than seeing a Golden Retriever do what s/he was bred to do… To be a gentleman’s (or woman’s) hunting companion of upland game and of course… to be a “retriever”!
Breeding can pass on genetics of conformation and ability but it truly takes dedication and hard work of each and every owner to bring out the best in his or her dog(s). Jon and Jennifer have done this with their dogs! And, well, like the saying goes… A picture tells a thousand words!
Thank you Jon and Jennifer for including me in “Gaddy’s” journey on becoming the hunting dog you envisioned. I am SURE there have been up’s and down’s in his training. Still, it is through your commitment in sharing this sport with your dogs, that Gaddy is progressing to be a “duck dog”! It is that dedication and perserversance that will make Gaddy an outstanding hunting companion. Of that, I have no doubt!
It’s The Little Things
Life With A 3-Month Old Puppy!
Puppy Vee has all sorts of toys she can play with but what does she prefer? Shredding newspaper used to wrap some recent purchases. Boxes are a favorite thing to gnaw on too; she can spend quite some time gnawing on the corners of a box that I let her chew (especially if I don’t have the need for the box in the future; why not let her chew on it?)
Another favorite “toy” is empty water bottles (caps removed). Many pet stores sell fuzzy wrapped water bottle that make a “crinkling” sound when chewed on by dogs. My water bottles lack the fuzzy toy material but then again, they are free! Safe, easy toys for a teething puppy to play with keeps her occupied until our next trip outside trying to get her house-broken.
House-breaking… She is doing very good in this area probably because she is only allowed in a small area of the house unless strictly supervised. Take your eyes off puppy for one moment and we are liable to have an “accident”. Some in my family are better at constantly monitoring puppy then others… hence the limited access to the house at least for now.
Now if I could only get her to understand I do NOT want her to jump up on me (in her excitement to see me)! I have several “rips” in my bathrobe where she jumped up on and gripped tightly causing a tear. Well… It was time for a new bathrobe anyways!
Ahh… a tired puppy is a good puppy! But sleeping under my desk… She is NOT going to fit in this space for very much longer!
What A Week!
Happy/sad time as pups leave to their new homes ready for new adventures!
What an amazing week this has been! LOTS happening every day!
First, we had a fantastic visit with Sherry from California as she came out to see ALL the puppies and ended up going home with “Black Boy/Trek”. THANK YOU Sherry for all your help with the puppies entertaining/socializing them every day and helping me give everyone baths. Puppies had strict orders to STAY CLEAN for their new families which, for the most part, they did! It was great to talk “all things dog” with someone I very much respect in the dog world. You kept saying how it was a vacation for you, Sherry, but it was really a vacation for me! I can’t wait to watch Trek, grow up… I/we are so excited about his future!
On Friday, we celebrated Rooster’s (CH Gaitway-Jema’s Kiss And Tell, BISS, CGC) 6th birthday. He is such a special boy; he means the world to me! His accomplishments IN the ring pale by comparison to the assistance he so readily gives as a Mobility Assistant Service Dog… He just KNOWS when I need his help!
On Friday, Orange Girl (now known as “Westie”) went to her new home. While this starts the beginning of the puppies going to their new homes, I can’t help but feel a tad sad until I see the smiles from the new families. This may be an end to “the puppies” for me but it is just the beginning of their new wonderful lives with their new families! I’ve no doubt they will hit the ground running ready to take on this new adventure! CONGRATULATIONS to all on your new family companions!!
Saturday was the big “going home” day and now… I’m exhausted! We have one more puppy that is leaving tomorrow and then… I will just have my puppy left. It will feel SO STRANGE just feeding ONE PUPPY after “Zoey” leaves!
- Black Boy is now known as “Trek”
- Orange Girl is now known as “Westie”
- Green Boy is now known as “Finn”
- Blue Boy is now known as “Ziggy”
- Purple Boy is now known as “Eddy”
- Pink Girl is now known as “Gracie”
- Lime Green Girl is now known as “Charley”
- Yellow Girl is now known as “Zoey”
- Red Girl is now known as “Vee”
For anyone who has not seen the vid of the puppies playing on the pool cover, they had a BLAST! Talk about getting their “sea legs”! Bouncing around, it was like a Bouncy House for puppies! All of the pups quickly thought this was great fun; another surface mastered by all!
