Welcome to the Winter 2017 SwissRidge Kennels Newsletter!

Transcription

1 WINTER 2017 Welcome to the Winter 2017 SwissRidge Kennels Newsletter! Romping Around Over the years, and through various We hosted our 4th annual organizations, we have been able SwissRidge Doodle Romp on to match SwissRidge dogs with Saturday, August 20 at the Pinetree children in need. This year we Pet Care Centre in Guelph, Ontario. donated a dog named Ewok to a This is one of my favourite days boy and named Sebastian. All of the The holiday season is behind us and all the facts about Bernedoodles, meet the parents, shop browse our of the year, not only because I am proceeds from the Romp will go winter is now in full swing! It s a towards raising and training Ewok, great time to get outdoors with those reunited with all of my puppies, but also because I get to visit with all of who is currently enrolled in our doodles and enjoy the crisp air. their families again! It is so gratifyimprint program. He is busy If you haven t done so already, ing for me to see the joy that Swisslearning the basic skills that are we invite you to join our Facebook Ridge dogs bring to their families. necessary before he can start group, where you can connect I also get a kick out of watching the training to become a service and with over 4,000 members. As the dogs play together. There is nothing seizure alert dog. With your help, SwissRidge family continues to quite like watching doodles frolic! we raised a total of $25,000 this grow, so do the benefits of being a year! What an outstanding member! Our group is a wealth of accomplishment! information, and a great place to share funny stories and photos and to seek advice when needed. Did you know that SwissRidge... Hosted its 4th annual Doodle Romp? Celebrated the first litter of puppies at the new kennel? Is launching a new website that will house everything SwissRidge in one convenient location? Has finished revising the Puppy Package? Is producing an informational video that will support the Puppy Package? I was delighted that so many people travelled from far and wide to attend the event. Families from Arizona, New York, South Carolina, Illinois and Massachusetts made the trip to join the fun. This amazing SwissRidge family never ceases to amaze me! The Doodle Romp was initiated to raise money for a cause that s very near and dear to my heart SwissRidge Dogs for Kids. If you weren t at this year s Doodle Romp, check out the YouTube video to get caught up on what you missed... watch?v=q20fid3yo5c 1

2 The Romp is usually scheduled for the second-last weekend of August, so be sure to pencil it into your calendars for next year! New to the Pack With the opening of our new kennel, we ve decided to expand even further by adding some incredible new dogs to the mix! Stay tuned, because you ll be able to read all about these remarkable dogs on our new website. To satisfy your craving, at least for now, I have decided to pull one out of the puppy vault and am thrilled for you to get to know Cedar! Introducing Cedar! Cedar is a beautiful Standard Goldendoodle and a fantastic specimen of the breed. She was bred at SwissRidge from two of my favourite dogs Kyla and Hendrix. I loved this litter so much that I also kept one of her brothers, Ewok, who is currently in training as a service and seizure response dog. Everyone is wowed by Cedar s beautiful, soft, wavy, red coat. It s like silk! Her temperament is unbelievably calm and compliant for a puppy, and she s clearly taking after her mother s side. Kyla is extremely calm, as was her mother, Clea, who never barked or jumped and never got too crazy. When we went for walks with Clea, she heeled right beside us with no leash. She wouldn t wander ahead and she stayed at our sides no matter what distraction was trying to tempt her. Even though Cedar is still a puppy, I can see the same calm, gentle and loving qualities in her that Kyla and Clea both have. Cedar loves to snuggle and when I lie down on the ground, she cuddles right into me. When we go for pack walks, Cedar will often run up ahead and lie down while waiting for the rest of the pack. Cedar is great with all the other dogs, but her best friends are Bones and Christmas. They roll around and wrestle together during playtime. Her personality is the perfect fit for any family that is looking for an easy-going, smart and loving dog, and I m looking forward to seeing what her offspring will be like. Our First Bundle The first litter born at the new kennel arrived on April 27! Coco and Colbert had eleven healthy and beautiful tri-coloured puppies. Since then, we ve had many successful litters and the new mothers love their new nursery! Puppy Love It s been a little slow over the past few months, but I have great news we have many new expectant mothers! Take a peek at the list below and contact us to inquire about availability. Standard Bernedoodles Lulu x Davinci Due Jan. 6 Ulia x Davinci Due Feb. 7 Mini Bernedoodles Zoey x Crumpet Due Jan. 30 Adelyn x Crumpet - Due Feb. 19 Maggie x Crumpet Due Mar. 24 Tiny Bernedoodles Kia x Crumpet Due Jan. 6 Australian Bernedoodles Prada x Levi Due Jan. 10 Kia x Wookie Due Jan. 21 Frankie x Levi Due Jan. 21 Sushi x Wookie - Due Jan. 24 Tubber x Levi - Due Feb. 18 We have a couple puppies available from Penelope and Mogley s Golden Mountain Doodle litter. Please contact us at: swissridgekennels@gmail.com if you re interested. 2

