A whelping box does not have to be an individual box in your house, basement or garage, where constant attention to cleanup duty makes having a litter of pups a burden on your hectic daily lifestyle. The design I am going to show you works extremely well for our lifestyle because we are not home […]
Puppy Bedding From Shredded Newspaper
Maintaining the whelping box and providing a clean and healthy environment for a new litter of pups can be a chore. When my dogs whelp I make sure the mother is comfortable in her new home. The mother sleeps in the box for at least a week prior to whelping. My Lab’s litters are born […]
Puppy Growth It’s Like Clockwork
If you have ever had a bitch with a litter of pups, you probably noticed that on certain days the pups’ level of physical and mental development changed dramatically, that is, eyes opened, first steps were taken or noise awareness occurred. Mother Nature has developed a time clock for growth of our dogs. Over the […]
When Puppies Are Orphaned
The joy you feel when a litter of puppies is born can turn to heartache when the mother dies due to the stress and complexities of giving birth- or becomes too sick to care for her litter. It can happen to any dog. It happened to one of mine after fifteen years’ experience with healthy […]
Training the Basics
Repetition is the key ingredient at this early stage Keep it simple. That’s my philosophy when it comes to teaching a dog the basics. The most important aspect of training a dog, whether a pup or 1-or-2-year-old, is putting them through lessons of repetition and gradually making the task more difficult. The problem most beginners […]
Picking A Puppy
Do some homework on genetics and follow a few basic guidelines and you’ll get a keeper. You probably all remember the line, “How much is that doggie in the window, the one with the waggly tail,” from your childhood days. When it comes to choosing a future hunting companion, basing the selection of a puppy […]
Buying A Gun Dog
Finding your first pup begins with research—and word of mouth is a good place to start. Spring is the time of the year most hunters are on the lookout for a new pup, one that will be ready to hunt in the fall. If the person already has a good hunting dog, chances are a good breeder […]
Puppies: The First 12 Weeks
The early stages of a puppy’s development will have a lasting impact—so a breeder’s litter management is crucial. A new puppy is a lot like a new baby. Both are very impressionable, and generally what they see and hear in the early stages of their development will have a lasting effect. That’s why it’s important […]