My Breeding Program

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to Of Hearts and Hounds. My name is Christy. I am your host. And I will be talking to you today on this episode about my breeding program and what my days were like. First, I wanted to let you all know that I do have a Facebook page that I've started for Of Hearts and Hounds. And on there, what I will be doing is I will be having updates on there on the different podcasts that I'm episodes that I will have. So I will let you know on there when I've updated a new episode. I will also have links on there. So anything I talk about on that episode that week, I will put links to that on the Facebook page. I also will be putting a documents and some in the files that I file that I had there, I'll put some documents, and in those documents will be they'll have the different things that I talked about in my episode. And so, like in this one, it's gonna be about my breeding program. So I'm gonna talk about the supplies I used and things like that. And I will so on that document, I will have a list of those items, and I will also have a link to the Amazon where I bought those items and stuff. So you can find all of that there and more. So first I also want to start off by letting you guys know about me and how what got me interested in wanting to be a breeder. So when I was a little girl, my parents had Dalmatians and they had a set of Dalmatian puppies. So we only had one Dalmatian, the mom, and then she they bred there the Dalmatian with another Dalmatian, and so we had the Dalmatian puppies, and the one thing I remember about that is that they all came down with parvo. And so I'm gonna be talking about that later in the thing, but I remember enjoying see these puppies. I watched the puppies played with the puppies, I mean it was so fun. I got to a point I wanted to do that one day when I got older, and so years went on and you know, think life went on, but then I eventually started this breeding program and glad I did because I loved it. So what I'm gonna be talking about starting out is basically how I began and everything, and from like each week of the puppy's life until they went home. So, alright, so the way I began was I first, you know, you have to have your dogs for the breeding program. So I did research on what types I wanted to do, and so after doing some research, I realized I like going the doodle way. So I went out and I found a miniature poodle from a very reputable breeder that I knew I could trust. And so after I got the puppy, I did DNA testing on that on Bentley, who which is the miniature poodle. I did DNA testing on him through Paul, not Paul Print, but through Embark Vet. So that is one good company you can use to do the genetic testing. You can also use Paul Print and other ones, but I personally loved Embark Vet. So I used that on him and it did show he it'll tell you it's a hundred percent everything, you know, that he was a hundred percent miniature poodle. If you got a mixed breed, then it'll tell you what it's got, what you know, what breeds that he's the dog is mixed with. It also tells if they have any genetic things that they could get in life or if it's running in their gene DNA and stuff like that. Another good thing about us with the doodles is that you can see what the hair is going to be like. If it's you know, you be able to tell if, you know, when you that'll help you when you're breeding, so you'll know what to look for. So like you see your girl dog that she's dominant in certain stuff, and then you see the male dog dominant, or you see different things, and you could tell what color of coat these puppies will have, and you can tell different traits that could come out from the puppies from knowing how to understand the genetics from that. So I first did that with Bentley, and then a year later I got Sophie, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. And so the lady I got her from, she also did DNA testing on her dogs. So, and I knew that Sophie was coming from a very good line of cavaliers, but I still wanted to do the DNA testing myself to see, and if everything wasn't right, I knew I could take her back. So what I did was I got home, did the DNA testing on her, her genetics, everything was good. And I also, you know, I did it on everything like coats, so I'd know the coats when I bred her with bent, you know, what would come out of between them and stuff. So I did all that. Then I also had an OFA done on her because I knew that cavaliers can have what is called mitral valve prolapse, which is since these dogs are my pets first, and I love them. That's the last thing I would hate to happen to my cavalier, my Sophie. That would kill me. If something happened to her, especially that, it would just, I don't know, that would kill me. So all of that came out clear, thank goodness. So, and she's eight years, she's around nine years old or so right now, and doing good. She's healthy, and yeah. So, but yeah, they're all my pets first. That is the first and utmost thing is that these dogs are my pets first. And they get spoiled, they get everything they want, you know. So they are my pets first, and then they breed. So I um so basically once I had her and then I studied up and found out that they have to be when you breed, your dog has to female dog, well, the male dog can be six months when it's ready to breed. They mature early. Then the female, it takes her, she had there, she has to be at least a year and a half. And you can't breed on the first heat, but the second heat, you can. So then I waited till she had her second, you know, heat, and then made sure she was at least a year and a half before I bred her. So anyway, I took her, I you know, would have her and Bentley, and