Our Boy Puppies and their families

Here are the list of the boy puppies next to the their new family.  The puppies won't go home until they are 8 weeks which is July 8.

Webster /Teddy will be living in Haymarket, VA:

Buddy will be living in Mount Pleasant, SC:

Bear will be living in Alexandria, VA:

Copper will be living in Bethesda, MD

Picking from Pics

One of our families lives in South Carolina.  Since they live such a distance, they won't be able to visit until they pick up their puppy at 8 weeks old.  Therefore, they decided to pick their puppy from pictures.  Here is a picture of the couple with their past doggies.

Another Sunday visit

The last family to visit on Sunday afternoon came from Haymarket, Virginia.

Puppies from left to right... Buddy, Sugar and Teddy

Sundays Visits

Sunday was another busy day.   A lovely family drove from Alexandria, Virginia to choose their puppy.   They had visited our puppy litter last year, when the pups were 8 weeks old.  So they had waited a very long time for their puppy.  They were surprised at how much smaller the puppies were at 6 weeks then they were last year at 8 weeks.  It was great to see them again.  After a year the kids had grown so much!

Another Saturday Puppy visit

One of our bigger families drove down from Arlington, Virginia on Saturday afternoon to meet the puppies.  Besides for enjoying puppies the children had a great time finding frogs, slugs, and bugs.  My three youngest children made instant friendships with their children.  Everyone had such a fun time!

A beautiful toad steels the attention away from the pups!

Their beautiful strawberry blond hair matches the puppies.

Saturday Puppy visits

On Saturday we had a lovely visit from our second family on the list.  They drove all the way from Pennsylvania to pick their puppy.   They had their eye on Rosie since she was very young and she was their first puppy pick.  All the photos of the dogs on this page were taken from their camera.  I thought it was so awesome that they caught a sweet moment of Dixie with her puppies. 

Look how cute....Bear is giving Dixie a little kiss.

They name already have a named picked out.... Ruby Rose.

The puppy pen for our litter

From 3 1/2 weeks to 4 1/2 weeks the crate boxes were suitable living quarters for the puppies.  But midway through that fourth week, the puppies started escaping.  At that point it was time for the puppy pen.

The puppy pen consists of eight 2x2' wire panels. (available at most pet stores) They create an area that is 2 feet wide by 6 ft long and 2 ft high.   It is the perfect size for the puppies.  I line the pen with a puppy pads and a carpet for the bed on one end.  On the far end, I put the litter box.



The puppies are pretty reliable with their litter box at this point...so their pen stays mostly clean.  With my earliest litters, before I learned about litter training, I had to keep the puppies in the garage and I would clean their pen throughout the day...Even though the puppies used the outdoors every few hours....the pen was still a mess to clean up.  Believe me, this litter box is AWESOME!   I empty the litter once a day, and take out the poopies as soon as I see them (since they smell pretty bad)  With only one puppy you may not need to change your litter as often as I do...especially after regular potty training begins.  Just pay attention to when the pellets start turning to damp sawdust and if you start to notice an odor.

As the pellets turn to sawdust, the pups may start tracking the litter out onto the floor around the litter box.  When that starts to annoy you, it is a good time to transition to commercial dog litter.   The commercial dog litter (Second Nature) is made of recycled paper pellets, and does not track onto the puppy paws.  I recommend adding a little bit to your litter every day until the pups are familiar with the smell.  Then start using less and less wood pellets.

Always discard your stinky wood pellets/sawdust into one spot in your yard where you want your puppy to use the potty.  Then when you potty train, lead him to that spot on his leash and say 'go potty'.  Let him circle and sniff about until he potties.  Soon that will be his favorite spot outside to go potty.  

When the weather is pleasant I like to bring the pen to the garage and open the garage door so the puppies can enjoy the weather.  We also start regular outdoor potty breaks to get them use to outside potty time.


A litter box can be a permanent part of your puppies life, or a temporary measure.  Either way, you will enjoy the convenience of not having to walk your puppy outside to go potty in the middle of the night.  If you have to leave your puppy for several hours, even just to go shopping, it will be nice that she has a potty option.  Never leave a very  young puppy in her crate for several hours.  Their bladders are so small they cannot hold it very long.  If you have to go shopping for several hours, its better to confine a very young puppy to a pen with an open crate and a litter box just outside the door.

