Gotcha day!!!

This day is such a mix for me of smiles and tears. I have loved on these babies every day for 8 weeks (not to mention the attention Mom received for 8 weeks before that to get them on this side of life!) Today I put them in the arms of their furever families. The joy, smiles and excitement of this new life I helped nurture, brings them all the golden glitter they could ever imagine and it is amazing to witness. I am so proud of my little bears and I know they will flourish!!!!

Holly and Joel now have Kodiak at home with an older dog and a cat. If you follow Royal Goldens on Facebook you have probably seen posts from them over the years. Their girl Beyla was from Tamarack's first litter 10 yrs ago and now they have Kodiak from his last litter. It was just so meant to be that none of us could deny the beauty. Beyla will forever be in our hearts and always remembered but now Kodiak can bring even more fulfillment to their lives. His new name is to be determined but he may stay our little Kodiak bear! Don't you just love his little (big) paws!

Polar is now OONA which means "one who is pure" and I think it's a perfect name for this little love. She goes to live with Diana, who is the mother of Krystol. Krystol and I worked together back in the late 90's. She will live in the Spokane area where Diana lives on the property with Krystol, Nick, their 2 kids and dog. The kids wanted to know if they could spend the night with Nana the day she brought home Oona. I am gonna guess that will happen often!! I am again overwhelmed at the joy this baby will bring their family.

Cody will soon be Mom to Panda (now Dior). She is moving into a new house with a great dog yard so asked if I could keep her love until she gets moved in next week. Oh, the hardship on my heart to have a puppy to hug (and train) for an extra week! She had to twist my arm let me tell ya! We will have updates and photo's of her next week!

Everytime we have a litter, more is learned and always improving. I am really pleased that all the families are taking a suggestion I learned from Kerry Nichols book, Puppy Brain. We all believe in crate training for several reasons. One is it's hands down the best way to potty train, it gives them a safe place to call their own and we can make sure they ARE safe when in the crate. But to take it one step further, we are creating a "pen" area in the house where they don't have the ability to make bad choices. The pen contains their crate, potty box, toys, water and is where they will be fed. Everything here will be positive. I knew a woman who named her dog "Henry NO" because he was constantly in trouble. She gave him too much freedom too soon. Using this method, these puppies will only receive positive reinforcement......everything is a "YES"! Take them outside to do their business and play or train. The rest of the time in these early days they have their own apartment! What a concept!!!

This week before going home we have been busy training and preparing for new lives. We have worked on Puppy, puppy, puppy recall. All 3 come running or will follow. Since my litter names are most likely not their forever names we only use them for reference about the puppy but never to call them. Puppy, puppy, puppy recall will be a safety net for the new families until the pups learn their names and in times of peril. They will divert back to this engrained early training. And yes, if you are my friend and come visit, you get put to work!!!

We also worked hard on sit, down, and spin. Sit and down are great skills, spin is mostly fun!!! But encourages focus with a command. Tricks of all kinds are great for this skill.

Although this day creates a tear in my eye, I am extremely proud of the work we have done here and the puppies we have produced.

I can't let this litter go without a tribute to our boy Tamarack. This is the last of his frozen semen we have in the bank. It's been extremely special to create 2 litters from him after he crossed the rainbow bridge and many before!!! He was the most enthusiastic boy with a great happy cry for all whether you were out the room to get a snack or gone for 2 weeks! Some of the puppies do a version and some don't at all......could never decide if it was learned or inherited. Finn, from the last litter does it which leads to inherited since he never met Tamarack.

And now onto having some fun with Moms, always learning and prepping for the next round! If you are interested in a puppy from our next litter we will be using Hoekema Homestead Tonka Time as the stud for both Magnolia and Cypress. He is a beautiful English Cream from the same breeder (Cinnamon Hoekema) that produced our girls and is my mentor. I am so blessed for this partnership and look forward to more gorgeous Royal Goldens!!! We are accepting reservations for the next litters that I expect to be born in Nov/December 2024, go home sometime between January and March 2025. We will see what Mother Nature gives us and roll with it!