“I took my dog to the dog park a few days ago, where he found a kindred spirit to play with. Apollo likes nothing more than to wrestle and “fight” with other dogs. Some dogs (and some owners) don’t appreciate his exuberance and strength, but when he finds a friend that does, it’s a thing of beauty. Goofy grins and exhausted dogs all around.

Apollo usually comes home covered with slobber, dirt, and occasionally sporting a few abrasions from when the play got a little too enthusiastic. He doesn’t seem to mind, and I don’t either, as long as his rough play remains focused on willing dogs and not towards people.

Thankfully, Apollo is able to differentiate how he can interact with other dogs and how he should play with people. He brings it down several notches when wrestling with my husband, who doesn’t mind getting rough and tumble with him; several notches more with me, since I prefer a more “dignified” play session; and he’s downright gentle with my five-year-old daughter. Apollo’s a gem, no doubt about it.

Some dogs, especially young puppies that are still learning the house rules, have difficulty making these types of distinctions, however. Of course, people will have different ideas about what is appropriate play and what crosses the line, but teaching a dog that it is unacceptable to put his teeth on human skin, no matter how gently, can prevent future conflicts with friends, neighbors, and strangers.

The best way to teach a dog that play biting is not going to be tolerated is to act like another dog would when mouthing gets too rough. When your dog puts his teeth on you, shriek as if you have been mortally wounded and immediately walk away and ignore him for a minute. If you have to close a door between the two of you to prevent interaction, do so.

After his “time out,” engage him in some play that is unlikely to elicit a bite. Ball tossing is a good choice as long as your dog will drop the toy at your feet (offering a treat in exchange for the ball while saying “drop” is a good way to teach this).

If everyone in the house consistently reacts in this manner when “bitten,” your dog will quickly modify his behavior. After all, dogs want to play with people because it is fun and brings them a lot of attention. Removing the reward for a behavior is the best ways to stop it.

Never hit, shake, pin, or hold a dog’s muzzle closed in response to play biting. Your dog will see any form of physical retaliation (short of abuse) as continued play and will treat it as an invitation to be even rougher.

Consistency is key. Dogs can easily learn that it is never okay to bite a person in play, but it takes an exceptional individual (like Apollo ) to learn subtle differences between what is acceptable and what is not.”

Dr. Jennifer Coates

Hi Kim,

Just wanted to show you my “mascot” photo. I run an annual fundraiser for the middle school called Dancing With the Staff. The kids form groups and choreograph dance routines – the kicker is they have to have at least one staff member in the group. We donate all proceeds to the music department. This year we raised $8,000!  I give all participants t-shirts that they wear to school on the day of the show.

Monte and Stanley modeled the shirts and became the show’s mascots.

Cindy

Strategic Deworming Guidelines

Intestinal parasites have been around forever and are not going away – which means you need to manage them out of your pet. Parasites don’t want to kill your kitten or puppy, they just want to use their resources for their next meal. However, they don’t mind dragging pets down, causing rough hair coats or anemia in the process!

Puppies & Kittens: The goal is to clear the parasites during the growth phase of their life, when they are most susceptible.

• Deworm at 2-4-6-8 weeks of age, then again at 12-16 weeks of age.
• You can then move to 6 months and 1 year, then deworming as an adult.

Adult Dogs and Cats: We are recommending the standard here. If your pet is a big hunter they will need more frequent deworming – you must assess the risk for your pet.

• The general rule: twice a year for life.
• If your cat is 100% inside, you can deworm once a year. If your cat likes hunting outside, more will be necessary.
• Dogs put everything in their mouth and need twice a year deworming to eliminate the parasites they will pick up.

Newly Acquired Animals: No matter what the history or age, assume they have parasites!

• Deworm immediately and repeat in 2 weeks.
• Put on the above adult program.

Hi Kim and Erin!

Wanted to keep you up to speed on Brutus.  He is the love of our lives and it is the greatest feeling to see him thrive and be happy.

