Salt Lake Pet Photographer || Beehive Fur Friends Goldendoodle Breeder
Watching my mom, Stephanie, not just start a dog breeding business but pour her heart and soul into it has been quite an experience for our family. This is her third litter of puppies, and I have to say I am so impressed with her! My mom started Beehive Fur Friends as a passion for loving animals and as someone who understands that finding a forever family pet is not a decision to be taken lightly.
My family has all taken part in "puppy watch" - the days leading up to Mika delivering her pups. There's definitely a general excitement through the family since daddy dog is my sister's dog, too. And The Dude and Mika make perfect puppies. Once she goes into labor, the FaceTime videos and family chats rev up! Watching the birth of babies is beyond describable (which is why I LOVE doing birth stories!), and it's still pretty special to watch the birth of a new pup, too. There's definitely an awe over Mika's mama instinct with each puppy. It's so tender!
Within a day of the puppies' births, my mom starts doing neuro stimulation with them. This is one of the reasons why her puppies are such great family dogs. From day one, these puppies go through training and sensory exposures which allows them to be mindful and adaptive of their surroundings. The training and care only continues from there. My mom lives for these puppies while they are in her home. They are fed the best food, given lots of exposures to new people as part of their training, kennel trained, and potty trained. She loves them all so much.
I know there are a lot of advocates out there for "Adopt, Don't Shop." I completely understand their point of views, but watching these puppies go to their forever homes, following the families and the pups' growth, and being around these dogs and feeling their calming presence has instilled in me a passion for people choosing the RIGHT dog for their family. I'm not a dog or animal person - AT ALL. Animals tend to scare me. We think it's because we had a terrier dog when I was little and it would bite my feet. But we don't really know. My entire family are dog and animal people. My parents, Josh's parents, all of my siblings who live on their own, and both of Josh's siblings have dogs and/or cats. To say I'm constantly surrounded by animals is an understatement - except in our house. I tried to be a dog person for my kids, but it's never worked out for us because I just don't have that part in me! But these puppies have an ability to calm me. My mom pretty much started breeding right after I started the divorce process. Having puppies to be around, to hold, to pet, to sit on me - it definitely makes a difference when I'm feeling sad, depressed, frustrated, or lonely. One of the puppies from the last litter is actually starting his training to be an emotional support animal for a family member with PTS from being a solider. It's my strong belief that these dogs are bred and trained to be this way for all of their owners and families. I'm so proud of my mom for her efforts to create such perfect family pets.