they both lived with me. So in this way I didn't have to really worry about the finding a stud and all of that. And so let me tell you a little bit about if she hadn't, if she had been related to Bentley or if I hadn't had Bentley and I had to find a stud. So what you need what a person would need to do with that is first you're looking for a stud, one that'll, if you could do in doodles, one that's gonna do the genetic the genetic testing on that dog and can make sure that all the genes and all for the coat and all that's gonna match up. And you want to make sure that the genetics, like the health-wise, that that dog's gonna have has a lot of good, all the good health in him. So then, because you want to have good lines when you had the puppies. So then after you've done that, then as soon as your dog has come in heat, then the female, then what you're gonna do is you're gonna want to take them to the b vet for the vet to do progesterone testing. And what that does is it allows the vet to be able to look at it and know if your female is ready to be bred. And so they can tell by the numbers on it if you know if they're ready, if not, then they might tell you come back tomorrow, come back in two days. The vet knows about how often. And then when the when your dog, your female dog is ready, they'll tell you. They'll say they're ready, and you have this timeline, or you have these amount of days, whatever. So a lot of breeders will they'll go to the take their dog to the stud, or you know, they receive the same semen in the mail or whatever, but they will do the breeding the next day or that day, and then or whenever if the vet says it's that day, then do it that day, if not the next day. So then they would do it the next day, then every other day, and they do it at least, they let them breed twice to three times. So that is how that works. So that's how when you're doing stud, that's the best way to handle it. Now, with me, I had fortunately had the female and the male. But when my female came in heat, I had Sophie came in heat. I had to keep Bentley away from her at all time. I was constantly watching them. And I had bought diapers from Pet Smart that I kept on him and I kept on her. So it helped a lot. But Bentley being Bentley, being a male, he still, it still was trouble. So what I did was I would keep them separated, and then when that was just during their first heat, her first heat. Then the second heat, no big deal, you know, and everybody wanted to go outside. They could be together, do whatever they wanted to, it's totally fine. Just do now. So they bred as much as they wanted to, and then, you know, but when she was inside, of course, I kept diaper on her just to keep you know her from getting anything on any furniture, couch or anything. So I, you know, that's what I would do. And then for the breeding part, that's how we handled it. And then once she was done breeding, I did write down the first day that she bred. You do that with all your dolls that you breed, all the females. You write down the first day that the female bred, because that's an important thing to keep. Because you're gonna want to take her 10 days after she first bred to the vet to find out if she's pregnant. And then you're gonna wait till from the first day that your female bred all the way up to the 57th day. To you'll take her again to the vet to find out how many puppies she's having. And then the puppies are usually born between the 57 and 72 day window right there from that first day that they bred. So that's how all that works. So, you know, I got my got Sophie bred with Bentley, and then took her to the vet that those 10 days, found out she was pregnant. That was exciting, and then I came home, bought some puppy food for her, and I what I did was I bought the same name brand of puppy of food that I had gotten her, but got the puppy food so that it doesn't upset her stomach as much. Because if you change brand and you don't slowly but surely get them used to the other one, then it's gonna upset their stomach. So I kept with the same brand, put her on that, made sure she had plenty of water, and everything was always, you know, just kept up with her, just make sure she was doing okay. Then after I did that, then around the 57th day, I took her back to the vet, found out how many puppies she was having. She was having eight. That was exciting. Well, then like two days later, she started to vomit. And that was pretty nerve-wracking for me. It was scary and just not knowing what was going on with her. So then I had to take, I took her to the vet after that, and the vet or I took her emergency vet actually when she was vomiting and stuff, and they told me that what was happening was one of the puppies was in trouble and that she was needing an emergency surgery, um C-section to be done. So they did that and they were doing it overnight, so I had to go home and go home and sleep and get her in the morning, you know, and sleep was like, really? This is my dog, this is my Sophie that this is happening to. If something happens to her, I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's gonna kill me. It's gonna be I'll be upset with myself about all this. So I, you know, so I just prayed and gave it to God and just, you know, finally went to sleep. Woke up the next morning, they called, said Sophie, and was fine. The puppies were fine, but one of the puppies, the one that was in trouble, had died. So, but she had seven healthy puppies and she was healthy and fine. So that I was praising God for that. And all I could do was get ex- I was ready to go, get in that car, get there, get Sophie, hug her, and then see these sweet little puppies. So it was exciting. I brought them home, but then Sophie was still under