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VanDer Moor~Hond Kennels

VanDer Moor~Hond Kennels

A brief Puppy Bio:
Birth-8 weeks

My puppies are born in the house in a large utility room where they see us walk
in and out thoughout the day,
They are handled infrequently through the 1st 2 weeks, mainly to monitor
vitality and reaction to physical stimulus, but not so much as to worry mom.
As they start to open their eyes I spend more and more sitting in with them and
I'm able to start recognizing individual traits.
Near 4 weeks I start them on a puppy gruel ( in the wild, a mother wolf would start to
regurgitate food for her cubs.) Domestic dogs I haven't really seen them do this to much.
I will be kicking them outside by about now as they are poop machines<LOL> though
mom will try to keep up if there are more than 6 pups that can be a ginormious task<S>
I will also start moving there feeding area from one place to another to build confidence
and help urge them to explore outside their comfort zone, this also gives me a
really good idea of temperament quality and food drive.
This is the norm for the next couple weeks while they are getting very fun and sharp teeth!!

By about 6-7 weeks I will start bringing them in individually to the house for a couple hours
taking them in and out to potty and letting them explore ON LEASH, the house,
it's sounds and it's occupants, I also do a little leash & crate training. I also do several mock
Vet exams on them and teach them about restraint and acceptance of it.
I mess extensively with the ears/mouth/teeth/paws/tail, as a vet tech
I think this is very important. It is often hard for new owners to realize
how strong and willful a 8 week old puppy may be the first time it is restrained,
it's not the pups fault, generally it is a reaction to fight or flight and if you
take flight out of the equations, this can give you much important info as to the type of
temperament a puppy has. This is instrumental in my decision making process for the
right home and or tips for the new owner regarding their puppy.   Softer may mean just
accepts anything you do to it, this pup may need some confidence building,
lower on the totem pole in the litter I would also check for sound sensitivity. Or the other
extreme, one that it takes everything you have to hold on to it and fights for a extended
(sometimes exhaustive)period of time, this pup would likely be towards the top of the
pecking order in a litter and special consideration to placement should be given.
Also around this time, since I don't have any little ones left in the house, (which is a bummer:)
I will elicit whenever possible neighbor ranch kids (It's sorta pay to play, but vice versa<S>)
to visit and handle the puppies.

I start offical crate training at 8 weeks or a few days before I know a puppy is to
be shipped or go to it's new home. I usually try to pair up 2 pups the initial nite or 2
and then whittle down. This really helps the new owners as the pups generally are
accepting to the overnite stay in the crate by the time they get to their new home and the new
owner doesn't feel (sorry) or compelled to let them out when they are screaming at 3am!!!!
It really is a must to speed up and be successful in the house training process!!
They also, aren't and should not be allowed to free roam a house until ??, for me the
8-12week pup is on a leash ideally 100% of the time when in my house, even if I tie
them to the computer table leg, so I can go to the bath room or cook dinner, or I put
them in the crate if I am at risk of losing track of them.   This makes the best dogs you will
ever own!!! They don't learn to cower cause their in trouble all the time, they don't learn bad
habits of chewing things they aren't supposed to or are potentially dangerous, they don't
get to sneak off to potty in an obscure location and they become so in tune to you it is unreal.
If I could give one piece of training advice that is it, it takes commitment but is not hard,
and I guarantee you will be happy you did it.
I Also, hand the leash to different members of the family/friends, when you take them with
you places have someone hold it and walk around a corner with them, it's just good stuff.

Ok, I am wanting to keep this idea going and make a few pages of training pups/dogs along
with some youtube video. May be a little bit (Please be patient)

I just thought it would be nice if you had picture of what I've done so far with your pup and
what I expect of my pups, don't sell them short they are much to special a dog for that.

Have a great one, Kim