How we raise our puppies

Below are videos going over our puppies weekly curriculum and the benefits of how we raise our puppies.

Week 1

During the first week of their lives, the first 3 days we do not do much handling as mom settles into her routine with her new puppies.

From days 3-16, we start with ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) this is a series of exercises to teach the puppies how to handle some stress and understand that everything will be okay.

The exercises performed are tactical stimulation, head held erect, head held pointed down, supine position, and thermal stimulation. These exercises also improve cardiovascular strength, stronger heartbeats, stronger adrenal glands, and greater resistance to disease.

Week 2

During the second week of their lives, we continue ENS, as well as adding ESI (Early Scent Introduction).

We introduce a series of 16 scents over the course of 16 days. We allow each puppy to smell the container to see their reactions to each scent. The reason behind this particular exercise is to increase their nose awareness and confidence when they come into contact with new smells as they get older.

Week 3

Week 3 starts with whole new obstacles for puppies. We start with novelty item exposure, meaning we start exposing them to different objects. We start with basic puppy toys (soft or rope) and work our way up to bigger objects. We also start with tactile exposure with different floor textures.

Cuddle sessions also begin along with 10 different handling exercises which include rubbing the ears, covering the eyes, opening the mouth and running fingers on the gums, rubbing the belly in circular motions, running our hand down the back, running our hand and fingers over the tail, touch all paws, tap nails, run fingers around the neck and under the collar, and touch the nose.

Week 4

On week 4 we continue with handling exercises and apply more pressure as they grow.

We also start with sound exposure. We use sounds puppies will experience in normal daily life so noises won’t startle them (or if they startle, they recover quickly and with confidence).

Their tactile exposure continues and increases as they grow with new objects, toys, etc.

Week 5

On week 5, our puppies reach the maximum amount of interior tactile stimulation as well as inside exposure activities. During this week, the handling exercises remain the same with an increased amount of pressure. We start working on puppy recall with treats. They also start climbing and doing toy activities in the puppy area and we continue sound stimulation.

Week 6

During week 6, our puppies begin outside exposure. They start going outside to explore our puppy play area with all of their toys.

Handling exercises continue with another increase in pressure.

We work on other things such as meeting neutral dogs, our children, as well as some extended family members for socialization and to help them understand new people are a good thing.

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Week 7

Week 7 is the last week we put puppies through testing and additional work as they go home at 8 weeks.

On week 7 they are exposed to the first car ride, the vet, as well as grooming (a bath), and their final round of exposure to new things.

Puppies continue with outside time and being inside at night. They are playing more and learning boundaries with jumping, biting, and boundaries with littermates.

Handling exercises are continued with the maximum amount of pressure.