Bringing Your Puppy Home

We are often asked if we have a list of items people should purchase before bringing their new Goldendoodle puppy home. The following are some thoughts we had that might help guide you in getting started training and raising your new puppy.

We usually recommend a wire cage vs. the airline-type crates. Probably a 36″ will work for most of the Goldendoodles. They make some nice pads to go in them as well. Look for a cage that has a movable divider so you can make the cage smaller while the puppy is young and then increase the size as the puppy grows. The idea is to have a small space so the puppy won’t be tempted to potty and then still have room to lay down without getting in it. If the cage doesn’t have a divider, a box works as a temporary fix (that is until they chew up the box !!). We also use K9 Ballistics beds for our dogs and we love them!! They’re tough and come in a variety of styles and colors.

We feed Purina One +Plus. It comes in a red bag and there are several different formulas so look for “Healthy Puppy Formula” on the end and/or front of the bag. We will give you a small, sample bag. The puppies will be eating dry puppy chow when you pick them up. If they don’t eat well to begin with, try a little warm milk or water on the puppy chow to get them started. Most puppies will do fine on a twice-a-day feeding schedule. Start with about ½ cup of puppy chow. If all of this is consumed in about 15 minutes or so, then increase the amount a little at the next feeding.

Baby gates are very helpful in restricting the area of the house the puppy is allowed to explore on his/her own. For a wide doorway that is too big for a baby gate, the pet stores carry a metal portable, folding play yard fencing that can be stretched across the opening. It’s the type we probably had the puppies in when you came to visit. We set them up in a circle for the puppies to play in.

The puppies will come with a collar so you may want to wait and buy the nice, fancy collar after they are a little older and have pretty much grown up. The puppy collar we send with the new puppy will work for a short while to get you through at least part of the growing stage. In most cases, your puppy will be too young to be trained to walk on a leash. However, bringing one along when you pick up your puppy is helpful if you plan to stop for a potty break on your way home.

Other items that are helpful to have for the return home trip are paper towels, a bath or beach towel if you plan to hold the puppy and a trash bag. Puppies are sometimes prone to motion-sickness in the car and these items are very handy to have should this happen.

Consider signing up for a Puppy Training class. There are private trainers, classes at many of the pet stores and now we are very excited to be partners with BAXTER & Bella. It is an online puppy training program that is for your pet’s lifetime and includes all types of training modules, podcast and even one-on-one Zoom appointments with a canine professional trainer !! Check out the article on our blog page. There are links to tell you how it all works and a discount code. This will get your puppy off to a great start and help you with how to teach your puppy do’s and don’ts.

We usually don’t recommend a specific book on how to raise a puppy. Raising a puppy is much like raising your children. Everyone will tell you how it should be done !! We do endorse “crate training” as it provides a place in your home that the puppy can go when they want time out from their humans. The crate will became a safe, quite place for them to rest. There is a blog on crate training on our blog page.

You will receive a Health Record that has all of the information your vet will need including the type of vaccinations they have received and their deworming record. It will also contain a photo of the parents. You’ll also receive the CKC (and AKC, if applicable) registration should you decide to register your pet.

Each puppy will have a microchip in place when you pick them up. The registration fee for your puppy’s chip was included in your initial deposit and the registration is for life. You will receive information to set up your account with BuddyID. Through this site, you can update address/phone number changes as well as access training videos and other information.

Don’t forget that as part of our contract, you must sign up for the 30-days free Trupanion Pet Insurance. You may do this as early as the time that you select your puppy and up to the day after you pick up the puppy BUT it has to be on or past the puppy’s 8-week birthday.  The Trupanion code is:  BR1HH102914.

The following are subjects that should be discussed at your puppy’s first wellness visit at the vet’s office:

  • Additional vaccinations including rabies

  • Flea protection

  • Heartworm protection

  • Internal parasite control

  • Spay/Neuter

You might want to consider joining “Hummingbird Doods” on Facebook. It is a page that our clients have set up so that they can network with other owners of HHF puppies. It’s a great place to brag on your puppy and keep up with littermates, etc.