anesthesia. And I mean, she didn't want to have anything to do with the puppies, she didn't want to feed them, she just kept pushing away. So what I did was I had to wrap them up into a warm towel and keep them up against me. My dad in the meantime went to Petsmart, bought some formula stuff and little dropper dropper things and like little bottle things that I could feed them with. And I had to do that all day that day and that evening. I was already tired from where I didn't take parts up, but the adrenaline I think helped. So I took care of them all that time, and then close like early in that morning, so the anesthesia was wearing off of Sophie and she became her became the mama. She started checking on the puppies, smelling them, feeding them, cleaning them. Oh my goodness, she's the best mom. But then she did was ignoring me. So I was missing my Sophie, who was my snuggle bug, who was following me everywhere. Now she couldn't she didn't want to have anything to do with me, she wanted to have all to do with these puppies. So, but I was thankful for that. That was a good thing, you know. So, but I didn't get to go through the part of where they had the puppies naturally. But later, you know, she wasn't these weren't the only litters I ever had. I got to see other litters. So I did see, like she had other ones. I have a miniature golden doodle had some, and then my miniature um, then my caboo, which was one of her puppies from that first litter, had puppies. So I got to see them and they were all good. And it all were normal bursts and everything. So but the way I did those, and I will tell you first I'm gonna tell you about how you know when they first go into labor, you know, you have to wait till the puppies. What happens is on that 57th day, you start taking the your dog's temperature, and then once it drops below 99, puppies should be born within that 24 hours. So when they go in labor, that is like it's an interesting time. So they'll be panting a lot, but they all handle it differently. So with my female cavalier, Sophie, she wanted in my bed. She wanted to have the puppies in my bed. I was like, what? No way, you know, how do I do this? So we ended up getting a bunch of potty pads and putting them on my bed. I got her up there, and then she, you know, was happy there, and at least I was able she was able to have the first puppy to have my gloves on, thank goodness. Had some surgical gloves on, and she had the first puppy on my bed on the potty pads. It didn't get on my bed, thank goodness. And once the puppy was unhooked from her, I'd picked up, you know, I was already cleaning the puppy with some, you know, with um washcloth or hand towel. And then after puppy was unhooked, I got helped puppy helped Sophie down, got the puppy, and carried it into the room with the pool and the the kitty pool and the pen and all where the pup you know where she would give birth to the other ones. And she followed me, went in there and was taking care of the puppy, and s you know, had the rest of the puppies there. And it was no problem after that. But then first initial, she I know she didn't like it hurt, and she wanted to be in my bed. Well, she's close to me, she felt like it. But then she I guess she didn't realize I was gonna stay with her the whole birth. So, but anyway, yeah, that's how she started. Uh my miniature gold noodle. She wanted to have had the first puppy in her kennel. So then that's a little harder because you know that if anything happens, but I let her do that. Everything was fine. Got the puppy, moved the puppy as well, and she came with me, and everything was fine. Um, so but yeah, all dogs are different, they will all have them differently. The cavio, she had her spine and didn't even try to get out of the kiddie pool or anything. She had it right in there, had all her puppies there. So they're all different. It's just, you know, all dogs are different. And so now what I'm gonna talk about is during that birthing time, what I did. So here's how I set up the birthing area for the for the females. I would first take, we had we have yarn hardwood floors. So I would take linoleum and sit that on top of the hardwood floor so that any mess or anything wouldn't get on the hardwood floor. Then I would take some towels and lay them over the hard over the linoleum. Then I had two heating pads, which I bought from Amazon, and those links will be on that document. I took those and I put them on top of the towels so that they didn't get too hot on the linoleum. Then I took the kitty pull that I bought from Amazon. Everything I say I bought from Amazon will be on that, those links will be on the document. So I put the kitty pool down next. Then I took the potty pads, put them down, and then I took a we have I had an X-Pen that you can adjust in size and stuff. So, but I made it its full length and put it around the pool and left areas, you know, that there were some, you know, room outside of the pool that you could like I could get if I needed to be, I could be in there on my knees and helping and stuff. So I had that set up just like that. And then when Sophie or even the females were ready to have the puppies, they could just walk in and they could get into the I'd get them in the there and they could have the puppies in there. And I had extra potty pads there, so as the potty pads got soiled and messed up, I wouldn't constantly be changing them out. And then as the puppies were born, once they were disconnected from mom, I would put a pair of gloves on. I would get a hand towel or a washcloth and dry help dry the puppy some. Then I had potty pads sitting on top of a baby scale that I bought on Amazon again, and I put the puppy on there, sat it at pounds and ounces, and weighed the