ABA 2024: Top Puppy Parent - Sam Chamberlain

What does raising truly well-rounded puppies actually involve once the excitement wears off and the hard work begins?

In this episode, Sara sits down with Sam Chamberlain, winner of the Top Puppy Parent Award and finalist for Breeder Excellence, to unpack the real-life routines, tough decisions, and thoughtful systems behind her standout litters.

From managing a surprise midnight whelping to balancing high standards with everyday chaos, Sam shares how she navigates owner expectations with structure and honesty. For support tailored to your breed, background and breeding mindset, join the Brew Crew and discover what top-tier puppy parenting really looks like.

📌 Show Notes: breedersbrew.com/notes/s3e24

👉 Visit Sam's website: Rackenford Dogs, Facebook: www.facebook.com/rackenfordcockapoos & IG: www.instagram.com/rackenfordcockapoos 

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Transcript

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (00:00)
In this episode, you'll hear how Sam's breeding journey has evolved to fit her lifestyle, leading her from Labradors to Cocker Spaniels and Cockapoos. We dive into the realities of responsible breeding from the chaos of unexpected whelping surprises and the challenges of tube feeding a struggling newborn

to the search for the right stud dogs and managing owner expectations. if you ever want a behind scenes look at what it takes to raise a well bred, well prepared puppies, this episode you won't want to miss.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (00:52)
welcome back to another episode of my annual Breeder Awards, sort of mini series/ informal conversations with some of the finalists and winners. I'm pleased to introduce on the podcast today, Sam Chamberlain, who was the winner of the Top Puppy Parent Award. And she was also a finalist of

Sam (Rackenford) (01:04)
So thanks being here.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (01:14)
the Breeder Excellence Award. So a double finalist and a winner. welcome to the podcast, Sam. Hello. Okay, so Sam, I'm gonna do the usual drill that I've done with everybody. It would be great for you just to introduce yourself, what breeds you've got, what you breed, and just how you've managed to fall into dog breeding and dog ownership.

Sam (Rackenford) (01:20)
Hi.

Okay, I have always grown up with dogs. I got my first dog when I left home I've been breeding for 13 years. I started off doing Labradors for about 10, 11 years and I now breed

Cocker Spaniel Show Puppies and Cockapoo puppies.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (01:56)
What breed did you have as a kid when you were younger?

Sam (Rackenford) (01:59)
What did I have? Mostly they were mixed breeds that we rescued but I did have Labradors as well when I was younger which is probably why I got a Labrador when I left home. It was a Labrador, yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (02:09)
and that was your first dog, yeah, lab, when you left home and then,

what was the transition from going from I'm a dog owner to I'm gonna decide to breed one of my dogs and then, sign up to a lifetime of misery with dog breeding?

Sam (Rackenford) (02:23)
I don't know why. I think because I'd had both of my girls and they were at young age and I needed a couple of other people that were breeding and I just brought a Labrador bitch puppy and I thought actually I'll get health tests and that done and see how that goes and then yeah one thing just lead to another health tests were all good so I decided to try.

really. So that was a bit of a learning curve first litter and then you sort of it's a bit like having a baby you then forget the stress you go through so you know do it again and then one year leads me yeah exactly

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (02:57)
The amnesia.

that story doesn't seem unfamiliar, to be honest. I think there's quite a lot of people, never went, when I'm older, I'm going to breed dogs. They just sort of fell into it. And I think particularly Sue said the same with the Labrador. She said, ooh, we just did the health testing and then it all just sort of snowballed from there because there wasn't any barriers to stop us.

Sam (Rackenford) (03:14)
Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (03:25)
we had met all the responsible breeding aspects and traits that we needed to by health testing, whether that be like hips and elbows, x-rays, whether that be DNA swabs, whether that be eye test, heart test, whatever it might be. And then, yeah, once you pass all the checks, there's literally is nothing stopping you, is there? So then you just go, well, let's give it a go. How did you find your first litter then?

Sam (Rackenford) (03:43)
No, exactly.

It was relatively straightforward but obviously first time breeding. There's a lot of things that you read that you should look for which I was doing. I was doing like temperatures and there was no temperature drop and she wasn't going off the food and you know all the signs that they say you should look for I looked for and she had none of those so I went to bed and at about three o'clock in the morning I could hear squeaking.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:07)
It didn't happen. gosh.

Sam (Rackenford) (04:14)
and I've gone downstairs and she had had three puppies already and then all hell broke loose because I was having a right-o'-paddy on and then she had one more and then yeah after that it was relatively plain sailing

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:28)
those three pups, were they out of sack? Has she done her job or were they, yeah, okay, so.

Sam (Rackenford) (04:30)
Yes, yes they were out of

sack laying all over the room that she was in, none of them in the whelping box, yeah it was horrendous. Yeah, yeah she obviously didn't know what she was doing, luckily enough they were all absolutely fine but yeah panic stations. She had four in total.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:37)
God. Scattered them around like Find and Seek. God.

And how many did she have in total?

in total did you scan back then or not or what was you expecting?

Sam (Rackenford) (04:58)
I

did scan, but it was literally just a scan to say she was pregnant. So yeah, not like going to you and getting an accurate number and dating things.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (05:05)
Right.

Yeah,

okay. Yeah, she will expect him perhaps and let's see what happens and it's as you say the temperature drop is always quite a hard one to catch it is I think sort of mixed opinions about that even to this day whether people catch it enough or not and Yeah, if you're relying on a lab to go off their food, ha ha Yeah, well you learn as you go yeah for sure

Sam (Rackenford) (05:17)
in place.

