Chippewa Acres Farm
Call us: 517-749-1671
Email: [email protected]
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How we raise our puppies (under construction)
We put a lot of time, love and effort into raising our puppies right so they will be the best canine companions they can be. So what do you get when you buy a puppy from us?
You receive a healthy puppy that has been well cared for, given age appropriate shots, dewormed, microchipped, checked over by a veterinarian for everything that can be seen, felt, and heard, a two year health guarantee, lifetime breeder support, and much, much more. Our puppies are born from vet health checked and DNA screened parents to ensure preventable health risks are not passed down to our puppies. If a litter is produced from a parent that is a carrier of a genetic mutation that is considered a risk factor(Mdr1/HC), we will test all puppies in the litter so results are known in advance.
We start at 3 days old with neonatal stimulation. This gives our puppies improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate), stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to disease.
As soon as their eyes and ears open I begin engaging their recovery response. This is accomplished by exposing the puppies to loud sudden noises. We drop dishes near their playpen, slam doors, turn on the vacuum, etc. in order to startle them. By doing this they gain the ability to recover from stresses easier and quicker later in life.
When they are well started eating on their own we place age appropriate obstacles in the way of their food dish to activate their problem solving skills. We do not help them navigate around or over the object. By doing these exercises it teaches them to be thinkers and problem solvers.
We socialize our puppies as much as possible from 4-8 weeks old. Socialization is key for the emotional well being of the puppy for the rest of his/her life. There are 7 things we focus on with our puppies communication (dog and human language skills), emotional stability (the ability to recover from fear as well as cope with stress and frustration in a socially acceptable manner), habituation(familiarity with the maximum number of things, facilitation of the "so what" response) They are exposed to dogs, cats, horses, lots of children of all ages, different adults(we have our friends and neighbors over to interact with them), they are taken on short and long car rides to visit my workplace, our lake house, and the vet. By socializing our puppies during this time in their lives we are giving them the confidence and ability to prepare them for adult dog life and to have the willingness cope and interact in situations that an non-socialized pup would not feel comfortable doing.
We provide enrichment for our puppies. They are allowed to explore a wide variety of different toys, treats, obstacles, the pool, lake, cement, sand, gravel, grass, etc. By providing an enriched environment for them we teach them to seek out new and interesting things and they will do so with confidence.
We provide a quality well balanced diet to give our puppies the best nutrition to supply their bodies with the vitamins and nutrients they require to build strong bones and healthy immune systems. We start introducing them to food with a mixture of goats milk and venison burger. After a few days we add Fromm Gold Puppy food to the mixture and eventually remove the venison and then the goats milk gradually until they are eating the hard food. Once they are eating hard puppy kibble we add fish oil as a top dressing on their food. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which aids in cognitive development in puppies and improves skin and coat health, joint health, and energy. Also at this time we start adding another supplement, NuVet Plus. NuVet adds support to our puppies developing immune systems, helps fortify bone structure, provides added nutrients for proper growth, and adds support to the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
