Our Puppy Raising Philosophy

We believe very strongly that the time during which your puppy is with us is some of the most crucial socialization time. That is why every litter we have is taken to at least 3 - 5 new places outside of our home (friends' and families' homes), goes on multiple car rides, and goes in every room of our house and has regular playtime outside (weather permitting). Before your puppy goes home to you they have met at least 40 new people including at least 10 - 15 children. They have experienced lots of different surfaces, toys, and common household sounds and sights.

Meeting different people (and things) in different surroundings is particularly important. Dogs don't tend to generalize their experiences (i.e. when learning a new command they oftentimes only understand it in the context it is first taught...for example sitting directly in front of you means 'sit' but asking the command while they're at your side or on a different surface doesn't get you any response, or as quick of a response, until you teach them further to generalize the command).

Therefore, if they only meet new people or see new things in one set of surroundings they will be unfamiliar (possibly even uncomfortable) with new people or things outside of the environment they are used to. For instance, a puppy at the pet store may seem very outgoing and playful; however, they have only met people and had experiences in a very limited environment. That's why this same puppy when taken out of the environment they are used to will not necessarily demonstrate the same level of confidence and sociability. Exposing puppies to a wide range of people and things is a very important first step (and the very minimum that should be done); however, it shouldn't be all that is done. They should be exposed to lots of people and things in a wide range of different settings as well. The prime socialization window is only open from approximately age 6 weeks - 12 weeks, this is why it is very important that you get a puppy from a breeder who has spent the time to properly socialize the puppy since a big part of their socialization window occurs while they are still with their breeder.

We keep our puppies until they are 9 weeks of age to allow for additional time with their mom and littermates so they can learn proper dog language skills that will allow them to have better dog to dog interactions and better bite inhibition as adults.

All of our puppies are only placed into homes that plan on keeping them inside as part of the family. If you plan on keeping your dog inside during their life with you, why would you want them to be raised any differently? Our puppies are not kept isolated in a kennel with only visits to check on their status or from new people wanting to see them. Rather they live in our house and we make sure that from 5 weeks on they are continuously taken to new places, meet new people, and experience new things each day. We take the socialization of our puppies very seriously and we expect each of our new homes to do the same.

If interested in a puppy from one of our litters please fill out our puppy application and we will keep it on file and let you know once we have a litter on the way. Before filling out an application please keep in mind the time committment you will need to make to raise your puppy right. A puppy's first six months is the most influential time in their lives and you will want to make sure you have the time, energy, and committment to take them out to new places and to meet new people each week. Training classes are strongly encouraged for all puppies from 10 weeks thru adulthood!