Puppies puppies everywhere!

[Tink]

puppydrink.jpg Gypsy mixed in with the other pups quite well... just a little bigger and different coat texture. I thought you might all enjoy seeing how they've grown! Just 2.5 weeks and this bunch will be going to their new homes.
3 more days till Bellas due date.

I'm already wondering what I'm going to do with myself once her pups are all sold.

[Marilyn]

Tink, they are precious. Looks like a bunch of fun to me!!!

[toodles]

awww....they are beautiful!!!!

[Forgivenmom5]

They are so cute Tink! They are really growing fast. I have never had a larger dog as a puppy. It's amazing how fast they grow!

[judy]

They're so precious Tink. What are you going to do after Belle's pups are in their new homes? You want to get pregnant yourself and have a baby to raise? Somehow, I doubt that.

[Gina]

They all are adorable.

[Janet]

They are really cute Tink. Kind of makes me want another Lab.

[Tink]

Judy, bite your tongue! Puppies are much easier than kids and if they're really dancing on my last nerve I can put them in a crate or run outside and no one would think the worse of me for it. They frown on that with children.

[DianaB]

It looks like Gypsy will have plenty of company for a while! She fits right in. She is a beautiful lab!!!

[Dobie]

I'm not sure how many females you have, now that Gypsy's had her pups, how long before you'll be able to have more pups on the way? (I hope we can see more sweet little black puppies soon)

[Tink]

Dobie,
I have Canada, mother of the 6 week old litter and soon to be retired.
Bella who just had this litter yesterday.
Hickory who is not quite 2 yet so hasn't been bred.
Gypsy who is 8 weeks so has a lot of growing to do.

I'd like to find another breeding age Lab to replace Canada, but it's easier said than done since I have to be a bit selective on health and temperament. They have to be worth reproducing. And I'm working on a co-breeding program with the family I bought Gypsy from. It looks right now like I'll be able to use her mom and we're considering one more.

[Dobie]

Sorry for my ignorance here, but if you breed a doodle to a doogle, do you get a doodle? or do you need to have the lab and poodle each time?

[Tink]

In hybrid genetics, there are varying classes. the original Lab to poodle is called and F1 labradoodle
An F1 bred to an f1 is called an f2
an F1 bred back to either a lab or a poodle (Most often poodle) is an F1b
There are many different levels and the higher you go the more complcated it gets. So no, that's not a silly question at all!
The breed recognized as Labradoodles in Australia has as many as 6 different breeds infused into them. Some American breeders are doing that, but most like myself stick to the lab x poodle or f1 back to poodle.

The reason I prefer to stick with the original generation is that it's the one where you're eliminating the most genetic problems and taking the best advantage of "hybrid vigor". Many genetic problems require that both parents carry the gene to pass it on... so in using 2 distinctly different breeds, you eliminate the possibility of those that one or the other breed doesn't have.

[Dobie]

Thanks for the explanation!

[Tink]

4day old girl.jpg At 4 days of age this little girls is a real chub.

4dayold boy.jpg Her darker bigger brother is already too large to be safely held in one hand. It's impossible to hold onto him when he starts to wiggle.

I guess there's something to be said for having small litters!