puppy, and all my puppies, since they were medium-sized puppies, they were ounces. So I would get that, and then I would have my dad or somebody I know with a piece of paper, they would write down if the puppy was a male or female, how much they weighed, what color ribbon I put on them, and any markings they had on them. And then I would put them back in, let them latch on to mom and stuff, and then wait for the next puppy. And you want to keep in mind that if there's more than an hour between births, you might want to contact your vet because there could be trouble. So, but I'd never had any of that, thank goodness. I did have births where, you know, like one time Sophie had a birth where she went fast. I mean, it was like one after another really fast, and that was just to me, it was amazing. And she was fine, they were fine, everything was fine. It was great, you know, but it was working fast, but I got it all done. And then I had Sophie had where she had a miscarriage. She's lost all but two. And that one's hard, because then she sees it and she knows, because the puppies come out and she knows and s it just she knows. I saw her mourn and it killed me to watch her mourn and just it's hard. These are things that you don't realize that you're gonna see until then, and it tears you up. You know, this is a dog you love, and this is happening, and you just can't stand it. It was hard on me. So, you know, I cried and loved on her more than she's ever been loved on and tried to help her through it all. But she did have two puppies, so she that helped. She was able to concentrate on them, and I believe that got her over it. So, and dogs do forget over time, and so but she did for a while, she'd take her those puppies, then she'd come back to different places where she had the puppies and check them out and look like she was looking for the puppy. So it was it was hard. And there are things you can do if you have trouble like these things with us one dog, you can get the vet can run tests, like she ran a b uh um borcellosis, ber barcellosis, something like that, some kind of a name on a test. And if she had that, that would be the reason why she had these miscarriages and lost puppies and things like that. So she didn't have that. It's bersellosis, I think is what it's called. But she didn't have it, thankfully. So they just said that this is like a human when they lose a baby. It's just what happens. So it was hard on me, and it was hard on people who are excited about getting one of these puppies when they're not gonna get one when they were supposed to be seven, so five people aren't getting a puppy. And it was hard for me to tell them. I was like, you know, so it was i it was things that I never realized would happen. And it was hard. But I learned a lot from it. I mean, I learned i that it takes I mean, you it just takes people you know, I don't know. I just it's made me more of a better at educating people about this and wanting to share about it. So but that is how the births went. I've had you know, so like she was the only one who really had trouble. The r the Kavapoo and the minister golden doodle didn't have any. They had the puppies normal and all of 'em were healthy. You know, but poor Sophie. She had a hard time. I mean, it was probably Three litters. Two litters were not good and three were fine. So it it was tough. But I did learn a lot from it. And you know, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Now once the puppies were born, oh it was it was awesome. You know, there were things that I loved and there were things that were like, oh no. But besides all that, like I said, I wouldn't trade for anything. So the things that I really enjoyed about it was watching the puppies grow. You know, like when they were before two weeks, they're you know, they don't can't hear, their ears aren't fully developed, their eyes aren't fully developed, so their eyes are closed. But you're seeing them find their mama through heat seeking when they're hungry. So Sophie would get in, or the other, you know, Gracie or Piper get in with their puppies, and the puppies would know she's there there, and they'd scoot themselves by heat seeking the mom. And they'd latch on. Nobody had to help them, nothing, they knew exactly what to do. It's amazing what God does, how God made them like that. So those things that was fun to watch, and then even just holding them and every and weighing, because I would weigh them every day, and I did a thing called ENS, which is early neurological stimulation. And what that is, is you do these certain things to them every like what it is is you do it for three to five seconds, different little things for that, and then once you do that, then you're helping them with their neurological stimulations and stuff. So, but what it does, it is it's um during those days of those periods of rapid neurological growth where a puppy's nervous system is highly sensitive to mild control stressors. That is why that's good for them. So it helps them during those times. So the five steps that you would do is first of all, what you would do is get a washcloth, get it wet, and then you know, squeeze out real well, then stick it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Then you will take one puppy at a time, and you will do each step, you'll do th for three to five seconds, count the three to five seconds. So the first step is you would take the puppy, hold the puppy upright so their head is directly above their tail, and then you'll count three to five seconds. Then you'll go to step two. In steps two, you'll securely hold the puppy so their head is pointing towards the ground, and then you're gonna count again for three to five seconds. Next, you're gonna cradle the