3 Dig Us Online It only makes sense that we would want an updated online presence to support our kennel upgrade! Many of you have asked when the new site will be up and running; we hope to have it online by the end of February! It s been a lot of work, with lots of new information and many new dogs. I can t wait for you to see it! Here s a sneak peek of the home page Drooling Over Doodles Who can possibly resist the face of an adorable doodle? Get your puppy fix here with these sweet and silly photos of SwissRidge doodles. It contains a large amount of methylglyoxal the higher the methylglyoxal content, the more therapeutic the honey. Puppy Pick-Up Day Attention new doodle parents! Starting in February you will receive an overhauled version of our Puppy Package when you receive your puppy from SwissRidge. This comprehensive booklet has been updated with over 50 pages of information and also includes a DVD! The videos will be made available in a secured Members Only section of our new website as well. Health and Wellness Native to New Zealand and parts of Australia, Manuka honey is the champion of the world of honey. It s rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and has been shown to have the highest occurrence of natural antibacterial activity of any honey. Manuka honey is my number one go-to for various reasons for both topical and internal uses. When applied to wounds, burns or infections, it speeds healing time. It can also be used internally for conditions such as kennel cough, allergies, digestive issues and stomach ulcers. Another benefit of Manuka honey is that, unlike antibiotics, it hasn t been reported to cause the development of resistant bacteria, called superbugs. Superbugs are produced with the repeated use of antibiotics and require an even stronger antibiotic to kill them. In a worst-case scenario, there is no treatment at all. Manuka honey helps kill bacteria and infection without the danger of creating superbugs within the host or the environment. Manuka honey has so many benefits for dogs and people alike. I would encourage you to do some research and always have a jar in your cabinet. The products I have had the most success with are Manuka Health Gold or Platinum, or Wedderspoon KFactor 16 or 22. 3

4 As with all types of honey, Manuka contains a high level of sugar. If your dog is diabetic or overweight, it s best to consult with your veterinarian before giving it to your dog. Doodles on Display This year, instead of producing our annual calendar to help raise funds for SwissRidge Dogs for Kids, we have decided to design a coffee table book. We are very excited about this new idea and want to have over 200 SwissRidge dogs in the book - each dog will be given their own page. We ask that all SwissRidge members send us their favourite high-quality photo of their SwissRidge doodle as soon as possible to: swissridgedoodleromp@hotmail.com The book will be available for purchase at the Doodle Romp in August, as well as on the new website. Stay tuned, as more information will follow shortly! Mockup only. Not actual cover. Ask Sherry Many of you have already taken advantage of our amazing imprint program and know the benefits of leaving your puppy for four or eight weeks of training. I am asked daily about the program and the advantages and disadvantages of enrolling. Imprint training has been in place for four years, and it s been a huge success! If you decide to leave your puppy with us for training, they will be placed with one of our experienced and highly skilled trainers at eight weeks old. Under the trainer s watchful eye, puppies will start to learn basic commands like sit, down, come, leave it, and watch me, as well as walking on a leash, crate and house training, puppy manners, and handling exercises. If they are with us for eight weeks, they will also start to learn the stay command. No matter how long you leave your puppy with us, they will receive lots of love and attention, and are socialized daily with other dogs, people, objects and environments. The most common concern we hear from clients about leaving their puppy is that they will miss out on the puppy stage, but have no fear! There will still be lots of puppy left in them when they are 12 and even 16 weeks old! Another worry I ve heard is whether or not the puppy will bond with their humans if they stay for training. We have imprinted hundreds of puppies, and we have never heard anyone complain about bonding being a problem. Doodles are loving dogs and have no problem bonding with their owners once imprinting is complete. This incredible program has shaped puppies to become better listeners who are easier to control. After all, they ve been to school and know all the basics so you re not starting from scratch. You will bring home a puppy who knows the potty command and is accustomed to going to the bathroom outside. They are already familiar with the crate, so you are not taking them out every two to three hours throughout the night! Pssssst most puppies are sleeping through the night by the time they leave imprint training! The best part about this program is that you still get to enjoy puppyhood while skipping the hardest part of it. We ve taken care of the aspects that many families struggle with during those first few weeks. We make it convenient for you to pick up where we left off, continuing to train a puppy who has already been given a great foundation. Please read a few testimonials below. I m sure you ll understand why they re giving us Two Paws Up! Lana McNamara (Mishka) Mishka went through two months of imprint training, and as hard as it was 4

