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.