Puppy testing

With each litter I conduct a series of test, nine in all, for each pup. I am often asked why and it must be time consuming. In reality it only takes about 1 hour to do the whole litter and I feel much more comfortable in suggesting which pup should be the best fit for the owner and the future job of the pup. It also helps in monitoring my breeding program.

The puppy test is an adaptation of a common test which can be found on the web and is given with herding instincts being considered and reflected in the interpretation of the results. The test looks at the following:

1. The dominance of the pup

2. How readily does the pup accept human leadership

3. How the pup should react to and adjust to different situations

4. How easy can the pup be controlled

5. How submissive is the pup

6. How independent is the pup

Now all of this does not indicate if the pup will herd or work for you but rather the instincts and character of the pup. The success of the pup is still dependent on the quality of the training it will receive from the new owner. The New Zealand Heading dog, my breed, does work some what different then other common herding breeds and the success of the dog is totally dependent on the understanding of the owner to these differences.

The NZHD breed is being used more, through out North America and else where, in cross breeding programs mainly to calm down the other breeds and make training less traumatic and quicker. Also the VERY strong herding instinct, the stand up style and the ability to thinking and react to stock is also being sought after.

ALL PUPS WITH IN A LITTER ARE NOT CREATED THE SAME

Be who you are and say what you feel....
Because those that matter...
don't mind...
And those that mind... don't
matter."

New Litter

Well we now have a new and LAST litter on the ground. 1 male & 6 females. They are almost 4 weeks old and growing like weeds. I say last litter and I mean it this time ... just getting to old for all this. I will keep the male pup and possibly train up a couple of the females.

My rearing protocol is to introduce raw meat to the pups at 2 weeks. This is just a small little ball of hamburger for each pup. This helps to get the gut going sooner and allows me to introduce other foods earlier. At 3 weeks we start with the milk replacer in a puppy bowel which gets the lapping mechanism going. As the pups are growing so fast it helps mum out also. She continues to feed until she has had enough of them usually around 5 to 6 weeks. I keep her in with them after that until she tells me that that's it and turns them over to me.

Shortly after we introduce the milk replacer, I begin to add pablem and raw meat to the mix. At 4 weeks I start to add puppy dog food, a little at a time and then gradually replace the milk replacer with water. Usually around 6 weeks they are on puppy food soaked in water. At 7 weeks they start on the dry stuff.

I'm hopeful that the snow will be going so that I can move them to an out door rearing pen. With spring whelping this is where they would have started there lives but in the cold winter I like to start them in a semi enclosure (indoors with a little warmth).

Over the years I have developed this procedure for raising pups with what I consider a high degree of success. The pups are physically and menally tough and usually go on to be an excellent working partner.

The Mother: The mother's name is Kate and she is New Zealand Heading dog/Border Collie. She is 18 months old and works Cattle instinctively. This winter her main job was to keep cattle
away from the feeders while I put the hay in and then bring them in. Any seperating or just general moving the cattle also was one of her jobs


The dad: Bandit is a New Zealand Heading dog who works sheep (2000 head) along with other members of his family. He also works cattle on the ranch (80 head).

Both dogs are well rounded, love to work, and are as good a companion as you will find any where.

If anyone is interested in reserving one of these pups, remember this is my last breeding, or you would like additional information, email to crdogs@xplornet.com