puppy like they're a baby on their back, on in your hand, palm of your hand, or on your arms, and you'll count again for three to five seconds. Then you're gonna take a Q-tip, and then you're gonna tickle their to in between their toes on each of their paws with that and do it for three to five seconds. And then after you've done that, then you'll take that washcloth that you had in the refrigerator, stick it on a clean, flat surface, and then you'll set the puppy on that on its belly, and you'll count the three to five seconds again. And then all that, once you get that done, then you'll do that for three for their when they're three days old, all the way up to 16 days old. So I did that, and though that is supposed to help them with their mind. It just it does a lot of things. So, and I learned that from puppy culture, which is what I I'll post that on the Facebook group so you know about it. But back about five years ago or eight years ago, when I got it, when I started it, they had DVDs. So I got a DVD with a workbook. Nowadays, I think they just do it online. So you can see the course online, you can watch it and everything. Then you also had the workbook. So, um, but I will post that on my thing, and that tells you before the mom has the puppies, up until the time the puppies go to Forever On, it'll tell you things to do, and those things are helpful. I mean, it's amazing what you learn, and I learned so much, and it was very helpful. So, anyway, while they're two weeks older, you're gonna see things like that, and you also see them as they're sleeping. Twit they'll be moving around, twitching and stuff, and what that is, is their mind is helping their muscles to grow, and that's what's going on while they're sleeping. So that right there is a really, really cool thing, and like I said, I always weigh them every day just so I make sure that they're growing healthy and all. And now for the once they week they reach week two and all the way till the day they go home. What my puppies, like I said, they're medium size, so I send them home on the eighth week. So basically, starting on the second week, once they're two weeks old, sometime after that, their eyes start opening, their ears open, and that part is exciting. Because then I loved it because I the puppies are seeing me, you know, and they can hear me. So now I can talk to them and I can I feel like you know, I don't know, it's just fun. I'm able to hold them, talk to them, they can see me. It is it's fun, and then at that time they start playing more, they make more sounds, they bark, they learn to bark, they are, you know, they're pooping more, and our you know, their poop is getting to be a lot hard, a lot bigger, and so now you got a lot more to clean up with, especially if you got seven puppies like I did. So you've got a lot, you know, poop you're cleaning up, you're constantly having to keep that straight and changing out potty pads to keep the you know, just keep the area clean. And so, yeah, so that is the you know, when they open your eyes, that really is the best part. That's my favorite of all. Um, and then also in their second week, you're also gonna be eventually taking the kitty pull out. So when I did that now, I took the kitty pull and I mean the X Pen I had around the kitty pull and made it about the same as same, you know, round as the kitty pull. And then I put potty down. This is stuff that you can learn from puppy culture. So what I did was I put potty pads down everywhere, and I also put I put potty pads down all over, and I also had got bought a washable thing that you know that a pad type of thing that I put underneath the potty pads, and that I'll have that link as well on Facebook page. So basically, I put those things down, then I put a litter box in and with dog litter, type, you know, puppy safe litter, and you can find all of this on that puppy culture. It's gonna tell you all of this stuff and how to do the potty training, how to do the starting obedience training, things like that. So, yes, so that's what it tells you. It tells you to put down, have it, you know, the potty pads out there in the litter box there, and you're going, you know, so but you're slowly but surely gonna be removing one potty pad a day, you know, all the way up until only the litter box is there, and they're gonna want to go to the litter box only. So, and the way I train them to the litter box, which not all my puppies were perfect, some were good, some weren't. So, but what you're gonna do is you're gonna want to take whenever that you see pound poop in the, you know, in their area on a potty pad, you're gonna take it and put it in the litter box. And then you might take one puppy at a time, put them in there, let them smell that, and let them learn that, you know, this is where you want them to go. Then you you know, help them out, then you get another one, you help them in, let them smell, you know, same thing over and over. So you do that with each puppy. So I have found that that works. Some work, some don't. Some puppies, it's just how it is. Some will work, some works for them, some don't. I also found as the puppies got older, sometimes they found that as their sleeping place to sleep inside the litter box. So it was so many things I found, you know, that there's things that you learn as you breed, you know. So it's just processing. So, but anyway, I after that, I would, you know, I did that with the puppy culture. So I did the potty training. I also Wednesday, their teeth started forming. That was probably around their sixth week. I introduced them to puppy food. And so what I did was this is part of the weaning too for the mama dog, because mom dogs don't like to get bit by the teeth. So I would take puppy food and the