Meet Kal!

Just like his namesake from Superman, Kal is no ordinary puppy — his is super! From the moment you meet you’ll fall in love. Friendly, playful, snuggly, and irresistibly adorable, this guy bring joy to every moment and will offer a lifetime of love and companionship!

At 4 months of age, Kal is 99% potty trained, crate trained, and has a strong foundation in basic puppy manners. He loves other dogs, is great with kids, and is always up for adventures. His early socialization has set him up to grow into the kind of well-adjusted companion every family dreams of.

Apply for consideration for adoption here!

Meet the Parents: Cassie & River!

Cassie is a joyful and loving girl! We are pretty sure she thinks she’s half human! She loves to cuddle, play, watch birds, and hang with her family! This happy-go-lucky girl is a ray of sunshine wherever she goes. Cassie is an “old soul” who love everyone she meets and never has a bad day. She is a wonderful example of what an Australian Labradoodle should be! She lives with her awesome Guardian Family and enjoys spending all of her time with them. We are so excited about her contributions to our program here at Lumar.

Daddy River is an absolutely stunning boy with a loving and gentle spirit. We are so thankful to have this boy contribute to our program. His puppies are just like their daddy—gentle, loving, affectionate, and happy-go-lucky! Several of them are working as therapy and emotional support doggos. River loves to meet new people, play with doggie friends, and snuggle with his humans. He is a wonderful ambassador for the Australian Labradoodle breed, bringing smiles wherever he goes!! River is a mini in size with a gorgeous silky fleece coat that is caramel. His hazel eyes are human-like and deeply soulful. 

Both of these parents are fully tested to the ALAA Gold Paw standard! Their puppies will have red fleece coats that are non-shedding and hypoallergenic and will finish around 18-24lbs and go home mid-September.

If you would like to apply for a Cassie puppy, complete an application here.

Welcome to the world, little ones. It's been waiting for you!

This litter is ah-maz-ing! Lumar is proud to introduce our Heroes in Literature puppies!

Your decision to adopt a Lumar Labradoodle is exciting and we are looking forward to working with you to help you find the perfect puppy for YOUR unique family!

The Reservation Fee of $500, puppy cost in the amount of $3500, plus $300 in sales tax, are due, for a total of $3800.

Time to Prepare!

At this time we recommend you begin preparing to bring puppy home. The first step is to order your PawTree Puppy Starter Kit! You will find the essential nutrition and treat products that Lumar recommends to get your puppy off to a great start! https://shop.pawtree.com/lumar/myrecommendation/Products-Lumar-Loves

We have a list of other recommended supplies, such as shampoo, crate, and toys, under Puppy Care.

Your puppy will need a crate! Be sure to get the crate with the divider, which you will use to keep puppy’s space small when little (it helps with potty training!) and their space will be larger when older. Your pup will need a crate that is at least 24 or 30 inches, and 36 is great if you have the size!

24 inch crate: https://tinyurl.com/5xx3ys2n

36 inch crate: https://amzn.to/3U1yNPA

If you have space, size up! As an adult dog, you want your pooch to have room to stand up and turn around freely! Crate training is important for many reasons, including help with potty training, giving puppy/adult dog a safe space to be unsupervised, providing a place for a nap, reducing anxiety, and setting proper boundaries.

Please use the crate for your doggo’s entire life, even if they spend less time there as they grow! The crate is a safe and happy space for your doggo–think of it as their “bedroom”! Also, when doggo goes to the groomer and even sometimes at the vet, they will be crated. You don’t want additional stress of the crate experience being unfamiliar to them. Please use the crate for at least an hour per day for your dog’s whole life so they remain content and comfortable there. This will be especially important as your pooch ages.

There are three videos! Please watch them in order.

Video 1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbHiSxSSZU
Video 2: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yFKLjv69yNo
Video 3: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iYxXU4G3Y4Y

Preventatives

Fleas and Ticks

PLEASE pay special attention to the “black box” products listed above. The list is not comprehensive, so the rule of thumb is to say NO to **all** oral flea preventatives. They are newer, not as well tested as the topicals, and many ALDs have had bad reactions to them, including seizures and even death. It’s not worth the risk to your beloved pooch!

Heartworms

Heartgard is important for heartworm prevention! (NOTE: If you use Revolution/Stronghold, Heartgard is NOT needed. If using other topical flea preventions, it is necessary.

Resources

Check out our amazon page for recommendations on toys, snuffle and lick mats, treats, and just about everything else your pup will need! https://www.amazon.com/shop/lumaraustralianlabradoodles

We especially recommend reading: The Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell. It’s a great introduction to puppies and their needs!

