Raising Puppies In Our Home; Pros and Cons

When potential adoptive families come to meet our puppies, we commonly hear how different our puppies are from those raised in commercial kennels, whether big or small. Two of our original Miniature American Shepherd (MAS) dogs came from a breeder in USA who raises her pups indoors, much in the way we raise our pups. They were exceptionally well adjusted pups. Several came from small breeders who raised them in a small kennel and one came from a small breeder whose dogs were outdoor family pets. We agree, there is a difference. There are so many pros it's impossible to list them all. Let's look at a few.

SOCIALIZATION

Well socialized puppies are well adjusted puppies. They still have their natural tendencies -- more outgoing or more reserved -- but they are well adjusted and adapt more quickly to their new homes. I will mostly use our home and our puppies as the example, as it is obviously what is most familiar, but will also compare our dogs from different upbringing. When our puppies leave for their new homes, some are still naturally reserved. These may take a day or two to be comfortable exploring their new environment freely. But they are generally content.

When puppies are raised indoors, the sounds of running a household -- from vacuum cleaners and blenders to various other gadgets, and doorbells -- do not send them into full-blown anxiety or panic. While it stands to reason that some may still be a bit nervous by new variations of these sounds, we've never had reports of such a thing as anxiety or panic with our puppies. Granted, not all kennel pups will react this way either, but some certainly do. We know. We've adopted them before. They run and hide at the first loud unusual noise, cower in a corner and shiver. They can still be socialized, of course, but it becomes the responsibility of the adoptive family, unlike pups who are familiar with these sounds. They don't go through that anxiety, because it's all they have ever known.

TRAINING & HOUSEBREAKING

Housebreaking pups is a much bigger project than simply training them to do their potty business outdoors. That is a huge part of it, but training boundaries, like how to behave indoors -- especially when guests arrive -- and recognizing what is 'mine' and what is 'yours' is another huge part, as is teaching them to not chew cords and furniture. The bulk of various aspects of behaviour and boundaries, and what not to chew, is the responsibility of their adoptive household, as puppy adapts to their home. It begins with the indoor breeder, especially trailing to do potty business outdoors.

If the pups are raised in an environment -- kennel or other -- where they are free to do their business wherever and whenever they want, it is solely the responsibility of the adoptive family. And it's a big job.

However, if the puppy already understands that potty business is outdoor business, they are much quicker in communicating their need to go outdoors, even in a new environment. Especially if there is immediate consistency regarding what door they exit, where they are taken to do their business, and establish somewhat of a schedule from the moment puppy arrives until they start to communicate. To make this easier, we have written a pamphlet to help our adoptive families navigate the process, if they wish to use our suggestions. We also stay available for the life of the pup to answer questions and support in any way possible.

When puppy comes well on the way or fully trained to do their potty business outdoors, it removes a lot of stress and pressure from the adoptive persons. This allows for focusing more on the other aspects of puppy adapting puppy to a new home. Setting other boundaries also requires dedication on the part of the adoptive persons. While we begin the process of teaching them to respect what is not theirs, this must be done in each new environment, as they do not understand what is theirs and what is not. In our pamphlet we also make suggestions for how to use crating as part of boundary training. To leave puppy to chew can become costly and cause stress for everyone, thus sometimes breaking the bond between the family and their new puppy. No one wants that to happen.

We start potty training at around 5 weeks, give or take a bit. As part of that process, we also begin crate training and by the time puppies leave our home, they are fully crate trained. Only a few times have we had a pup leave and resist crating. Most love their crate and many will tuck themselves in from time to time when they want a break from the action.

We do not guarantee that our puppies are housetrained. That would be foolish, as they are very individual, and may need time to adjust to their new home. We do promise that we have done our best to get that process started, and trust that each puppy will learn quickly in their new home. We often get messages within 24 hours of puppies joining their new families, with excitement that the puppy has done all their business outdoors! Occasionally they mention one or two accidents indoors, but that is rare.

CRATE TRAINING

I've briefly mentioned crate training, and will now expound on the why and wherefore of it. We have friends in USA who are 100% averse to crating, even at nighttime. Their words, when they got a puppy, was that no animal should be confined like that. That's fair. And that works for some. But not for everyone. And it is not a cruel thing to do. It is a gift for everyone, if puppy loves their crate. Let's explore why that is.

A puppy is a brilliant creature -- some exceptionally so -- and learns tricks and behaviour at a rapid rate, if done consistently and started early. While I disagree with the old adage, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," I would say it's a lot harder. Start young with behaviour training, and you will reap the rewards when that puppy is a well-behaved adult. (If it’s not cute in an adult dog, train it out of the puppy).

For all their brilliance, a puppy does not understand not to chew on things. They don't know what is safe and what is dangerous. Left unattended, the wrong item can do great harm to them (or your furniture) and even lead to their death. We had a puppy nearly choke to death on a liver treat, at several months old. They had been eating dry kibble for several weeks, as well as the liver treats. For some reason, the puppy swallowed wrong and what ensued was pretty scary. I picked him up and, after inspecting his mouth to see if I could retrieve the treat, I massaged the throat on a downard stroke. I had heard someone talk about doing that on a show not long prior and didn't know if it legit works but, in desparation, tried it. His distress ended and so did mine. We were so forunate that I was there to help him.

Imagine if we had gone grocery shopping and left him alone, not crated, and he found an item that had fallen on the floor and swallowed it. Or tried. With no one home to save the puppy's life, they would be gone. Of course, we try to make sure there is nothing availalbe that could harm a pup, but things happen. We drop things and they hide in places we don't see them... exactly at a puppy's level.

By crating puppy when we are not available to observe and help in distress, we protect their lives. We also protect the bond we have with them. When dog owners return home to have a $7000 couch shredded or ripped, the distress has potential to break the bond with their puppy/dog. By crating, that problem is solved. And, if the dog loves the create, even better! They are happy to be contained, and the household is protected. We start young so the crate is familiar to our pups, and a place they love to retreat.

Back to our friend... They got a pup from us for their 7 year old daughter -- a tried and true dog lover at that age, with the uncanny ability to make a dog do whatever she wants. They asked for some tips, and we shared our brochure, including how we use crating to train and protect the pup. That's when we learned that 'no animal should ever be confined like that' and wished them the best with their methods. Some weeks later the friend called, angry that their pup -- now about 14 weeks old -- had 'destroyed' their garage overnight. They lived on a farmette and wanted him to grow to guard the chicken house. But, being so young, they put him in the garage for the night. We asked if they had read the brochure. Part of it, they said, but "it was boring.”

Of course it's boring. Its tips on raising a puppy! I chuckled.

"It might be boring," I agreed, "but if you had read it and used the methods, you wouldn't be having these issues."

Time passed and other issues developed. Boundaries were disrespected -- both on their property and the neighbour's -- and the bond with their dog was fragile. Except the 7 year old. That dog could do no wrong in her eyes, and, frankly, when she was around, he did not wrong. It took the neighbour threatening to sue for them to change their methods and begin boundary training with consistency. Last they connected with us, their dog is doing fantastic. We are glad to hear it. But it shouldn't take that kind of trauma to get there. That is the stress we try to help you avoid.

That's all the pros.

As for cons... we haven't come across any yet. We love how it works for us. And we love the feedback we get from adoptive families. We work hard to train our puppies and share the brochure to help our adoptive families -- along with staying available for advice and support -- to give our puppies the best start possible, and so they and their families will have the best life possible.

The puppies deserve the best. And our adoptive families deserve it as well.

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