Sherwood's Breeding Plans

[Andrew]

Just feel the need to brag…. Robyn joined us at a lure coursing event & I got to hold her little cutiepie!!!!! It is SOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!! Thank God its already promised or else I would have slipped her in a pocket when Robyn & Bindi weren't paying attention

[nala121498]

She is a cutie!!! Whoever is laughing on the video has such an infectious laugh too!!

[YodelDogs]

@nala121498:

She is a cutie!!! Whoever is laughing on the video has such an infectious laugh too!!

I am a bit embarrassed to say that was me. :o

[YodelDogs]

She was not interested in playing show dog and she didn't want to bring her ears up.

Ayla has proven to be difficult to wean off the nipple. Although she has pretty much stopped producing milk, Bindi still lets her nurse for brief periods. Ayla isn't overly picky about whose nipple she is attached too and she tries to nurse off Pippin and Jozie also.

Ayla with Jozie

She finally gave up on the "empty faucet" and snuggled with Jozie instead.

Steph and Chris brought their 13 year old Basenji Luna over a few days ago to meet Ayla. Luna wasn't very interested in her and basically ignored her. That is a considerably better reaction than when the adult dog acts aggressive. I think things will work out just fine.

Since Ayla has no siblings, we took her to another breeder's house to play with her puppies. They were 10 weeks old so they were bigger and more robust than Ayla so we only let 2 at a time play with her. Ayla was a bit appalled at those ruffians lol! I think Ayla prefers playing with my slow cats that just lay there when she plays with them.

This puppy has been a real joy to raise. She is extraordinarily clean and she has not pooped in the puppy pen, not once, in 3 weeks. She does not soil her crate at all. She is about 99% housetrained to do her poops outside and about 80% housetrained for her piddles. (The "oopsies" are usually my fault for not getting to her in time.) Bite inhibition training is almost complete and she is rock solid on startle reflex training. I'm really proud of how smart and easily trained this girl is. She has truly been a joy.

[Ninabeana26]

Glad to hear that Ayla is doing so well. She is certainly a cutiepie!

Also, good news that her first meeting with her new sibling went well

[YodelDogs]

New videos

Ayla trying to entice TUK the cat to play. This one is extremely dark. Sorry about that.

Ayla meets her soon-to-be-"sister" Luna. Luna isn't overly impressed.

Ayla gets to meet some other Basenji puppies.

[Janneke]

@YodelDogs:

New videos

Ayla trying to entice TUK the cat to play. This one is extremely dark. Sorry about that.

Ayla meets her soon-to-be-"sister" Luna. Luna isn't overly impressed.

Ayla gets to meet some other Basenji puppies.

These videos are extremely cute!!!! She is adorable!!! Such a pretty face!

And that cat! Hahahaha.. It will be sooo happy when Ayla is leaving

(btw Luna is one big girl, isn't she? ;))

[YodelDogs]

@Janneke:

(btw Luna is one big girl, isn't she? ;))

Yes, Luna is obese. She has been on a strict diet for years but the weight just stays on. Hopefully the puppy will get her up and moving so some of the weight will come off.

[snorky998]

IMHO, Luna is nothing more or nothing less than a formidable lady. I'm sure she'll be a great big sister to your Ayla.

Thanks for the videos. They were fun to watch. It makes my puppy 'want another one', bubble to the top!!

[sharronhurlbut]

I just can't believe the cat put up with that pups play.

Good kitty!

[snorky998]

Very spitty-kitty ears!!! Are there puncture wounds??

[lvoss]

Rally sends love to her mama Luna. She says having "kids" in the house keeps you thin. Here is Rally with her daughter Rio.

[YodelDogs]

This picture was taken a week ago. Ayla stacked at 8 weeks.

I let Ayla go home with Steph and Chris Friday. She sleeps in her crate next to the bed and stays quiet and clean. Housetraining is coming along well though she has discovered that Chris and Steph have a lot more "stuff" within reach to chew on than I do. The house is being marinated with Bitter Apple spray, much to the puppy's annoyance haha.

Video of her first night at her new home.

Luna snarks at her a little bit (manners little one, manners!) but is starting to express curiousity towards her.

Today's email from Steph:
"Yesterday the puppy was trying as usual to get Luna to play. The response she normally gets is a grumpy "get out of my space". But when I came home last night, Ayla was excited to see me and was full of puppy exuberance. She ran over to Luna to entice her into playing with her and what do you know.. my big lumpy old girl started bouncing around like she was a puppy! She went down on her front paws with her rump in the air and WAGGED HER TAIL(!) at Ayla and then she bumped her with her nose and actually picked up one of the toys and tossed it at Ayla. It didn't last long and my stupid battery on the camera was charging so I missed getting it on film - but I was so happy that I teared up. So did Chris."

Stories like this makes being a breeder worth all the headaches.

[YodelDogs]

I have kept Bindi apart from my other two girls, Jozie and Pippin, for much of the past few months. Hormones were high when they were in season last fall, then they were back together, then had to be apart at the end of Bindi's pregnancy, and then completely apart the whole time Bindi was raising Ayla. When Ayla was old enough to be without Bindi through the entire night, I started crating Bindi in the room with the other dogs. There was a lot of "foul language" through the crates but I could tell that Bindi missed being with Jozie and vice versa. A couple days after Ayla went to her new home, the temperature dropped way down and it snowed. It was just too bad to switch dogs around with some inside and some outside so I said to myself, "it's now or never". I turned all the girls loose in the living room and after some grumbling and posturing, and some heavy duty supervising by myself, they tolerated each other. After a day or so of tension, the girls decided it was more fun to play than posture.

Here are Bindi and Jozie cuddled up on the heat vent.

Now that they are getting along, they have become "tag-team wrestlers" against the poor cats. I think the cats were happier having a bouncy puppy wrestling with them than being "body slammed" by two adult dogs. sighs

[tanza]

Great news Robyn

[nomrbddgs]

Good for you Robyn, I'm glad things are working out.

[Ninabeana26]

Glad to hear that your girls are doing well together & that Miss Ayla is doing well in her new home

[renaultf1]

Great news on both the puppy's new home and Jozie and Bindi. I've been meaning to ask, was the name Ayla chosen because of Clan of the Cave Bear…Ayla being the lone survivor of her clan in that book...fits given the birth troubles that happened.

[YodelDogs]

@renaultf1:

Great news on both the puppy's new home and Jozie and Bindi. I've been meaning to ask, was the name Ayla chosen because of Clan of the Cave Bear…Ayla being the lone survivor of her clan in that book...fits given the birth troubles that happened.

Good catch! What's funny is that Steph and Chris each came up with the name seperately from each other. Steph's Ayla from Clan Of The Cave Bear and Chris' Aayla from the Star Wars jedi master Aayla Secura. Steph and I would like to find a registered name to reflect the Clan Of The Cave Bear connection whereas Chris would like her registered name to be Star Wars related. We are currently at an impass. :p

[YodelDogs]

Ok so this week's photo session did not go very well

Ohhhh that smells yummy! I'm going to jerk it out of your hand!

Come on, lady. Give me that cookie.

Quit moving it so I can get a better grip on it.

Darnit. There you go moving it again.

Yay cookie success!