Enchanted’s Proven Puppy Program

Raised with Love, Scientifically Designed

At Enchanted Retrievers, our puppy program is derived from the forefront of scientific thought about the wellness, training, and nurturing of puppies. However, our program is also wrapped in Enchanted’s special brand of love.

We do, scientifically, the utmost care for our girls and pups - it is above and beyond best practices, because we believe that we should always strive to do better for our pups. This drive means that we never stop educating ourselves! I have taken many classes over the years, such as breeder excellence seminars, classes in hip and elbow dysplasia which influenced the flooring used in our Puppy Play Room, and classes about puppy psychology. To learn more about my formal training and education in dog breeding and raising, please check out our story.

Enchanted’s primary goal is to place stable, confident, and balanced puppies in loving, family homes. To achieve this for our dogs, we use socialization, puppy enrichment, and training to prepare them for their lives in their new homes. These aspects of our program have been designed to introduce them to age-appropriate challenges that encourage the development of their problem-solving skills.

Additionally, our pups are raised in our home as part of our family. When we have puppies in our home, every moment of our life is dedicated to those dogs. During their first 10 days, they are raised in our living room where we can keep our eyes on them 24/7. As they grow, they are always kept close – during both the day and the night. I handle, cuddle, and love each puppy every single day. We know that puppies react to touch from day 1, and we make sure that they can find love and comfort in our touch from the very beginning. However, our puppies are also given down-time, which allows us to teach them that although their humans may come and go, they can always trust that they will return.

Here at Enchanted, we have a reproductive vet that takes us from the beginning of the puppies’ lives to the moment they go home. Additionally, Mary Lupit is our dogs’ and our puppies’ nutritionist. Mary has background in dog nutrition and has worked for pet companies and pet stores throughout her life. Additionally, we offer our clients a free consultation with her either before or after they pick up their new puppy.

Additionally, our program places an emphasis not on just breeding healthy dogs, but also centers dogs’ temperaments as well.

We start training at day 3 with early neurological stimulation. As the puppies grow, we utilize conditioned emotional responses to teach our dogs how to deal with stressors. Then we begin socialization and startle recovery. We also use association training to prevent resource guarding (for example, with food) in the future. There are both physical and emotional sciences behind raising puppies, and these areas influence the design of our puppy program. We believe that our focus on both science and love is what sets us apart!

 Puppy Training and Preparation

The Neonatal State: Puppies Grown with Love

Our pup program starts at pregnancy. We give our mothers tons of scratches and love, because we know that translates into happier, calmer puppies.

When a pregnant dog is pet, science tells us that her litter becomes more docile. This is called the “gentling,” “petting,” or “caress” effect, and is even furthered when newborn puppies are held and loved on. According to M. W. Fox in The Dog; Its Domestication and Behavior (1978), this activates the puppies’ parasympathetic system - which helps to promote relaxation, digestion, emotional attachment, and therefore socialization. This, in turn, helps to develop the puppies’ innate sense of attachment to the persons or animals that soothes them.

Dogs’ tactile capacities develop before birth, and Dr. Joël Dehasse argues that when the mother is petted, it’s possible that these capacities become used to contact in the uterus. When puppies’ mothers receive increased amounts of love during pregnancy, the puppies show a greater tolerance to touch than dogs who are born from a mother that was not petted.

For more information, please see Dr. Joël Dehasse, “Sensory, Emotional and Social Development of the Young Dog.” Ultimately, our puppy program is how we breed stable dogs. This is our ultimate goal!

Startle Recovery: Programming the Brain

Nature gives us an amazing window of opportunity between about 14 days when ears and eyes are open to about 4 1/2 weeks old. During this time, puppies have no fear response. At this age, puppies are not capable of a “fight or flight” response, so nature has decided that although they will still have a startle response, they will not experience any fear. How great is that? During this time (and only this time!) we can do what is called a “startle response exercise” to teach the brain to recover from startling experiences. This is one of the most important exercises that we do with our puppies, as it will prepare them for their lives out in the world.

In the video, you can see that after hearing a loud noise, the puppies freeze for a couple of seconds and then to back to their business instead of trying to hide due to fear. This is great news! It works! And it works for a lifetime.

Promoting Well-being Through Conditioned Emotional Responses

I grew up in Northern California and during the winter months, my parents took us out of school to go snow skiing at Lake Tahoe. I can still smell the cold air and hear the muffled sounds of the skiers. I remember flushed cheeks, picnic lunches on the hood of our Pontiac Grande Prix, and finding the clean snow to make slushies with flavored sodas. I also remember the winding roads and 8 track of John Denver lulled me to into a peaceful sleep.

Nowadays, whenever I hear John Denver, my mind fills with these beautiful memories. My physical being relaxes and happiness overwhelm me. We all have at least one… a favorite vacation, the smell of the air of our favorite season… It was a short time in my lifespan that I had these experiences, yet they elicit such a strong physical response! Why? Because of something that we call the “conditioned emotional response.”

Now take a tiny puppy in the first 8 weeks of life. We pair the feeling of well-being that is produced during nursing with the sound of thunder, fireworks, playground noises, traffic noises, or a host of other possible scary sounds. As we build the puppy’s association between these “negative” events with the “positive” of nursing, we have created a response that is opposite of what it would normally be. Through this process, fireworks and thunder can elicit a feeling of warmth, comfort and well-being. It takes only a few minutes of sound paired with nursing or eating food to condition a wonderful response. You may see some breeders playing these sounds for lengthy periods of time as pups are just "being," but when breeders pair it with nursing/eating… then you know they have the science behind them. Good breeders do things because they just have instinct that something is right or good to do. Great breeders do it because they understand the science behind it and can apply it to your pups world in a way it will impact their lives!

This is a copy of a Facebook Live video taken of our Sunflower Litter where we answer some questions about our policy for taking puppies home, first solid foods, introducing puppies to our puppy pen, enrichment with toys, and others! During this video our Sunflowers are 3 1/2 weeks old, and is narrated by Barbie Hosford (Gracie’s momma).

Because the Facebook comments made during the video are not visible in this recording, some of the dialogue that corresponds to those may be a little confusing. However, this video answers a lot of questions you may have about your new puppy! We hope you enjoy it.

For more information about our puppy program, check out our Puppy Play Room and Yard, Calls to Dinner, and our Early Training Program!