Sunday, August 5, 2018… The blog entry that never ends (LOL!)
I fell asleep at 8:30 p.m. and was up by 4:30 a.m. this morning… Where is the COFFEE! Going through a few more of the photos taken last week and wanted to share:
Thank you to everyone who has followed the puppy journey here on my blog/web site! I hope to continue to add more photos as the pups grow up and to share their stories of their lives with their new families. It has been a wonderful summer experience for us… a lot of fun, a lot of work, and a lot of memories!! Congrats again to the new owners of my precious babies!
Lazy Day
A Typical Day With Puppies!
Wednesday, July 18
This morning, the puppy pen was a disaster! It was bad! Bless my dear hubby for cleaning the pen this morning even though he always does the morning clean because this morning… It was exceptionally BAD!
Mark was an hour late for work but he still got the first load going and managed to power-wash the potty boxes. BLESS HIM!! Since then, I’ve been keeping the washing/drying going to get all bedding, etc. clean again, WHEW! (Regular laundry is fit in around puppy bedding, LOL!) This is not something people usually think about regarding puppies but it is a very real “behind-the-scenes” thing that needs to be done!
Pups usually “help” with the morning clean. They like to chase the vacuum cleaner! Some even have started RIDING the vacuum cleaner head as the area is cleaned! Such helpful puppies they are! On this morning, pups got to go out to the indoor/outdoor run! They were thrilled! Running up and down my covered 40′ run means… great muscle strengthening and coordination! And it was outside where I fed them their breakfast.
Watching that thermometer closely (and having a lovely breeze today), I left pups out when I went out to pick up the bowl. Polished clean! Starting for lunch, I will increase food yet again! I actually prefer some food be left so I know EVERYONE got their fill.
Sitting in my study, my window is cracked so I can hear them running and playing. I frequently go into the “dog room” to look out the window to check on them. After a short nap (puppies; not me), I went out to pick up and hose down the run.
YEARS AGO Mark bought me a Honda power washer. I struggled so much with our previous power washer pulling to get it to start. Guys will probably understand the motor, etc. of the Honda but… I can start this power washer myself! I’ve been cleaning my dog runs for years! For the last two years or so, I’ve been recuperating from spine surgery (first surgery “failed” so had to be repeated the following year). I haven’t used MY power washer in quite some time (although Mark has, of course). Today, I was able to pull start and hose down the puppy run! Well, YEAH for me! Now I was very careful to NOT let the blast of the hose anywhere near any puppy but they LOVED splashing on the newly wet concrete! Which gave me the idea…
I pulled out the kiddie pool and a different hose (because I remembered how hard it is to ATTACH the hose to the power washer) to fill up the kiddie pool. Then, each pup got to “go swimming”! This time, each pup got to play with the hose and have water from the hose splash and get them wet. And, I placed their indoor slide (which Mark cleaned this morning) so they could slide down the slide into the pool! ALL had a great time!
Because of our cool evenings, the house is opened up for fresh air. It is when I hear the dog room AC kick on, I know it is heating up outside. Time to close up the dog room for sure and probably also the rest of the house (although the dog room is ALWAYS cooler than the rest of the house. For the dogs, of course!)
Lunch fed outside although a few seemed less hungry. That is okay. I’ll pick up now and offer again in a few hours. I’m working on getting the “feeding schedule” closer to what it will be like when puppies leave. When they leave me, they will be on a three feedings per day schedule (with maybe a treat at night). I would like for “lunch” to be closer to noon-1:00 but right now, pups prefer lunch (are more hungry) around 3 p.m. But we’ll get there. For the amount, feed 3/4-1 cup of food/puppy. Again, the goal is that puppy probably will NOT eat all of their food (so the “mom” in all of us will know puppy ate enough; got their fill!) As puppy becomes more active and grows bigger, they will soon be polishing off that 1 cup of food at feeding time!
