Puppies at Flyway Farm are whelped in my office, the room in my house where I spend the most waking hours. For the first few nights, I sleep next to the whelping box to check on Mum and pups throughout the night. From day one, pups get regular and consistent handling. Between their third and sixteenth days of life, puppies undergo the Early Neurological Stimulation program. After the pups are well settled-in, Mum gets some time to herself on frequent farm romps. As soon as the pups begin sitting up and exploring the box, I introduce quail, pigeon, and chuckar wings, and then, as the pups mature, larger duck, pheasant, and goose wings. If Mum permits, my gentle and puppy-savvy adult dogs are allowed to visit the pups.  In their last days in the whelping box, the puppies are given their first meals of puppy gruel. At this time, a recall whistle is introduced whenever puppy gruel meals are presented and the pups quickly become conditioned to the sound. Pups are wormed starting at three weeks, and then every two weeks thereafter. Pups nails are trimmed every 7-10 days.

When the pups begin planning their great whelping box escape, they are moved to my screen porch, immediately adjacent to my office. A gate across the door allows Mum to go in and out of the puppy room as she pleases. The pups sleep in large plastic crates and on blankies by the door where they also eat their puppy gruel meals. Puppies quickly learn to keep their sleeping and eating area clean by pottying in the shavings at the opposite end of the puppy room, allowing for easy house-breaking when they venture off to their new homes. The sights and sounds of the puppy room changes daily to provide varied stimulation. Tile floor panels, plastic and metal grates, metal pans that bang when moved, tunnels, boards that wobble under foot, a mini dog-walk ramp, holding blinds, duck and goose decoys, tarp squares and flags that blow in the wind from a fan, mirrors, and a vast variety of toys are all cycled through the puppy pen. Puppies listen to gunshot desensitization and agility trial sounds CDs when not rocking out to their favorite radio stations. Visitors to the puppy room are frequent and always welcome by the swarm of puppies.

Once the pups have settled into their puppy room, they begin their great outdoor adventures, starting in a large outdoor puppy pen that is moved to various places in my yard. Puppies are then taken out a few at a time to explore the house and farm, romping through cover, playing in the puppy pool and creek, socializing with the ‘big dogs,’ and visiting the barn. The pups also go on car rides for socialization at my agility and field training sessions. Once the pups are big enough, they enjoy individual play-time and short retrieves using duck or pheasant wings, and pigeons or chuckar. 

At seven weeks, the pups are temperament tested using the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test. They are also introduced to a live, shackled pigeon to assess their level of interest and determination on birds.  Around this time I also begin conformation assessments with experienced puppy evaluators. Based on the results of these assessments and additional observations, I select pups for their new homes. In preparation for their great adventure to their new homes, pups are weaned around seven weeks.  Close to their eighth week, pups visit the vet for a health check, microchipping, and DHPP vaccine. It’s hard to say goodbye when the pups venture off to their new homes between 8 and 12 weeks, but knowing they will be well-loved and have many adventures ahead eases the heartache.