Pawformance | Puppies

The most important 8 weeks

Puppies are born deaf and blind, and in just eight weeks, they go through an amazing amount of change, to become the gorgeous, cheeky fluff ball you will take home with you.
At this age, their bodies and brains are developing faster than they will at any other time in their life. The time and love that your breeder puts in to not only meeting your puppy's physical needs, but also enriching their environment, developing their confidence and trust, teaching them how to be groomed and handled, cultivating their ability to learn and socialising them to new people and experiences, actually effects how their brain grows and develops.
Litters should be raised in a home environment and exposed to everyday experiences like the sounds and smells of cooking, cleaning and family activity so they become a normal, accepted part of life.
Your role in these 8 weeks is to make sure you are prepared, not just with all of the equipment you'll need, but armed with knowledge to make your puppy's arrival into your home, a good one.

Thinking of getting a puppy during COVID-19?

Over the last few weeks, we have seen a HUGE increase in enquiries for puppies. People are spending a lot more time at home due to work at home arrangements and the cancellation of most normal activities so now is the perfect time to bring a puppy home right?
Wrong!
Unfortunately there are some major downsides to getting a puppy in the currently climate and they can have a big impact throughout your puppy's life. Here's why you SHOULDN'T get a puppy during the COVID-19 crisis.

More Information

The role of the breeder

Bringing a new puppy home is an exciting, daunting time but choosing a great breeder is one of the ways you can help set your future puppy up for life. It is as important a decision as choosing which breed to get and in any breed, there are breeders who are more and less ethical.
Your breeder should be there every step of the way for your puppy and should be someone you can call on when you need support, help or advice. They should take an interest in what you and your dog are doing, whether you've just brought your puppy home, or you're nursing them through an ailment as an elderly dog.
For this reason, we believe all breeders should only breed 1-2 litters per year, and should keep the dogs that they do have as pets, not in kennels. This ensures a great life, not only for their own dogs, but for any puppy that they have brought in to the world.
For more information on the breeders we recommend, contact us.

Our Future Puppy Plans

Our puppy plans have been put on hold for the forseeable future due to the COVID-19 crisis. We are hopeful that Slinky will be able to have a litter with her co-owner and breeder, Jacqualine at Armahani as planned later on in the year. More information about this litter can be found on Jacq's website, or you can contact us.

Preparing to bring your puppy home

There are hundreds of resources that can be found online to help you prepare for your new puppy. You should look at the websites of your local vets, decide which training classes you're going to take your puppy to, look at awesome dog sports you can get your puppy involved with when it's older, research training methods (YouTube is brilliant for learning how to teach tricks), buy all the gear you will need, join breed groups (or any other interest groups!) on Facebook and generally do a lot of reading. There is no such thing as being over-prepared! We also recommend reading the two free e-books by Dr Ian Dunbar for all future puppy owners.