As an aside and just for reference, my “big dogs” eat 1 cup of adult food per feeding and they are fed twice per day. This is for my girls. Rooster is fed 1 1/2-1 3/4 cups of food twice/day. It depends on how active they are and how they are looking. When you are feeding, it is a great time to “feel their ribs”. You want to be able to feel their ribs without them being “bone-y”. If you can’t feel ribs at all, time to cut back on food/feeding! This is for adult dogs but… You can get in the habit now with puppy of checking ‘how they feel’. One of the easiest ways to assess your dog’s weight is by using the “knuckle test”:
Another chart you’ll probably see at your vet’s office is the hand’s-on guide for evaluating weight. It will probably look something like this:
Illustrations of Adult Dogs for Weight Evaluation
LATER:
Temp is climbing now; another scorcher of a day! Pups pulled through the doggy door (some came in on their own) to learn how to use. My mistake was in NOT closing the gate… Some puppies attacking me; some running wild! Climbing the single step into the house is no problem for puppies now so I have two puppies in my study, one in the kitchen, and braver ones heading towards the front door! In other words… Puppies EVERYWHERE!
Two by two I pick them up and take back to their puppy pen. I refill their water bowls (they have two now) and everyone immediately pees. REALLY?! You couldn’t have done that OUTSIDE before coming in? Well, my fault really… I woke them up from sleeping. I SHOULD HAVE taken them out on the grass to potty then bring them inside. Oops! Remember that everyone… After eating; when they wake up from sleeping; and last thing before bedtime TAKE THEM OUTSIDE to potty! (I would add when you first take them out of their crate too!)
Everyone is settled down for their afternoon nap. Now… Time for me to go mow the grass! I hope everyone is having a GREAT week so far!! Happy Hump Day!
Sorry this is late posting but I had to get photos uploaded, etc. And then… there is always “other stuff” to get done 🙂 And now… It is almost the weekend! YEAH!
I will share that every year we get a pair of nesting hummingbirds although we are not really in their flight/migratory pattern. Well the babies have just left the nest and we now have hummers EVERYWHERE! SO MUCH FUN watching them fly from flower to tree to flower!
Bath Time!
Bathing NINE puppies was quite the endeavor!
Puppies first bath… And I did all nine of them, WHEW! I’m so glad we did this yesterday (7/14/18) when it was 90+ degrees and sunny outside; today it is much cooler. We’ve already had a bit of rain and looks like we’ll get more?
Pups did awesome with their bath. It was a positive experience for all and something they will have done the rest of their lives so… I was very careful to NOT soak their heads or get soap in their eyes and as you can see in the vid, I AM quite obsessed about rinsing! My mantra re: baths… rinse and then rinse again! Pups then were air-dried outside in the sun (learning to be blown-dry is a lesson for another day/bath!)
A variety of still photos taken from their baths…
My Beanie Baby
Our Beanie Baby!
Have I ever written about Beanie? I don’t think so? And I don’t even think I’ve ever put her photos on the web site??
Beanie is our French Bulldog. This is a breed of dog I always thought was so unique. I thought I might look into them more seriously later as perhaps my “old lady dog”? And then one day at dog class, a gal walks in with several Frenchies. Being polite, I inquired about them and to make a long story short… her co-breeder had a litter of two fawn six-week-old girls. Two weeks later, we came home with an 8-week-old fawn French Bulldog!
French Bulldogs, affectionately referred to as “Frenchies”, are a unique breed of dog. They do not melt into you like a Golden does because of their tubular body shape. And with their pushed in faces and bat ears, they are just… CUTE!
Beanie is almost a year old now and she thinks she rules the Goldens. I really wish the Goldens would “put her in her place” but they do not. They tolerate her jumping up at their ears to pull them down to her level. And she keeps up with them so by now, she is incredibly muscular! We have had to make a few fencing changes to keep Beanie OUT of the donkey paddock! I think she would go after them, too, to prove she is in charge! Now that would NOT be a good idea!! Donkeys, in general, do not like dogs!
I always swore that I would teach ANY dog to walk “nice” on lead but because of their throat/trachea issues, Beanie wears a harness when out walking. I swear… It is easier to walk ANY of my Goldens or multiple Goldens than it is to walk Beanie! She pulls like a sled dog!
Our latest endeavor with our little Beanie Baby is to make sure she is crate trained! Ironically, she sleeps with the Goldens snuggling up to them for warmth. She will bark incessantly when they are outside and she insists they come in to lie with her to keep her warm! Now that we are crate training her, she is doing beautifully sleeping through the night in her crate and no longer barks at the Goldens. Bad us for not doing this sooner!