One of my favorite dog trainers has finally written a book! Adam Spivey of the amazing Southend Dog Training group in the UK has an uncanny understanding of canine behavior and shares it in a practical and easy to understand format in his book, How to Raise the Perfect Dog.

If you have children, the book “Raising Puppies & Kids Together: A Guide for Parents” by Silvani is a must-read as well!

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days by Dr. Sophia Yin is wonderful! Highly recommend this one!

Training

This is the time to look for a qualified TRAINER to help you being teaching your puppy. It’s important to start Puppy Kindergarten GROUP classes as soon as you bring puppy home!

In addition to this, we also highly recommend an online training program called Baxter & Bella which offers LIFETIME support at a very reasonable price. You can receive a substantial discount using our code “LUMAR25”!  https://www.baxterandbella.com/

Snuggle Puppy

Want to make the transition home easier? Here’s a way! This adorable stuffed animal, the Snuggle Puppy, mimics the heartbeat sound of mama and has the scent of your puppy’s litter mates. It will provide tremendous comfort for your pup! Let us know if you’d like to purchase this for your little one! Snuggle puppies are $50

Frequent Questions & Answers

When can we begin obedience classes? You can start puppy kindergarten right away! We provide vet records as well as proof of puppy’s first round of vaccines. A reputable trainer will require that of all the pups, so you can be assured that everyone is healthy and vaccinated! (Particularly for the pathogen that is the biggest risk to a young puppy: Parvo. But also for distemper and influenza.) We give the first vaccine at 7wks and provide a schedule so you can continue the series with your own vet. After Puppy K, we recommend Basic, then Intermediate, then Advanced obedience classes. The more work you do NOW, the better behaved your puppy will be as an adult! PLEASE work with your puppy to attain their Canine Good Citizen certification. This hard work with bring you YEARS of rewards with a doggie who is happy, balanced, and polite–rather than one who is naughty, pulls on the leash, and jumps on people and counter surfs!

When does my puppy need to see the vet? Please set up a wellness and “get to know you visit” with your vet for within the first 3 days that your puppy is home. However, be aware that your puppy will NOT need any vaccines at that first appointment, nor should they receive any. They will have just had their first vax and it won’t be time for the next one yet! The next vaccine will be at 10 weeks of age.

When does socialization start? After all of the vaccines, right? Actually, socialization has already started, AND it’s CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to begin your own plan of socialization right away! Do not avoid socialization just because the vaccine series has not yet finished. Lack of socialization is a greater risk to puppy. We follow the recommendations of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. Please read their statement on this topic:  Here!

What is socialization anyway? Is it meeting a bunch of new people? Making new human friends is important, but there’s more to socialization than just that! Socialization means exposure to new and novel stimuli in small and controlled ways so that puppy learns new things are not frightening. Your pooch needs exposure to new sights, smells, sounds, experiences, places, and interactions. So everything from new people to dogs you know are healthy/vaccinated/well-behaved (and under their owner’s control!) to rivers and lakes and car rides and cars passing on busy city streets. Have friends and neighbors into your house to visit, and take your dog to visit others. Play different styles of music, NPR, and sounds of thunderstorms, trains, and crying babies. Go visit a skate park and let your puppy watch, and attend sporting events or visit dog-friendly cafes. Attend training classes as much as possible, and take puppy out and about in your community to practice her new skills! And introduce puppy to people who don’t look or sound like you do. For the first 100 days at home, expose your puppy to something new every single day–whether it’s field trip to a new place, making a new friend, or sniffing a few tree on a walk. NOTE: No dog parks, EVER! They are unsanitary, germy, and you do not know how the other dogs will behave. More importantly, there is absolutely no benefit to your dog in meeting a new doggo off leash in an uncontrolled situation. Dogs have been seriously injured under those circumstances.

Here is a great checklist for socialization!

What size collar does my new puppy need? Your puppy will come with a collar that fits. Please be sure that you have a lightweight puppy/cat leash. We do not recommend harnesses. ALDs are smart and eager to please and will learn to walk politely on a leash very quickly with consistent and gentle instruction. If you find your dog starts pulling their leash as they grow, please do NOT resort to a harness to change the situation! That’s a training issue, not an equipment failure! For regular walks and general outings, just a collar and leash will work perfectly! You will teach your puppy this, and an advantage of enrolling in Baxter and Bella NOW is that you can start watching their videos and be prepared to introduce your puppy to the leash in the correct way!

