Paws and Claws for a cause

What a top day!

Paws and Claws for a cause, in support of the RSPCA, a walk from Long Jetty to the Entrance.

After all the politiking and nonsense going on recently, it was great to get out and enjoy our dogs with friends and other dog owners.

Our team for the day were Jo, Chloe, Callum and Britney, who travelled up from Sydney to take part and walk some of our guys along part of the Tuggerah Lakes footpath. Chloe and Callum have Autism and Aspergers, and Britney is nervous around dogs...

Princess, our Asssitance Dog in Training, Steve, Magic and Tiny came with us and made new friends very quickly. Princess showed how well her training to date has gone - very calm and focussed for a yound girl. Magic was placid as ever, and Steve and Tiny were boisterous but polite.

Everything went beautifully, from finding a parking spot, to having great walking companions and meeting some excellent people and dogs at the finish.

The turn out seemed excellent, and all the dogs and their owners behaved impeccably. For a country that seems to want to keep pets out of public areas, it was impressive to see the reaction of residents and visitors who were overwhelmed by literally hundreds of dogs in places they just wouldn't be seen usually.

Grassed areas remained poo free, the dogs didn't attack small children or each other, and dog owners, dogs and anyone who wanted to be involved were able to relax and enjoy the facilities the Entrance has on offer.

Congratulations to the organisers and all involved, hopefully the fund raising went well. We had a great day out, on our doorstep, and will be looking for any similar events on the Central Coast again.

road trippin - part 3

Our next port of call was to Nanango to meet up with Alex and Connie. They are in the process of moving house, so we were only due to spend a few hours there.

Being only a short 3 hr drive, we were all getting used to the routine. Dogs and puppies get a run around, then in the van for a few hours, and once the van is stopped, and the door opened, everyone out for the toilet, so Alex was greeted by a line of puppies relieving themselves on his front lawn.

As things turned out, it got late in the day, and with the threat of rain it was up with the tent and stay the night. Putting up the tent in daylight was far too easy!

Again the dogs had a great time, with a huge, secure paddock to roam in (and plants to eat!).

Sunday was a long drive on the New England Highway - highly recomended. Very scenic, not too busy and very well policed (well lots of police anyway - not a road to be speeding on!).

A big thanks to everyone who made this a great fun break, and hello to those we met in the car parks, rest areas and parks along the way.

Travelling with this many dogs isn't easy, but if you're not in a rush it can be great fun. When the pups go to their new homes we will still have the memories and we can reassure their owners that the dogs travel OK...

More pictures....

road trippin - part 2

The next morning was an early start, but rested, fed and watered, (well the dogs anyway!) we headed on. Not too bad a drive and we were soon heading around Brisbane and towards Michael and Sabinas new house.

They do home boarding for dogs, so we knew that there would be a few dogs there for our tribe to play with, and so it proved. The recent rains have caused havoc with the landscaping of the new place, but the dogs loved having plenty of space to run in. Jumping on the panels for the shed and eating plants were favourite games for the puppies.

All of the dogs enjoyed a feed of raw 4 paws specials. Home made dog food, made with nothing but the good stuff. After a very pleasant afternoon and restful night it was on the road again.

road trippin' - part 1

With the queens birthday long weekend, and the factory shutting for 2 days, there was an opportunity to get away....

Steve, our poodle, had a job to do near Brisbane, and if we were in the area (or within 3 hrs!) there was a chance to put a face to the name and meet up with Alex and Connie of Disability Aid Dogs .

A few phone calls and everything was on. All we needed to do was to find a tent and camping supplies, get ourselves packed and put the dogs in the van.

Normally this wouldn't be too challenging, but Molly still has her puppies for another 2 weeks, so its 2 adults, 5 adult dogs and 6 puppies on a mission to SE Queensland, a 2,000km round trip.

The first morning was spent finding a tent. Looking locally, then on ebay. It turned out that the online shop was actually in Gosford so we went to visit camping megastore and got kitted out. The staff were very helpful and wished us well on our trip.

There is plenty of accomodation on the Pacific Highway, particularly around Coffs, which is approximately half way, but with a pack of dogs on board, even those places that might allow pets might think we were having a laugh, so free camping it would have to be.

At Grafton we headed inland on the Summerland Highway, which is more scenic and runs through a variety of state forests and national parks. from looking on the internet, a place called Ellangowan State Forest seemed like a reasonable target, but with no maps... fortunately we stumbled across it (we think!).

Next challenge. putting up a 6 man tent, which we'd not seen out of the bag at 11:30pm... Apologies to the people in the caravan, but by 1am it was up, and we were all in bed. Us in one compartment of the tent, big dogs in another, and the puppies in the back of the van. A good nights sleep was had by all...

Mucky pups

The recent rains have filled the tanks and given the puppies a whole new world of experiences...

Drinking from muddy puddles, digging in the dirt, and gettting bathed to get clean again!

All of the puppies are meeting as many people as possible, to get them socialised, and enjoying charging around with the big dogs. They are now being told off by the big dogs and starting to show some respect...

All part of growing up, and you wouldn't want it any other way.

Karma, a little girl, is off to South Australia to start her adventure with Guide Dogs, and their assistance dogs programme next week. Time will tell whether she makes the grade, but she has an excellent temperement and positive approach - escapology is a speciality, as is going to toilet in appropriate places (usually) and lead walking.

Some of the other puppies are still looking for their forever homes, so if interested, give a call.

6 week update

The puppies are now 6 weeks old, gorgeous bundles of fluff and mischief. They've had their first jab and been microchipped and are looking for their new homes. The big dogs are having great fun playing with the puppies. Bonnie and Magic are in their element bouncing around, being hunted by the pups, and lying on their backs to be climbed over...

If you are interested in adopting a puppy please contact puppies@goldendoodles-australia.com

Last but one big event...

Playing catch-up on news... On Friday night, 18th April, Baileys our golden retriever gave birth to 8 beautiful Goldendoodle (groodle) puppies. Things weren't happening on their own so we took her to Port Macquarie Veterinary Hospital.

Obviously this was the last thing we needed the day before our wedding, but wasn't completely unexpected, the poor girl was HUGE...

The staff were brilliant, making Baileys and us comfortable, going through what was happening and coming next, followed by a few chaotic hours as the puppies were delivered by c-section.

Everything came together well, and by 8pm mum and pups were doing fine. The following day Baileys was up and about and now a few days later she is showing no signs of the surgery, and is being the perfect mum. The pups are feeding well and putting on weight - the only issue is that they are nocturnal!

Will get some pictures together shortly.