I have had inquiries on whether I will breed Beanie? Hmm… at this point, I do not know? For now she is exactly what we wanted… A little French Bulldog to love. She has fit in well with all of our dogs and with her clown personality, makes us laugh daily at her antics. Cool Beanz!!
Happy 6 month Birthday!
Rooster x Trevi pup out field training with his committed owners!
So happy to receive photos of Gaddy, a Rooster x Trevi puppy, who has been out field training! Now I imagine the water is still cold yet this pup is swimming away!
I give all the credit for this puppy’s abilities to his owners; their commitment in training will make this boy a great field dog!
All Goldens have this ability but it takes perseverance and consistency in training to teach a dog (any animal) exactly what you want him or her to do. Kudos go to Gaddy’s owners!
Happy six-month birthday, Gaddy, and to all the puppies in this litter! You are growing up into such a beautiful boy! You make your daddy, Rooster, proud as well as all the dogs in your beautiful pedigree! HUGS to you!!
JEnnifer & MArk ~ Jema Golden Retrievers
CH Jema’s Deja Brew, BPIS (x 2!)
CH Deja wins Top Conformation trophy for 2017! I am so proud to be not only her owner but also her breeder!
Dog names generally originate from a deep meaningful place no matter what a puppy’s future may hold. In my litters, I usually have a “theme” to help folks think of a registered name for their future puppy. The “call name”, of course, is whatever the person or family wishes to call their puppy/dog. In the dog show world, the call names usually include some part of the registered name. This is true with “Deja”. Her “call name” is in her registered name.
Deja’s litter theme was “coffee”. All the pups from that litter have names that relate to coffee in one form or another. This is a repeat litter theme; one I did for Deja’s sire, Tazo (GCH CH Jema’s Mocha Kiss, BISS), many years ago although his litter included both coffee and tea. Hence Deja is a repeat of her sire or Deja Vu or… Deja Brew!
Deja, like her dad, Tazo, is a happy dog! She exudes confidence in everything she does. They both can be a bit “bouncy”; all that energy needs to go someplace! I remember showing her once and as I did a courtesy turn getting her lined up to do the down and back, she jumped almost six feet straight up in the air, landed and was ready to gait down the diagonal! The funny thing about this is that I never felt her feet leave the ground! If it wasn’t for a friend who took a cell phone shot of her doing this, I would never have believed it!
Almost ALL of my puppies have won Best in Specialty Sweepstakes or BISS! Deja did not being a bit slower to mature to be competitive in the ring. She did, however, take Best Puppy in Show not once but twice when she was young! Those memories will stay with me forever not only for the recognition of this puppy amongst many other puppies but also as a proud breeder moment!
Deja finished her AKC Champion title with a professional handler. Finding (and winning) those bigger shows meant more travel than I could do at the time. But I believed in her and so did her handler. Deja won her second major fall of 2017 needing one single point to finish this title. Because I had not entered her in any shows after that major show, I had to wait two weeks after entering her in a local show where she won that last point needed. YEAH! Deja now sports the coveted “CH” before her name! Her sire, Tazo, would be so proud! And so would her paternal grandmother, Saga; a puppy I purchased so many years ago!
On a lark (and because I was asked), I sent in Deja’s show record and points accumulated throughout her show career. Our dog club does an Awards Banquet every year where high-achieving dogs are recognized. I had not made plans to attend the Awards Banquet this year and in fact, completely forgot about it until a friend notified me that Deja had won “Top Conformation Bitch From The Classes”! I’m very grateful that my friend at the banquet accept this trophy on my behalf! WooHoo for Deja!!
As my sweet girl lies here at my feet being the completely calm, well-mannered house dog she is, I remember her energy whenever anything is asked of her. I remember that enthusiasm whether being in the show ring or chasing a tennis ball in my backyard. Trophy or not, she is my perfect dog! I need only look at her for her to wag her tail ready for the next game we can play together! And I look at her daughter, Pixel and think… It is almost time to have Pixel shown. She will be my next winning dog; the fourth generation of Jema Golden Retrievers!
Jema Golden Retrievers 