same puppy food like I fed her when she was pregnant, and I would put some in a tupwork bowl, and then I would put warm water in there and let it sit for like five to ten minutes. And then after I let it set for those five to ten minutes, then I had a bowl that I have a link, like I had the link for Amazon again on the document. I will I had that bowl and I just poured the puppy food in there as it, you know, made sure they were soft before it went in, then I put them in there, and then I um excelled paltry, which is really good dog food. I mean it's high quality. So I sell that, and so I got what they have call is gastroproplus. And what it is, it's a prebo prebiotic and a probiotic. And so I would take the capsules, open them up, since they can't, you know, obviously swallow those, open them up, sprinkle the sprinkle that on their food, and then give it to the puppies. And what it did was it helped with the smell of their poop, so it didn't smell as bad, and it made their poop better. Like it would the form would be the way it's supposed to be, and everything. So I love that stuff. So I'd give do that. Well, the first time when you first give it to them, it is so cute. They don't know what to do with it. They will walk up to it, look at it, and they step in it, they get it all over themselves. Oh, it's just the cutest. Oh my word, I love it. But then I also have like with Sophie, she's standing outside the kin the kennel thing and white or X-Pen and wine and whine. She wanted to eat it. So I would let the puppies, you know, obviously wouldn't let her in there and then let the puppies eat all they want. And when they're all bellies are full and they're laying down, going to sleep, then I'd let her in, or I'd, you know, let her clean up the whole area and she'd eat. And then, you know, let her out and clean the bowl and get it ready for the next time. So, and then I would introduce water as well to them. And so I would buy what I have, and I had the link on this, I have a link to the to this water bowl, to the water bowls that I used. I have it, I bought it at Amazon, I got the link on the document, but it hooked to the kennel because they say that if you have one of those water bowls that are sitting on the like floor of the area where the puppies are, that they can climb in and they could drown. So it doesn't matter how much water is in it. So I stuck it, hooked it to the kennel, or to the X-Pen. And what the puppy would do is they could go to it and they put their head over in. So I kept the water pretty filled up, so then they could still get the water and they can't get in. So bought that and I have the link, like I said, I have a link to that on the document. And so that is how I did the weaning part. And then another thing is the veterinary visits. So when the puppies are three weeks old, you will take them to the vet for the vet to do their initial checkup, make sure everything's okay. Then my vet sent home with me the dewormer. And my puppies didn't have worms, but we did that as precaution. Then when the puppies turned six weeks, I took them back and they got their second set of vaccines, which included the parvo vaccine, which is what I highly they they have to have. I recommend it. So they got those and then they got dewormers again. So then after that, you know, I started, I was able to let them outside after that. First, they got their first parvo shot. So, because they were allowed to go outside after that. Well, I'm going to talk to you now about parvo because parvo is very important to understand, and I I suggest you even to Google it, even talk to your vet about it, ask them about it, they can tell you about it. Parvo can wipe out a whole litter of puppies. And it's I mean, it's sad. I've seen it, seen it when they were at the vet office, and it's it's a terrible disease. So basically what happens is a puppy who has parvo, they have s severe diarrhea and it's watery, and they can't get enough water in them to or fluid in them to keep them alive. So you have to the vet, if you take them to the vet, the vet will keep them and the vet gives them medicine and also hooks up an IV in them to keep them hydrated enough. So, and not all of them live, but some live. So, but what happens is you'll have a puppy who has parvo, and maybe the owner has no clue yet. The puppy has stepped in its poop where the parvo is, and now the puppy is walking everywhere. Maybe the owner took the puppy walking down the street on the sidewalk, and then the next airfuel, or maybe months later, because they can live on the ground for up to a year. You take your dog or puppy and you go walk down that street. Or say you do, and you're a breeder like me. You know, you just walk and you're walking on that spot where it is. Now you've stepped on the parvo where that, you know, stop, step where that dog was, and now you've got parvo on your shoes. You walk in the house and you've got a new puppy running around playing in the house. You walk in the house and you start walking around the house and you've got that parvo on your shoe, and then the puppy's running, and puppy's gonna step on their spots. Puppy's gonna get it because puppy's not fully vaccinated. Once they're fully vaccinated, then you can feel safe about them not getting parvo. Now, after the first one, I knew my pup the puppies would be safe because I also knew my yard, we'd been there more than a year and we had never had, we didn't, it doesn't have parvo in it. So we kept them in the fenced-in backyard that way. Well, we didn't have I didn't have any parvo problems, but I also made sure that when I came in a house, when anybody who was fencing came in the house or whatever, they either took their shoes off at the door and or they put on those