At Powderhill, we are constantly tweaking and evolving the process for planning, breeding, marketing and delivering puppies to our clientele. Here is our current process (Updated September 7, 2020):
VERY IMPORTANT: Just about every Powderhill Puppy is sold before it is conceived. The likelihood of getting a puppy from us on just a week or a month's notice is less than 5%. This is due to the huge interest in Goldendoodles, limited supply of puppies, and a large following of prospective and returning customers that we have enjoyed through our many years as a breeder. We do plan litters extremely far in advance so we are able to tell you what types of Goldendoodles (or, to a much lesser extent, Golden Retrievers) we are planning up to 24 months away.
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We breed puppies throughout the year as our dams come into heat. People can call at any time to be added to our waiting list. If you wish to reserve a puppy, you will need to send a deposit check for $500.. The deposit is not refundable, however the deposit can be used on any future litter.
When sending a deposit check include your name, physical and email addresses, phone and the type and size of puppy you are seeking. Once litters are born and we have provided pictures and a male/female breakdown on our web site, we will start at the top of the list and call depositors who are seeking that type of puppy. We will tell you at that time, what pick number you will have for the litter.
(Note, this new system that was inacted this summer will not affect the people who have placed previous deposits for specific spaces on specific litters. Those people's choices will be honored first because their deposits were received first.)
Note, Powderhill reserves the right to take the first female from any litter in order to continue our breeding operations.
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Our dams usually become breedable on a six month heat cycle. We do not decide when any of our female dogs goes into their heat cycle – Mother Nature does, but it's usually every six months. Many times the lead female is followed closely by one or more of the other females, but this is not always the case. The dam is bred 10-15 days after her heat cycle begins..
At Powderhill, both dams and sires are health tested and DNA tested before being added to our breeding program. PHG reserves the right to substitute a different sire if necessary to enhance the potential for a successful litter. From the date of the first tie with the sire to the expected delivery date is nine weeks, but the delivery could take place up to 4-5 days before or after that date.
Once delivered, we prepare the mother and her puppies for their first picture, usually within 2 days, and we post that picture to the home page of our web site: www.powderhillgoldens.com
After they are born we allow the puppies to bond with their mother for a period of four weeks. This allows the mother to concentrate solely on nurturing her pups. The mother is fed frequently and given plenty of quiet time with her babies.
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| Puppy Pickup Day |
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At three weeks of age, we microchip and begin taking weekly pictures of each individual puppy. The microchip will stay with them for the rest of their lives; initially allowing us to assure each owner that they have the right puppy, and later helping those owners to find them if they are ever lost or stolen.
When the puppies are five weeks old we hold a Puppy Pick Saturday where the owners and their families can come to our location to meet us, meet the litter and select their puppy. The owners of the first pick of the litter must come first, then the owners of the second pick, etc… It’s a great opportunity for pictures and a unique chance to experience one of life’s great pleasures. Each family is given thirty minutes to select their puppy.
Pictures continue each week after Puppy Pick Day until week eight when the puppies are picked up. We also include some behind the scenes and informational pictures and video on our two social media sites, Facebook and Instagram. Our Facebook site is located at www.facebook.com/thisispowderhill .
On week eight, the puppies are ready to go home and each owner determines a specific time to pick up their puppy and take him/her home. Besides a food sample and a blanket scented with your puppy's littermates, we provide a binder that includes the Puppy’s initial health records, instructions for registering the microchip, our written guarantee, a lineage chart, care and feeding instructions, information on our NuVet Vitamin and Puppy Culture programs, a new collar and a toy.
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