Join Our Waiting List Today!

  • 10 FAQs and Goldendoodles
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    Goldendoodle Questions: (1)   Do I need an appointment to visit the puppies ?  Yes. Please contact us for an appointment. We are not always home so we like to know you are coming. (2)   What are the prices of your puppies? There is a link on our website that explains our pricing and also what puppies are available. (3)   Are there any important things I should know before bringing my puppy home ? On our website, there is a link called “Bringing Your Puppy Home”. It contains the name of the food our puppies are eating as well as other tidbits we feel new puppy owners may find helpful (4)   What are the generations I hear about F1b, F2b and such? A helpful blog is on our website that explains the different generations. It can be confusing but it’s really basic math. We never really know for certain, what % of Poodle vs Golden Retriever  a puppy may inherit (5)  How long until I can bring my puppy home ? It is basically 4 months from conception until a puppy is ready […]
  • Over Vaccination
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    Many years ago, I read an interesting article written by a vet from NCSU that spoke at the World Organization for Animal Health about over vaccination in animals.  It prompted me to continue searching for other information about autoimmune reactions to overvaccinations.   We had two events where puppies we had bred were over vaccinated and then developed an autoimmune disease.  This led us to include a clause in our Purchase Agreement that specifies certain vaccines be spaced apart and  for multiple vaccinations not to be given at a single vet appointment. Occasionally, we will hear from an owner that their vet did not recognize the vaccine(s) that were given by us.  It is understandable that a vet doesn’t want your puppy to have received a vaccine that was purchased at the local farm supply store that someone removed from the refrigerator, decided they were not going to buy it and laid it on a shelf.  It lays there a couple hours when an employee spots it and puts it back in […]
  • Trupanion’s New Enrollment Window
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    For a 9 years we have offered 30 days free pet insurance through Trupanion.  Hummingbird Hill Farm was one of the first breeders to partner with Trupanion.  We have had many, many owners tell us how thankful they were that they maintained the coverage on their GD.  (Doodles are known for eating ANYTHING….squeakers, socks, underwear, etc !)  Now Trupanion has a new way of allowing owners to sign up as early as the time when they select their puppy.  This will allow you to enroll around the puppy’s age of 6 weeks.  It will be one less thing to do on the take home day as that day is usually filled with excitement and new adventures! The following is the announcement sent out by Trupanion: To celebrate 9 years of the Trupanion Breeder Support Program, we’ve been hard at work making exciting updates to your exclusive Go Home Day Offer. We’ve extended the activation window for your buyers, so they’re now able to activate their Go Home Day Offer anytime from match date until 24 […]
  • Male vs. Female
    Goldendoodle puppies for Sale GoldenDoodles
    We are often asked which is better, male or female.  We posed that question to our vet and this was her response:  In some of the more aggressive breeds, male vs female is a real consideration.  In Goldendoodles, it is generally not a real concern. It seems to be personal  preference.  Many people think females are easier to house train.  We have even heard people say that males will not completely empty their bladder and then come in the house and mark.  Leaving a dog in tack can definitely cause marking.  Neutering before the testosterone starts kicking in seems to  stop the marking syndrome.  From experience, we will never have an unneutered male in our house again. Currently, we have in our home a neutered male Standard Poodle, and two females.  One female is a moyen Poodle and the other a Goldendoodle.  All three are faithful to their people and totally in love with us.    Personality seems to be the same in females and males. There is a lot of opinions on the internet but it […]
  • Professional Training Option
