11/03/2025
Itās time for this post again š I will post it every single time I breed a litter ... as long as it still holds true, which it does. The photos are of Lift, Dream and some of their offspring š„°
The Rule of Nines
Many years ago, someone ā¦ I canāt remember who, told me a theory that sparked my curiosity and that I have found to ring true. The theory says that a dogās temperament is formed for the most part by THREE distinct development phases all measured in NINES. The nine weeks of gestation, the first nine weeks of life and the first nine months the puppy lives after week nine.
Letās look at each of the three phases. Iām going to go over the factors that are of utmost importance her at RoseRidge. My goal is produce versatile, athletic dogs with sound, functional bodies and minds.
The first phase is the breeding and care of the girl in whelp. A look at pedigrees and consolation with mentors is the first step. There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration. All the appropriate health testing needs to have been done. I have on occasion reached back to owners of a studās parents and even paid for a test myself .. clearly this is not optimal. Then a look at both pedigrees, will they complement each other. What am I aiming to improve in the next generation and what do I want to do my darnedest to KEEP. A close analysis of the EACH of the two dogs is important.
Once the decision has been made and the girl has been bred keeping her in tiptop condition is the name of the game. I stop doing any agility training but everything else continues as normal. I feed a blend of Fromm Puppy Gold (breakfast and training) and my own homemade diet which is high in WHOLE food: fish, eggs and a rotation of, beef, chicken, turkey and pork PLUS cooked pureed vegetable and steel cut oats. My dogs get daily off leash walks in the woods (30mins-2hrs depending on the day) and I generally do some training at least 3 times a week. Nothing at all changes in the routine of my girls in whelp. I might increase their food towards the end of their pregnancy and I will usually stop, or greatly reduce feeding raw bone once we hit day 57 or so.
Whelping - My puppies are whelped in a large wooden whelping box. I search for items to line the box that will provide good traction. It is CRUCIAL to ensure that neonates are not slipping. Thereās a growing body of evidence that suggest that orthopedic issues in dogs are only in part genetic. Environmental factors have a MASSIVE impact in joint development. Until the puppies open their eyes, they are in their nice big whelping box with mum and good traction. Thatās about it really. I do Early Neurological Stimulation every day starting at about day 3 (as long as everyone is thriving) until the eyes are open. Eyes open anywhere between day 11 - day 17. Once everyoneās eyes are open, the pen begins to expand and new āchallengesā are introduced ALWAYS with an emphasis on good traction.
I work full time, which is where my āvillage peopleā come in. Someone arrives to check on mum and babies every single day that I work. This means that my puppies are exposed to other people throughout all the phases of development. EDIT: now that I am working full time training dogs at home, my āvillage peopleā will Iām SURE visit LOL
Weeks 3-4 are known as the āTransition Phaseā in puppy development. At this phase I begin to feed the puppies, they start with a meat/goat milk SLUREE, move to a pureed version of what I need my adult dogs. They move to a much larger space which also has a dog door to an outdoor pen. The environmental challenges continue to become more complex.
Weeks 4-16 are known as the āSocial Phaseā in puppy development. During these weeks, puppy brains are SPONGES. They are absorbing and sorting out new experiences and learning who they are in this new world they find themselves in. In week 6 I begin to do little session with puppies away from the litter, at first in pairs and then one on one. My goal is to have as complete of a picture of the WHO of each puppy as I can. My way of going about the is not via a ātestā instead I think of little challenge and experiences to immerse the puppies in and I watch to see how they respond to new stimuli. I also collect and rely on the observations of my lovely village who at this point have been involved with helping for several years.
Months 2-11 the litter has flown the coop. When I keep a puppy, this is how I TRY to proceed š I donāt assume I āknowā my puppy. Even if they have been born here. My own philosophy of early puppy training is to control the environment NOT the puppy. I want to watch the puppy and let them tell me who they are instead of making assumptions. I will integrate them into my household and start teaching them foundation exercises for LIFE and dog sports using whatever they find rewarding: food or toys. I will invest a LOT of time playing with them and just hanging out. I get them out to a lot of new places. They meet appropriate new dogs but never on leash (I actually broke this rule a few days ago with my young dogs ā¦ weird I donāt know what I was thinking LOL). As I start to gain a picture of WHO they are and they get to know ME, I can decide if they need support in some areas or not.
SO ā¦ temperament is genetic right? YES, it is, we all inherit roughly 50% of our genes from each of our parents.
Hereās the BUT
It's so much more complex and more interesting to say simple ātemperament is geneticā. The part that epigenetics plays in how genes express themselves is HUGE. Epigenetics are ALL the environmental factors, (that is EVERYTHING: diet, length of day, exercise, what you see here, taste, feel etc.), that are involved in gene expression. Itās all totally fascinating and quite frankly ABOVE my pay grade. What is clear to this school teacher and English Major is that keeping a mum and her babies well nourished: good food and water, lots of sunlight, ongoing enrichment of the mind, physical exercise and meaningful social interactions has to help individuals to FLOURISH.
