One of the things many puppy buyers forgo when vetting a potential purchase is to inquire exactly how a breeder raises the puppy they are wanting to bring home. It is very rare when we are asked this question, in fact, in 15 years we have been asked it 3 times exactly. The fact is how your puppy is raised sets up your dog for the rest of its life. The first 8 weeks of a puppies life is fundamentally important to their overall mental stability. Your breeder has 1344 hours from birth till 8 weeks old to set your dog up for success or failure later in life. Failure to properly socialize a puppy in the crucial 3-12 weeks socialization period can lead to many problems later on in life.

We handle our puppies from the day they are born. For the first 2 weeks puppies are deaf and blind. Mom during this time will want a quiet area for her litter away from the other dogs and with as little interruption as possible.  From birth to three weeks old they spent most of their time eating and sleeping. Around three weeks of age they begin to be able to see, hear, and become mobile. During their first 3 weeks they will have been checked over carefully twice daily by us, getting used to our scent and hands as we ensure they are healthy and well fed. In larger litters or with moms struggling to produce enough milk we may take a few puppies from mom for a while to bottle feed and then return them. We will swap out which puppies are taken each time so everyone is getting an equal change at mother’s milk and formula.

As their eyes and ears open and the become mobile the critical period of socialization begins. Outside stimuli will begin to be noticed and reacted to by the puppies. From this point on careful safe exposure to as much as possible is important. This is the time when your puppy will begin to develop and expand his or her personality. It is important to introduce as much of normal life as one can during this period so that a puppy can be well exposed to normal household things before they reach their first fear period at around 8 weeks of age.

When our puppies are 4 weeks old they begin to be pulled from mom each day as a group and exposed to a variety of new sights, smells, and sounds. Things like bells, crinkly mats, cats, running water, flushing toilets, rattly toys, keys, and so on. For most of these sessions the puppies are allowed to explore freely and climb into the lap of their tenders and receive requested interaction. We will interact with the toys, make noise, but we want the puppies to engage with us and the toys on their own. This allows us to better access the personalities of the puppies.

Around 6 weeks of age the puppies will have some closely supervised outdoor time. They will also begin to be separated from their litter mates and given one on one time. This is the time when each puppy will get its color collar. They will be exposed to leashes, crating, and more interactive activities like climbing, tunnels, jumping, pushing through interference, and different walking surfaces. This is when we introduce puppies to our puppy obstacle course which will change a little each day allowing them.

At 7 weeks of age puppies will be taken to a completely new environment one by one and given a Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test. Each puppies test will be videoed. We will also begin to introduce them to car rides and they will be exposed more and more to crate training, leash training, and other dogs. We will begin the process of house breaking to make their transitions easier.

Our puppies begin to go home at 8 weeks old. Puppies enrolled in our Service Dog socialization program will stay an either 4-8 weeks to prepare them more for their future jobs. They will be introduced to vests and begin the early parts of access training introducing them to new sights and sounds outside of their home environment.