Vogelhaus Puppy Protocols

During these initial 3 days puppy and mother are primarily left to bond. The puppies get use to my scent and handling via cleaning whelping pen and handling for a few seconds throughout the day. However, these initial three days are primarily to bond mother and puppies 

Also known as the "Bio Sensor" program, we promote early neurological stimulation in order to give the dog a superior advantage. Each workout involves handling puppies once a day, and once at a time, while performing a series of five exercises. I start with one puppy, and stimulate him/her using each of the five exercises listed below. I complete the series from beginning to end before starting with the next pup. 

Exercises are as follows (in the order I do them):

1. Tactical stimulation (between toes)
2. Head held erect
3. Head pointed down
4. Supine position
5. Thermal stimulation

Learn more about ENS here:

https://breedingbetterdogs.com/article/early-neurological-stimulation

Early Scent Introduction is performed in conjunction with Bio-Sensor (ENS) training on the puppies. I introduce a new scent to the puppy each day for short intervals. Stimulating puppies scenting abilities early on has been proven to dramatically increase scenting ability later on in life. 

Scents include:

orange peels

lemon peels

grass

sticks

herbs

lavender

leaves

training toys

hay

*We do not include actual food scents into our protocols 

The video in the link below does a fantastic job explaining ENS further:

https://www.avidog.com/esi/

Puppies ears begin to open, they are exposed on a 24 hour loop of noises including:

thunderstorms

fireworks

children crying

lawnmowers

blowing leaves

hairdryers

dogs barking

cats meowing

farm animal noises

joggers running

doorbells

ocean waves

construction noises 

gunfire

heavy human gathering noises (emulate parties in the home)

... And most importantly theyre exposed to lots of country music ! 

If interested in some soundtracks to help an already noise-anxious dog, checks out “sounds for hounds” on amazon ! 

SOCIALIZATION

Week 3 - I introduce the puppies to as many new people as possible, including children. 

I work heavily on their “startle” reflex to teach them how to recover more naturally as adults if something catches them off guard. 

Puppies are moved to main living area of the house (from their quiet whelping room) into a bigger pen. This allows me to add more environmentals into their everyday life. They now have tunnels, an “environmental cube”, foam steps, tents and all sorts of fun, interactive obstacles to stimulate them. 

At this time litter boxes are added - and some to make solid attempts, but that usually gets better around the 5 week mark!

Weeks 4 -8

socialize, socialize, socialize!

Puppies are exposed to more people, in a controlled non-overwhelming way. They are exposed to my pack of stable adult dogs, who give fair corrections (this is important). They’re exposed to more children, small dogs, big dogs, horses, chickens etc !

Week 5 and beyond - I start assessing food, prey and toy drive in the puppies 

At about 6 weeks of age I match puppies to their owners - this is always an exciting time! 

Week 8 - puppies leave us to go to their furever homes

New furever homes of the Vogelhaus puppies stay in touch via our private Facebook page, email, text etc and continue to do great things with their pups, whether it’s in a working role or active pet role! 

Nothing makes me happier than seeing these puppies being the best they can be.