Yeah.

I know, I know, exactly. But know, hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (05:39)
so moving on to current day. So why did you decide on the switch from the Labradors into your Cockers and Cockapoos?

Sam (Rackenford) (05:44)
only purely because

we moved and where we moved to wasn't as big as our previous place and I'd already had a cockapoo who I'd brought that I was not going to breed from but then you think oh well same thing we do the health testing that was all good so I thought oh do you know what I'll just do one litter see how that goes and

The difference between a Labrador puppy and a Cockapoo/Cockerspaniel puppy is completely different. it was a lot easier in the respect of as they got bigger, everything else didn't get as big. So the mess wasn't so horrendous. And yeah, I just slowly just went over to just the smaller dogs really, just because

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (06:26)
Yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (06:34)
We had less space here, so therefore a smaller dog was a lot easier to manage. Does that make sense?

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (06:39)
Yeah, and that in itself

makes it more enjoyable for you, doesn't it? When you think, actually, yeah, there's no point doing something you don't enjoy. And I think it's interesting, because you can't just fall into a breed, and then it's not until you start looking around, a bit no different to me with the bulldogs, that's just happened. was just, that's the breed I was with, that's what I'm gonna breed. And we went from there. And obviously, as you know, I then, when I got a Labrador, and I love my lab.

Sam (Rackenford) (06:44)
Yeah, exactly.

Yes. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (07:07)
But yeah, I still enjoy breeding the bulldog. So I tried it and I was like, this is cool. But you know what? I quite like my bulldog. have to try different to know whether what you like is what you like or do you need to take a new path or not? And they say for you, you took that new path. So how do you find your stud dogs? Because obviously you've been in the Labrador so long. Sometimes stuff feels so familiar. It's easy, isn't it? But when you're starting again in a new breed,

Sam (Rackenford) (07:20)
Exactly. Yeah.

It's so hard, it's so hard. A lot of the time just joining different groups on social media, Facebook, Having a look on good old Pets4Homes, which is a minefield. I was quite lucky that asking you, I've asked you as well for recommendations, it is quite hard.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (07:51)
Yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (07:54)
But I've been lucky enough to find a good stud dog with miniature poodles. but last year I did my first cockerspaniel litter so I had to find a cockerspaniel stud. Again that was quite hard. It's quite easy to find a stud dog, it's quite hard to find a stud dog with all health tests. So yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (08:13)
Yeah, yeah, you're not the first to

say that, so yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (08:16)
So yeah, that's quite hard. it's just a lot of speaking to people going on the kennel club, trying to see what health tests are on the kennel club, it's just, it's quite hard. Yeah, is. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (08:26)
Yeah, doing a lot of research, looking around. And I think it's one of those, when you find

a good stud owner that's doing all the things right, you kind of hope that they have more than one stud dog so you can return. Because once you've built that trust with somebody, it seems crazy to make your life difficult and go somewhere else.

Sam (Rackenford) (08:38)
Yeah, absolutely.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (08:45)
people will happily just go back to somebody that's got a good stud dog, but you know, slightly different bloodline or you know, however many generations apart or whatever, which I don't think enough people do. And then you say you're on the stud search again and it starts all over again.

Sam (Rackenford) (08:49)
Absolutely.

Yeah, it's very, very hard.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (09:02)
So in regards to your puppies and your award being top puppy parent, I just wanna talk a little bit more about the pups themselves. obviously we all hope that pups are born, they're all strong, they all latch on and then they grow at the rate of knots and then eight weeks fly by and off they go out the door and it was all done and dusted, but that's not always the case. So I know that you had quite a difficult...

Sam (Rackenford) (09:20)
Thank

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (09:24)
puppy that you sort of had to tube feed. So I don't know if you just want to talk through how it got to that point and why you decided that was like the best option, I suppose, for that puppy.

Sam (Rackenford) (09:32)
Yeah.

Okay. So last year I had my, like I said, my first Cocker Spaniel litter. It was straightforward delivery. All pups were pretty much the same size. and they were all put in on loads of weight. mean, mum must have like mega milk because they were put in on lots and lots of weight. But after probably five days, one of the pups,

didn't put on anything. I do weigh them daily for the first seven to 10 days and one of the pups hadn't put on anything. I wasn't overly concerned because he had put a lot of weight the previous day. So I just monitored him and then the next day he still hadn't put on any. And then the day after he started dropping weight and was starting to get a bit lethargic.

So I decided to step in and tube feed. And it took a good, I wasn't tube feeding religiously. Every time I was with the pups, I would put him back on mum and he was feeding fine. And I was checking his sucking reflex and he was sucking fine. He felt a bit cold. So I moved the heat mat

up on top of the vet bed and I was laying him directly on that even though it was quite warm I was probably tube feeding him three times a day and then the rest of the time he would be on mum, three, four times a day to start off with. And yeah he slowly started to put on weight I was still doing the odd tube feed for probably about a week.

And then by then he come off of that and yeah, he totally caught up with all the others and he was fine.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (11:16)
what do you think of the reason, why do you think he...

Sam (Rackenford) (11:19)
I think he just got too cold. So the room that they whelp in is open. So even though they had a heater in there and they had a heat mat in there, I just, I don't know. I just think he got too cold. I just think he got too cold for whatever reason. And, you know, that just stopped him from feeding.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (11:39)
Yeah, fair enough.

