Birdwalk Farm Owner
Help - Meet first, or ship?
A lot of folks will tell you the
best way to choose your new companion is to go to the breeders’ house –
meet the pup and select one to go home with you. This may not actually
be the ideal thing, or provide you with the best match for your family.
Pups, like people, have their "off" days and, like people, mature and
develop personality at different rates. How fast this happens is
subject to experiences and outside stimulation, tempered by individual
basic tendencies. The pup sitting in the corner may be the
intelligent one, waiting to see what happens with the new stimulus
introduced to its environment (you). On the contrary, the pup that
bounds over to say "Hi!" could be the reckless individual – the alpha
pup that see no challenge as "too much" (which means, you will have
your hands full!). Pups may be playing with each other and not you –
this is normal development as they learn about their world and social
order. The pup that seems a little slower to grasp the situation may be
totally different two days later. Just like with humans, any youngster
of any species has to learn about their world, and their place in it.
On the other hand, the breeder of
these puppies has been observing them since the day they were born. In
early life, a pup's interest is only warmth and food, but as they
become aware of their surroundings and able to navigate, some on their
own personalities will emerge. As with any young being, they stick
close to mom but individual characteristics will begin to become
apparent. For example, at about 4 weeks the pups start to eat solid
food in addition to nursing. This is when we see the occasional pup
that would rather investigate the hand that feeds it or get a belly
rub, than worry about piling into the food with its littermates. There
could be the alpha pup that WILL eat first, and enforcing that
self-imposed rule with more agressive behaviour. These are things you
can’t see if you go meet pups for a one-time visit and "pick one out".
Meeting the pup is usually a playtime for puppies, and you would not
get to observe behavior during other times of their day. This is merely
an example of things the breeder knows about their puppies, that you
are missing out on, so the breeder becomes a most important person in
helping you choose your new family member.
The pups' first time playing out
side of their playpen or crate can be interesting also. A whole
other "category" begins to emerge- the first to explore the new
situation, the one that stays next to mom, the one that snuggles up to
the person it knows best. The first to explore may not be the
intelligent one, or it may be the alpha one - it's hard to tell.
Right now it may just be the one with a little more gumption at that
given time. The "momma's" puppy may be the outgoing one later on. In
addition to having insight on emerging personalities, we also do
temperament testing. The traditional "best" time for as experts will
say is 6 ½ weeks of age. We like to do a short version at about
5 weeks of age and again at 6 ½ weeks of age, to get a feel on
the changes a puppy has made in that time. The results can be
surprising! Usually they are similar, but some pups come out of their
"shells" later than others. A pup that seems a little shy at 5
weeks can be much more outgoing a week later. The bold pup at 6
½ weeks usually stays that way, or gets bolder.
Here at Birdwalk, we also try to
get to know as much about you and the home that the pup is going into,
along with your desires and expectations for your puppy. Combining this
knowledge with our first hand experience with the individual dog,
we "match" pups with the family. Most puppies will get along with
most people – that's the way dogs are. Adaptable and flexible is a lot
of why dogs and people are great friends. However – some dogs and some
people just are not a match. The older person who desires a cozy
lap-snuggler would not be a good match with the more energetic,
outgoing, inquisitive puppy who would excel in fly ball or
agility. Conversely, the couch-potato pup may not be the one for a
group of rowdy kids on the go all day. Most puppiess are not
going to lean to either extreme, but certain pups can be a better match
for your family than others, and this is where we do our best in trying
to advise you and choose a good match.
Once we have worked together to
choose a puppy, we'll send pictures every couple weeks as your
pupy grows and developes for your scrapbook, and as personalities
emerge we advise you of them as well as what is going on in your pup’s
life. Many folks feel like they get to know the pup better this way
than just meeting a pup for the first time when they arrive to take one
home. It does tend to be a much more intimate experience for everyone
and you receive YOUR puppy, not just A puppy.
We pencil you in for a certain
pup or group of similar pups early on after their birth. If for some
reason as the pup grows, we feel a puppy is not maturing to be what you
have told us you want we will let you know and you make the decision on
that pup. You can choose from any unspoken for puppiess at that time,
or be given priority choice on the next litter(s). Usually by
about 6 weeks, we expect you to have made a decision if you feel the
pup is not what you want. This is to be fair to the puppy in finding a
more suitable home so the pup may go home at 8 weeks of age.
The average age for a puppy to go
to its new home is 8 weeks, when the puppy is going to have its "Big
Day" on the ariplane. Pups being picked up may be able to go home
5 – 7 days earlier, as long as they are socially, mentally and
physically ready. This is the norm, but occasionally we feel certain
individual pups may benefit from staying longer. Rarely would a
pup need to stay here past 9 weeks of age for the puppy's sake.
We do offer to keep pups longer than the 8 weeks normal go-home time.
There is a charge of $50 a week for this service, as we continue
vaccinations, start paper training and crate training. In warm weather
we will start limited outside house breaking. By 10 weeks old most pups
will be sleeping all night without need of a "potty" break. In
addition, most will be using their papers or puppy pee-pad fairly well
and asking to be let out of their crate for the same needs. Pups
begin receiving multiple levels of stimuli and experiences early in
life here at Birdwalk (usually 5 weeks of age and on), and this is
continued and broadened. For example, weather permitting, they can play
on the deck with "puppy pool" water play area to splash in and out of;
toys of all kinds are always available. If we have more than one litter
of compatible age and size, pups get to play with non-littermates and
non-mom adults as well as the cat. All of this helps them come to you
as happy, well adjusted and ready-to-love new family members.
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Last updated 2/06 Copyright 2000, Birdwalk Farms