booty type things that you put over your shoes, like surgeons wear when they're in off when they're having the they're doing an operation on someone. So I'd have that available. So there's no tracking anything into the house. Then so I would have, you know, we would do that, especially if people came over to socialize with puppies, which I'm gonna talk about socialization next. So when people would come, those are the things I would do, and I'd also have them wash their hands or put hand sanitizer on just to protect these puppies. So, and then when you got when I would get in with the puppies, I made sure it took off my shoes and I got into my socks since I knew my socks were clean. So Parvo is just something you don't want to mess with, and those are steps that I recommend taking. I also cleaned the floors real well around that 57th day that Sophie was pregnant and the others were pregnant, so that I could just I just want to make sure everything was safe for these puppies. Now, socialization is something else you'll learn in puppy culture, and that's huge. So you're gonna want to constantly hold the puppies, play with the puppies, and everything, have friends who have children come over and play with the puppies. What I did was when they came, like obviously I told them to take the shoes off at the door or wear the booty things, and then I'd pull out a towel, I mean a blanket that's clean and put it on the floor, make sure they took their shoes off then and got onto the blanket, and then I'd let the puppy and then play on the blanket and do the socialization that way. So next, after that, you've got the puppies all socialized, and then when they go to when they're forever home, when they go home, now they're socialized, they used to that, they're used to noise because I did that, you know, did the vacuum and stuff like that. So these are well-rounded puppies by the time, and that's thanks to puppy culture. Puppy culture taught me most, if not all, the things I'm talking about. So, and then what I'm gonna talk to you about next is the group I had on Facebook for people who bought puppies from me. So for each set of puppy, I would create a Facebook group, and then once I got an application and a deposit from someone, then I would add them to the private Facebook group. To that private Facebook group. And then after I did that, then I would, you know, keep them updated on there of when the puppies were born, have pictures of the puppies, I do videos of the puppies, and have whenever I took them outside, I did videos there, pictures, just everything. I would keep keep them updated that way. So basically the way I ran my program is that when someone would see me an application with their deposit, then I would go through it, make sure everything looks good, and then they had up till the puppy was six weeks old to decide which puppy they wanted. And I went in the order of when I received their application and deposit. So the first person that did that, I contact them and let them, then they'd tell me how they want to do this. Do they want to do uh FaceTime or would they want to do phone call or do they want to chat online via like Facebook Messenger or text? I just ask them which way they want. Then they'd talk to me and they'd, you know, tell me which puppy they want by telling me, you know, which ribbon, what color they it is. And then they'd give me a name for the puppy, and I'd write that down, and then I would kind of talk call the puppy by its name from then on. So the puppy's used to that. And then from then on, after then after that six weeks, once they hit six weeks and they pick which puppy they want, their their deposit is no longer um refundable. It's refundable up until then, but then it's no longer refundable after that. So that's what they know. And then after that, I start calling them by their names. I chose post pictures and videos of them, and on all that, as their names are attached to it and who they're going to and everything. So that is how I do my Facebook group. Then after that, it is time for the puppies to go home. And so when the puppies go home, the parents can come in any order they want to because they already know which puppies are and I know, and I but they still need to tell me when they're coming and everything, so that I can have the puppies ready. And I usually, you know, even while they're little, you know, they're still living with me for a couple of weeks, I bathe them. I use this shampoo puppy shampoo stuff that I get from Paltry. And I use that and I get them dry looking really good. And when they're going home, I make sure they look really good, you know, really, you know, cute and everything. And what I will send home with them, a lot of times I will send stuff home with them. What I'll send home with them, one of the things I send home with them is a um is a baby blanket, and I'll put the mama scent all over it. And then so then when they you know go home, they have that to smell and they feel like they've got their mama nearby. Then there's a thing called a puppy, um, it's called a snuggle pup, snuggle puppy or something like that, and you can get that at Petsmart or Amazon. I'll put the link on fate on my group Facebook page, I mean, again about that. So what I will do is I'll put a Facebook page for that. We I had that on the Facebook page, but basically what you would do with that puppy is it has a mechanical heart, has like a little heart inside that runs by battery and it beeps like the mama's heartbeat, and it's got a warm little package little thing, that little packaging warmth thing that goes inside as well. So you put the mama scent on that as well, and then when the puppy is home for that first night, they got the blanket with the mom scent