Sam (Rackenford) (11:40)
because there was no other signs as in when I was tube feeding him and he, you know, it took a bit of time, but he did start putting it back on and he did catch up with the others. So there was no other physical signs as to why, he would have stopped feeding.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (11:54)
was you anxious about tube feeding for the first time? Because you'd never done it before. So how, well, a question I've got is, did you already have the equipment in and how did you know to do it correctly?

Sam (Rackenford) (11:58)
Yes.

I did because the year previous I had a cockapoo puppy wasn't feeding on anything. so I'd gone into the vets after about a week and said, you need to show me how to tube feed.

because this puppy's gonna die. So the year previous was the first time I learned how to tube feed. Luckily enough, my youngest daughter actually worked in my vets on a Saturday. So she was with me when they were showing us. So she was my helper. So because of that, the vets gave me

some tube and some milk while I was there. So because of that experience, I then obviously made sure that I've always got spares at home now. Because the trouble is, when you know you've got to do tube feeding or bottle feeding or whatever, it's normally you haven't got anything there. You know, you decide I've got to do it, but you haven't got anything on standby to do it. So yeah, so that's just another.

lesson learnt that just to be prepared and just have everything there ready just in case.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (13:09)
what did you

do? Was it a diluted milk or did you just do a milk formula in and how did you know how much to give?

Sam (Rackenford) (13:16)
So luckily enough the vets had given me a complete breakdown of how much I needed to give and they gave me a formula that I just needed to mix up. So I would mix up like a day's worth and leave it in the fridge so that when it was feeding time I could just get out the correct amounts and tube feed. But yeah, it is very scary first few times that you do it, but.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (13:33)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (13:40)
Yeah, you haven't really got a choice. You either do that or your puppy dies. So you sort of have to get over that. But yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (13:47)
Yeah,

you already always say to people you're doing it for the puppy's best interest. obviously the classic one that everyone's always worried about is that you go into the lungs and you flood the lungs with milk rather than putting the milk into the stomach.

Sam (Rackenford) (13:52)
Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, well

I'd watched a few videos and I found quite a good video that said that once you've put the tube in, if you squeeze one of their paws and if they make a sound then you've got the tube in the right place because they won't make a sound if it's gone into their lungs.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:15)
I've not heard that before. Yeah, interesting.

Sam (Rackenford) (14:16)
So that was actually a really

good like tip.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:20)
and most certainly most vets wouldn't have had that kind of stuff in stock for you to take. They just would have gone, well, this is what you need, you're gonna have to go and buy it and off you go. So yeah, it does sound like you've.

Sam (Rackenford) (14:25)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I was very lucky. My vets

are very good.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:32)
Good, well makes a change. Because like finding breeder friendly vets can be really difficult. you're definitely in a fortunate position there. what I hear a lot in certain breeds is that you'll have someone that's bred for like, I don't know, 15, 20 years and they're kind of boastful is just to say, I've never lost a puppy.

Sam (Rackenford) (14:34)
Yeah, well yeah, exactly.

right okay.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:55)
you know,

obviously we do our best prep into making sure that mum's in good condition.

Sam (Rackenford) (14:56)
listening.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (15:00)
you pick a good start, everyone's healthy, like we're always doing our best to ensure that we do get good puppies but you can just have a bad run of a bad litter or a weak puppy and it's no reflection on you, it's just the card that you've been dealt so it always makes me wince a little bit when you get people go I've never lost a puppy because it doesn't mean anything that you literally

Sam (Rackenford) (15:09)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (15:21)
and it depends what breed you're in. Trust me, if you can keep bulldog pups alive then yeah, you've done an amazing job compared to the average litter because they're just difficult.

Sam (Rackenford) (15:29)
I mean, I

just always say, I've been doing it 13 years and every single litter I have, something new will happen. Every single time without fail, there's always something different happens. although I might have been doing it for 13 years, still new things crop up all the time. Silly little things, big things. So to say that...

you you've never lost a puppy well, I just wouldn't believe that yeah, exactly,

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (15:59)
Yeah. memory, I think they must have.

I think you've got a growth mindset. So every new challenge that you get, you're thinking, right, why did that happen? How do I stop it happening again? How do I fix the problem? So obviously, you're just coming at it from a different perspective than some people and...

I remember once I went to the vet and all the pups, their guts had been born all on the outside. And anyway, the vet said, shoved all the guts back in, stitched up the puppies and he literally just handed them to me, went, good luck.

Sam (Rackenford) (16:24)
It's fun.

Next

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (16:28)
Like if anyone could do

Sam (Rackenford) (16:28)
one.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (16:30)
this Sara you could do it so now okay. Thank you. and I just thought this is gonna be such hard work and it was hard work and it wasn't a happy ending, I basically said to the vet at this point. I'm bored of learning

Sam (Rackenford) (16:34)
So,

Yeah,

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (16:42)
I don't want to learn anything new.

Sam (Rackenford) (16:43)
yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (16:44)
I just want to do this breeding and everything work and everything be easy. But like you've just highlighted, it doesn't happen. to be in this long term, you've got to go, okay, that was a problem or that didn't work. How do I stop that happening again? Or how could I prevent it and move forward? So you have to learn continually to not do so.

Sam (Rackenford) (17:02)
Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (17:04)
What do you do in regards to your socialisation and how you rear puppies? Do you try and toilet train them?

Sam (Rackenford) (17:03)
Exactly.

