How we raise our Puppies
Everyone loves puppies, they are so cute and sweet, but did you know there are important developmental periods your puppy will go through before ever joining your household?
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Puppy raising is an art and a science. We want to raise our Australian Labradoodle puppies to have the best chance to grow into confident, stable and able to handle the stresses and challenges of a modern lifestyle. This takes both expertise and a time investment, and it’s totally worth it.
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In our desire to raise the most behaviorally sound, confident, and stable puppies possible that is why we implemented the game changing Puppy Culture puppy raising, training, and socialization protocols and are extremely pleased with the results.
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Here is an overview of the developmental stages each puppy goes through, and the Puppy Culture protocol during that period.
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Day 3 – 16
Healthy puppies are provided with Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS). ENS also called the “Super Dog Program” takes advantage of early neurological stimulation to help “jump start” a puppy’s adrenal system. The benefits of ENS include: stronger heart, greater endurance, stronger immune system, faster recovery from and tolerance for stress, among others.
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Day 14 - 21
Puppies have developmental period and those developmental periods are defined by behavioral markers? It’s important to be able to correctly identify these behavioral markers, because something that is extremely beneficial one week, could be very harmful in the next week, depending on what developmental period the puppy is in. During this time the puppies open their eyes and start toddling. So we protect their eyes from bright light and enrich the environment optimizes brain development during this time.
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Week 3
The Enrichment Effect: Puppies receive an expertly enriched environment, the benefits of which will last a lifetime. This continues every week until puppies leave. We begin socializing the puppies, Startle Recovery exercises to prime puppies for the challenges of a busy life and Foundation exercises for the prevention of separation anxiety. Pee Pad is placed in whelping box, they may or may not start to use it at this point.
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Week 4
Puppies are moved into a larger weaning pen, with age appropriate enrichment, to help them grow stronger in body and mind. Emotional Resiliency Exercises are done, giving the puppies the gift of “bounce back” from life challenges. Novel surfaces and sounds are introduced, to help puppies become adaptive to change sights and sounds. Puppies are removed from the litter for individual “cuddle” sessions, this helps prevent separation anxiety later. Problem solving games are introduced, these help puppies learn to handle life’s frustrations early. Litter box is introduced and puppies will start to use it.
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Week 5
Puppies learn to communicate with us in socially acceptable ways, such as Manding, instead of jumping up, biting, and grabbing. Barrier challenges are introduced, to help puppy learn to problem solve and handle frustration. We continue to offer new and unique items, toys, and challenges each day as puppies continue to learn to LOVE novelty and change. Clicker training starts and puppies start learning their core skills: Attention, Manding (asking politely), Come.
Fear starts: At five weeks puppies are for the first time capable of experiencing true fear. We expertly guide the puppies through their fear period, avoiding any experience that might cause lifelong fear problems, and building more emotional resilience as we go along.
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Week 6
Puppies get to practice their training in real life settings, they get to Mand (ask politely) for petting (instead of jumping). Puppies show off their enrichment seeking abilities and build confidence on novel object challenges. Crate is introduced and left open to explore.
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Week 7
Soft tug toys are introduced for re-directing biting. Individual snuggle time and continue Manding. Puppies will start to sleep in crate at night and take potty trips.
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Week 8
Fear period starts again and they are a normal part of puppy development, knowing how to deal with them, what to do, and most importantly what not to do, have lifelong implications for the adult dog. With our expertise we are able to both recognize when a puppy is experiencing a fear period, to help them through the period, without allowing any trauma that might affect their temperament forever.
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We spend each and everyday taking care of our puppies to make sure they have the best start in life and look forward to hearing from our families how wonderful their puppies are!
