| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| Can we visit and see the pups? We do allow people to come and visit. We also do let people come to visit with their puppy. We ask that you wait until they are at least a week old. Their eyes and ears do not open until 10-14 days and they do not start walking until they are 3 to 4 weeks old. We also ask that you do not have any contact with any animals that are not up to date on shots prior to your visit. Do not visit a pet shop or go to a vets office before coming here. This is to help not spread any germs to the puppies as they are very susceptible to this. How do we contact you? - E-mail or phone. We are available anytime to answer any questions you may have and we are always here to help while you have the puppy. Most find it easier to reach me by e-mail. Do we own both parents of our puppies? - Yes! They are all here with us. All the parents are ours and are raised here with us. Do we own the puppies, or do we buy them from other breeders? - These are our own puppies. We absolutely never buy puppies from other breeders for re-sale. We are not a broker. Are the puppies harder to housebreak in the winter? - Don't be too concerned about weather and housebreaking. The reality is that it's actually easier to housebreak in the winter. During the summer, people like to play with the puppies outside, and of course, the puppies love to play outside too. They think that they're outside to PLAY, and don't get it that they are outside to POTTY. Summer housebreaking can confuse lots of puppies, unless you really make it a point not to play with the puppy outside. In the winter, with snow on the ground, there is much less to explore, and the pups rapidly learn that outside means POTTY TIME! Are the pups raised in the house? Yes! All pups are born in the house. They are born in my bedroom in a whelping box and eventually end up in a room off the kitchen. This room is what we refer to as our puppy room. They will be used to many household sounds by the time they come home and be used to being handled. They are all socialized with adults, dogs, puppies, cats, and grandkids. Are the parents of the puppies purebred or registered? Our adult breeding dogs are both purebred and registered. Most of our adults are AKC (American Kennel Club) registered and a few are APRI (American Pet Registry, Inc) registered. Are the puppies registered? Yes and No. Hybrid puppies cannot be registered with the American Kennel Club. Our Purebred dogs are registered with either AKC, APRI or ACA. Do we guarantee our puppies? - Yes. Your puppy is guaranteed to be free of disabling congenital defects until the age of 1 year. Your puppy is guaranteed for a period of five days to be free of illness. A letter from your vet is required in the event of a congenital problem that will shorten the life of the dog. Veterinary tests, treatments, and visits are not covered. This guarantee is not transferable to a second party, should the original buyer sell the puppy. Do our pups have shots and have they been wormed? - We begin our vaccination program for the puppies at 6-8 weeks of age with a Galaxy-5 (Parvo, Distemper, Adenovirus Type 2, and Para-influenza) vaccination. The puppies are always up to date on vaccinations, even when they go to their new homes beyond 9 weeks of age. We begin our worming program at 2-3 weeks of age. Worming and shots will need to continue after you get your puppy. You will receive records of all of this when you pick up your puppy. How are our puppies socialized? Besides us, we have grandkids and friends that visit regularly that love to spend time with the puppies. We also get them used to normal household sounds so they are not so startled when they go to their new homes. Do we have any housebroken pups or adults for sale? - Occasionally, we may have an adult or puppy for placement in a home that is. Are we a puppy mill? - NO! A puppy mill is a horrible place. Dogs are raised in wire cages. Poop builds up thick under the cages, cleaned up only when absolutely necessary. Most dogs never feel the soft touch of a human hand, and are fearful of being approached by strangers and by kennel workers alike. Puppies at puppy mills are yanked from their mothers at 5 weeks of age, before being well weaned, sold to puppy brokers, and then sold again to pet stores. Imagine the stress these poor babies go through. What makes us different? Our dogs are happy, friendly dogs. They love our attention, and love to climb all over us when we sit to play with them. All the dogs get regular grooming, nail trimming, and veterinary care as needed. All our adult dogs are on Revolution , up to date on shots and see a vet regularly as needed. We spare no expense when it comes to caring for our adults and puppies. These are all our babies. Do you have puppies that are