When the girls are due to give birth, the whelping box is brought into the house. Once the
puppies are born, the mother is allowed to nuture and care for her pups. They are together 24 hours a day- aside
from mom's potty breaks. They are supervised at all times to make sure mom doesn't accidentally roll over on a
newborn puppy.
Many
breeders choose to separate the newborn pups from their mother, just putting them together at feeding time. We feel
keeping mom and her pups together is of utmost importance & crucial to the pups development. Taking a
mother away from her kids is extremely upsetting to the bitches. The puppies need the nuturing that only their
canine mom can give. Puppies are more calm, stable, and confident as they age.
We do a technique called "superpuppy" with all of our puppies. Its similar
to a technique the US Military and several service dog organizations use to socialize their dogs. Also Dr. Carmen
Battagglia recommends this technique in his books. The goal is to provide early neurological stimulation
to the puppies.
First, we hold the puppy on their backs in the palm of both hands.
Then gently move the puppy up and down a few times. Secondly, we hold the puppy vertically with their head facing
up. Again we move them up and down slowly. Third, we hold the pup with both hands, head down, and move the
pup gently through the air. Fourth, we massage each foot with our fingers and touch the front left foot to the
back left foot, then touch the front left foot to the back right foot. Then we repeat with the front right foot.
These exercises just take a few minutes a day.
This stimulation causes the neurological system to develop at an earlier
age. Tests have shown that pups who received this type of stimulation were less stressed by new situations, more willing
to explore new surroundings, and are more active. Overall they are calm and can easily adjust to different situations.
It is imperative to properly socialize your chow puppy. Between their 4th
and 16th week, the lack of human contact, socialization and interaction with other dogs can have a detrimental affect on the
puppy. This will adversely affect their social and psychological development.
Once the puppies are walking, they will share the front yard with several
adult chows. This teaches them how to interact with others and how to get along with different personalities.