 When you bring your puppy home, you will want to keep him confined to a smaller area close to the action in your house.  You can use puppy gates to keep them confined or, you can get a pen like this one.  Admittedly, they will outgrow it rather quickly.... but you will definitely need to consider how you will keep them confined.   Do NOT give a new puppy full run of the house.  If your pup is not confined close to his litter box, you are setting him up for potty accidents.  When you want to take your puppy out of his pen, it will be wise start getting him use to a leash.   If your puppy is on a leash your are more likely to see the signs that he has to go potty.   When you notice him sniffing and circling pick him up quickly and run place him in his litter box.   When he is a little older and comfortable on a leash you  can run him with the leash to the litter box....or outside to his potty area.

After a few days, when your puppy is use to his crate, you can begin a regular potty training schedule, which I will share with you in your puppy information at pick up.

Many people only use their litter box for the first year of the puppies life.  Personally, I would use it until the puppy was reliably potty trained to the outdoors.  Apartment dwellers, and people with long work hours may use it all their doggies life.  That is up to the individual and their particular living circumstances.

Constipation or Puppy Poopy butt?

I am writing this post for all the other breeders or new puppy owners who might have experienced a problem with their puppy and pooping.  (I know...Gross topic....or as my hubby says TOO much information!!)  It is just like babies and diapers...its something a new puppy owner has to know how to take care of and you just have to wear gloves and get over the poop phobia. 

With my first litter of puppies I remember watching one of the puppies try to go poop.  Nothing happened.  He kept trying and trying and I started to become concerned, thinking he had constipation.   A google search indicated that pureed pumpkin would soften a stool.  But I did not have that and was concerned about the time it would take.  I was all prepared to go to the veterinary, because on examining his bottom their was a hard piece of poop blocking his anus.   Luckily, the light when on in my head.  It occurred to me, that it may just be poop had dried on his little bottom.  Young puppies who are still nursing have very soft stools, and as their fur begins to grow it is so easy for it to get stuck on the fur and dry there.   The puppy can feel something on his bottom and keeps trying to poop it off.  But it is so dry it won't go away, no matter what he does.

This could actually become a serious problem if not addressed right away, because the poop does impede the pups ability to defecate.  Luckily the solution to the problem is very simple.  All you have to do is soak the puppy bottom in warm water (not hot or cold as they are sensitive).   Take a rag and wash the anal area.  With a very dried poop, it may not come off right away.  Just come back every 15 minutes and rewet the bottom.    I don't soak the whole puppy, because they get cold and shiver when they are wet.  I just wet their bottom with a rag.   After a little bit of time the dry poop softens and can then be removed.

When you have thoroughly cleaned the bottom, take a pair of scissors and very carefully trim the fur away from the anal area.  That will need to be done every few weeks at least while the pups are little, and at least once a month when they are mature.  Even adult dogs can have an occasional problem of this kind.

Ideally, a momma dog will clean their puppies up continually and this problem could be avoided.  But since that doesn't always happen, it is up to the breeder to keep on top of this issue and clean up her puppy bottoms as needed.  Baby wipes work fine for everyday maintenance when you take your puppy home.

So guess what I am doing this morning?  You got it....its diaper duty time for my litter...seven little bottoms getting a trim!

Size of Schnoodles at 4 weeks old

Today I would like to give you an update on the size of the puppies in our schnoodle litter, since these weights may influence your puppy picking preference.   This morning I weighed all the puppies.  I will list them in order of their size.

At 4 weeks Rosie weights 23 oz. (1.5 lbs)

I weighed Rosie first since she has the smallest frame of all the puppies.  She weighed in at a mere 23 oz.   That is right in line with the Toy Poodle weight at 4 weeks old.  See chart:  http://www.teacuppoodles.us/poodle_sizes1.htm  We can therefore predict that Bella may grow up to be between 6-7 lbs.  This chart is an estimate only and not a guarantee.