So my last few liters of labs that I done I started pellet training them which actually went really really well I was very surprised but generally with the cocker spaniels and cocker poos I haven't really tried that because because their mess isn't as big as a Labrador it's not so much

of an issue for me. So generally it's puppy pads for their bedding and if the weather's nice then they definitely go outside but for some reason the last few years I've been having puppies like over the winter period and as everyone knows that's been rubbish weather and rain and more rain and more rain. So yeah if I can get them outside then they will definitely go outside.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (17:48)
Yeah, the rain has been...yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (17:55)
But yeah, not always the case.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (17:56)
and do they

not they not rip up the puppy pads or they good?

Sam (Rackenford) (18:00)
No, started using, last few years I've been using the washable ones. So, yeah, so that saves quite a lot and obviously they're quite tough compared to the paper ones. So, Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (18:05)
Okay, yep.

Yeah, I'm a massive fan of

the washable ones. Yeah, I do really like them. Do you bath your dogs or anything before they go to their new homes? Isabel and I had a conversation about some of the coated breeds. I know some breeders are all for it, some aren't.

Sam (Rackenford) (18:26)
Generally not unless they need to be. So obviously you get some, especially obviously with the cockapoos, you know, they can get in a bit of a mess around the bum region. But generally no, like I say, unless I absolutely need to sort them out before they go. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (18:30)
Yeah.

need to.

That's fair enough. How do you manage your puppy enquiries and viewings and all that kind of thing? What process do you find is the most streamlined and successful that works for you?

Sam (Rackenford) (18:55)
So I've got a website and I've got a Facebook page and generally I don't have a waiting list open all year round purely because of the amount of time wasters that you get. So generally I tell everybody that enquires that once a pregnancy has been confirmed I will open up the waiting list. So that obviously goes out on social media and on my website blog. And then...

anyone that enquires, I will send out a puppy application form and then obviously I will go through that. Then depending, I do have two forms of waiting lists. So I have a general waiting list and then I've got a waiting list where they can pay me part deposit, which will get them more of a guaranteed place on the waiting list. And then...

depending on once I've seen you how many puppies I roughly know I'm going to have I will obviously keep a waiting list open depending on what I think, you know, like so if you tell me I've got eight puppies due I'll do like a four and four. Generally I will know roughly what colours I'm going to have so that sort of takes it out of the equation. So yeah, it'd be four girls, four boys type of thing.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (20:00)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's I quite similar to how I do the labs. How do you, your website, do you do it yourself or do you pay a site master or whatever? Because I know one of your blogs went up quite quick from the ABA awards.

Sam (Rackenford) (20:24)
No, I did it myself.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (20:25)
Okay,

so who do you use what you do?

Sam (Rackenford) (20:28)
I have got just a Wix website. so my daughter does social media and things like that. So she helped me set it up. But yeah, it's pretty easy to manage yourself. So yeah, I do most of it myself.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (20:40)
That's good. I'm all for a website and I think more

breeders should have them. would you say that's how you attract most of your people or do you have other avenues as well?

Sam (Rackenford) (20:49)
I get a lot of it through the website. Obviously I also become a registered breeder with the Cockapoo Club of Great Britain and so my name and my website is on their website so generally a lot of people will go to the Cockapoo Club first and find the list of approved breeders and then come through to me from that.

Because I've been obviously doing it for a few years, a lot of it is obviously word of mouth, social media. So yeah, so I'd say I get a big chunk from the Cockapoo side of things, but I also get a good chunk from my social media as well.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (21:26)
That's good, that's interesting. And so they leave a deposit and then obviously how do you keep them updated from when the pups are born?

Sam (Rackenford) (21:34)
So I set up a WhatsApp group. So everyone goes on a WhatsApp group and I send out weekly updates and photos and videos. and obviously I'll put stuff up on social media and that but obviously all my potential owners get all the information first before I put it out on social media.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (21:53)
Yeah, so they

get breaking news, this is what we're expecting and that kind of thing and then it goes to the wider people, yeah. And what age do  viewings? Do you do viewings? How do you manage all that?

Sam (Rackenford) (21:55)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Well, I normally do

between four to five weeks, but generally I've started doing more towards the end of five weeks really. Four weeks, I try to go as long as possible having all these people in my house, if I'm perfectly honest. So I generally go more towards five weeks. So I just think the puppies are just that bit bigger and they do a bit more at five weeks than four weeks. So if I can hold people off until then, I generally do.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (22:16)
Mm.

Sam (Rackenford) (22:31)
and then do, yeah, visits at five weeks.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (22:33)
And how do you structure those visits? it, do you try and get everyone in on one day or one weekend? Or do you give them set amount of times? do you?

Sam (Rackenford) (22:38)
I try, I try. Last

year did not work out like that at all. It was all in dribs and drabs, which was horrendous. I try and just do back to back just to get it all done. What I am thinking is I should actually do a video. Do a video and then sit down when they come in or send it out to everyone beforehand. So I do all my spiel so that I haven't got to repeating myself like eight times a day.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (22:53)
Yeah.

saying it,

Yeah, because you can say, watch this before you come and then any questions that you then have, ask me, because you'll, as you say, you know it's gonna be specific to their situation then and from the knowledge that you've already said to them. But yeah, I'm surprised you don't end up with like a hoarse voice yeah,

Sam (Rackenford) (23:04)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Yeah.

