In June of this year, Lilo decided she was all grown up and ready to begin life as a mommy. She was paired up with a tiny little merle mini poodle who made up for his small size in big kisses. Through an artificial insemination process, Lilo became impregnated and gave birth to two beautiful mini goldendoodles on August 11, 2022. They were born early in the morning, around 5:30 AM, during a thunderstorm. We decided to give them their litter names, Dark and Stormy. Dark was a beautiful all black female, and Stormy was a merle male with the most amazing combination of colors.
Due to a chain of unusual circumstances, we were able to be fully involved in Lilo’s breeding, birthing, and whelping process from start to finish. Fate can be funny that way! In most guardianship programs, the guardian parents takes care of their guardian pup and provides all the love and care that would go into responsible dog ownership. We would cover her routine vet visits and vaccines, flea and heartworm medication, high quality pet food, and so on. The costs associated with her breeding process would be taken care of by Tutu Cute Doodles. When she is retired as a mommy pup, they cover the costs to spay her and she becomes our pet permanently and forever. Normally, Lilo would go to Tutu Cute Doodles for approximately a week during the breeding period, and we would have her home throughout her pregnancy. About 1 week before her due date, she would go back to Tutu Cute Doodles and they would care for her and her puppies until they were 8 weeks old and ready for their forever homes.
When we had the chance to be fully involved in everything, we were over the moon! Not only did I get to learn more about responsible dog breeding and puppy care, but I got to experience something that few pet owners get to: bringing life into the world. Caroline came over and brought us all the supplies we would need, such as a scale, clipboard with a chart for us to record info as the puppies came, such as weight, time, and collar color, supplements, and more. She also provided everything we would need during the birthing process, including medical gloves and paper towels! She thought of everything and made sure she was available to answer any questions and help us through the process. She also made sure I knew she was a phone call away and would come to our side if we wanted any help.
On August 10th, it seemed that Lilo was getting anxious and restless. She was panting, pacing, and wanted her mommy at her side at all times. We knew it wouldn’t be long! About 5:00 the next morning she couldn’t get comfortable and kept getting up to change positions. We tried to get her down into her whelping box, but she wouldn’t get down off of the bed! My husband and I then decided to roll with it and not stress her out, so we put towels under her and she soon gave birth to her first puppy. Thank goodness for mattress protectors!
You would never have known that she was a first-time mom. We were ready to help her and before we could even try, she had her puppy cleaned up and ready to nurse. A couple hours later, puppy #2 came into the world. Both were born during a thunderstorm, so we gave them their litter names of Dark and Stormy. Little did we know, we would fall in love with this tiny litter and later rename them Pudge and Scrump when we decided to make them a permanent part of our family.
If you’re hoping to add a new doodle to your home, Tutu Cute Doodles has the best selection of doodles in Tampa Bay! Reach out to us today for more information on available puppies and litters to com!
