We are in the process of making some changes to our website.  We originally put the viewer on the site because people were “stealing” the pictures of our English Cream Golden Retriever puppies and using them without permission.  I don’t mind people using our pictures, but would just appreciate the courtesy of being asked first, so that I know where they are being shown.

Last year I had someone email me a picture of a English Golden Retriever puppy and ask if it was ours.  It was.  They informed me that they had contacted someone to purchase this puppy and this was the picture they had received, but they remembered that same picture being on our website!  Obviously, if someone had sent them money, they would NOT have received their puppy. 

I have had several people share their frustrations with the viewer and not being able to find pictures of a particular English Cream Golden puppy they were looking for or they couldn’t see them correctly, the viewer wouldn’t work, etc.  So, we are in the process of going back to the way we had originally been showing our pictures.  I am keeping the viewer on the Previous Puppy page though, as it a nice way to archive the photos for families to look at previous litters.

What do you think?  Viewer was great or glad we are just posting pictures again?

Debbie

Are our English Cream Golden Retrievers NOT aware that it is winter time?  Well, even it is was summer time, they need to learn to close the door behind them!  We have level door handles that our dogs have learned how to push down, push the door in and come on it.  Now, this has only been a from the outside coming in problem — until recently.

Rory, has learned to push down, pull open and go outside!  If they would ONLY close the door behind them, it wouldn’t be that much of a problem.

The other night I was in my office working and it was getting REALLY hot in here.  I thought it very unusual that Billy would have cranked up the heat, but upon investigation found our kitchen door standing wide open!  It was only 17 degrees outside.  Boy, do I hate to get that heating bill!

Not sure how to teach them how to close the door behind them, any ideas?  What is that my mom used to yell at us kids?  “Close the door, you weren’t born in a barn!”  Well, neither are our English Cream Golden Retrievers.

We have been busy around here!  I can’t believe the puppies are six weeks old already.  I know it has been a long wait for families, but the time has flown by.

I hope you enjoy the video of the puppies!

Towards the end of the second week our English Cream Golden puppies’ eyes are beginning to open.  This is a gradual process and usually takes about 24 hours to completely open.  By the end of the second week usually all the puppies eyes in the litter are open.  Even though their eyes are open they still cannot see very well and care needs to be taken not make sudden movements to keep from startling the puppies.

Now that the puppies eyes are open, they are beginning to explore their surroundings.   Their legs are very wobbly and keeping their balance is difficult, but each day they improve and get around a bit better.

By the end of the third week the puppies are starting to get teeth, which prompts them chewing, tugging, and pulling on their litter mates.  They are not ready for solid food yet, which is usually introduced after they are four weeks of age.

Hearing also usually comes towards the end of the third week of age, beginning of the fourth week.  We are careful not to have any loud noises occur until they have obtained their hearing.

We want to introduce sounds gradually.  We usually start with switching between the radio and the TV at the beginning.  We also have a CD that we play that has thunderstorms, airplanes, trash trucks, and babies crying that we play, while we are playing with them, so they associate these loud noises with positive interaction.

They are growing quickly and the next few weeks they are introduced to food, toys, and more social play.

Yesterday we welcomed our newest Grandson, Parker Luke into the world on Thanksgiving Day!  He arrived at 9:01a weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long.  We are so happy and grateful for our 3rd grandson!

We are extremely blessed with three wonderful children, their spouses and girlfriend.  We have the honored of them blessing us with three amazing grandsons who bring us so much joy!

While we continually give thanks throughout each day of the year for all that we receive and are given, we wanted to also express our deepest gratitude for all the families that have provided and will continue to provide wonderful homes for our Wisteria Golden puppies!

We LOVE what we do and enjoy providing happy, healthy puppies to add joy and companionship to their famiy.

Many Blessings to You!

Billy & Debbie

The first week of life is usually a pretty quiet week.  The first few days the moms rarely leaves her puppies, usually only to relieve herself or to eat and drink.   The main activity of the puppies is nursing and sleeping.

Occasionally we lose a puppy during birth, but also during this first week.  Sometimes, a very small puppy, will nurse and “appear” healthy on the outside, except that it is very small, compared to the litter.  It just doesn’t grow.  We had a few with these last litters that this happened.  We took the puppies to the vet and he said that sometimes they just aren’t full developed inside and since they are smaller, they may be “premature” compared to the rest of the litter.  While, this is something that is part of life, birth and death, it is still very sad, when we lose  a puppy.

