March 11, 2007 -
"Laura,
Just wanted to let you know, everything is going fine. She is used to us. She loves her crate. We are trying to keep her from chewing and jumping on the kids. I think we are making progress. She went to the vet yesterday and weighs 14 pounds. We go to a vet tomorrow for a consultation about her ears, so we will be doing that in a week or two.
Chris"
REPLY BACK:
"Glad to hear you are developing a routine with her and letting her know her limits! I certainly will check with Pat on the papers. Let me know how the ear cropping goes. Laura"
February 25, 2007 -
"Everything is going good. The trip home went well. We stopped twice and she pottied right away. We are crate training her and that is coming along. The first night I slept slept with her on the couch so she would feel comfortable. The next night I put her in the crate, and I laid down next to her. She whined for about 20 minutes, and then fell asleep. That was tough, but I know she will get used to it. All day today I left the door to her crate open and put some treats in it. When she got tired, I put her in it and laid down in front of the opened door. She fell asleep and I got up. Now she is going in there when she is tired. We are really excited about that. She has only had one accident in the house, but I take her out every hour or so.
We took her to the vet, and everything looks good. She has worms, but they gave her more medicine. The worms are already coming out. The vet really wants to do the ears, but originally she said she doesn't do them. She said she stopped doing them because people won't stick with the follow-up tapings, then they blame her if they don't stand. She did her secretary's dobie's ears so I can see them. She didn't seem to excited about Ellie's cartilage in her ears (that's her name, by the way).
My other option is a vet in North Okc. She is doing my brother's boxer, and he said she specializes in Dobermans. I guess she has two and shows them. I don't know her name yet.
Thanks for all your help. She already feels like part of our family and our little girl loves her. We will send pictures when we get them downloaded.
REPLY BACK:
Pat told me about the roundworms. The pups here at my house (Ellie's brothers) are doing fine. I am deworming them a third time. Pat has never had problems with worms, but her environment got contaminated back in November when she was helping out another breeder. Worms are common in pups and having them on a deworming schedule is necessary. Other than that, sounds like she's been doing okay?
In regards to the ears -
If you stick with a medium crop (like the head shot of Scarlett on the web site), you will have a much easier time getting the ears to stand. If you go with a longer crop, that will increase the total wrap time -- but I don't like anything shorter than a medium length. The "pet" crop leaves more of the base on the ear. The "show" crop is more of a straight line down, thus taking out some of the support provided by the base.
How is the crate training coming along? It really doesn't take much past a few days to get the pup used to it. Then, they like having their own spot to go to - is that what you are observing?
Thanks for giving her such a good home!"
February 19, 2007 -
"We are worried about seperation anxiety and wonder if you think that one more week with her litter would be better. We would love to get her this weekend but want what you think is best for her. Just let us know.
Thanks,
Chris"
REPLY BACK:
"I honestly leave the final decision on when to pick up pups to the owners. Some people are extremely anxious to get them and want them sooner than later. One pup comes to mind that left at exactly the same age as we are talking about you getting yours. It was Pyro - here is the link to his page:
(http://www.garrettsdobermans.com/scar1st_RM.html) ==> Click Here:
Pyro's page link
I think as long as you are able to shower her with love and attention, she will be fine. She is at the age now that she craves attention from pepole. If someone will not be able to be with her most of the day over the next week, then I might suggest waiting. The one battle you will have to deal with is at night - regardless of age when she leaves the litter. When it is time to settle down for the first time and the littermates are not there to cuddle up with, well, she will get a little upset. We have always solved this problem in our family by letting the pup sleep with us in bed (leash on and wrapped around my arm so I am alerted when the pup needs to go potty). Some peope don't like that idea much, and with the rate of growth being so fast -- they out grow the bed soon enough and then you have to deal with kicking the oversized pup out of bed.
Crate training is the alternative to this and from my experience with pups that have cropped ears before going home (I don't have a choice with other littermates around), it takes no longer than 3 days for them to get use to the crate and accept it. But, they still need to go out in the middle of the night until they get older and can hold it better ;-)
Okay, that was probably more than you wanted, but I wanted to give you some more to think about. Just let me know what your decision is. She will be 7 weeks on the 28th. Next weekend is fine with me too."
February 16, 2007 -
"Am I going to be able to pick up the puppy on the 24th? What kind of food do you recommend? Also, I talked to me vet about doing the ears, actually it was his assistant, but she said they have done ears before and would do them. What questions could I ask to make sure they know what they are doing. Actually, the assistant tried to talk me out of doing them."
REPLY BACK:
"Don't let her talk you out of it, that is just silly. It isn't a big ordeal for the pup as long as your vet is competent. The 24th will be fine to pick her up. As for food, I like Nutro Max Puppy for large breed (PetSmart or Petco carries it). I think Pat is feeding them Science Diet. I will keep them on the same food since I won't have them more than a week or two. I will give you instructions on how to switch food, should you want.
I would ask your vet if it is something he does on a regular basis, or just every so often. Also might ask for pics or references of owners who have had the ears cropped by him. Best thing would be simply talking to the vet himself and not the assistant. You can probably get a better feel for whether he knows what he is talking about just letting him describe the procedure to you.
Let me know if you need anything else!"
January 30, 2007 -
"Just wanted you to know your deposit is in the mail. Can we expect pics and updates from you. My little 4 yr old girl is so excited. She talks about it every day. We are all pretty excited."
January 27, 2007 -
"When do you let them go? Could you tell me a little about the ears? I definitely want to get them done."
REPLY BACK:
"I let them go home at 7 to 8 weeks old. The ear crop needs to be done by a vet that is good or you can ruin the look. Start looking in your area for a vet so you have the follow up care with the same person that does the ears. If you can't find one you are comfortable with doing the crop, I can take her to our vet - $350. As long as the pup is 10 pounds, she is fine with doing the ears at 7 weeks old. But, you would still have to find someone to wrap the ears."
January 23, 2007 -
"I am looking for a puppy as a pet. I live in Oklahoma City. I want a female. Do you have any available?"
"After looking at your website, I realized the price and color. It looks like she is red. If that is the case, I do want her. That is exactly what we have been looking for."
REPLY BACK:
"Sounds like you are ready to move to the next step which is to send deposit money, $200, to secure the pick.
Let me know if you need anything else. I will go into the site now and mark her as yours.
Best regards,
Laura"
