Over the years, we have had several inquiries about if we offered services to housebreak, crate train and teach basic puppy manners to the pups before they went to their new owners. At the time, I was working full time, and didnt see a way to offer anything like that. Recently, after working full time for 25 years, I decided to go to part-time and have more time to devote to the dogs and puppies.
I have decided to trial a "Easy Pup" program to interested parties.
What this program would do is take all the "hard stuff" out of the puppy experience.
Some dog owners simply arent good at teaching puppy manners, housebreaking and getting a pup used to a crate. They don't want to listen to the pup whine and cry for several days as it gets used to being crated, and they dont have the time or the experience to teach basic puppy manners (sit, no jumping, come when called, no biting, etc.)
Research shows that ill mannered puppies become ill mannered dogs, and ill mannered dogs often end up being very hard for their owners to handle. Many ill-mannered dogs eventually end up being relinquished by their owners.
My "Easy Pup" Program would involve your puppy staying here at Cedar Valley until approx 12 weeks of age. During that time, we would housebreak your puppy, have him sleeping comfortably in a crate at night, and teach basic puppy manners.
PLEASE NOTE: Basic puppy manners IS NOT the same as Basic Obedience.
Puppy manners means learning not to bite, not to jump, how to sit and to come when their name is called.
Basically, puppy manners is just what it sounds like, it teaches your puppy how to be a "good" puppy and not develop bad habits.
Also, young puppies CANNOT go all day without being let outside to potty. Even though we can housebreak your puppy fairly quickly, you will still have to let them out every 4 hours or so. Housebreaking DOES NOT mean your 12 week old pup will be able to go all day while you are at work without being let out.
The cost for this would be $700.
In order to enroll in the "Easy Pup" program, the price of the puppy ($1250) would be paid in full by 8 weeks of age, and 50% of the Easy Pup fee ($350) would be due at 8 weeks of age.The balance of the Easy Pup fee ($350) would be paid at pick-up, or with the final shipping expenses.
I was unsure what the charge should be, and spent many hours making telephone inquiries and doing net searches to find a price that was in line with similar services, and that would be fair both to me, and to you. Actually, the $700 fee is definitely on the low end of what others are charging, but seemed fair to me compared to up to $1200 that similar services cost.
The advantages to this program are obvious, your pup would be housebroke, crate trained and already have a HUGE head start on training and manners when you get him/her. Training is an ongoing job...what we would do is teach your pup basic good manners. You would still need to do Obedience training at 16 weeks of age or older.We suggest ALL owners go through at LEAST Intermediate Obedience training with their dogs.
Another often overlooked advantage is that your puppy would continue to get their age appropriate shots while they are with us, so you would have fewer vet expenses to pay for by the time they came to you.
As with anything, there ARE some disadvantages.
One would be that you would miss out on those weeks that your pup is here. We try to minimize this by taking video recordings of your pup, that are sent home with you when he/she comes home.
Many people worry about bonding with an older pup. We can ABSOLUTELY assure you this is NOT a problem! If you are close enough to visit during the Easy Pup training, come visit AS OFTEN as you like! If you are too far to visit, one thing we recommend is that you send us a towel, blanket, old shirt etc with your families scent on it so your puppy can sleep with it.
Your pup will be inside with us, not outside in a kennel. He /she will be VERY well socialized to dogs, cats, kids, adults, etc.
While we realize this is one of those services not everyone would want or need, we feel that to some puppy owners, this service would be worth its weight in gold!!!!!!
Not everyone has the time or inclination to do the hard work of housebreaking and teaching puppy manners. It can be VERY difficult to housebreak a puppy if there is no one home 8 hours or longer each day.Yet, everyone would agree that puppies that are housebroken and have good manners are much more enjoyable to be around than those that aren't.
If you think you may want the "Easy Pup" program for your puppy, please tell me ASAP, since I feel I must limit this option to 2 puppies per litter. I feel that anymore than 2 puppies at a time, and I would be unable to devote the time necessary to get the job done!!!
If you would like to talk to me about this program, have questions or comments, I WELCOME the opportunity to speak to you.
Mary
Email
mary-shelby@sbcglobal.net
636-285-1363
