Caring for our puppies

All of our labrador puppies are ideal for companion pets, hunting and hunt test Labradors.  We care for our puppies 24 hours a day with loving care.  All of our puppies are born and raised in our home, and are socialized with all ages. Below is information regarding our program on how we care for our puppies and the pictures are from previous litters of puppies. 
We set up puppy nurseries in our home with whelping boxes lined with padded linens for comfort for the Dam and her puppies. 

During the birthing process, we are present with each delivery,  being next to the Dam as delivery occurs to ensure comfort to the dam and the newborn puppy with a safe delivery.  Therefore, socialization starts immediately with the puppies with us touching, holding and assuring that the dam is giving them loving care.  The puppies are supervised 24 hours a day and kept clean, monitored for appropriate growth of intake of milk from the Dam, and extremely socialized.  The Dam always has plenty of water, is given extra nourishment and exercise.  The first 5 days the dam is very protective of her puppies and is with them continuously giving them nourishment, keeping them clean, and taking care of them very well. When the puppies tummies get full after feeding they crawl around on the linens and sleep. With socialization - the puppies love to be held, have their little tummies rubbed, touching of their feet, holding them and giving them little kisses of love.  Holly is pictured with her puppies in 2004.

At 2 weeks of age, the puppies eyes will start to open and at 3 weeks of age the eyes will be open and they will start to see some light but not clearly.  As they grow, their eyesight becomes clearer.  Their teeth start coming in at around 3 weeks and we will start the puppies on a liquid blenderized puppy food to get them accustomed to food.  We start with once a day, then gradually increase to 2 times a day, over a few days. By 4 weeks of age the food is then prepared thicker and in larger quantity and feeding increased to 4 times a day.  During the feedings we are present to monitor their intake and clean them when they get a little messy with food.  The dam will be present also and assist with the cleaning.  At this time, they are moved to our basement area that is designed for our puppies with a larger area to get more exercise, a 10 ft x 10 ft area and the whelping box moved with them and get more sunlight thru the glass sliding doors.  During the day the puppies are continually supervised, and played with for socialization, as well as ensuring a very clean area. 
At 4 weeks of age our clients are invited to come and select their puppy by priority, if our client is far away, we will email pictures for the selection of the puppy, meeting specific requests as to the size, color, and personality.

At 4 weeks the puppies are becoming very playful,  loving attention and giving lab kisses of joy.  We start introducing them to dry puppy food as well as giving them the blenderized food until we know their intake of food is good.  We also start the weaning process, by reducing the number of times the Dam feeds the puppies, i.e. 6 times a day to 4x a day, then gradually decreasing the number to once a day and the puppies are weaned at 5 weeks of age.  The Dam continues to play with her puppies while we ensure that the Dam is not feeding them after the weaning is complete. 

At 4 1/2 weeks to 5 weeks of age we start the process of potty training by taking walks outside every 2 hours during the day to begin potty training outside and exercise, as long as the weather is nice.  Also, the no-bite training begins.  At this time the puppies are giving "lab kisses" and very playful.
 

Crate Training begins at 5 weeks beginning with placing 2 medium size crates, without the doors, in the area and closing off the whelping box.  This reduces stress and gets them use to the crate.  At 6 weeks we will start crate training with doors on with 2 puppies in the crate for 20 minutes, after exercise and potty, and gradually increasing the time as well as 1 puppy only in the crate.  This will help reduce stress on the puppy and make it easier when the puppy goes to his/her new home. 

At 5 to 6 weeks of age the puppies are introduced to the water and swimming, as long as the weather is nice and warm.  We start by walking them thru water puddles, and then will take them to the pond area for them to play.  When we introduce them to swimming, one of us will carry the puppy out into the water, gently getting them use to it, and then releasing the puppy, the other person will be encouraging the puppy to swim to them to land.  Most of the puppies like it so well, they will start swimming around in the pond before coming to land.  After a few swims, we always have a towel to dry the puppy to prevent the puppy from being cold.  Our puppy clients are welcomed to come out to socialize every 2 weeks and especially for the puppy's first swim.  Each day we will encourage swimming until they are ready to go to their new homes. 

At 7 weeks the puppies are ready for their new labrador homes, they are bathed, nails trimmed (every 2 weeks after birth and before they leave) and inform our clients of  "how to" care for their puppies, continue with potty training, obedience, follow-up veterinarian health checks, etc.  The first week the puppy is at his/her home, it is very important that a family member be home with the puppy or take the puppy to work with you, to give the puppy security, trust, plenty of love and attention as well as getting the puppy on a routine schedule in your home.  Documents our clients receive are 1) Full AKC Registration Rights, 2) Home Again National registration papers - the microchip is inserted before the puppy leaves and the puppy will be scanned to verify the personal identification number before leaving with the owners, 3) Health Record - includes documentation of the first vaccine, deworming, Puppy Heartguard, and dew claws removed as well as the next date due for the veterinarian appointment,  4) Copies of the parents documents, the pedigree (also on our website), and 5) My New Puppy document, that will give you information on "tips for training and caring for your new puppy". We encourage our puppy owners to give us feedback on their new member of the family and if they have questions at anytime to email us.

Please feel free to inquire at anytime if you have questions.  Please visit our Happy Homes page and see how some of the puppies are growing.

Puppy pictures from our previous litters.