Puppy Raising
Parents
Before puppies are officially here we start with the parents. Before we consider breeding any of our dogs we conduct all breed required health testing to the breed club's standards. These test are done when they are under 2 years old and then all retested once they are over the age of 2. We also dedicate a lot of time trying to title them in a variety of venues. This shows that each parent have stable temperaments and also to show their versatility. Another step we take with our parent dogs is making sure throughout their lives that they are given a healthy diet and supplements to help support their joints/bones!
Pregnancy
Our dams are given the best care while they are pregnant. We go above and beyond on giving them proper nutrition, vet visits as needed, and more. Once they start getting closer to their due dates we keep them closely monitor with a baby camera and us working from home close to their whelping area. We also are there through the whole birthing process assisting them as needed.
ENS/ESI
Once puppies are 3 days old we begin ENS (early neurological stimulation) and ESI (early scent introduction). This is performed between days 3-16. This includes gentle handling, daily weights, and exposing them to new scents. ENS is known to improve cardiovascular performance, stronger heartbeats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to disease. ESI improves nose awareness and confidence.
Curriculum
Starting at 3 weeks we also begin socializing our puppies to different sounds, sights, textures, things to climb on, run through and more. We believe in empowering over enabling our puppies. We set them up to conquer physical and mental challenges every day. By doing this we build our puppies nerve strength and confidence as well as problem solving skills. Our goal is provide our puppies with a stable and enriching environment for the first 8 weeks of their lives.
Exposure
As the puppies grow up in our home we try to expose them to a variety of things to set them up for success in their new homes. Below is a list of items we go over while raising each litter.
-Sleeping through the night in a kennel
-Traveling in a vehicle
-Used to having nails trimmed
-Socialized with people of all ages
-Exposure to many different surfaces, sounds, objects, ect
-Exposure to other animals (cats, other dogs, chickens)
-Having a designated potty area
And more!
Temperament Test
Once puppies are 8 weeks old we have a trainer conduct a Volhard Aptitude test on each puppy. This test focuses on 10 different items including social attraction, following, restraint, social dominance, elevation dominance, retrieving, touch sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and stability. Conducting this test helps us see each puppies personalities further which will play a role when matching them up with their families.
