Happy Holidays

Happy Holiday's from Ivy, Ace and Piper

Summer Fun

This summer we have been so busy having fun and competing with our dogs that somehow the summer is already over. We are keeping the dogs busy with training and trialing in showing, agility and hunting. All the dogs attended a UKC dog show with great results, Ivy entered her first UKI trial with great results. Piper has finished her first hunting title and Ace attended his first hunting test with NAVHDA. Always in the summer there is so much to do and little time to do it in however the dogs still managed to find some time to play and relax in the yard.

Where Did All The Puppies Go?

The puppies have gotten big enough to leave the nest and start new adventures at their new homes. They are all in happy new homes with their new loving families and fitting in nicely. They all have lots of room to run and play at their new homes and get all the attention they deserve. Below find out where everyone has gone.

Nine Weeks Old

This past week with the puppies we have evaluated the pups temperament and getting them ready to move to their new homes.  For the first time ever the puppies were introduced to a bird wing to assess their hunting drive.  All the puppies did great and went on point, some faster than others, they all show great prospects to be excellent pointers.  We are also evaluating their training ability they all did great and learned quickly that if you get reward, even if you can only sit for one second. Below see what the puppies look like now.

Eight Weeks Old

The baby puppies are now eight weeks old and they are at the point of their development where they start to learn proper dog behaviour and social skills.  I am often asked why do I keep the puppies past eight weeks and the reason for that is for the puppies to learn proper dog behaviour from mom and the other bid dogs. Ivy and the other big dogs (in this case Piper, Ace not so much because he young and male) spend all their time playing with puppies and telling them off when they do something they don't like. This teaches the puppies how to properly approach other dogs, how to play with big dogs and most importantly not to bite big dogs. I also keep the puppies a little longer because they play with each other learning how to communicate with each other. I am aware that some dog owners will do the work with their puppies to properly socialize them with big dogs however my experience indicates is that most will not do the work and not all bog dogs are good teachers. I like my puppies to leave as well balance and healthy as possible before they go to their new homes, keeping them longer lets me know that they are off to a good start with the dog behaviour and dog social skills. Believe me if I didn't think that keeping the puppies was best for them I would send them home earlier because they are also at the age where they start to drive me crazy. See what the puppies look like below,

Seven Weeks Old

The puppies are seven weeks old now, they are getting bigger, love to play and are discovering the joys of outside.  The puppies went for the first set of shots and micro-chipping last week, it was not a very popular activity among the puppies however they did survive the ordeal.  With the puppies having their first set of shots and with the nicer weather (finally) the pups are now learning the joys of the outdoors. The big dogs were very glad that the puppies got to go outside as you can see below the puppies were going a little crazy in the house.

Six Weeks Old

The puppies are six weeks old now and and getting into more trouble than before they love to run and play around the house.   Ivy, Piper and Ace have started to play with puppies when they are good and the puppies love to play with the big dogs.  Below see what the puppies look like now:

Five weeks old

Time has flown by and the puppies are now five weeks old, they are eating more solid food, are loving time out of their box and are starting to show their individual personalities. The puppies think that if they are awake then they should be out exploring the rest of the house, of course we do not give them the whole house much to their dismay.  See updated photo's of the puppies below:

Four Weeks Old

The girls are now four weeks old and full of trouble, they seem to feel that is defiantly time to leave the confinements of their box and explore the rest of the world, unfortunately they are still not great at walking on smooth surfaces yet so they do not very far. Also being four weeks old means it is time to start weaning from mom, they have had their first meal, some of them love their new food but other think that nothing will ever be better than mom's milk. You can see what the puppies look like now below.

Three Weeks Old

Three weeks old and doing great, they are starting to play with each other and walk around, which means they can almost escape from their box. The puppies now need to work on moving around a lot to grow, build muscle and social skills. Below see what the puppies look like now:

Two Weeks Old

The puppies are now two weeks old and they have started to open up their eyes, move around a lot more and starting to darken.  Braque Francais puppies are always born white with brown spots and then darken with brown flecking for 5-6 months. You can see what the puppies look like now below:

One Week Old

Ivy's puppies are now one week old and growing like weeds they are all eating and very healthy.  See what the puppies look like now below.