Reid is a unique Golden Mountain Doodle who is going to be adored by that special someone!

Reid was born in our recent litter of Carly x Buster puppies. He was clearly the runt of the litter, which is normal for larger litters and not typically a problem. However, for some reason, his Mama seemed not to be caring for him with the consistency of the other puppies.

One night, when Reid was only three days old, Carly moved him to the outside of the “puppy pile,” where we found him the next morning, quite cold despite the very warm room temperature. We immediately plugged in our emergency “puppy incubator” and got him warmed up. We tube-fed him for a few days, until he gained strength enough to feed on his own and go back to his Mama.

Carly seemed to receive him at that point. Bekah got up at regular 2-3 hour intervals through the nights to keep a continued eye on Reid and supplementally feed him if it seemed necessary.

However, about a week later (in spite of things looking favorable), Carly put Reid outside the whelping box. We knew it would be very difficult for him to survive without a Mama to take care of him (even with being tube-fed), so we considered our options for a surrogate Mama among our other litters.

Trixi was the obvious answer. She had puppies last February and then skipped a heat after that. Even so, she tried to “adopt” other litters of puppies as her own, sneaking into the other Mamas’ whelping boxes and trying to “feed” the babies. We figured she would have no problem welcoming Reid, and we weren’t wrong.

Reid moved in with Trixi’s puppies, but there are quite a few of them, and they were a little more vigorous than he was at that stage. Trixi took care of him right away, and Bekah continued to monitor and supplement Reid as he seemed to need it.

A few days later, we noticed an abscess on Reid’s neck, which we assume came from a bite injury as Carly was removing him from the whelping box. We had it drained and began a course of antibiotics (never preferred, but in this case, necessary). That day, he gained the most to date–2 ounces! (Mini or medium puppies typically gain anywhere from 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce per day, and up to that point Reid had been steady at about 1/2 ounce per day, although we had a few days that were touch-and-go.)

He is still staying with Trixi’s litter and he is now being weaned along with his new litter mates. He’s developmentally about a week behind where he should be, but doing great considering his early circumstances! He’s eating soaked puppy food and still being supplemented with puppy formula if it seems he is not staying full enough.

Even though Reid is technically supposed to be a “medium” Golden Mountain Doodle, based on his current weight (as compared with our weight records of both medium and mini GMDs) he will likely only get to be 15-20 lbs adult size (definitely more “mini” than medium!).

There’s a special someone out there who will consider this very special puppy. Get in touch if that could be you!

Reid looks a little scruffy in his first photos, but his fur is fuzzy and soft. Of course, he’s getting lots of extra snuggles and pets. He is an adorable tan and white parti. You can see Reid in the “medium” litter of Carly and Buster at www.carrierfamilydoodles.com/puppies.