| The longer we have been breeding dogs the more we realize how important proper socialization of puppies from a young age is. We always start out planning a litter thinking about the temperament of both parents and the bloodlines behind them. But the work, and responsibility, to ensure that the puppy will grow up to become a well adjusted adult has just begun when the puppies are born! We have developed a system that works for us, where we live and with our way of life. We also learn new things from other breeders, and make small changes to how we work with our puppies for almost every litter. But below we have outlined the basic "socialization package" all All Trade puppies will go through from birth until they leave for their new homes at eight weeks.
|
|
|
When we started
breeding dogs the basic rule was to leave the puppies in peace
for the first weeks, as stressing them at this stage would lead
to problems later on in life. But after talking to several breeders who all suggested that I try this method of systematically handling puppies from birth, I tried it out on two litters born. And it really made a difference! The puppies are more well adjusted in all situations and I would never rear a litter at home without performing this simple, and quick, excercise with the puppies. More about this method, and the background for it can be found here |
.jpg)
The method is simple and only takes a few minutes per puppy. Each position / excercise is done for five seconds
1. I hold the puppy on its back in
my hands, and gently tickle it between the toes with a q-tip.
|
|
|
Our puppies are
mostly whelped in the study, which is next door to our bedroom.
After a couple of weeks they are moved out into the utility room,
which has door leading straight into our livingroom, and
another going outside. For most of the day we are outside
working, so this is the only room in the house where there will
be the some activity during the day. During lunch and after
dinner we keep them in a soft pen in the living room, or running
in the kitchen. We have a family tradition of drinking coffee in bed every morning, and we always run and fetch a couple of puppies to join us as well. So we deliver puppies pre-spoiled! |
|
The simple rule is this - before any puppy leaves us we will have made sure they have:
|
|
|
We are quite well known for not being very protective towards our puppies ;-) If the litter is normal and healthy, we do not take alot of precautionary measures or wrap our puppies in cotton wool. The bitches
can come along for walks as soon after the whelping they feel
comfortable leaving their puppies, unless it is very cold
outside. That can very easily lead to mastitis. The dirt she
brings with her back to the puppies is what we in Norway call "clean
dirt", and we have never had any problems or infections because
of this. As soon as they can we also bring them outside for small walks in the nearby pastures, and as they grow older to the nearest irrigation dam in the woods. It doesnt really matter what the weather is like, as long as they keep active. They also come along when we work outside, and get used to the sound of tractors, farm animals etc. Last, but not least, they are
used to children as Emma and her friends love to spend time with
the puppies.
|
The biggest adventure for our puppies is to come along to our summerhouse out on the island. It involves driving the car, walking on the pier, into the boat and then gloriuos days of absolute freedom!
Summer day on the island