I do, I do, yeah,

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (23:21)
I say with bulldog litters, because they tend to be smaller, it's not too bad. But yeah, when you've got big litters as well, that's a lot of people. Are you like, you can bring the kids, don't bring the kids? What's the situation? Because I know different breeders have different schools of thought on that.

Sam (Rackenford) (23:26)
Yeah, exactly.

Well I generally seem to think that if you're going to take a puppy home and you've got kids, I need to see how the kids are acting around the puppies before you re-home a puppy. So generally, yeah, I say bring the kids, but they have to understand that, you know, if they can't touch a puppy, they can't pick up a puppy unless I say they can and, you know, they have to sit on the floor, you know, just general common sense really. But yeah, I do encourage them to bring.

As much as I don't want them to, I do encourage them to bring their children.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (24:04)
haha

have you had to decline people and if so, how have you How have you done that because I think saying no to people could be quite difficult

Sam (Rackenford) (24:15)
It is quite difficult but generally I haven't had to say that because you can really tell what people are like. You send out puppy application for people and the amount of people that don't acknowledge it, don't fill it in because it's about four or five pages long and they can't be bothered to fill it in. So straight away you know that you you haven't sent it for me and then you know you're not interested. So I think

generally, out of all the people that are filled in a puppy application form, I don't really think I've had to send anyone away from that because it's quite a list of questions asked. In the past, I've probably let puppies go and sort of thought afterwards, hmm, should I have? But it is quite hard.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (24:49)
Yeah, that's good.

Sam (Rackenford) (24:59)
to turn someone away. I just think you just have to be honest or if you can't be honest just make up some reason why they shouldn't have one. Yeah I mean you're never going see these people again so you know think

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (25:07)
Yeah, well that, yeah.

I'm a firm

believer that you should go with your gut feeling. If something doesn't feel right, then just go with it. But equally, I know so many people find it really difficult to say no. in their head, I think they just go, well, I've got this puppy and it's looking for a home and they are the home, so just let it happen. But I always believe, yeah, we probably need to learn some better ways to say no. But as you've rightly said,

Sam (Rackenford) (25:15)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes.

and sticking with me.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (25:37)
already putting in, you've basically put in a barrier to entry, which is your vetting form. And I'm exactly the same. I absolutely love it because that in itself vets out people that can't be bothered or probably wouldn't listen to you or not gonna take on board your advice. Like they've already just vetted themselves out of the process. So the people that do actually take the time to fill out a long winded vetting form and obviously you...

Sam (Rackenford) (25:42)
Yeah.

Exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (26:01)
Sounds to me that you've got quite high engagement with your people once you know pups are going. So you're building that long-term relationship with them that you're picking up the signals of anything you wouldn't be happy with. And I think it works both ways that they're then forced to get your updates because they should be interested in the puppy because it is exciting. And if you're not, then you're not the one. a lot of breeders would be like, it seems a bit over formal to be sent down out of vetting form.

Sam (Rackenford) (26:05)
Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (26:27)
I've done it for decades now and weirdly some people love filling in a form. Like because my one's like open on my website and I well actually used to be I've sort of hidden it a bit more now but I used to just get that people that just literally have filled out the form we've not even had a conversation beforehand they don't even know if I've got puppies they're like there's a form.

Sam (Rackenford) (26:32)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I'm the same. Yeah, absolutely.

I told someone last year that the form would open once a pregnancy has been confirmed. And I think this person went through, I don't know, about two years worth of blogs to find a link that I hadn't taken down. And she filled it out and sent the puppy application form through. And I'm like, wow, you've gone through so many blogs to find that. I didn't even know where it was. It took me so long to try and find it. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (27:07)
Ha ha ha

Still there. Yeah,

yeah, I've learned that one. But yeah, so those people, I think it's good because, as you say, they're showing willing and they want to prove to you why they're a suitable puppy owner. And as soon as you've got people doing that, then it's an absolute game changer. So that's good. And then I'm assuming your pups go at eight weeks old.

Sam (Rackenford) (27:24)
Is that close?

Yeah, exactly.

They do, yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (27:33)
And what do you send them off with? What do you do in regards to paperwork and any sort of support in paraphernalia?

Sam (Rackenford) (27:40)
So I used to print everything off, which was pages and pages, but I've stopped doing that now for about the last probably three years. So I do it all online. I put it into a zip file and send everything to the owners. Contracts as well, so that can all be signed online. And so basically on collection day, they can just come pick up the puppy and I'd send them away with a bit of...

vet bedding that they've been sleeping on, so they've got a bit of that because everyone seems to like that idea. And obviously food, toys, a few bits and pieces, But yeah, generally paperwork stuff, so they'll get copies of all the health certificates from mum and dad.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (28:13)
Mm.

Sam (Rackenford) (28:26)
they will get so much information, just so many different bits and pieces that, like you say, I'll just put it online. And if it's online as well, they've got something to refer back to whenever they want to. Whereas I think if you give out paperwork, half of it just goes in the bin and they probably don't even look at it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (28:37)
Yeah.

Well, it just get filed, won't it? Like dog stuff put in a folder and disappears and then everyone forgets it's even there. So

what's the most common question that you get asked after the puppy leaves for the new homes?

Sam (Rackenford) (28:57)
Probably the sleeping. I always tell everybody at viewings that you might be very lucky and get a puppy that doesn't wake up at night, but the chances are you won't. And I'm a firm believer that I do not get up in the middle of the night to let these puppies out for a wee because I try to explain to people you do it now and then you're going to be doing it when it's a year, 18 months old.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (29:14)
Yeah. Yep.

