Seger has full access to the pups whenever she wants. The other half of the vari kennel acts as a gate for her. She can easily step over the sides, but the pups can not climb the outside slick surface. (yet!)

The smaller playground has a tunnel, some hanging toys with bells, a few other interactive toys, and different surfaces. (carpet, tile, paper) The larger play area will have a swing, ramps and a few other challenges for the pups. You don't want to add everything at once. The pups need new things introduced every few days.

Here's the age old question: Is temperament the result of heredity or of environment?

You have already done your homework into the backgrounds of the sire and dam; you've checked on temperament, trainability and stability. The job does not stop here. Do you want to take a chance that the greatest factor is not environment?

In a litter, you are lucky to get one or two good show dogs. You may get a couple of good field prospects, maybe even a future top obedience or agility dog. Every pup should have a super temperament because 90 percent of the litter will end up in pet homes. Their owners will not care about how many titles the parents won, at what age they got their first major, or how many tries it took them to get their SH or CDX titles. These people care that their dogs will be wonderful additions to their family

When I plan a breeding, I take time off from my full time job to start another full-time job-- the one of raising a litter. It does not matter how wonderful and independent a mom your brood bitch is, you still have a full-time commitment with each litter.

I start working with the pups when they are 3 days old. I take each one and put it through a series of five exercises known as the Bio-Sensor method. (see the May 1995 AKC Gazette for an article on this) In brief, this is a series of exercises that stimulates pups in a way they would not otherwise experience at this early age.

Once the pups have their eyes open and start to venture out of the whelping box, the fun begins! Over the years, I have developed a "puppy playground." This is designed to introduce the pups to sound, texture, movement, vibration and music. It includes "swings" made from carpeted milk crates that hangs from the ceiling. The pups quickly find these and they are not bothered by the swinging movement when they are in them. Often I will find the swing jam-packed with pups sleeping and gently rocking! I also have low, padded and carpeted seesaws. The pups first reaction to these is usually to be startled when they walk up the low ramp and it moves under their weight. however, the puppy urge for exploration gets the best of them and soon you see 6-week old pups trying out their "sea legs" and balancing on the middle of the sea saw like expert agility dogs.

The playground also includes a variety of tunnels made of tall kitchen trash containers with the bottoms cut out. The pups race through these, roll them around, and then all pile in for a nap. There are also ramps of various materials and textures, milk jugs, hanging fleece toys and short steps made by stacking large wooden blocks. One object that the pups love is a fleece octopus with four squeaky arms. It hangs about five inches from the ground, from a rope that has a long line of sleigh bells attached to the top. The noise it makes! There are also low mirrors on the walls and an assortment of balls, toys and chews in the puppy room.

At about 6 weeks, the pups are introduced to water, under supervision. I take an extra large Vari-Kennel bottom, line it with rubber bath mats, and fill it with three inches of warm water. I place this in the puppy room, with a couple of rubber balls floating in it. The boldest pups are soon in there! There is no pushing or forcing; I just let them go at their own pace.

Each puppy also gets individual attention every day during which they experience a variety of activities. They may drag around a short leash, be introduced to wings and birds, go for a ride in the car, or have their toenails trimmed.

The playroom setup enables me to sit and watch the puppies for hours to see which are the most adventuresome which have the quickest recovery time, and which are more hesitant. This helps me decide on the homes that will be best for each one.

10:00 am the pups go outside for a while. (so I can clean the playroom)

I take the pups one at a time onto the lawn, and see if they will follow me
Some sit and whine, some just sniff the ground, others follow my feet.
When Seger walks by, everyone follows her!

1:00 pm, the pups get more visitors

Day Thirty 9/1/2003

Early morning puppy room pictures

Breakfast with Seger on the lawn while I clean up inside.

We got more visitors today. Mary Veitch from Blacbarc Curly Coated Retrievers in Florida came by to see the pups. She and her husband were on a road trip to a nearby town to visit relatives. It was a nice surprise.

Day Thirty One 9/2/2003

Yes...they are peeing! ;-)

Day Thirty Two 9/3/2003

Day Thirty Three 9/4/2003

5:00am A quick snack from mom

7:00am Breakfast in the shark cage

On to the puppy room and some loud play!
Lots of toys, but they like to rip up the newspaper and play with that!

Under the crate for a nap

2:00 pm pictures. Outside for a while

Tunnel Dogs

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More of week 5! Days 34 & 35

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SoftMaple Curly Coated Retrievers
Mark and Cathy Lewandowski
8282 Soft Maple Road
Croghan New York 13327

For information email me at:
softmaple@curlycoat.org

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Pictures of the family

Back to the Pedigree

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Click on book above, or mail a check to:
Cathy Lewandowski
8282 Soft Maple Road
Croghan NY 13327

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