At 4 weeks Teddy weighs 32.2 oz. (about 2.2  lbs)

 The next smallest puppy in the litter is Teddy.  Teddy weighs just over 2 lbs at 4 weeks.  This is the same size as Scarlet/Bella at 4 weeks old.  Bella was the smallest pup from last years litter.  She grew to be 15 lbs at 1 year old.  So we can expect a similar size for Teddy.

 Buddy weighs 2 lbs 4 oz

Sugar weighs 2 lbs 5 oz

 Mia weighs 2 lbs 6 oz (14 lbs adult weight)

Copper weighs 2 lbs 9 oz  (Adult weight 20 lbs)

Bear weighs 2 lbs 10 oz

 Bear is the largest of the litter.  He weighed in at 2 lbs 10 oz.   The largest of the pups last year was Tigger/Remy.  At 4 weeks old, Remy weighed 3 lbs 1oz.  He grew up to weigh 20 lbs.  So based on that comparison, we can make an estimate that Bear will be just under 20 lbs at 1 year old.

So in general we can say that with the exception  of Rosie (Toy Schnoodle).  The litter will range in size from 15 lbs to 20 lbs at 1 year old.

They will fill out a little more through their first year and add 2-3 lbs to that weight.
Remi matured to 23 lbs by his second year.

Litter training begins!

Now that the puppies have become steady on their feet and are now able to walk pretty well, we need to start litter training immediately.

NOTE:   I DO NOT use Kitty litter! Because Kitty Litter is clay based it would cause an intestinal blockage if the puppies happened to ingest it.  Instead I use WOOD PELLETS for the puppy litter.  Wood Pellets dissolve to sawdust when they get wet.  Therefore, they would pass through the puppy intestines more easily if ingested.  The puppies do not normally eat the wood pellets but we wouldn't want to risk using anything else right now.  
 

 
Here is how I set up the litter training box:  I take an XL dog crate and remove the screws that hold the top to the bottom.   Then I put the two sides end to end so the door openings match up.  A small amount of wire runs through two holes in the crate and securely keeps the two sides firmly together.  Where the openings meet there is a little space that a puppy could possibly climb into....so I tape that up securely with duck tape and then drape a towel over it.  I roll the towel up on each end and drape the middle over the lip.  The rolled ends of the towel give the puppies something to climb onto to easily get over the lip into the other side.  (Without the towel in place, the puppies would have a hard time climbing from one side to the other).

One side of the crate is the puppy bed.  I line it with a pee pad.  Then I place a carpet on the end.  The carpet will now be a permament bed for this litter in their puppy quarters.

Why do I use a carpet for the puppy bed?  This is so the puppies grow up to understand that carpets are for sleeping...not peeing.  If you give puppies an appropriate place to soil from the beginning it will be so much easier to potty train.

The puppy blanket fleece from Walmart

Please Note: I will send a puppy carpet home with each puppy.  It will have the smell of the puppies on it already.  Use this carpet for the first few weeks that your puppy is in his new home, and nap time will go so much better.  

I also send a little fleece blanket that they can snuggle in.  Here is the cool puppy fabric that I found (Walmart carries it, if you want more.)

The puppies like the carpet, its so comfy. I take the collars off during nap time since they don't like them too much.

When we first put the puppies in their new quarters, they go to sleep pretty quickly on their little carpet.  As soon as they wake up from their nap, I immediately place them on the wood pellets.  They pee right away since puppies always need to go potty after a nap.  This is perfect since now the litter has the right smell of a potty place.  

Litter training a young litter is this simple!  From this point forward the puppies do what comes naturally.  They walk away from their bed to use the potty ...and that lands them in the wood pellet litter.  The pellets have the right smell and the puppies know its a good place to potty.  If a puppy has an accident while he is on the pee pad, we just exchange it for a clean puppy pad right away, so there bed side is always kept clean and fresh.

On the other hand, we do not clean up the litter too often.  Once a day is enough.  And we always sprinkle some soiled saw dust into the fresh wood pellets so they always have the right smell. 

It is pretty exciting to use this method, within one day the puppies are consistently using the litter box.  It won't be long that they are strong enough to jump out of this crate box....but by that time, they will know what wood pellets are for, and a regular doggy litter box work just fine in their puppy pen.