10/10/2025
I’m often asked to describe our puppy raising program, and I thought others might be interested, too. So here it is 🥰
Our pups start life indoors under temperature control. They experience ENS and ESI to kick start their neurological systems, and they are gently handled daily. We also play noises to them daily, and expose them to all the general household noises we can.
When a bit older they move to outdoor pens (separate night and day pens), with raised kennels with straw bedding (a particular type of straw which holds heat well so they are lovely and cosy). In winter they also have heating to keep them warm. We move them outdoors to help build their gut resilience and exposure to normal outdoor things like dirt/grass/clover/gravel etc. It also helps immensely with toilet training as they learn to toilet in true outdoor environments.
During this time they have plenty of enrichment in their pens, but are also introduced to our confidence course, which they are run on daily. The course consists of various obstacles and tunnels designed to stimulate problem solving and help with tactile skills. They also have adventures around our property and enjoy the sights and smells. We expose them to traffic, cows, horses, cats if we can, and we also are sure to give them plenty of positive time around children.
We understand the balance between sleep and development so there is plenty of time for sleep and relaxation for them, too.
We feed our puppies premium foods - black hawk dry and Lyka, along with various toppers to give them variety. However we always keep the blackhawk and lyka base so we don’t compromise on their complete and balanced nutrition.
Our parent dogs are all health tested and carefully chosen for temperament and suitability to families. Most of our dogs are medium drive (prey, play, work, etc), but with daily exercise are very happy to be a couch potato the rest of the day.
Yes you can have a litter of pups and do the bare minimum — keep them in a pen, feed them, and clean up after them (at least we hope that’s the bare minimum!). A good breeder will do so much more, and work so much harder, because we have lives in our hands. Our goal is to produce confident, well-rounded pups who are adaptable, up for anything, suitable for many roles, and stable in temperament. Seeing them thrive is the most rewarding part 🥰🥰