Wherever we go Brutus is a show stopper and we get stares, people wanting to take his picture, questions from awestruck fans, even Facebook followers.  Everyone knows Brutus!!!

Thank you a million times over for letting us share in the doodle world, we are changed forever!!

XOXO

Mimi and Mr. B

First off, did you see Manor Lake Indy featured within the last few weeks? We got a new picture with her coat coming in beautifully!

Don’t know about water yet, but Indy sure likes the snow!!!  It’s hard to get her back inside.  :)

Thought you might like a picture.

Stacey

Hi Kim -

I wanted to send you a fun picture of Ike.  He is from the Leo and Sassy litter last February.  We take him hiking with us almost every weekend.  He can’t get enough of it.  He loves the deep snow and playing with the kids.  He is such a good boy.  He has grown up so much over the last year and we just love him.

Nicole

Hi Kim and Erin,

We just wanted to touch base and let you all know that Moxie continues to thrive in Maplewood, NJ.  He is now exactly 5 months old.

We had our first snow of the season yesterday and Moxie just loved it, as you can probably tell from this photo!  We are having such a wonderful time with him, watching him grow and acquire new skills.  Natalie takes Moxie to a weekly puppy kindergarten class and he has really come a long way in terms of socializing with other pups.  He also now responds consistently to “sit” and “down” and is working on “here”.

No matter where we go, people always stop us to pet Moxie and ask about him.  Everyone has something to say about his incredible wavy hair and coloring.

Thank you once again for providing us with such a fine pet.  Wishing you all the best for a wonderful 2012.

Natalie, Jonathan, Ethan & Jacob

Hi Kim,

We wanted to share a couple pictures of Gracie Rose playing in the snow yesterday.  To say she loves snow would be an understatement.

We can’t imagine our life without her.  One of the things you told us when we picked her up 18 months ago was, “she will make you laugh out loud every day.”  She’s a ham and her expressions are priceless.

She loves people and other dogs but gets so excited when our grandkids come over.  They love her and she loves them.

Thanks again for raising such wonderful Australian Labradoodles.

Ike and Renee

We absolutely love our little Ellie! After some serious dog searching, it was dog-sitting the Chance Family’s labradoodle, Kip (also a Manor Lake dog) that made us decide we wanted a labradoodle. In October, we made the trip, by car, from California to Washington to pick up our new addition to the family. From the moment we met her, we were in love! She has been a wonderful dog and gets along great with our family members’ four-legged friends, too! We cannot imagine our lives without her sweet, loving, and spunky personality. Thank you, Manor Lake, for giving us the opportunity to be parents to Ellie and for the first time parent/pet owner’s guidance…we couldn’t be happier!

Our Christmas card would not be complete, without our baby so, Merry Christmas from the Peters’ Family (Bryan, Courtney, and Ellie) 2011.

I never got a chance to tell you how much we love our girl Roxanne- she is 100% perfect!

So smart and so well behaved- she is honestly the best tempered dog we have ever seen-

she is admired by all who see her -

I never got a chance to say “Thank you for our baby girl”

Regina

PS -is it common for this breed to always carry something in their mouth?

Thank you so much for the update on your beautiful little girl! To answer the question though, this is indeed something we see every so often!  One of our ladies, Emmie, is so silly with her toys!  She has a toy horse that she carries around, and when she can’t find it she will pick up even a soft doggy bed and drag it with her.  It’s one of the more endearing parts of her personality!

Kim -

She’s a world different than our last dog.  She’s very tolerant of the kids and likes everyone (people or animal) that she meets.  She’s a star at fetch.  Actually started it herself about the 3rd day home.  She’s great in the car.  Doesn’t cause a fuss when she needs to stay home alone either.  She even gets along with my parents dreaded chihuahua.  I can’t wait until it’s warm and see if she likes the water.  She rarely barks at anything.  I think the only time I’ve heard her bark is when she wants to play…  She does great on a leash and has been walking to the school twice a day since we got her.  Was worried I’d be one of those people carrying their dog around but that wore off after the first week -whew!  She is the star of school and all the kids know her.