on it, that puppy, that snuggle puppy, and it's with the heartbeat and everything smell the mom. The puppy should have a better night due to all that. And I've had new owners to write me and say that that helped the puppy so much. So I highly recommend those things. And I always get my pet parents to get the snuggle puppy. So what they'll do is they'll either send me the money or pay me, you know, when they buy the puppy, they'll pay me that extra amount and I'll go to Pet Smart and get it, or they're they'll order it on the PetSmart website and have it so I can pick it up at the Pet Smart where I am or be sent to me at my house, or they'll do the same for Amazon and order it through Amazon and have it sent to me. And I'll, you know, get mom sent on it, and then I leave all the heart everything out, and they can do all that. So I have it all ready for them, and then I will also have a bunch of documents for them. And so, with the documents, what I will do is I'll have one that's got the health guarantee on it, the yearly health guarantee. So, what it is is that you know it. I have it all written on there. Basically, anything that like they drop the puppy, say, puppy gets hurt. That's not something that's covered under it. Things that are covered under it is genetic stuff that couldn't be helped. That if the puppy say they get a cavalio and it gets the mitral valve prolapse that happens early as a puppy, which is unlikely. But say that does happen. Well then that is part of one of the things that I can take I'd have to take the puppy back and they can get their money back for. So you have a health guarantee for those things. And the way I ran that too was with paltry, I know how great that food is. That I make a requirement that they at least give their puppy that food for a year. And if they don't, then that whole health guarantee is, you know, it's not gonna they won't be able to, no matter what happens, they can't give the puppy back. So that is the big thing. And that's you know, just too because I know how good that food is that I doubt they'll have any problems if they're on that food. So that's how much I believe in it. And then another thing I give them is a spay neuter contract. So if they're not planning on breeding the puppy, then they have to sign that saying that they're going to get the puppy when it gets to the right age, they're gonna get their puppy fixed. They're gonna get them neutered or spayed. And then once they do that, then they have to send me a copy of from the vet where they did that, how they, you know, that they got that done, and then a phone number also to the vet, so I can contact the vet to make sure that that really is legit, that they did that. So that is what I sent home. Now, if they want to breed the dog, the puppy, then what I have to what I do is I charge for that. So like my puppies were around $1,500. If they wanted to breed them, they had to pay $3,000 for the puppy. And that was just to make sure that I'm not selling to a to a backyard breeder. Backyard breeders aren't going to want to do that. So, and I also checked out the people, had them fill out an application so I can know more about their breeding program and you know, checked out their website if they had one and things like that, just making sure that I'm sending them to a good breeder. So I had all that. I also had information on paltry. I'd send that home. I'd send home information on any supplements companies that I knew about, and then I would send them a thank you note as well. So I had all that put into a folder, and then I'd put it that into the bag, the paltry bag that I had with all of the other goodie things I sent home. Sometimes I even sent home with them samples of snacks from paltry. So I did, you know, I would send home little things with them. So, and I sent home also, I would send home a copy of the vet visits. So they're shop records and everything. So that is what I would send home with them. So I will say that when parents got home with their puppies, they would contact me and tell me how good the puppies were and how easily they were trainable, and you know, I got recommendations, they would recommend people to me. And so I found puppy culture to be very helpful. It taught me a lot, and then having mentors helped and just keeping up with all of this. I l I loved it. You know, I hated to send these, hated to see the puppies go, but I also knew what it's like to look, you know, to get a new puppy. So knowing that feeling, that had made it exciting for me. And I would hear things about the children. Like one was one family, their daughter had cancer and it was in her leg and she couldn't walk. Well, when they got home with the puppy, as soon as they got the puppy on the floor, the little girl saw it and the girl took her first step, and I heard the parents say that. And I immediately cried. It was so, oh my goodness, such a blessing. And so, I mean, I've heard so many blessings, seen so much, that I'm so grateful that God allowed me to do this. It has been a huge blessing, and I've learned a lot. So if you listen to this and you feel like you need that you feel like you can do this, then I highly recommend it. But if not, you know, I totally understand. So, but if you have any questions for me, you can always send me a message through the Facebook page I have, and I will be happy to answer. But remember, I do have that Facebook page for you to go on to, and you can look at the file to see any, you know, to look at the links. You can also and you know be able to get your where you can go and get the different items you need for the breeding program, and I will share much more there. So thanks for joining this episode, and I hope that you all have a good rest of the week.