HOW
OUR DOGS ARE RAISED
We firmly believe that all dogs should
not only be raised as individuals, but they should also be able to relate to a
group (this is part of their natural pack instinct). Every dog here has its own individual crate,
knows its name, and is held every time it goes back into its crate. All dogs go
outside to potty and play as a group.
All adult dogs are crated when we are
gone. This prevents "dog
damage" to the house, dog fights, and injuries to themselves. They are put out several times a day and
allowed plenty of playtimes with plenty of toys and chew chips. We do not have individual runs. We have several very large play yards where
they are allowed to socialize as a pack since this is their natural
behavior. When they are out they are
divided into groups according to sex, age, and temperament. Even our stud dogs play together and relate
without fighting.
When girls are pregnant they move into
our bedroom for close monitoring. They
also go to the grooming shop with me. No
mother is ever allowed to have puppies on her own. There are far too many disasters that can
occur during the birthing process. They
can end in the death of the puppies, the mother or both. With them so close we can prevent some of the
problems. From their birth the puppies
and their mom are closely monitored.
They either go to work with me or stay at home with Brian close by; He
works out of our home. During the first
few weeks they sleep next to our bed. If
a puppy is sick or injured we know it immediately and can attend to it. As they get older they are moved to larger
quarters further away from our bedroom.
After weaning the puppies still go to work with me so I can continue the
socialization process and start their housebreaking.
Once girls have had a couple litters of
puppies they are spayed and placed in new homes. In this way we are able to keep younger dogs
to continue the breeding program and do not acquire too many dogs. With too
many dogs we would not be able to give each one the individual attention it
deserves. Since these girls are still
young and well socialized they readily fit into their new homes.
OUR
PUPPIES ARE DIFFERENT
We believe our puppies are different from
some breeders' puppies. We work very
hard to maintain this. They are a very
intricate part of our lives and we want them to go to homes where they are part
of a family, not just a breeding animal or a prized possession. Not only are our dogs attractive and healthy,
they are bred and developed to be lifelong companions capable of traveling and
adjusting to new situations. In order to
accomplish these goals Brian and I work very hard and for many hours a day
taking care of our dogs. We do not just
breed any dog. Only the best are chosen
to reproduce. Only about 1 out of 10 is what we consider to be of breeding
quality. Only small points separate the
ones we choose to sell. To the untrained eye they are nearly all equal.
No litter is ever born without
considerable thought. Parents are
matched carefully, with the idea that we want to keep at least one of the
resulting puppies. Of course, this
doesn't always work because we are very picky.
Even when we choose not to keep one of the puppies they are still very
beautiful pets. No litter is ever
produced with the idea of selling them to make some money. No litter is ever left alone, this often
means many sleepless nights and giving up our free time. We often take moms and puppies on trips with
us so we can closely monitor them.
When the puppies arrive safely they and
their moms often go to the grooming shop with me, which means a lot of
traveling time (our shop is one hour from home). All puppies are handled several times a day
from the time they are born. We believe,
like children, early handling and socialization is critical to their mental
development. All blankets and kennels
are kept very clean to make future housebreaking easier.
Our dogs, because they are longhaired,
must be groomed their entire life and we feel an early start makes this a more
pleasant experience. Our puppies’
toenails are clipped from the beginning and their first face clipping or ear
shaving usually occurs at 3 weeks. They
are then clipped every 10 days and they usually get their first bath at 6
weeks.
No expense is ever spared for the upkeep
of our dogs and puppies. We have a very
good working relationship with our veterinarian. A good working relationship
with an excellent veterinarian is imperative to a good breeding program. Dr. Linda Svoboda is a very important part
of our breeding and health program. The
dogs go to the vet when they are sick.
We don't medicate them on our own.
All puppies are given their first shots and carefully examined by Dr.
Svoboda. It has been a godsend to us to
have such a competent and wonderful veterinarian. We truly consider her a friend.
The food we feed our dogs is PURINA PRO
PLAN PUPPY FORMULA. It is a high quality
food; it is the one we chose in 1993 after many years of research. Even with all the new foods on the market we
find it to be still the one of our choice and recommend it be fed to our
puppies to keep them healthy and happy.
Even when our dogs are adults we still feed them the puppy formula as
little dogs need more protein and fat than the larger dogs. The rat terriers are fed PURINA PRO PLAN
ADULT FORMULA. They do not need the
extra fat as they have a tendency to get overweight.
ACQUIRING A PUPPY
When
you purchase a puppy from us we are always available to help you with your
puppy problems. We take our breeding
responsibilities very seriously and believe a good breeder is there to help the
puppy owner for the rest of the life of the puppy. We like to help you choose the puppy you may
want to acquire from us. We like to know
such things as: Do you have children and
what age are they? How many hours a day
do you have to spend with the puppy?
Where will he be kept...with the family or outside alone? Do you have the supplies you will need for a
new puppy? What do you like for
temperament in a dog? Do you want it to
be calm or playful? There are very many
questions we like to ask of you so that we may pick out just the right dog for
you. A dog is a very big commitment
since they will live well into their teens.
We absolutely do not consider them to be disposable and will not sell
them as an impulse item. We do understand
that sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances and you must find your dog a
new home...Please let us know so that we may help find your dog a new good
home.
GUARANTEES AND PAPERS
All of our puppies come with health and
temperament guarantees. We stand behind
our puppies 100%. You will be given a
complete health record and guarantee when you purchase a puppy from us. All pet puppies are sold WITHOUT registration
papers. We do not believe pet quality
dogs should be bred and try to prevent this by not giving out
registrations. We in the past have had
our dogs end up in bad breeding situations and have had to rescue them. If you are interested in breeding please talk
to us about it. You should be very
informed before you decide to breed any dog.
Breeding is a very serious responsibility and requires a great deal of
time and money.
We have several handouts
that we suggest you ask for before purchasing any puppy. With our puppies we offer a life time of
support for a puppy purchased from us.
We offer advice to the new puppy owner as well as the owner of an older
dog. We answer our emails frequently and
welcome any questions about our dogs.
Jean and Brian