Sam (Rackenford) (29:22)
And to be consistent and if you need to go to them, no eye contact, make a noise, and distract the puppy. But basically all you've got to do is ignore it and within three or four days it will know that you're not coming down at night time. So yeah, so I would say probably the biggest question is once they're taking them away is, and I keep the WhatsApp group open as well for probably.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (29:39)
It doesn't work. Yeah, it doesn't work.

Sam (Rackenford) (29:49)
a year, the first year, and it's quite funny watching all the comments come through. So I've got last year's Cockapoo litter at the moment on the WhatsApp group and honestly every day there must be someone starting something, asking questions, which I've sort of keep myself out of that as much as I can because half the stuff I've already explained to them and

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (29:50)
Yep.

Sam (Rackenford) (30:13)
they haven't taken any notice so therefore I just let them get on with it to a certain degree. But majority of that is the sleeping. But once you get the first week in that out of the way, you know, I always say to people, no, I don't sleep next to the puppies. And that no, no, no, we won't do that. And then on the WhatsApp group, it's all coming through saying, oh yeah, last night I slept on the sofa or I slept on the floor next to the puppy or...

the puppies upstairs in the bed next to us and yeah, it's like. Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (30:42)
Yeah, I think there's quite a lot of mixed information, I think, out

there. And I think it probably does vary on what the breed is. you might do one thing for one type of breed and one for another. But I agree with you. I say to my people,

Sam (Rackenford) (30:52)
Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (30:55)
I have never got up in the night. Once they're weaned and they're good to go, like I'm not getting up in the night. I personally can't function on broken sleep. So I can have short windows of sleep, but if I'm getting up in between, I will probably end up killing someone. So I always say to my people, expect to wake up to a wee, possibly a poo.

Sam (Rackenford) (30:56)
You know, yeah.

Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Absolutely, yes. Yep.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (31:12)
Deal with it until that puppy's bladder is big enough and his bowels

are strong enough. That's what you're getting. Because I said, if you get up in the middle of the night, once that puppy's cried, you're now rewarding them.

Sam (Rackenford) (31:23)
Yeah, exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (31:25)
for making a noise. So they're gonna carry on making

Sam (Rackenford) (31:26)
Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (31:27)
a noise. So I said, the only way for you to wake up to a clean pen and for that puppy not to cry is for you to proactively set your alarm before that puppy wakes to go down. So you now messing up your own sleep because you're gonna set up an alarm for in four hours time to go down there to take, why would you do that? You'd be crazy to then take the dog out for a wee. So I say to people, just put up with it. They will make themselves clean.

Sam (Rackenford) (31:36)
Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah.

I I know.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (31:53)
Once their bladder and bowels are big enough, they will do. it's like saying, I want a new baby, but I never want to change a nappy. It just doesn't happen. You get one, you get the other. So I think, yeah, the conversation has to be made quite clear. And then if they decide not to listen, they are making their lives more difficult. But I think there

Sam (Rackenford) (31:55)
Yeah

Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (32:12)
a lot of information out there about saying taking the crate up to you and having it in your bedroom. And so I understand why there's confusion, but they should be listening to their breeder of that breed because they know.

Sam (Rackenford) (32:14)
Oh god, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah.

And I've always

said to them, you know, I've never ever done that. Never. I mean, I just don't do that. I think one of the other questions I get asked quite a lot is as well, how long can I leave my puppy on its own for once I take a puppy home? And again, I very much believe that you can leave a puppy alone for a good few hours on its own because

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (32:31)
Yeah.

Sam (Rackenford) (32:49)
The puppy's got fit into your lifestyle, not the other way around. Like you always, always get emails about six weeks before the summer holidays for all of these people that need to have a puppy when schools break up. And I adamantly say that's like the worst possible time to get a puppy because you have all these people around this puppy for six weeks and then everyone goes back to school and work and things and then this poor puppy has got to be.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (33:04)
Yeah, okay.

Sam (Rackenford) (33:19)
left on its own after all this time I've been with people. I always, especially with cockapoos who can really suffer from separation anxiety, I always say from like day one of taking the puppies home, they need to start being left alone. You know, you go to bed at night and you leave a puppy downstairs and wouldn't think anything of it. So why not get used to it by leaving it on its own during the day?

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (33:23)
Yep.

Sam (Rackenford) (33:45)
And I don't mean like a couple of hours, you know, it could be like 10 minutes, it could be half an hour, it could be two hours, you know, you just gotta mix it up. It's just gotta fit in with your lifestyle as it is.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (33:54)
Well, yeah, to

me, any puppy should be able to be left up to four hours. To me, though, I even bat an eyelid at that. And I say to well, realistically, you could leave them as long as you want. It's just the damage you're now going to come back to. Like, in reality, you can leave your dogs for as long as you want, but they will do damage after a certain amount of time because they are bored. yeah, that's for you to work out what that line is. And because

Sam (Rackenford) (34:00)
Yeah, absolutely.

Yep. Yeah, exactly.

Yep.

Yeah, they're bored.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (34:19)
if you're stimulating them and walking them beforehand you know you watch whatever your routine is for some dogs they're going to get bored after three hours for other dogs it might actually be five hours so that's all on your lifestyle and how you manage it i'm the same as you a dog should fit into your lifestyle and yeah setting up a pretend lifestyle and then doing a switch and bait on like halfway through isn't fair so it should be how it is from the beginning

Sam (Rackenford) (34:26)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (34:45)
especially if you've got breeds that are prone to separation anxiety, yeah, everything, your behaviors have to bear that in mind because you're gonna make your life difficult as an adult.

