RAISING OUR COCKAPOO PUPPIES
Our Cockapoos girls are amazing, beautiful dogs, with big characters, great health and confirmation and super temperaments. They are a huge part of our life and an extension of our immediate family.
It is recommended that small to medium size dogs can be bred from 18 months of age, but we didn’t feel that was appropriate as our girls had not reached physical or emotional maturity by that time, so we waited until they were in the second year to breed from them and their hips had naturally widened to allow for an easier birth.
We do a lot of research when choosing a stud dog, as it is imperative to us that we are producing healthy and good natured dogs, with great confirmation and great looks. We choose very gentle loving stud dogs that live at home with their families that are proven and DNA clear of all relevant diseases.
Our dogs are fed the best nutrition anyway, but during pregnancy the mum gets very hungry as the pups grow, so we make sure we have fridge filled with high protein, high quality meat, so lean beef mince and fresh chicken to supplement her raw food complete diet when midnight munchies take hold!
The mother of the puppies is given appropriate regular exercise during the day, to keep her strong and has homeopathy and flower essences to support her both emotionally and physically throughout her pregnancy. She and the pups (whilst they are in her tummy) also have Reiki every evening to help them both feel relaxed and content as the pups are forming.
As the birth gets near we place a whelping box in our living room and start giving the mother herbs and homeopathy and flower essences that help to relax the pelvis, take away some of the pain, and help her emotional well being.
Our dogs are young and so they have a lot of strength and endurance to birth well, and we are blessed that in every case the mothers have birthed perfectly without incident, and that all puppies have always been born strong and well.
The room is kept super warm, as very young pups need to be cozy just like new born human babies. They have a heat pad that also keeps them at their optimum body temperature. For the first 48 hours, mum doesn’t really leave them, we take her her food and water, and she only ever leaves them for loo breaks. We continue with natural remedies to support our dogs recovery and within a week take her for a vet check to be 100% sure all is well with her.
We are with the pups 24/7 at this stage. We gently stroke the pups to get them used to touch, and pick them up to rest them on our heart area so they can also feel connected to human warmth and biorhythms.
At two weeks the puppies eyes and ears start open. It’s amazing when the puppies start to look back at you. The room they grow up in is a large, open plan space, so from the start they are used to hearing the T.V. washing machine, the hoover etc, although we do ensure the noises at this tender age are all calm, and gentle.
By three weeks of age the pups are much more mobile, so we open up one side of the whelping box and put down puppy pads, so they are able to walk away from the area they sleep in to toilet and keep their bed clean. We find it truly remarkable they are able to do so at such a young age. Therefore we nurture their natural desire to be ‘clean’ from the first possible opportunity.
The pups are handled very gently regularly through the day and evening. They are also introduced to a very watered down puppy food which helps the puppies feel ‘full’ and content, and which also supports the mother.
At four weeks the pups move into a permanently open crate with a changeable bed, which is surrounded by a large puppy pen. There is more definition of ‘bed’ and ‘outside’ in this set up, and remarkably every single puppy gets up and goes out to the furthest point of the puppy run to toilet. Nurturing this natural desire to be clean, reinforces this ability in the pup and again makes toilet training so much easier further down the line. We encourage the puppy owners to have a similar set up in the early days as this aids their transition.
As the pups grow so do their teeth, which, just like human babies can be painful and distressing. Our pups have teething toys all around their bed and in their puppy run to relieve some of the pain and also enables them start strengthen their jaw muscles which is part of their development at this stage.
They are also given homeopathic remedies to help take the edge off the teething pain, and Australian Bush flower remedies for emotional support as they start to go through the weaning process. Over the days they have less feeding times with their mum, (although she is mostly in the room with them) and more solid food. They are offered food every two to four hours (as not all puppies have the same sleep cycle) during the day from 6am till midnight. In the early stage of weaning, some food is left down for any 3am feasts. Puppies suffer from being ‘hangry’ quite easily and naturally need ‘little and often.’ We work hard to ensure our pups don’t ever feel hungry at this precious stage of transition towards being independent of their mum.
