Puppies 0-8 weeks

Puppies 0-8 Weeks

Although we believe that genetics play the largest role in creating the best puppies, we also believe early development is extremely important, because of this we have high standards for the way we handle and socialize our puppies.

From the beginning Hollenhund puppies are around people. Born in our bedroom, the first thing they smell, hear, see and feel is life in a happy, safe household. On top of helping develop positive associations with people, others pets and daily life, this insures we are there if they need anything between birth and 3 weeks. When the pups are ready to move to the puppy room they have their eyes and ears open and are starting to become quite mobile!

Here is pregnant Tori enjoying a ball with Maverick as she becomes comfortable with the whelping box. We set the whelping box up about 10 days before delivery so our females can nest and display normal pregnancy behaviors.

After the pups eyes are open and they have almost reached the age of curiosity we move the whole show downstairs to the puppy room. After a few days we remove the kitty pool and replace it with a stack of blankets. This allows the puppies to learn to move away from their bedding and eating places to eliminate. This secure area is 12x7 feet so they have plenty of room to stretch their legs, learn to play and learn clean potty behaviors. By the time they are five weeks old they are rarely eliminating indoors, making house breaking a breeze! The tin siding on the walls make this area super easy to clean. The dog door leads to an outdoor kennel with direct view of our training field and driveway, puppies see adults working, cars driving in and out and daily chores carried out through the day. When the puppies are big enough and out grow this staging area, they move to a 60x60 grass pen with trees and dens and many play things, this pen also faces the training field/driveway and allows the puppies even more exposure. They become desensitized to all the daily happenings and sounds making them solid confident k9s!

In the puppy room we installed this Kennelstand/shelving unit. It makes it easy to store puppy supplies, blankets, cleaning supplies, has a table to weigh and photograph puppies as well as having a safe comfortable place for mom if we need her to stay put for a moment! The "mom" kennel also has a 2 inch rubber mat in it to keep our females off the concrete. The puppy room is heated with infrared heat and has an attached laundry room for ease of washing puppy blankets! Having a room dedicated to the puppies and mom reduces stress for our moms and makes it easy to keep things clean and germ free.

This is the view from one of many security cameras set up on our acreage. This one is in the puppy room. This camera allows us to check in on mom and pups whenever we can't physically be in the room. We can access this camera from any computer on our acreage as well as our cell phones anywhere in the world! It gives us a great sense of security to know we can always see them. As the puppies become more mobile we move the camera down to puppy eye level so we can see the whole floor, this is also a great way to get some very comical shots!

Feeding Hollenhund dogs is done with care. All of our dogs eat a raw diet and never processed kibble. We are firm believers in "You get what you put in" No other diet could ever challenge the efficacy and health benefits of a well put together raw diet. When the puppies are 3 weeks old we begin to introduce solid foods. We start with fresh green tripe ground fine to emulate regurgitated food from mom. Within 5-7 days we introduce a new protein, starting with chicken, beef and egg. As the puppies grow we will introduce new and interesting things for them to experience such as chicken necks and beef bones. Hollenhund puppies are healthy and grow at an appropriate rate because of the quality of their diet.

Here some of our babies are enjoying the grass at 5 weeks. They are so much fun when they are learning their new world! We enjoy taking our puppies on car rides to show them off and give them good experiences outside our home so they are 100% ready when they go to their new handlers. All this extra stimulation insures puppies will have the most ease of transition and will be ready to take on the world! By 8 weeks a Hollenhund puppy has been to the vet, the grocery store, the "big city" of Red Deer (45 minute drive), Nanna's house to be spoiled and have already met several friendly adult dogs and children. These early good experiences help shape them into solid dogs that grow with confidence.

We have temperament testing done by our good friend Dan Waters. Dan is a world competitor in IPO and the president of the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of Calgary. He really knows a good dog when he sees one! He helps us score each puppy so that we can place them based on the needs of our clients. He also helps us choose which of our puppies will be the next generation of Hollenhund. We are very grateful to have the knowledgeable and objective opinion of someone as qualified as Dan!

In 2013 we purchased our stud dog Dragon from Dan Waters.

We use a product called PupColors, these flexible collars allow us to easily identify individual puppies so we can track their progress and they can be quickly identified in photos. These awesome collars expand as they grow and have been a blessing to our breeding program.

Attention to detail, excellent genetics and thorough socializing/training are the ingredients for a Hollenhund dog. We strive to create the perfect working dog and family companion. Our success can be seen through our previous dogs and their satisfied people!

Left is Berlin Von Hollenhund on the walking bridge with her humans! The picture of confidence and Beauty.