Sam (Rackenford) (34:48)
welcome back.

Exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (34:56)
when you get the questions in your WhatsApp group that you don't really want to get involved with, do you find that other people answer the questions?

Sam (Rackenford) (34:58)
in your blocks actually.

Absolutely, also all the other puppy owners they all tip in and obviously some of those puppy owners have had dogs and puppies before Some of them are all first-time ones. So it's just what's working for them I always say to new owners, know You'll be bombarded with all this information of what you shouldn't do for different situations But you'll find your own way. So just because someone's saying that they adamantly will do this that

whatever for this situation, someone else will say something and that might work for you. So you sort of need to take all the information you get with a pinch of salt and sort of find your own way. there's too much information out there, I think. And yeah, and it just makes it.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (35:45)
Yeah, now there is, yeah, thousand percent.

Sam (Rackenford) (35:48)
so hard but I just think you just got to use common sense and you just got to find your own way and just take all the information on board and just see what works with you because all the puppies are all completely different aren't they and what works for one might not work for another one so yeah

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (36:05)
Yeah, it's far

too many variables of trying to tie up the puppy, the puppy's temperament, the family they've gone to, their family dynamics. It's impossible for you to know that from when they leave at eight weeks old to go, this is exactly what's gonna happen. It has to be an evolving, dynamic development that you hope everyone ends up happy with it at the end of the...

Sam (Rackenford) (36:18)
Exactly, Yeah.

Yeah, and I think

what people don't realise as well is the puppies go at eight weeks, but for half of that time the puppies haven't even done anything. You know, their eyes and their ears and that don't open until like two weeks. So therefore, you know, you've only as a breeder had the puppy for such a short period of time. It's not until they hit the eight, ten week mark and you take them home that they're really gonna...

developing to themselves and depending on what your situation is, whether you've got kids, whether you're at work, you know, the puppy strives and all that stuff rather than when it's so much with the breeder. I think people just need to just see how the puppy fits in with them and just go from that.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (37:09)
Do you encourage any form of puppy training that they should do in their own time?

Sam (Rackenford) (37:15)
always say to people, especially first time puppy owners, even if it is just a basic puppy training class, to try and get a puppy booked in, just so that you know the basics. I always encourage them to try and find a puppy class before they take the puppies home and to get a list of the commands.

that they get taught at puppy training classes so that when they take the puppy home they're using those commands already so that when they go to puppy training classes they're already one step ahead. There's no point in them using their own commands and then go to a training class and then find out that the teacher will use something completely different. But I do encourage them.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (37:55)
Yeah, it's a good idea.

Yeah, it's a really good idea. I am, because I trained Spicy on a bad command for her to wait for her food and I trained her on good girl, which is just a rubbish command, because you say those words a thousand other times as well. So yeah, unintentionally, you just end up training to bad commands and then you've got to undo the work and redo it again.

Sam (Rackenford) (38:07)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (38:15)
And I'm all for, I totally agree with you in regards to puppy classes, even for a bulldog that's as like untrainable as a dog could possibly want to be, it's just such a safe environment for your dog to engage and experience other dogs rather than going to some crazy puppy party I got sent a video of a bulldog puppy I sold at a dog daycare puppy party.

Sam (Rackenford) (38:29)
Yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (38:38)
and it basically got body slammed by a giant schnauzer puppy. they're two totally inappropriate breeds to be running together. and then of course obviously like the Chihuahua and the French Bulldog and the this and the that. And I know if they're gonna go to puppy parties, they need to be of the same breed or of the same.

Sam (Rackenford) (38:43)
Wow.

Yes,

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (38:58)
size and stature. You

Sam (Rackenford) (38:59)
exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (38:59)
can't have giant puppies that are nearly four or five months running around with an eight week old Chihuahua. It's ridiculous. So I think puppy training classes are a much better, safer environment that you won't traumatise your puppy. because ultimately they end up with a reactive puppy that now they've got to do additional training with because of a bad experience it's been through.

Sam (Rackenford) (39:05)
Exactly.

in socializing.

a slightly shy puppy could be literally traumatised by going it works in both ways or you end up with a puppy that's completely overstimulated because of what it's been to I try and steer everyone away from the socialisation puppy parties. Not good.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (39:37)
Yeah, good.

Wow. Right. I'm conscious of your time. So it's been amazing to talk to you and to, find out how you do things in regards to, managing your puppies from birth until, they leave for the new homes and beyond. So I'm gonna move on to the quick fire round.

in regards to your puppy packs, do you find that they're OTT or do you like minimal?

Sam (Rackenford) (40:00)
They're

they are, yes. But I think that's a good thing because that means that everyone's got the information that they need. I think I've been doing it long enough now I don't get any questions generally after I've sent them out so I think I've covered everything.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (40:18)
Right. Puppy contracts, yay or nay?