At four to five weeks they no longer have people or other dogs in the room from midnight til 6am to give them the ability to start being relaxed in their own company. Of course they have their siblings and are not alone, and are checked on by us during the night but they generally they are sleeping. They can easily be heard as the bedroom is adjacent to the living room.
At five weeks old, as well as being taken around different areas of the home individually to experience different environments and people, the puppies are taken into the kitchen area together to have their food and to play in a new environment. They climb over boxes, which strengthen their legs and builds their dexterity, they play with different toys from the ones in the pen, and they have a large space to gallop around in. They start to come to call readily, and they play with their Aunty who is super playful and able to start to teaching them manners of the ‘dog world.’
The pups are able to blow off steam in this play time – they stay there until they start to relax and fall asleep naturally which gives them the experience of laying and sleeping naturally in the home.
They have regularly one on one time with their mum as they get older and after they have been weaned. She teachers them dog etiquette so to speak, which is an imperative part of their development. They are fully weaned at 5 weeks, so by the time they go to their families they have overcome the desire for mum’s milk and are used to be independent confident little dogs. Going through weaning process slowly and gently and fully with us, enables for a much smoother transition into their new homes.
We give puppies individual attention as it is clear by this stage that they all have individual characters. Some puppies, have a very clear need to explore more of the house to be adequately mentally stimulated, whilst others would like more and more cuddles!
We also practice leaving and re entering the room for short periods of time without visible or audible emotional signals as this enables the puppy to learn to feel content with and without your company. As they are so young this is practiced whilst in a litter.
Cockapoos are often very intuitive dogs and we look all the time for what they are trying to tell us, so that we can fulfil their needs. We listen and respond accordingly. This means that when they do go back in their puppy run and their bed, they are content and they can sleep deeply having expanded appropriately into their individual development for that day.
This is repeated during the day according to the pups needs and sleep cycles. We prioritise their needs around the clock whist they are with us, so that they feel content. We believe this level of care is an excellent foundation at the puppies core for the owners to then build on.
We speak to our puppy owners at length to check that they would be a good fit for our puppies and our puppies would be a good fit for them. We listen to their needs, hopes and expectations for a their dog and we suggest pups who have the type of energy that would best fit that person or family.
We support our owners as much as we can, sending videos and photos of the puppy as they grow and as the time comes closer to the puppies leaving to go to their new home we hand over details fo their puppies rhythms, needs, character, food etc so that the transition for both pup and family is as good as it can be. We only work with families that we feel have a sincerity of heart to give our dogs a full and happy life.
We explain fully the two to three year process of raising a dog.
Once the puppy is chosen, if the owners are already set on a name we start to teach the pup their name. We flag up behavioural issues that can be created from ‘human error’ as some of the best actions to take to help raise a balanced dog are counter intuitive to people.
We recommend books and trainers for the puppy parents to read before pick up as puppy training really is in every moment.
We give our owners a comprehensive list of web links of suggestions for beds, harnesses, food etc to again make the transition so much easier and to support the new owners to the full. We speak one to one on the phone at any time to discuss any needs or concerns that may arise.
Our pups are taken to the vets at 6 weeks for a thorough vet check, their first vaccination and their microchip.
We forward to the vet’s report on each puppy directly to the puppy owner on receipt thus being totally transparent. We also give the name and contact details of our vet incase the owners have any further questions.
We give a handover PDF with all the details of the puppies worming needs, continued flea prevention needs, and continued vaccination details, along with the pedigree, ancestry of both parents and the DNA test certificates, and microchip details.
We give a hard copy of the vaccination and vet report on pick up along with a specially blended bottle of flower essences to support the puppy’s on going emotional needs. Our puppy parents often remark on how fast their puppy settles into their new home, and how confident, happy and playful they are.
We set up a litter WhatsApp group so that we can support the first few week of transition and the puppy owners can all get to know each other (if they wish). And then we ask if the owners would like to, to please stay in contact with us, as it gives us no greater pleasure than seeing the pups grow and develop and become the much loved family member that they deserve to be and to hear from the owners how much love and joy their bundle of fur has brought into their life…