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    We are very fortunate to offer our owners access to a really wonderful trainer !  Steve Fields has been training dogs for over 40 years.  He has experience in a wide range of expertise from service dogs to drug sniffing dogs.  If you want to hear about Steve from our owners, go on the Facebook page, Hummingbird Doods, and just ask! If you chose for your puppy to go to the trainer, we take the  puppy to him when he/she is  8 weeks old directly from our farm.  Prior to leaving for the 30 days at the trainer, we take them to our vet for a puppy exam.  This visit releases you from the  requirement in our Purchase Agreement that the puppy goes to the vet within 5 business days (Terms and Conditions, item #2).  The puppy also receives its 9 week vaccination while at the trainer’s. There are two options for puppy training: $500 ~ This includes crate/house training and walking on a loose leash (Manners).  This plan allows for you to take one private training session with your puppy […]
  • Newby Blogger
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    This is my first blog ever but I think it will be a great place to catch everyone up on what is happening with our Goldendoodles here at Hummingbird Hill Farm. Our mother Goldendoodle dogs have all decide to cycle at once so we have a lot of upcoming Goldendoodle puppies, Miniature Poodle puppies and Standard Poodle puppies due between now and April. The Goldendoodle pups that are due range in size from miniature to standard. The Miniature Poodle pups will be borderline Toys and we are hoping to keep some MIniature Poodles (females) from crosses to JP as he is going on 13 years old ! The Standard Poodle pups will be moyen insize (Registered as Standard Poodles but only weighing 35-45 lbs avg). Please take a look at our Available and Upcoming Puppies page. There you will find what puppies we have available and what upcoming litters that we are expecting. Our website is updated multiple times per week and the date of the editing is located at the bottom of each page. Thanks for reading […]
  • Times are certainly changing !!
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    Wow, even things have changed on the farm with social distancing and all the other related Covid-19 changes to everyone’s lives. (The Goldendoodles, Miniature Poodles and Standard Poodles are all still happy and enjoying the warmer weather. Social distancing is not in their vocabulary !) We have tried to limit visitors as much as possible. We no longer shake your hand when you come or hug you when you pick up your puppy. Weather permitting, we are even doing pick ups outside instead of instead of in our home. I have been off for going on 3 weeks now and it has allowed me to keep our listing of Goldendoodle puppies and Standard Poodle puppies (Moyen) up to date. Our Upcoming Puppies page is also up to date with two litters of Miniature Poodle puppies due later this month. You actually might notice a lot of upcoming litters of Goldendoodle pups and Miniature Poodle pups arriving in the near future. This is because of the “dormitory effect”. When female dogs are housed […]
  • To crate train or not to crate train ?
    Goldendoodle puppies for Sale GoldenDoodles
    This subject is brought up at almost every puppy pick up ! We are advocates of crate training. A crate gives your dog a place of their very own. Sometimes they want a break from “their people” and a crate/cage gives them this safe place. Around 10:00 PM every night, my Miniature Poodle will hop off my lap and go to bed in his crate ! If I say “Kennel up”, my dogs run to their crates and wait for the treat they know is coming. (David says not to give them a treat every time they go in their crates as they will expect it. I say give them a treat. I am not sure why it matters if they expect it or not !?!) If you choose not to crate train, you will need to have a means to confine the puppy to a very small area particularly after they eat. If they have free rein of the house, they will sneak off and potty and you will struggle to get them house trained. There are many articles on the internet that will guide you in how to house train. Find one that works for you […]
  • Puppy Training ~ On Line !
    Goldendoodle puppies for Sale GoldenDoodles
    We are super excited to share that we have found an amazing online training option for all of our puppy families. BAXTER & Bella’s exclusive online puppy school has agreed to now offer our families an instant 25% savings off of their Lifetime Unlimited Membership! USE OUR UNIQUE DISCOUNT CODE: HHF25 In short, their easy-to-use and fun-to-follow online dog training program provides everything you will need in order to successfully train your new puppy and achieve better animal ownership and experience the very best in canine companionship! Inclusive of more than 75 lessons, over 100 how-to videos, printable chart & checklists, as well as lifetime access to so many other supporting resources, their team of puppy parenting professionals are committed to helping you successfully integrate your new canine companion into your life, family and home, and they even include unlimited one-on-one video-enabled video coaching, phone calling, events, classes and courses too! You can […]