Sam (Rackenford) (40:21)
Yes, I do do them,

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (40:22)
out of interest, did you write your own or did you use a template

Sam (Rackenford) (40:27)
A bit of both, so think with the Labrador one when I started it was Kennel Club and then when I did Cockapoos, obviously because they're not pure breeds I had to change it slightly and now I would say they're probably a mash-up of both and I think you learn to sort of like add and take bits in and out as depending on what breed that you're doing but yes I do

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (40:51)
Yeah,

Mine's a mishmash now. I think the longer you breed, the more you pick bits up and say add things in and take stuff out. that sounds fair enough. Puppy vaccinations, breeder or owner? Owner, so you don't vaccinate yours now anymore? No,

Sam (Rackenford) (40:53)
Yeah. Yeah.

no.

Not at all. No, I never have done. No.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (41:07)
how do you find owners are they receptive to that?

Sam (Rackenford) (41:10)
I think a lot of people expect it to be done, but I always explain because puppies go far and wide, all vets use different brands. And if I get first jab done and it's not compatible, then the chances are that the vets that they take them to are going to have to start all over again. And therefore, a puppy's got more vaccine than it needs. So to stop all that, just say when you, know, part of the thing on my contract is that they need to take their.

puppies to their vets within 72 hours to get it checked over and whilst they're there they can get the first jab done

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (41:45)
yeah, fair enough. Puppy weight list, soothing or stressful?

Sam (Rackenford) (41:49)
stressful.

I mean

to be fair once they're on the weightiness it's generally not too bad. The bit before the weightiness can be very stressful. You do get a lot of time wasters

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (41:59)
well yeah, because it's a filtering process, isn't it? And you've got to try and gauge people and work them out. And if you're getting a lot of enquiries, it can be a lot of people. I think that's always, it's never gonna be particularly easy, but you say once you've got them confirmed, then life gets a bit easier. So that's quite nice.

Sam (Rackenford) (42:01)
Is that Craig?

Thank

Yeah, exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (42:14)
When the puppies are eight weeks old, are they ready to go or is it tears and heartbreak? Yeah, from you. I always laugh when the new owners are like, are you sad to see him go? And you're like, no.

Sam (Rackenford) (42:20)
What for me, 100 % ready to go.

90s

yeah, don't say

it. No, no. No, they are ready to go.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (42:34)
But I truly

believe when you've got a really thorough vetting process and you know your puppy owners, you know the pups are going to the right place and what is there to be tearful about? They're ready for their next journey. Do you find puppies easy or exhausting?

Sam (Rackenford) (42:44)
Exactly.

See ya!

Easy until there's a problem.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (42:56)
I guess this is backed up with now you're in a breed that you like, like the works for you in the setup. So I guess that adds a layer of, Otherwise you would be feeling exhausted if you had stayed in a breed that you just were constantly felt like you were sort of smashing your head against a brick wall. And then my final question is, how would you summarise breeding in one word?

Sam (Rackenford) (43:03)
It does make it easier. Yeah,

It's rewarding.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (43:20)
That's nice. I like that. You're the first person. Most people have gone traumatising, a nightmare. Like all been really negative.

Sam (Rackenford) (43:26)
Well, I just think, yeah,

all of the above, but I think once, you know, you've done it and all the pups are healthy and they're happy and they've got happy owners, I mean, you can't really ask for any more than that, can you? So yeah, may be hard work and traumatic, but, you know, at the end of the day, is rewarding. yeah.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (43:46)
Yeah,

I think when you're creating new life, like you said earlier on about...

Sam (Rackenford) (43:50)
It amazes me every

single time, even now, every single time a puppy's born, it's just like, yeah, it's amazing.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (43:58)
I'm always, how did you grow all of that in nine weeks? That's crazy.

Sam (Rackenford) (43:58)
Yeah absolutely and how have

all of those puppies come out of you when you didn't look very big at all? just yeah you know it's just amazing.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (44:09)
Yeah, so biology is wonderful. And guess, that's sort of built into us from an evolutionary point of view in regards to humans and having kids. Like you say, people forget how much hard work a child is and then they go and do it again. And then they wonder why they've done it. And I feel we go through the same as breeders. hard work, but it was worth it. When you see all those families with really healthy, strong puppies and you know.

Sam (Rackenford) (44:19)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

Exactly.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (44:31)
taking the next step together, it's all worth it. So no, I like rewarding. I really like rewarding. So that's it. So I want to officially hand you your, which I've already done, haven't I, in person, but officially recognise you as the winner, as the top puppy parent. And I'm sure people that have listened will take a lot away from this conversation.

Sam (Rackenford) (44:37)
good.

You did, yes?

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (44:52)
it's not just within one sector, it's actually the whole breeding journey that you're exceeding in and going well beyond. And yeah, just for that to be recognised and for hopefully people to pick out some of your killer tips and tricks and to try and put them into place themselves and hopefully make their breeding journey a little bit easier or enjoyable or...

I don't know what else it can be. Rewarding, I suppose is the word. Yes, to be more rewarding. But yeah, thank you ever so much for your time, energy, effort. And yeah, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sam (Rackenford) (45:17)
Rewarding! There you go.

Thank you and thank

you for your help as well.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (45:29)
Thank you so much. Bye.

Sam (Rackenford) (45:29)
Thank you. Bye.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (45:32)
What an insightful chat. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Sam's experience highlights the true realities of breeding for navigating first litters to the critical role of vetting, owner education and structured puppy rearing. She shared her methods of socialisation, sleep training and offering breeder support without overstepping, along with her strong belief that a puppy should fit into her owner's lifestyle, not the other way round.

Her dedication to raising well-rounded puppies is what earned her the Top Puppy Parent Award. I will add her website and social links to the show notes if you want to go and check out her page Otherwise, thanks for listening. Until next time.