available? - We have deposits for each of the different breeds that we raise. Some lists are quite long (up to 8 months or more), some are quite short. We rarely have some available without going on a list. When will we be able to choose our puppy? Everyone picks their own puppy in order of deposits received. You may pick your puppy at any time but has to be no later than the start of its 6th week or others can pick ahead of you. Do we sell to pet shops? NO!! All our pups are sold privately to individual families and only to a very few select breeders that are approved by us. Do we start housebreaking? We try to get the puppies to use puppy pads before they leave here. However, the litter of pups often times thinks this is a toy to run with and shred. We do not offer puppies that are already housebroken and do not have the time to offer this as a service at this time. Do we ship our pups? How is that done? - Yes, we do ship our puppies. We make the flight arrangements for you. Shipping by air is $300. This includes the flight, crate, health certificate and transportation to the airport. The pups travel in the cargo hold of the plane. It is pressurized, and climate controlled. The only time that the pups are exposed to the weather is traveling to and from the plane across the runway. Puppies have a different mind set than an adult dog. Everything is new to them, so shipping is just another new experience. Of course, most are quite happy to get their feet on ground in their new home. We also offer transportation by ground. We will meet you anywhere for a fee. You may also fly in to pick up your puppy and we will meet you at the airport for a fee. Are we inspected? Yes, we are inspected at least once a year by the State of Maine Animal Welfare to maintain our license. Our town Animal Control Officer also comes out at the start of every year before we renew our tags for our dogs showing proof of rabie shots. What kind of food do we feed our dogs? - We feed all of our adults Wellness. We feed our puppies Wellness Just For Puppies or Halo Spot Stew Chicken for Puppies. We also give them Wellness Just For Puppy Treats. We do not feed canned food nor do not recommend it. The only time we will use a canned food is if we are supplimenting a puppy who is not gaining weight. We also may recommend it the first few days the pup comes home if it is not wanting to eat from stress of new surroundings. How do I reserve a puppy? To reserve a puppy you can mail a minimum deposit of $100 or make payment through Pay Pal. When using Pay Pal add $4 to cover the Pay Pal fee. You will need to send your name, address, phone, e-mail, your preference of a male or female or no preference, and any color preferences. We also need to know what breed of dog the deposit is for. Once deposit is received I mail a deposit agreement and a receipt. Why do the eyes on some puppies stray from center? Remember, the pups have had their eyes open for only a few weeks. The muscles around the eyes are still weak, so it's common for one or both eyes to stray to the side for a few more weeks yet. Shih Tzu and Pekingese (and their mixes) have the weakest eyes as puppies because they have a rounder skull. If you worry much about this, you can actually strengthen your pup's eyes by holding a treat in front of the puppy, and moving it toward the face, and away from the face. Repeat, but don't let the pup get frustrated. Be sure to give some of the treat from time to time. What can I do about tear staining? Most all puppies will have tear staining while they are teething. We do suggest the following things if this continues when the puppy is older. Keep the eye area dry. Give bottled water. Do not use any treats or food with color additives. Keep the eye area dry everyday by wiping with a dry cloth. You can also try the Angel Eyes or Eye Envy. Are the puppies going to be yappers? We have not had any reports come back of anyone complaining about the puppies being barkers. We do suggest using a squirt bottle with water in it if they should start to bark unnecessarily. When they bark just squirt them once or twice letting them know it is not acceptable. With consistency they will learn quickly. Do we have to have the puppy/dog groomed? This will depend on how you want to keep the coat. Some have kept them in long coats which requires more brushing and combing to keep it tangle free. Some bring them to a groomer every 4-6 weeks to have them cut in a puppy cut which is easier to maintain. They pup/dog should be bathed as needed. Usually once a month but it can be more often or less often depending on the pup/dogs lifestyle. Your puppy will have it's first bath prior to coming to it's new home. If you see some questions that you think should be listed here please let me know. |
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