How are they raised?
My chosen vocation is breeding and this decides for me that I give myself totally to these animals with love. They live with me, or it has to be said that I live with them. The care of my specimens and the breeding of my puppies is the surrender of my body and soul. I live in a big house. One part designated for Rural Tourism. Another area is an apartment of one hundred squared meters, in its day it was a rural house and lately I gave it over to the mothers and their babies. The puppies and their mothers enjoy here superbly hygienic conditions, a warm environment and a friendly space.
For the entire period of time bringing up the puppies, I live with them. There are not grand enough words to express the immense joy of assisting hour after hour in this process where a neonatal comes to life and fights for its life with its little heart. Or that day when it opens its eyes and through that window shows us the identity that was inside it. Or to be lost in thoughts, day after day, observing how the immature brain is taking in knowledge. Upon my faith there are no words to communicate such immense tenderness and such beauty.
When a litter is born, the creatures are totally defenseless. Its small body is terribly limited. This means that they can not regulate their body temperature, their eyes and their ears are closed, and their organs are weakly formed. Also they cannot urinate or defacate by themselves and for this they need maternal stimulation. On many occasions, very many, human help is indispensable and attention is always needed to take care of the survival of these defenseless creatures.
During this first stage of their life, the most uncertain, all my hours up to full days and nights are dedicated to them.
Towards the fourth week, when the puppies start to be independent from the maternal heat source, they start to walk around the house. This is the sparkly stage in their lives, in which socialization starts. That is why I stimulate my puppies with everything that my creativity allows me. I spend hours speaking with them and stroking them, with different forms and intensities. I stimulate their attention purposely producing different sounds from domestic objects, in such way that they get used to noise and movement. I constantly stimulate their interest and intelligence with games and tricks.
I like to let them investigate everything they can find at home. I use music, in different rhythms and tones, as well as the television so that they get used to the variety of the images and sounds. And above all, especially, I treat them with affection, kisses, lovely words.
This is a stage in their lives, as we all know, funny and comical.
The puppy is unpredictable in its grace and its capacity to invent whatever may be invented. They still do not know fear or what is right or wrong in their behaviour. This gives them the freedom for recreation, and it is fabulously fresh.
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The puppy needs games and discovery; needs human hands and warmth, it needs tenderness and friendship as it needs air, food and water.
The socialization of a puppy determines the psychic equilibrium of an adult dog.
This time dedicated to them, within the importance that I give to their socialization, is not in vain. Even though it seems incredible, the first two months in a puppy’s life, and concretely from the third to the eighth week, are determinant of their adult life. They need to live during this period different and novel experiences that stimulate their growth.
