This Is How We Do It

First of all our puppies are whelped right in our living room. They are always around people and get to meet new visitors, this also makes it easier for us to keep a watchful eye on them. Instead of whelping our puppies in a kennel situation where they are not able to be supervised all the time. This may work out just fine for lighter framed breeds, but rottweilers have a bad habit of laying and stepping on their babies. They don't mean to, of course but it happens. With the new moms the puppies are moved out of the whelping box every time the mom gets in or out to prevent them accidently getting stepped on. The moms are trained to only get up after the pups are moved and not to go in with out me telling them it is ok(after the pups are moved out of the way) they lay down and then they get their puppies.

When the babies are born they are color coded "ID'd" with a ribbon so that we are able to tell each one apart and keep documentation records for each pup. Our moms never whelp a litter by themselves, I am there to deliver each and every pup we have, all mom needs to do is push. It is dangerous for the mom and the babies to allow them to do this by themselves, complications can and do happen, without help you can loose mom and/or the babies. Something as simple as aspirating a pup or cutting the cord yourself can mean the life of a pup.

The puppies get their first check up at 3 days old when they visit the vet for tail/dew claw removal, & mom gets a post whelp check up. Since we have such a long trip home from the vet the babies get to nurse in the vet office before we pack them up and head home.

The pups are supplemented with replacer milk or goat milk, the amount depends on the litter size and the milk supply of mom. The babies are also weighed at least every other day for the first 4 weeks or so to make sure they are all gaining weight.

Between day 3-16 I do Early Neurlogical Stimulation with the pups. It helps build strong nerves, curiosity, improves brain development, and heart & immunity. It is also good for dogs who are destin to do service work.

At about the 3-4 week mark they start to learn the basics of commands and house manners(with positive reinforcement methods ONLY) and get to mengle with the other house dogs and the cats and get to explore those loud funny feathered things in cages. Usually by the time they are 3 weeks they know their names and come when called at this age their names are their ribbon colors. At this age they also get to come out of their puppy play pen and explore the house.

In the play pen which is in the living room there is a box with wood shavings that they use as a litter box(the litterbox gives them the idea to relieve themselves in an outdoor setting) and a couple of crates are also attached to the play pen so that they get used to the idea of crates. We also put a ledge going into the litterbox so the puppies must do a little hop over it to get the mechanics of future agility work. If the weather and parvo is at a low risk we will take them outside for some play time and to get the idea to relieve themselves outside. When they are learning house manners and being introduced to commands they learn through positive reinforcement only so that their drives are not broken, which is very important for puppies destin for any type of service work. We do imprint prey drive early on mostly using a simple white rag that they chase and tug on, this early imprinting makes it much easier on a new owner who has work in mind for that puppy. They are also stimulated with various different toys with different noises and shapes and potential scary things that we help them over come and conquer their fears and to feel confidant around that object to help build stronger nerves.

Between 7-8 weeks old they go back to the vet for their first puppy vaccines and check ups. This is a 1-1 1/2 hour drive one way to the vet office, Arrow Animal Hospital. My vets are Dr. Stuart Sherrell & Dr. Roger Willms both are 2 of the best, most caring & knowledgable vets I have ever met, they are highly recommended from me. This is an excellent oppritunity for socialization, there are many clients in the waiting room, they are checked by the vet tech, and examed by the vet. And it is always a good & fun experience for them. This good experience early on at the vet will be very benificial to those with future working dogs, as they will be in a vet office often.

Also at this age between 7-8 weeks we temperament test the pups for working ability and overall temperament. We look for nerve levels, forgivness, willingness to please and wanting to work, prey drive, curiosity and so on. At this age I also evalutate the pups for conformation, estimating size, and determining pet quality and breeding quality, ect...