Five Pack Highlights from 2025
As we enter into the second half of 2025, let’s take a trip and review five of our pack highlights from the past six months. 2025 has gone by so fast, so taking some time of reflection helps us remember these sources of gratitude, and learn from what we’ve been through. We’ve covered a lot of ground and are stunned about what we’ve experienced in 2025.
Our last litter from our first generation of moms
When we sent Klaire’s litter of mini Bernedoodles home in June, we also retired our first generation of our moms. This generation - we include Honey, Luna, Winnie, Rosie, Belle, Yose, and Klaire - was our first cohort of High Desert Family Doodle mommas. We deeply cherish this group of beautiful dogs, and are thankful for the journey with them. We learned and grew a lot with them, and deeply fell in love with this wonderful and sacred process as we helped these mommas welcome their puppies into their world, along with nurturing these puppies for the eight weeks. Puppies from these litters go from coast to coast, and some of them even enjoy international travel (lucky!). Luckily all of these mommas still live in the central Oregon area. Honey and Luna are with us, and the others are enjoying their guardian home life. As I reflect on this change in the seasons, I’m filled with a deep gratitude to see these mommas grow from puppies to momma who love their puppies with a deep maternal instinct that seems to flower at the perfect time. Thank you ladies for such a wonderful few years!
Plum and Chloe showing Cabo to us was a blast!
When we had a window of no puppies in February, our family took a trip to visit Plum and her guardian family in Cabo San Lucas! We were able to go from frigid central Oregon to a deliciously warm coastal Mexico climate. We spent a lot of time around water: riding boats, swimming in pools, and walking on beaches. It was a wonderful opportunity to have a little family vacation in a short gap between litters. The cuisine didn’t disappoint either! I ate my fair share of tacos and churros. We were even able to fit in a date night at at the local fancy sports bar, while are kids were having a great time with their grandparents. Plum seemed like she was enjoying herself, as she spent much of her day switching between napping in the sun and napping in the shade.
Addie cuddles a Bernedoodle puppy on the way to San Francisco
Over the course of 2025, we’ve been able to deliver two of our puppies to the San Francisco area, and each of these trips had their own special sparkle to it. At the end of January, Jay was able to have Addie join him on a San Francisco puppy delivery. They were able to turn it into a special daddy-daughter date day around SF: seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, walking the Wharf, riding in a Waymo, and enjoying the Bay area’s best chocolate croissant! Our new puppy family was even able to play the host, giving us some of their favorite recommendations. What a day! On the second trip in late April, Erin was able to deliver a puppy to one of her San Diego college teammates in San Francisco. She was able to have a day of quality time with an old friend, catching up on life after years; it was a day of full hearts. It’s just a special privilege to have one of our puppies join a family that we love!
New Mini Bernedoodle Stud Arlo is enjoying the beach with his guardian family!
In 2025, two new boys joined our program. Arlo - a mini bernedoodle puppy - and Bear - a mini goldendoodle puppy - are hopeful studs for us provided they pass all of their health-testing, and there isn’t any other red flags. Both of these good boys came from Colorado, and have been stupendous dogs from the start. They each have straight coats and are fully furnished. Arlo has some strong tan points in his phantom coat, while Bear is a deep red with some abstract white markings. Arlo is getting all the love in his guardian home in Prineville, Oregon, and Bear is enjoying himself in his Sandy, Oregon guardian home. Both these good boys have passed most of their health screenings; the only tests left are a cardiac and patella screening which should happen in the next couple months. We’re hopeful for these two studs, as they would be wonderful members of our program.
Dog Yard Updates
Mini Goldendoodle stud Rudy is enjoying our new turf!
In the midst of this, we’ve been making some incremental improvements to our puppy pens and adult dog yard. We erected a covered structure in our puppy yard with power for lighting and heating. It does a great job providing some shelter from the weather - both hot and cold. We also spent much of the spring and summer installing irrigation and planting grass seed throughout the yard. We previously had a small section of turf grass, and that was surrounded by cheatgrass and foxtail. Now there’s an approximate acre of turf, giving our adult dogs plenty of space to sniff, play, and chase birds, without worrying about getting cheatgrass on them. We’re thankful of how’s its turned out so far, and are looking forward to it getting more and more healthy!
The first part of 2025 has been magical! We’re deeply thankful for this journey; it can be dizzying and exhausting, and also be thrilling and compelling. As we look towards the second half of 2025, and a number of pending litters, we’re anticipating a surprising and thrilling second half of 2025. Stay tuned to our journey, as we strive to raise the best Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles on the west coast!
Warmly,
Erin and Jay