Puppy Visit Questions

Posted on March 31, 2009

The following are some additional questions that we have received during puppy visits. If you missed the first round up of questions and answers please read them now.

What are furnishings?

Furnishings are the hair on the legs and muzzle that is left longer during grooming. Generally the furnishings should be extra conditioned to maintain good hair health and reduce drying and breakage. Some dogs, typically those with a harder coat, take much longer to grow in furnishings than other dogs. How much trimming of the furnishings that is needed is dependent on the individual dog and how much hair they have in those areas.

If you keep a puppy or two from each litter how do you maintain such a small roster of dogs? Shouldn’t the number just be ever increasing?

In theory yes. However, we do place our adults that will no longer be used in our breeding program as needed. Not all breeders do this. We feel that it is in the best interest of the individual dog to have a home and a family where they can have one on one attention. The alternative would be the warehousing of an ever increasing number of dogs who care and quality of life would diminish as the numbers grew. We only maintain as many dogs as we feel we can adequately and appropriately care for at any one time. For us, that number is between 6 and 9 dogs at any time. Of course there are dogs like Striker our Best in Show winner who we will always keep. Since we only have one or two litters per year and are able to place one or two adults per year we are able to maintain a pretty steady number of dogs. Also, sometimes we will grow out a puppy and at one year or so if they do not look as good as we would like for conformation we will place them as well. Most of the adults we place go to homes that have already had one or more puppy from us in the past. Typically these people have expressed a long time interest in attaining a particular dog whether it be the mother or sibling of their own dog if/when we are able to place them. We have complete confidence in the quality of care that they will receive in these homes.

Is it hard to give up the adults that you have spent so much time with?

Yes, absolutely. We have spent a long time with them and love each and every one dearly. However, as stated above, we know that it is in the best interest of the dogs to keep our numbers at a manageable level and we know they will have a great life in their new home. If we had concern that their quality of life would be any less we would not place them.

Do you have a heart dog? (A favorite dog?)

Yes, I think we each have a heart dog and that dog is probably different for each of us for various reasons. Mine is Tory. Jay’s is Striker.

What are the differences between males and females?

This is definitely a frequently asked question. In Airedales at least we feel that the males are a little more loving and the females are a little more independent. The difference is very minor and of course either will exhibit the same personality traits of the breed. The example that I tend to give is that a male might drape himself across your lap to be petted and loved while a female might prefer to lay next to your chair to be petted by an idle hand. Either is a great choice. Sometimes people limit themselves to one sex or the other and this is unfortunate as either make great house dogs and family pets. Many people are worried about marking with the males, but we’ve never had a complaint about this probably because as a pet your dog will be neutered before this becomes an issue. Also, in our experience and intact female is just as likely to mark as an intact male, but again since your pet is spayed you probably never experienced this. The males tend to be a bit larger in size and more masculine in appearance. An adult female might be 40-50 pounds in weight and 22 inches at the shoulder in height, while the adult males might be 50-60 pounds and 24 inches at the shoulder. Again, the difference is minor, but there will be a spectrum of sizes and weights in any litter. Personally, I prefer the males.

How long can the puppy stay in the crate before it needs to be let out?

Puppies do not develop true bladder control until they are about 6-9 months old. However, as your puppy ages they should be able to go a bit longer in the crate. A good general rule is the number of hours as your puppy’s age in months, plus one. This would mean that when you bring your puppy home at 8 weeks or 2 months old, they should be able to stay in the crate for 3 hours at a time. When the puppy is 3 months old it should be able to go four hours. We prefer that no dog be left in a crate for longer than 4 hours at a time (during the day) without at least a break for some stretching and exercise. This is where a dog walker might come into play if you are unable to get home at lunch to let the dog out. You might find that your puppy adjusts pretty quickly to sleeping through the night in their crate and this is fine, you do not and in fact should not let the puppy out during the night any more than is absolutely necessary. We do recommend crate training as a strong aid in house breaking. Of course any training is only as good as you make it. That means that how well your puppy adjusts to crate training is dependent on your own consistency and determination. It is your job to help the puppy like their crate. Simply giving up by saying that the puppy does not enjoy being in the crate is not the best choice. The crate is the safest place for your puppy while you are not there to directly supervise them. Failure to crate train will probably result in damage to your home and items within your home as all puppies chew and can lead to injury of your puppy.

Do you have any recommended reading materials?

Yes, we have listed several here. However, we would strongly recommend that you purchase There’s A Puppy In The House! Surviving the First Five Months by Mike Wombacher and reading it NOW before you bring your puppy home. Even though you have had puppies previously it has probably been a long time since your last puppy and you have probably forgotten a lot of the training, tips, and advice that will help you get through these early stages. A refresher course never does any harm and we think that you will find a lot of great advice in this book in particular. Reading the book now will give you time to digest the information and then return to it again when you get your puppy home. This book has easy to reference lists and guidelines that will help you through each week of those early months. Read our review of this book.

If you have further questions please let us know!