About Dawn's Darling Doodles

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All of our mama dogs have their favorite family member and have their whelping area set up in that persons bedroom to ensure they are comfortable and feel safe and secure delivering their puppies. For the first week we allow our mama dogs to bond with their new puppies and only interact with her puppies to do their daily weight check. After the first week we begin to hold the puppies for a short period of time while our mama dog goes out for a potty break, this short period of time allows us to begin to desensitize our puppies to help understand that being held and touched is not something to fear. We also begin basic grooming acceptance by purposefully touching their ears, paws, tails, and snout. At 2 weeks old our puppies have begun to open their eyes and our mama dogs are more comfortable with their puppies being held for a slightly longer period of time. This allows us to introduce more grooming acceptance training, like gently brushing them with a soft brush and touching their gums preparing them for toothbrush acceptance which is crucial to ensuring good dental hygiene throughout their life. At three weeks old our puppies receive their first nail trim, begin to be brushed every other day, have their gums gently rubbed as if it were a toothbrush, and are introduced to pine litter for potty training. At four weeks old our puppies are moved out of their whelping area and into a puppy play yard where their mama still has full access to them. In the puppy play yard our puppies learn to go potty only in the pine litter, are introduced to puppy mush to begin transitioning from mamas milk, have daily playground play time twice a day where they have many sensory toys, textures, and sounds that ensure our puppies develop into confident, mentally and emotionally healthy puppies. At five weeks old our puppies are just about fully potty trained, are comfortable with being groomed, and are eating puppy mush three times per day. At six weeks old the puppies play yard is expanded to have a small play area, are fully potty trained at this point, and are mostly eating softened puppy kibble. At seven weeks old the play yard is expanded once again and mama is only stopping by for two or three short feedings a day, while many breeders will force a mama to stop feeding at this point we do not see this as beneficial and do not believe it is harmful for our mamas to choose to continue to provide their puppies with a few mid day snacks, if anything we have seen this be crucial to an emotionally stable and secure puppy which leads to a much easier transition when they go to their new forever homes. At eight weeks old our puppies go to see our amazing licensed veterinarian where they receive a complete comprehensive health exam, their first DHPP vaccine, a fecal test to prove the absence of intestinal parasites, and receive approval to go to their new homes. 

We choose to potty train using pine litter instead of pee pads or artificial grass patches because it has proven to be the most effective with transitioning to outdoor potty training and is a much safer alternative to pee pads. Pine pellets are biodegradable, are great at absorbing potty odors, and are very inexpensive compared to pee pads. Puppies who are potty trained to use pine litter are able to transition to outdoor potty training much easier than those who have been taught to use pee pads, not only that but puppies who are pine litter trained have far less accidents on carpets and rugs. This is because puppies who are pee pad trained associate pee pads with carpets and rugs because of their similar textures. This results with them thinking it is an acceptable area to go potty. With pine litter puppies do not have this issue since the textures of these two things are vastly different from one another. Once your puppy is fully vaccinated and ready to begin outdoor potty training you can take a handful of pine litter and place it in the area of your yard you want your puppy to potty in. This helps your puppy know that this is a potty area. The pine litter will decompose over a short period of time and cause no harm to your yard or puppy. Artificial grass patches can be a good substitute to pee pads but in our experience are very smelly and unpleasant. After a few months of use, no matter how much you clean it the smell just doesn't completely go away. The texture of artificial grass patches can be very stiff and hard, this makes it a bit painful for a young puppies tender paw pads to walk on and makes it uninviting to use. Pee pads can be very dangerous to use with young puppies or dogs who like to chew and shred things up. The material inside pee pads that is used to make them so absorbent has caused many fatal injuries to young puppies after they shred their pee pads and ingested some of the filling from inside it. Because of the the reasons listed above we choose to train all our puppies to use pine litter and highly recommend for our adopter to continue using this method until their puppy is able to transition to outdoor pottying.

When you adopt a puppy from Dawn's Darling Doodles you can have piece of mind knowing that your puppy was bred and raised using the highest standards and with all the love and care your puppy could possibly receive. We are not just breeders, we truly love each and every single one of our puppies while we have them with us and love to stay in contact with all our adopters so we can see our puppies grow and how loved they are with their new families. When you adopt one of our puppies you are given a 1 year health guarantee against life threatening genetic disorders, an extensive new puppy welcome gift basket full of all the essentials needed to properly care for your new puppy, proof of all veterinary care and vaccinations, and lifelong support from us with any training or health concerns you may have with your puppy.

One of the reasons so many people decide on a doodle breed is because they were told that they are hypoallergenic. Unfortunately, this is a huge misconception that has been perpetuated by breeders just wanting to make a sale. There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. Those allergic to dogs can be allergic to either their saliva, hair, or body oils. All dogs produce these things. Doodle breeds do however produce far less shedding hair and body oils than most other dog breeds which does make them a good option for those who have a more mild dog allergy. This does not guarantee you will not have a reaction. Just because you did not have an allergic reaction to your neighbors maltipoo does not mean you will not have a reaction to the one you adopt. It is extremely important that if you do have dog allergies and decide to adopt a doodle breed in spite of that that you have the intention and ability to treat your allergy, wether by taking antihistamines or beginning allergy shots to develop an immunity to your allergy. It is very unfair to adopt a puppy while knowingly having dog allergies and being unprepared for possible allergic reactions. I have attached a link to an AKC article on the misconception of hypoallergenic dogs so you can have a reliable source of reference for this topic. Click on the button bellow to be redirected to the AKC website article.