Information About Our Puppies
The birth of a litter of Chaland Puppies is an event that has been carefully planned.
We want to give your puppy the best beginning in life that we can. To do that, we follow several principles of natural rearing along with a careful program of socialization and interaction to produce terrific puppies!
Between their 3rd and 16th days of age, we follow the Early Neurological Stimulation aka Super Dog Program.
Week 2 & 3 we give more specific stressors during handling. They can experience the hustle & bustle of active family life from the whelping box in our home. Puppies begin experiencing new toys in their whelping box.
Week 3&4 we begin playing a special CD of sound effects at a low volume for an hour or more per day. Up to this point, they have been hearing the TV and experiencing normal family life, the addition of the CD will allow them to experience sound stressors (people screaming, sirens, etc) in the comfort of a known environment. If pups and dam choose, our pups may also begin weaning this week. We allow puppies to spend ample time with their dam during this period and still allow them to nurse. We begin work with the clicker to teach them how to interact with humans. They begin show training, participate in several training exercises, experience obstacles, begin participating in scent circle, imprinting on narcotics detection and imprinting on protection training.
Week 5 We pay attention to the potential for fearful behaviors around Day 36 and then they begin experiencing new surfaces - cardboard, carpet, tile, the metal of a wheelchair ramp, etc. They also experience new objects - tunnels, leaves, etc. Imprinting may begin this week and continue on, building into positive, gentle training. Puppies are tested using the barrier challenge.
Week 6 we begin giving more individual attention to each puppy, away from the litter. All experiences are kept completely positive, upbeat, and exciting. This week they are introduced to new things - tennis balls, wooden and metal spoons, pvc pipe, etc. By this point imprinting and training exercises have been well under way. Puppy party happens. Puppies participate in tracking a short track. Object exchanges, body handling occur to reduce resource guarding risk.
Week 7 We no longer use the Volhard's program (PAT) or PAWS Working Dog Evaluation, as we are constnatly evaluating our puppies from birth until they are being sent to their new homes. This week, puppies will be fully weaned. Puppies are vet checked this week and given first vaccinations. Puppies are provided their own areas and housetraining may begin. More training and socialization will occur. Puppies are exposed to livestock and evaluated on herding potential.
Week 8 - 12 Depending on the method of the puppy going to its new home (picked up, flying, ground transport) and whether it is a pet, working, sporting, or show quality puppy, some puppies will begin going to their new homes during this time frame.
This program (above) demonstrates only a small part of the time and interaction that we give to our puppies. So much more goes into the handling, gentle training, and socialization (and did we say FUN?) of raising each puppy up.
Puppy Packets
We often offer the following items in a packet to go home with your puppy, some of the items may be virtual:
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Socialization/Training Skills Learned Checklist
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Health Records
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Contract
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AKC Registration
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Parents' Pedigrees
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Parents' OFA & Embark DNA results
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AKC Standard
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Recommended Reading List
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Various Articles of Interest
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Microchip Information
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Toy
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Breed Club Application
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Vet, Trainer, and/or Club Reference in your area (as requested) AND if you live locally, we are happy to help you continue your training journey.
A Word About Contracts
We require that all of our puppies, adults, and rescues go to new homes with a written contract of agreement between us. This is nothing to be concerned about and is becoming more standard with responsible dog breeders and responsible rescues. We are happy to provide you a copy of the contract prior to puppy pickup so that you can have your attorney review it. We want to ensure the dogs that we produce are kept in a loving environment and provided for adequately. Happy Tails!
You may review an example of our purchase agreement, here.
Waiting List Info & Better Breeding Committment
A bit about waiting lists:
We only breed a litter for ourselves (to continue our line, to produce our next show/working prospects, etc). That means that we are rarely disappointed if a puppy buyer needs to back out. We are fully ready and capable to keep every pup we produce. We do not feel pressured to find homes for our puppies. We usually have all puppies (that we are not keeping) sold within the first 10 weeks of their lives anyways. That said, the way to get a puppy from us is to develop a relationship with us. Come meet us and our dogs. Join us at a dog event and chat a bit. Let us know about your interest in a puppy and when the right pup from the right litter comes along for you, we will let you know.
Since our litters are sporadic (we've produced 20 litters in 21 years) this could mean having to wait a year or more before having a Chaland puppy. That gives us more time to get to know you!
When you are certain that you want a puppy from Chaland (and we are certain that you are a good fit for a puppy from us), then you will be invited to send a deposit of $250 to be added to the waiting list. The deposit is NOT REFUNDABLE in the event that you later change your mind about a puppy from Chaland or from the litter that you are offered the puppy from. You will be allowed to transfer your deposit to the next litter one time before losing your deposit.