Also, in the dog world a harness is a signal to a dog that it is going to do “ work.” Unless you are training your doggo for service or therapy work, he will never need a harness. And finally, the other issue with harnesses is that there are dozes of different types and they all work in unique ways. If someone else needs to care for your dog and they don’t know how to operate your harness properly, it could result in tragedy. Whereas almost everyone knows how to properly put a dog in a collar!

Reminders

We offer delivery!

Please TEXT Kristina if you would like more information! 757-943-1615.  Our younger Lumar team members love to make puppy deliveries! (Ah to be young again when we thought driving up and down I-95 was fun!)

If you want to come to our home to pick up your puppy, that is fine too! Just text your address if you would like delivery. 

Puppy Matches: I know you are excited to learn which puppy will be yours, but please be patient with us. First, we need to have the 7wk vet visit to make sure all the puppies are healthy. Second, we like to wait as long as possible to give us more time to get to know the puppies’ personalities and temperaments. We usually make puppy matches just a few days before Go Home to ensure that we are thorough in our process. We will send your puppy match with a picture and a description of YOUR unique puppy at that time! Trust us–it’s worth waiting for!!

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee a specific gender and do not take requests. We do not have gender differences in our breed the way some breeds do. Your puppy will be spayed or neutered and will become essentially “genderless” at that point anyway! You will love your puppy for WHO it is, regardless of gender!

Blessings, Kristina & the Lumar Crew

A note about timing: please realize that Mother Nature is always in charge. ALL DATES are estimates and cannot be guaranteed. We ask our families to keep an open-mind when it comes to a timeline.  

Meet Lily Potter! She is 100% crate trained, potty trained, well-socialized, and amazing with basic obedience. Like all of our pups, she is non-shedding and hypoallergenic and comes from health tested lines. Lily is fully vaccinated and vetted. She loves people of all ages and is especially gentle and sweet with young children and those with special needs. She would be a phenomenal therapy dog or Emotional Support Animal!

Lily is gentle, happy-go-lucky, loving, and playful. She is happy going on adventures or snuggling on the couch! She is super smart and learns new things quickly. She adores all other doggos and is even gentle and sweet toward our “Grouchy Old Uncle Cat,” Foxy! Lily has a rock solid temperament and nothing phases her. She’s a snuggle bug who is happiest when she’s with us. She has been enrolled in our Bright Beginnings Early Training Program and she is our star doggie! She learns new things quickly and is so intuitive and sweet-natured.

Lily walks well on a leash and knows recall as well as “sit.” “down,” “place,” “wait,” and is learning “leave it” as well as a long stay. She’s a wonderful pooch who has a heart of gold! She’s playful, gentle, easy-going, and affectionate! She will mature to around 20lbs and has a gorgeous silky smooth fleece coat. Lily is available to an approved home.

See Lily and learn more about our Bright Beginnings Advanced Puppy Training Program in the video below!

If you would like to apply to adopt Lily or another of our puppies, the best place to start is by, completing an application here.

My new puppy is here!!

Now what??

The first day home is exciting, wonderful, overwhelming, scary, and HUGE for you and puppy! The first step is to relax and enjoy. Puppy will grow (much faster than you think!) so take lots of pictures; puppy needs structure, so create a routine; puppy needs to bond, so give tons of snuggles; this journey will sometimes be exhausting and difficult, so try to keep your sense of humor and laugh along the way! Remember that puppy will feed off of your energy. If you are stressed and anxious, she will be too. If you are exhausted and frustrated, so is he. Stay calm, take it slowly, and recognize that you and your puppy will make progress slowly and steadily. Before you know it, puppy will sleep through the night in his crate without a fuss, he will be toilet trained and learning tricks, and you’ll wonder where that tiny little guy went!

333 is an important reminder that your puppy is a BABY and has a lot of growing and learning to do. Don’t set your expectations too high. Just relax and enjoy the journey.

Getting Started

Here’s a To Do list of what to do first!

1. Begin crate and potty training; Create a plan and discuss it with all members of the household. Be consistent and predictable and your puppy will thrive!
2. Never remove puppy from crate while it’s whining/fussing
3. First vet visit; Reminder to take health form and vaccine schedule with you!
4. Register puppy’s microchip; see email from us with instructions
5. Sign up for puppy kindergarten classes in you haven’t already
6. Relax, take lots of pictures, laugh, snuggle, and enjoy the process!

