Raising Our Puppies
All of our puppies are born inside our home. Each and every puppy is truly a delight as we watch them enter this world. Many times I am able to share this birthing experience with our clients thru Facebook. It is a joyous moment when we all finally get to see the babies we have all been waiting for.
We try to share as much as we can thru information thru Facebook, as we can post rapid updates easily and need no assistance from a Webmaster. It is so difficult to explain how many hours of care our new borns require. Basically, for the first week, we are with them around the clock, both day and night. We are up thru the night for many nights as we watch the newborns and give supportive care to our mother. Our Mom is always so worn out from the 12 to 24 hour labor time frame. She can easily fall sound asleep and inadvertently smother a new baby.. For this reason, we are in attendance around the clock until we feel she is recovered to take on her new roll as a mom as safely as possible. Usually we are sleep deprived ourselves and are delayed answering phone calls and emails during the first week that we have a new litter. ALL our effort goes to our babies and new mom. It’s just the way it has to be. Usually about a week after birth we can settle into a somewhat normal routine. The first thing we do, once the babies have settled into their new lives, is we catch up with clients.
I do find it amusing that we state to you as future owners…that they are Neurologically stimulated-OF course they are.. We adore handling them and checking them over, we look at their adorable little faces and tiny paws…we place them in different positions and they learn how very much they are loved and protected. We coo. We talk. We laugh. These newborns are the center of our world. It is true that they are little sponge’s and are easily imprinted at this stage of early development. We want them to grow to physically and emotional strong puppies.
We are blessed to have so much room on our ranch. We have brought in some wonderful family goats, so that we have fresh milk for the puppies if needed. Goat milk is the preferred choice when supplementing puppies. Its is easily digestible and the puppies love it! Good nutrition is extremely important in the first few weeks of life and our goats are not only enjoyable, but they can give us much needed milk! The farm atmosphere is such a blessing…
I do enjoy reading from other websites that pups are stimulated early in their lives. We feel that stimulation and interaction is so important to the early development for our pups. As they learn to tag along behind mom. They are scenting some many of nature’s creatures. Our pups are playing near newborn foals and baby goats! Those days are just full of fun and we often post these pictures on Facebook for our families to see..
At 5 weeks of age, we begin to introduce gentle stress. Puppies learn “ we don’t always get what we want.. When we want it” We encourage eye contact and work with our pups to push thru any timid behavior. Pups are learning to eat and digest normal puppy food. They are learning still from mom, but less time is spent with mom and we introduce much more time with us, as their caregivers. This is such an important time. I call this period of development “blooming” .Its so rewarding to see our babies grow and learn to think. There is so much more about this period of time on our website in the “Who & HOW “ page. All our puppies begin potty training at this age. They play daily outside, weather permitting, and are worked with individually almost daily. Our goal is to be certain our puppies can handle the big day when the change to new homes. We are so very proud when we hear comments like "not a single accident” or "we put him down and he acted as if he owned the place and has been here forever".
Finally before we release our puppies to their new homes, our veterinarian will give each puppy a full exam. Each puppy receives a vet report in writing. It states how each puppy is doing at this important stage of development. Almost always, every puppy will pass the exam. And the vet health exam will accompany the puppy to his new home. Also included are vaccinations and parasite control... Any anomalies are noted, but if considered "not significant" then the puppy will be released to his new home.. We feel this step is very important and we are one of the few places that "Pre-checks" our puppies at our expense. If there is an issue, we want to know. It also provides a baseline of care that you as the new owners can refer to.