When puppies come into the world, they cannot hear or see.  They are only equipped with their natural instincts of nursing, staying warm, and crying when hungry, cold, or if they have pain.  They are unable to eliminate on their own and their mother must stimulate these areas in order for them to get rid of their waste.  This keeps their area clean and is the beginning of teaching the puppies the importance of keeping  their “living area” clean.

During this first week, we try not to disturb mom and babies too much to give them time to rest from the birthing process.  We do pick up each puppy daily and briefly stroke the puppy and rub their belly to begin getting it use to our touch and know who we are.

No matter how many times we have babies here at Wisteria Ranch it is a special time. Whether it is one of our calves being born or one of our English Cream Goldens having a litter — it is always a miracle of birth.

We have been raising Goldens for years, our oldest Goldens being American Goldens, Rusty (13) and Sadie (12). We love the Golden Retriever and are very blessed to be doing something we love.

This past week we had 5 litters of puppies, having this many litters at once is not something that we normally do, but I thought a great opportunity to document and write this journey of English Cream Puppies Everywhere.

We keep things quiet during the birth of the puppies. The majority of the time they come during the middle of the night. Some moms can have 10 puppies within a few hours and others a few puppies that takes 10 hours. As with humans, each birth is different and so is each litter.  We have been raising the English Cream Goldens for about 5 years now.  Our girls have always had easy births, but this last time we had two (2) cesarean sections within a few days.

Mollie had 10 puppies and we could tell there were more to come, but nothing was happening — she was pushing, but could not deliver the puppies.  We took her to our vet and two of the puppies had tried to be born at the same time and were “jammed” in the birth canal.  Mollie and her puppies are doing great!

Vega was our next c-section last week.  She was laying around and was a day overdue for having her puppies.  We knew that she would not have that many, as she wasn’t very big.  After her laying around all morning, we called the vet to have her checked.  She only had one puppy and he was a big boy.  The vet said that sometimes when there is only one puppy the mom won’t actually go into labor and because he was a bigger puppy she most likely would have had trouble delivering him anyway.

While the puppies are being born we help the mom dry the puppies and get them to nurse.  This helps release hormones for the mom for birthing her puppies and that first milk is so important for the puppies.   Occasionally, we have a puppy that is not breathing when born.  We can usually take a towel and “roughly” rub them and can stimulate them to start breathing.  Other times, babies are born stillborn and we can’t save them.

We are the mid-wives and are there to help support and take care of mom while she is giving birth.

Trying to find the culprit that is causing your American or English Cream Golden’s itching skin can be very difficult at times. The most common allergens for the American and the English Cream Goldens are found in food, fleas, and environmental.

Some of the most common allergies that Goldens are allergic to in their food are: dairy, soy, beef, and wheat. Although, I have heard of some poultry products, it is usually an item within that food that is the true cause. If you suspect food allergy, remember to transition them slowly over to the new food you are trying and keep them on it for a couple of months in order to really see a difference before trying another food.

Fleas can cause allergies, but it is actually the flea salvia that is the problem.  We use Sentinel here at Wisteria Ranch for controlling fleas.  It controls fleas, plus is their monthly heartworm preventive, as well as a wormer for round, hook, and whipworms, the most common worms that effect dogs.

There are environmental allergens that also effect our Goldens; carpet cleaners, shampoos, grass, vaccines, etc.  It is the chemicals within these products that are the cause of the allergic reaction.

When trying to discover the what is the true cause of your Golden’s itching and scratching, remove or change only one thing at a time within their diet or environment.

Have a blessed day!
Debbie

Where has 2009 gone?  These last few months have been busy ones for me personally, as my business partners and I have been working on making some upgrades and changes to our software and website MyRazorr (http://www.myrazorr.com.)

Wisteria Goldens blog and Wisteria Tails newsletter were put on the back burner for awhile.  But, now that our launch and changes are complete, my time once again can be better structured.  It is a good thing too — we have puppies everywhere!

Back in July I wrote a post on Puppies or No Puppies and our strategy for breeding not always working as planned.  This fall we decided to just breed all the girls that came in heat “knowing” that some would take and some wouldn’t, right?  That has been our past experience, so this would be a “safe” decision.  Hmmm, wrong!

All, yes, I said ALL the girl bred!  So, the next few months we have puppies, the holidays, and a new grandson due in December!  Needless to say we will be very busy.

We are in the process of hiring some “puppy-sitters” to come play and care for the puppies as they get older — we are going to have lots of puppy love around here!

I have posted newborn pictures on our home page — Wisteria Goldens.  (Just in case you want to take a peek)

Have a blessed day!
Debbie

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