5 waiting the extra two months to get him, it was the best decision we could have made. We got weekly updates of his progress with plenty of photos, and all the while friends and family pestered us about missing out on the best of his puppyhood. Not so! He arrived at our house crate-trained and nearly completely potty-trained. He knew sit, down, stay, leave it, and walked very nicely on a leash. There is no doubt in my mind that the trade-off between having to wait for two months and receiving a well-trained puppy has paid off in countless ways. It was much easier to continue the training because such a good foundation had been laid. For example, taking him for walks has always been a pleasure. Since he knew sit and stay, it was easy to teach him not to dart out the door and to wait for us to go through a passageway before he could go through. We are thrilled with our puppy in every way! Janine and Mark Fischer (Chanel) Once we learned a bit about the imprint program, we felt very comfortable leaving Chanel for four weeks of training. Although we wanted nothing more than to bring our little bundle home, we knew that our busy household would benefit from having a puppy who had received a head start in all aspects of training. The trainer was amazing, and would send us weekly updates that included a detailed , photos and videos. Chanel was sleeping through the night (seven hours) from the first night at home. She already knew the basic commands and was comfortable being in her crate. She is such a sweet, lovable puppy and we couldn t be happier with our decision to have her in imprinting! Dan Magnotta and Angelina Zuccarini (Karma) Karma was in the two-month imprinting program, and it was the best thing ever! We were well informed with pictures and updates. We had no issues bonding with Karma she is an amazing dog with a great temperament towards people and dogs. She came to us completely potty-trained and never had an accident in the house. Her knowledge of basic commands was good and she was good on her leash. If we were to do it again, we wouldn t change a thing! I can only highly recommend the program. Amy Mariani (Brady and Genny) We have used the imprinting program for both of our SwissRidge Doodles. Our first dog, Brady, is a Mini Bernedoodle who went through the four-week program. When he came home to us, he was crate-trained and knew several commands including sit and down very well. He walked well on a leash with minimal tugging. Once home with us, he bonded quickly with our family. We didn t feel at all as though we had missed out on his puppyhood there were many more months of a silly, playful little guy for us to enjoy! For our family, imprinting was a huge benefit because both my husband and I have our own business, resulting in a lot of crazy schedules. Being able to sleep through the night almost from the get go and to have a nearly trained pup (both potty and otherwise!) when we got him home was worth it for us. Shortly after we got Brady, we decided to add to our pack, and Genny arrived almost exactly a year after Brady did. With Genny, we decided to go with the two-month imprinting program for two reasons. First, we had seen what a head start it had given Brady, and we figured another month would only add to that. Second, we knew having two dogs under two years of age would be a huge responsibility with regard to training, and having the basics nailed was going to be a huge help to us. We were very pleased with our decision. Genny was fully crate-trained and knew sit, stay, down, come and leave it when we brought her home. She walked well on a leash (a true training miracle as she is highly inquisitive) and adapted quickly to our household. She has a far more assertive personality than Brady does, and I don t know that we would have done as well with her with the basics as she did with the imprint trainer. Again, there were no issues with bonding, and she settled into our household quickly. During the imprint program, we received updates, often including photos. To learn more about our imprint program or to read more testimonials, please visit our website at training/imprint-program A Look Ahead We love receiving amazing testimonials and adorable photos of your dogs! You can them to swissridgekennels@gmail.com and we ll add them to the Testimonials section on the new website! Don t forget to follow us on and use #swissridgekennels in your posts. Be sure to carve out lots of time for outdoor play with your furry pals! Winter is a great season to get out, enjoy and take photos! From our family to yours, Happy New Year! Hugs, Sherry 5

6 some more doodles to drool over... A few cuties from Zeppelin and Doritos litter and Kahlua and Doritos litter! Our first Blue Merle Australian Bernedoodle! A few sweeties from Cordelia & Wookie s first litter Dallas from the latest SwissRidge Doodle litter 6

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