FAQ
What is your Breeding Philosophy?
Breeding and raising quality dogs with any consistency is not an easy thing to do. It takes planning, patience, commitment, objectivity, and a certain amount of luck. There are no perfect dogs -- every dog carries positive and negative traits.
BREEDING
We use a variety of tools when planning breedings. First, we carefully evaluate and document the positive and negative physical traits and tempement of our dogs as well as other dogs we might potentially use for a breeding along with the get they've already produced, etc. Second, we evaluate the health of the dogs through a variety of tests and checks. We also collect and catalog health information on any related dogs we can. Finally, we evaluate pedigrees. We use Wright's Co-efficient of Inbreeding ("COI") to evaluate each potential litter. We strive for a COI below 12.5% based on 10 generations of pedigree data. We also review the Co-efficient of Relationship to various ancestors. In every generation, our goal is to ensure that the COI of the offspring is lower than that of the parents.
RAISING PUPPIES
We love puppies. Each one is special and unique. We whelp and raise our puppies in our bedroom until they reach 5 weeks of age where they are handled and cared for every day. Cleanliness IS next to godliness when dealing with newborns, so we continuously change out linens and santize anything that comes into contact with the babies. We carefully expose puppies to various stimuli as they reach the appropriate ages, including deliberaetly introducing our pups to gentle stress within the first 3 weeks of life. Studies have shown that puppies adapt better to change as adults if they are appropriately stimulated.