A Sweet Goldendoodle Bernedoodle Friendship

As breeders, we get to spend a lot of time with dogs. We get to know them all deeply, and get to see their personalities come out throughout their lives. We also get to see how our dogs interact together.

Sometimes they don’t get along.

Sometimes they don’t pay any attention to each other.

However, sometimes our dogs become deep companions; pack mates who seem to really enjoy each other’s company. We’ve recently got to see a couple of our dogs - Yose and Maple - develop this kind of relationship. It’s been deliciously sweet to see, and it’s also been quite surprising.

Over the past year, both Yose’s guardian and Maple’s guardian situations didn’t work out. So we were on a quest to find caring and responsible guardian homes in Central Oregon for both of these wonderful mommas. It can be a complex process to explore whether it’s a mutually good fit for everyone involved, dogs included. So we love having conversations with people who may be interested in this possibility, to begin the dialogue about whether being a guardian is a good fit for them. We were having this conversation with a. family in the Prineville area who had previously gotten a dog from one of our previous litters. When Maple came back to us, we approached them about whether Maple could be a good fit for them as a guardian dog. For the most part, Maple was a great fit for them. However, Maple loved chasing their cat, so it wouldn’t work out for them. There’s a plot twist though, their parents - who also live in Prineville - fell in love with Maple ! So Maple stepped into their family, and it sounds like a great fit! Since we were searching for a Yose guardian home as well, Yose also started a trial with the Prineville family, and everyone has settled in. So both Maple and Yose have guardian homes in two generations of a the same family in Prineville!

Yose and Maple had previously interacted very little, but we were very hopeful for their interaction. Both Yose and Maple are confident, cheerful, and easy going dogs, who adore attention. Yose is almost a year older than Maple, and both of these mommas have been going through their journeys without spending too much time around each other. Yose has had a wide life experience. Yose has lived with both families and single individuals. She has also had a wide array of doggie roommates as well. Adaptable and initially cautious, Yose tends to make quick friends with a couple pets. Maple is our farm doodle; she’s spent much of her life with a family on a cattle ranch. She’ll chase the barn cats, be curious about the chickens, and it excited for a good frolicking time. Maple has also be friendly and cheerful throughout her life, rather going with the flow than asserting her will. All of these signs made us think that these two mommas would smoothly integrate with one another.

While both Yose and Maple are quite sociable, we’re unsure about how their motherhood hormones would impact their demeanor. The hormones of pregnant and nursing dogs go through radical shifting and transformation during that season, and it impacts how these dogs interact with other dogs. Mother dogs go through a lot in pregnancy and nursing as they grow and raise a litter of puppies, and this physiological shift leads to a shift in temperament and sociability. It’s nearly impossible to predict how this hormonal change will impact a dog’s behavior. However, we have noticed that our moms tend to become more grouchy, quarrelsome, and protective in pregnancy and nursing. It makes sense, because they’re hard wired to care for and protect their puppies, which invites assertiveness, autonomy, and a bit of paranoia. So while both Yose and Maple are typically happy-go-lucky, we were anticipating an unpredictable shift in their personalities and trying to plan accordingly.

So how has it gone? I can say that Yose and Maple have become great doggie friends! While they were both unsure of each other - particularly when the other got even close to their puppies, they have progressively warmed up to each other. They’ll play together, cuddle together, and even take naps leaning against one another. We’re still exercising caution with the litters because momma dogs are known to be rather unpredictable. Yet they are taking care of their own litters in close but separate whelping areas, and seem rather tolerant with one another in increasingly close quarters. I imagine that this doggie sisterhood will only grow stronger as they begin to distance themselves from their increasingly autonomous litters, and spend time with one another outside of the season of motherhood.

Seeing our dogs develop friendship with one another gives us deep gladness. This may sound funny, but it feels like when you have two friends - who you’ve interacted with seperately - and they become great friends after finally meeting. It’s like it compounds the love present throughout the friendship. We have a couple more weeks to see these two momma friends together before their puppies are weaned, and they both head back to their guardian families in Prineville. So we’re going to drink in this beautiful new friendship between Yose and Maple, and look forward to more stories of their joy together!

We just adore this journey; come join us!

Warmly,

Erin and Jay