Benfelds Puppies
Here at Benfelds I take having a litter of puppies very seriously. It is never to satisfy the demand for puppies and is only ever done after a great deal of planning.
For me raising a litter of puppies is a huge investment of time and not something to be taken lightly. I work full time so I need to be able to have at least 3 weeks off to be with the puppies on a full time basis, the first 2 weeks and the last week or so when they are being fully weaned. Luckily we live 10 minutes from the city so are able to come home at lunch times to check on them.
If you are interested in a Benfelds puppy the absolute first step is filling out my questionnaire (see below)
If you are interested in a Benfelds puppy the absolute first step is filling out my questionnaire (see below)
| puppy_questionnaire_2011.doc |
My puppies are raised in the house not in a kennel, they are members of the family. Although we don't have children, from an appropriate age, I ensure there is interaction with children of all ages. I also use the 7 of 7 method in raising puppies as detailed below:
By the time a puppy is seven weeks old he/she should have:
Been on 7 different types of surfaces: carpet, concrete, wood, vinyl, grass, dirt, gravel, sand
Played with 7 different types of objects: big balls, small balls, soft fabric toys, fuzzy toys, squeaky toys, paper of cardboard items, metal items, sticks or hose pieces
Been in 7 different locations: front yard, back yard, kitchen, car, garage, laundry room, bathroom, lounge room
Met and played with 7 new people: include children and older adults, someone walking with a cane or stick, someone in a wheelchair or walker
Been exposed to 7 challenges: climb on a box, climb off a box, go through a tunnel, climb steps, go down steps, climb over obstacles, play hide and seek, in and out of a doorway with a step up or down, run around a fence
Eaten from 7 different containers; metal, plastic, cardboard, paper, china, pie plate, frying pan
Eaten in 7 different locations: crate, yard, kitchen, basement, laundry room, living room, bathroom
I start doing very basic obedience training with my puppies from the age of 6 weeks, teaching them commands such as Sit, Watch, Come. Imprinting with puppies this young means they will never forget the training and is an extremely valuable tool in later life.
There is video of the rescue litter getting some obedience training in the Photo Gallery if you would like to get a visual of what I am talking about.
To summarise, any puppy born to Benfelds is an extremely important puppy to me and I expect them to be even more important to their new family.
By the time a puppy is seven weeks old he/she should have:
Been on 7 different types of surfaces: carpet, concrete, wood, vinyl, grass, dirt, gravel, sand
Played with 7 different types of objects: big balls, small balls, soft fabric toys, fuzzy toys, squeaky toys, paper of cardboard items, metal items, sticks or hose pieces
Been in 7 different locations: front yard, back yard, kitchen, car, garage, laundry room, bathroom, lounge room
Met and played with 7 new people: include children and older adults, someone walking with a cane or stick, someone in a wheelchair or walker
Been exposed to 7 challenges: climb on a box, climb off a box, go through a tunnel, climb steps, go down steps, climb over obstacles, play hide and seek, in and out of a doorway with a step up or down, run around a fence
Eaten from 7 different containers; metal, plastic, cardboard, paper, china, pie plate, frying pan
Eaten in 7 different locations: crate, yard, kitchen, basement, laundry room, living room, bathroom
I start doing very basic obedience training with my puppies from the age of 6 weeks, teaching them commands such as Sit, Watch, Come. Imprinting with puppies this young means they will never forget the training and is an extremely valuable tool in later life.
There is video of the rescue litter getting some obedience training in the Photo Gallery if you would like to get a visual of what I am talking about.
To summarise, any puppy born to Benfelds is an extremely important puppy to me and I expect them to be even more important to their new family.
