So you have decided to buy a puppy from Alaula Tenterfield Terriers what happens now?
Here at Alaula Tenterfield Terriers we take raising our puppies for the right forever homes very seriously. It is this reason why we have decided to keep all our puppies until a minimum of 10 weeks of age and depending on how the puppies are faring, it could be extended till 12 weeks (please consult our calendar for important dates, such as when to view pups etc) .
Why do you keep them for so long you may ask, when other breeders will arrange for your little ones to be ready at 8 weeks? With the growing numbers of dogs these days that are exhibiting behaviour problems we passionately believe in making sure that the puppies that we are breeding are of sound temperament. For us to do that, to the best of our ability, we require full access to our puppies over the critical first 10-12 weeks of their lives.
So, what does that actually mean and why is that so important?
Well during the above period puppies learn the following associated behaviours: dominance, submission, basic communication skills such as attention seeking, guarding through toys and food, emotional responses such as fear or lack thereof, social interactions with both animals and humans, reactivity to noises and problem-solving abilities. These behaviours are learnt through the interactions between mum and litter mates as well as our positive training techniques and programs such as the “Puppy culture program”. As you can imagine socialisation and positive training for conditional emotional responses (or CER as it is often referred to) that the puppies are learning from the above behaviours takes knowledge, time and patience. We feel that getting this right needs those extra couple of weeks to give our puppies those building blocks and sturdy foundations, that will make for a stronger well-adjusted puppy for you to take home.
So now we have the time frame question out of the way you’re probably still wondering where do you go from here?
Your next step is to fill out a puppy application form below.
Why a puppy application, you ask?
As discussed above, at Alaula we want to make sure that our puppies go to the right homes, so you are probably wondering how we do this? There are two ways we go about this firstly as the puppies develop and we start to see their personalities (at approx 5-6 weeks) we will start to have an idea on the type of people/families that would best suit each pup. At approx 7 weeks of age each pup will be aptitude tested, by an outsider, to reveal the raw material of the pups individual temperaments. It is important to do this at this time, as the puppies have already learnt inherited behaviours that make them dogs, but have not yet had the range of experiences to influence the test results. We then match your puppy applications with our aptitude tests and our personal feelings about each pup to make our decisions on which pup would suit which person/family. Your puppy applications are vital in helping us to determine which puppy would best suit your lifestyle and living arrangements so please be 100% honest on your applications so we can make an informed decision on which pup would best suit you.
Does this mean we (potential owner) don’t get a say in which puppy we like?
Honesty there isn’t a yes and no answer to this question. On your applications there are questions regarding your preferences and therefore we believe that we can match a pup/pups to you that you will love but if for any reason you are unhappy about the selected pup/pups we choose you can simply choose not the buy that pup from that litter.
Download the form below and open in Adobe Reader as the form is live and you can simply type directly onto the form and click the buttons for your answers and email back. (tip if the form isn’t editable when you click it then save and open on your desktop)
