Giving our puppies the best possible start is extremely important to us. We want them to go out into the world with all the skills that will help them become well rounded individuals who don't have the typical "sharpness" or "sensitivity" found in some collies. You can keep up with our socialisation process through our Facebook group where you can watch your puppy learn and grow on a day to day basis. Our socialisation process is complex, with a large section of it being the Puppy Culture programme, but just to give you a very basic, tiny taster of what we do, here is a small outline.
We begin the socialisation process at just 3 days old, when we start the Early Neurological Stimulation(ENS). ENS was first developed in the 1970s, by the US Military as part of their bio-sensory programme. ENS is, put simply, five exercises that are designed to cause very, very mild stress to the puppies in order to promote recovery and to stimulate hormonal, adrenal and pituitary systems. These are the exercises:- 1. Tactial Stimulation 2. Head Held Erect 3. Head Pointed Down 4. Supine Position 5. Thermal Stimulation
Doing these exercises from days 3 - 16 in addition to their normal, everyday handling can promote the following benefits in the puppies:- 1. Improved cardiovascular performance 2. Stronger adrenal glands 3. Stronger heartbeats 4. More tolerance to stress 5. Greater resistance to disease
As I'm sure you can understand, those benefits are definitely something that we want our puppies to have. You can read more about ENS by clicking the button next to this text -->
During this time, we like to keep the whelping box and room relatively calm, mostly for the mother's peace of mind. I still hoover lightly and ensure everything is spotless, but there are very few people allowed into the whelping room and no dogs. We tend to do most of our socialisation based on behavioural markers rather than ages, though ages are useful for explanatory reasons. As soon as they open their eyes, we create a conditioned emotional response to being uncomfortable. We do this by associating being awoken with some tasty food, this ensures that if they're ever jolted awake, they're extremely unlikely to have a negative response.
As soon as they begin to walk, urinate and defecate by themselves, we set up a potty area using the "Misty Method" of potty training. Puppies have an innate need to keep their sleeping area clean. By harnessing this, we can instil in them the clear definition that there is somewhere to eat and sleep, and somewhere to do their business. This means that we can enlarge the puppy area very quickly as they know to go to the potty area and don't get their toys dirty. It also means less cleaning up for me and a very easy conversion to house training for you! The whelping pen is beside my bed and I sleep with them right up until they leave, so the less smelly the better for me.
From week three we begin allowing people in. Family and dog savvy friends are allowed to visit as long as they wear clean clothes, wash and sanitise their hands, and change their shoes. The mother is usually totally comfortable with people handling the puppies so all the puppies get some good puppy loving. Week three is generally when they have their very first nail clip(which the puppies don't like as much as the cuddles but are happy with at the end of their time with me) though this may be done earlier if they are scratching up their mum's belly. We also begin to test their startle reflex which helps improve their recovery to unexpected stimuli. In addition to this, we play sound CDs from clix and videos from the Dogs Trust website so that they get to hear the following sounds; fireworks, thunder, gunshots, household items, children screaming, traffic, storms and more. This desensitisation and habituation from a young age means that the puppies find no fear in these noises and all of the puppies I have produced have had no problems with fireworks. The radio is left on continuously with the puppies to help with any unusual voices that might be on there. Also during week three, the weaning process is begun with a small bowl of warm milk, which usually ends up all over the puppies rather than in their bellies!!
Once the puppies hit week four, before and after their fear period, we increase the amount of people coming whilst maintain the strict sanitation and shoes off. Puppy buyers are welcome to come and look but no deposits will be placed yet. Children come and visit, and anyone that's vaguely "different" looking. I encourage people to wear hats, glasses, funny coats or jackets, and to bring objects like pushchairs or skateboards so that when the puppies go out into the big wide world, there won't be anything scary in it. Just everything that they've seen before. We add novelty objects to the whelping pen each day to ensure that the puppies are exploring everything to their hearts content. It also helps in stopping them from becoming bored! The puppies have mushy puppy food added to their milk and will be getting a lot better at eating it rather than wearing it. During this week, I will take them out for a short amount of time into the garden with their mother so they can experience the sun and sky. We are situated perfectly for socialising puppies. The A30 can be heard quietly in the background, there is livestock on one side of us, the lane that runs past our house frequently has horses and tractors on it and, if the wind is right, aeroplanes and helicopters fly overhead.
During week five, again we fit in as many people as possible, the dogs are also introduced at this point and are generally a little wary and then extremely loving. The puppies spend a little more time outside following mum around and playing with each other, which they're getting good at by this age. The puppies are taught a recall by me saying "puppy come" whenever I put down food and it works fantastically. This age is usually when their personalities come out more and more. They develop so quickly during these few weeks, turning from puppy potatoes into real dogs and so I spend a little alone time with each of them. This is usually when puppy buyers place deposits on a particular puppy as we can finally see their personalities but I generally try and wait until six weeks before we decide entirely, they definitely do change!
During week six, we are still loading them up with great positive experiences with dogs and people, they're getting fabulous at eating food and urinating where they're supposed to. I also introduce "Do wee wees" whenever they're going to the toilet, as it can be a very useful thing to have on command. I bring out the clicker at this age and they begin to learn basic things like sitting and how to use their brain. After following puppy culture, this is something they're used to due to things like barrier challenges, but I like to take it a step further with the babies to ensure that they're getting every possible thing that they need for their life in the big wide world. During this time, I also take them out for short journeys in the car to prepare them for the future. Some of the puppies have a long way to go on the way home and will need to be accustomed to the car (this is another reason "do wee wees" comes in handy as their new owners can say it when stopping to let their puppy relieve itself). The puppies learn all sorts of things during this week; that they only get attention if they're sitting, that water is great fun, that "puppy come" is the best thing ever and lots of other things!
Week seven, eight and nine are spent with loads of playing and eagerly asking the adults for more play. They begin eating solid food, learn that they don't need to resource guard and how to walk on the lead. The time spent away from the litter increases in preparation for leaving, along with individual crate time, and if their mother hasn't already, she stops sleeping with them during the night. We are still adding new and exciting novelty items each day and playing lots of tug along with exploring. Their recall is firmed up and we spend a little more time in the car. Of course, during week eight we also have a vets trip where they get their vaccinations and vet check to ensure they're all perfectly healthy. I have a mobile microchipper come to the house, so that the puppies don't have to be exposed to anymore potential diseases. Throughout their time here the puppies are also bathed, brushed, introduced to the toothbrush, have their nails clipped and are handled consistently every day by multiple people. We do so much that it's difficult to condense all the habituation, desensitisation and various conditioning exercises into a few brief paragraphs, however hopefully the above has given you a brief snapshot of their time here. All this is done in addition to all the puppy culture exercises and ensures we are busy from 5am to 11pm(along with getting up every couple of hours during the night as well!).
There comes a point in time where the breeder can no longer give enough individual attention to each puppy, and this is when you (the buyer and new owner) comes in. Because the responsibility is then passed to you to keep up the socialisation that we've started. If, for any reason at all, you can no longer keep your puppy, they will have a home with us. So, if you ever want to re-home your dog, please contact me first.