Resources

If you haven’t found a good trainer and registered for puppy kindergarten, do it NOW! Look for a trainer who is positive, gentle, structured, and willing to include the whole family in the journey. Remember to do IN-PERSON training classes. Your puppy will learn from other puppies and dogs and will also enjoy the socialization! And your dog trainer will become your new best friend!

REMINDER: It’s important to start Puppy Kindergarten GROUP classes as soon as possible! You do NOT need to wait until the vaccine series is completed.

We highly recommend the online training program Baxter & Bella, which offers LIFETIME support at a very reasonable price. They have a huge database of videos, tips, resources, and ideas to guide you in the process of teaching puppy! You can receive a substantial discount using our code “LUMAR25”!  https://www.baxterandbella.com/

We recommend several awesome puppy training books! Find them here.

There are also good videos available to help with specific issues. We are going to recommend and link a lot of the resources shared by Southend Dog Training. Unfortunately for most of us, they are located in the UK! But they have posted a huge library of resources on social media. ((Disclaimer: We love trainer Adam Spivey with Southend, but he does use colorful language to make his points, so some of his videos may not be suited for young children! Parental discretion is advised.))

First, let’s start with the basics!

Potty Training (aka”Potty Learning” or “Toilet Training”)

Please read, re-read, and re-re-read the potty learning booklet we included in your pup’s folder.

It is short, sweet, and to the point! Follow the instructions carefully, and your puppy will catch on quickly.

If you are having trouble, here are some good resources for potty AND crate training!

As you can see, crate training is an essential part of toilet training!

Crate Training

We cannot stress enough how important crate training is! While, as stated above, crate training is an important factor in potty training, we should also remember a few other key details. Making puppy’s crate a safe, comfortable environment is important for puppy’s safety in certain situations. This can be accomplished by feeding them in their crate, putting toys inside, and leading puppy into crate time with a treat! We also want to ensure puppy is happy in their crate for times when you are not at home or puppy is being watched by family or friends. Furthermore, when traveling with puppy, the crate can often be the safest place to be and we do not want puppy unhappy and crying during the journey. Additionally, it is good for both your puppy and your family to have time apart.

Remember WHEN crate training, puppy will protest! — Do not praise this behavior; simply ignore it. While this may be difficult, it is vital that you do not pity puppy because being in a crate is not harmful. It is a positive thing, for now and for the future. Puppy is safe, and while it may not initially like the crate, it is in its best interest. Puppies need time to relax, just like humans. Crate training also helps to ward off separation anxiety and remember — raising/training a puppy is a challenge! Sometimes everyone needs a break! It is very important that puppy learns create training early so that when they are older, it is not an issue.

Puppy Nipping!

We highly recommend the online training program Baxter & Bella, which offers LIFETIME support at a very reasonable price. They have a huge database of videos, tips, resources, and ideas to guide you in the process of teaching puppy! You can receive a substantial discount using our code “LUMAR25”!  https://www.baxterandbella.com/

REMINDER: If you haven’t already, please find a qualified local TRAINER to partner with you in getting puppy off to a great start.

Some additional short videos to help with puppy nipping:

Things to remember about nipping:

First and foremost, puppy nipping is NORMAL! While this is not uncommon and part of puppy nature, it is important to correct such behavior while they are still young. Instead of allowing your puppy to nip or chew on things they should not, give them something they can chew on! Nipping, biting, and chewing are all results of your puppy being a puppy. Therefore, we do not want to punish for this behavior. Instead, we can use positive reinforcement, such as toys, and reward only after the nipping stops. It is also important that when puppy is chewing, we do not make it a game. We want puppy to get bored of chewing on things they should not, such as fingers, and learn that hands are for pets and rubs instead.

Remember: Puppy is a “baby dog” and needs naps.

Nipping mostly happens when puppy is tired and overstimulated. Time for a nap!

Key points:

1. Puppy nipping, biting, or chewing is NORMAL!
2. If or when puppy does try to nip, don’t make it a game! — Redirect puppy’s attention with a chew toy!
3. If redirection doesn’t work, it’s time for a nap in the crate.
4. Reward with praise or a treat when puppy stops biting!

Toys & Chewies

Say hello to Gunnar! He is here to reinforce the idea that toys and chewies are very important! It is important to remember that while puppy may really like some toys, there will likely be some they do not.

Variety is also important to keep puppy entertained because, like human kids, they can get bored very easily.

Some of our favorite chewies & toys

are linked and described on our Amazon Storefront here.

Socialization!

Socialization is SO important! The videos below help outline that fact and guide you on the correct way to do so, and the images are suggestions of how to socialize and places to go.