Raising Confident, Curious Puppies

The earliest weeks of a puppy’s life lay the foundation for confidence, resilience, and adaptability: we start with the “100 experiences in first 100 days” rule and expand from there. We aim to give every puppy the best possible start by providing a rich, positive environment that encourages curiosity while building confidence at each stage of development.

I am fortunate to be mentored by several longtime breeders whose knowledge and generosity have shaped my program tremendously. I am incredibly grateful for their guidance, and I believe that good breeders never stop learning. I continually reevaluate my puppy-raising methods as new research becomes available, drawing from evidence-based programs such as Avidog, the International Working Dog Association and Puppy Culture, as well as current canine behavior and developmental science.

Raised in Our Home

Because I work from home, puppies receive nearly constant supervision and interaction throughout the day. They are raised in the heart of our home alongside people and our adult dogs, where they experience everyday household life while receiving plenty of individual affection, handling, and age-appropriate training. I do not have a kennel so our puppies are never raised in kennel runs.

Early Neurological Development

Beginning at three days of age, puppies participate in:

• Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)
• Early Scent Introduction (ESI)

These exercises follow the Avidog and Puppy Culture protocols and are designed to gently encourage healthy neurological development during a critical developmental window.

A World Full of New Experiences

As puppies mature, they are introduced to an variety of safe, novel enriching experiences. Every day brings new opportunities to explore different:

• surfaces and textures
• sounds and sights
• smells
• temperatures
• objects of varying sizes and movement
• environments

Our enrichment includes balance equipment, small slides, shallow water and sand play, natural materials such as sticks, animal pelts and pinecones, tunnels, misters and hoses, bubbles, moving objects, recorded environmental sounds, real-world noises, and many different toys and problem-solving opportunities. The goal is to help puppies learn that new things are safe, interesting, and enjoyable.

Growing in Changing Environments

Rather than remaining in one permanent setup, the puppies experience several living spaces that change as they grow, including indoor daytime and nighttime areas as well as outdoor play spaces. Their outdoor enclosure is regularly moved around our property so they experience different views, footing, scents, and environments. Even small changes help build adaptable, environmentally confident puppies.

Potty Training Foundations

Puppies are introduced to designated potty areas using grass-scented potty pans or boxes with pellets. This creates an early preference for eliminating in appropriate locations and helps make the transition to outdoor house training smoother in their new homes.

Nutrition

Puppies are weaned using pasteurized goat’s milk from a local dairy along with probiotics and fish oil before gradually introducing locally raised grass-fed, grass-finished beef from a farm that breeds a local heritage breed, South Polls.

As they mature, they transition onto a high-quality kibble diet since this is what most families choose to feed. Their early familiarity with fresh foods also makes introducing raw meaty recreational bones later in life much easier for interested owners.

Learning from Adult Dogs

The puppies spend time with both their mother and our other adult dogs, allowing them to learn valuable canine communication skills and appropriate social behavior.

They also observe older dogs participating in simple training sessions before trying age-appropriate versions themselves. This includes introductory scent work using birch and deer interdigital gland scent, and they get to watch a Flyball practice with the grown-ups.

Meeting People

Friends, neighbors, and visitors are encouraged to help socialize each litter, giving puppies positive experiences with people of different ages, appearances, and backgrounds. If you’re local and I have puppies, you’re always welcome to reach out about visiting.

Adventures Beyond Home

As puppies become developmentally ready, they begin exploring the world outside our home.

Their first outings are relaxed wagon rides in a secure crate around the neighborhood. As they grow, those adventures expand to parks, stores, community events, friends’ homes, libraries, train crossings, airports, outdoor seating areas, and many other environments where they can safely observe the world.

Once they are ready, puppies begin wearing collars and leashes and experience many of these outings on their own four feet.

Nature Exploration

Nearly every day, puppies accompany us on supervised adventures through the woods, fields, creekside, and trails behind our home. These outings encourage balance, body awareness, confidence on uneven terrain, and a love of exploring the natural world.

Crate Training

Around six weeks of age, puppies begin eating meals in their crates to build positive associations.

They gradually progress to daytime naps before sleeping overnight with siblings. By the time they leave for their new homes, each puppy is accustomed to sleeping independently in a wire crate, making the transition considerably easier for both puppy and family.

Health Care

Before going home, every puppy receives:

• Veterinary examination
• Microchip
• Age-appropriate vaccinations
• Routine deworming beginning at three weeks of age using Panacur and Toltrazuril

Whenever possible, vaccination schedules are individualized using antibody titer testing (nomographs) to help determine the optimal timing for immunization based on each puppy’s maternal antibody levels.

Puppies also go home with plenty of food, toys, a crate if they need one, and offers for a month of free Trupanion, AKC and/or Figo insurance.

Early Training

Throughout puppyhood, we incorporate age-appropriate Puppy Culture and Avidog exercises including barrier challenges, clicker conditioning, introductory grooming, cooperative handling, recall games, basic cues such as “sit” and “come,” scent work foundations, and bird introductions.

Giving Back

When possible, we also raise foster litters using many of these same enrichment and socialization practices. It allows us to continue refining our puppy-raising program while helping homeless dogs receive an exceptional start before joining their forever families.

If you’re interested in a rescue puppy raised with these principles, I’d be happy to point you toward future opportunities.