Before the puppies are born
Before we will actually mate the female with the chosen stud, we want to have a group of enthusiastic potential new owners waiting for a puppy. We want to get to know prospective owners before deciding if they are placed on our waitinglist, so there’s the best chance of matching the puppies born to the best prospective new families.
We do not work on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, as we feel the puppies should be placed based on the best possible match.
We will be honest with you of course!
We do not place based on color and/or markings. If you are only willing to accept a certain color or are after certain markings, we are not the breeder for you.
Also keep in mind that, depending on preference for male or female and other factors, there’s always a chance there won’t be a puppy for you in this litter. Breeding is not science, you never know how big a litter will be or how many males/females.
It can also happen that, once we get to the point where it’s decided which puppy will go to live with which new owner, that there just isn’t the right puppy for you in the litter. The placement of a puppy is a very delicate matter and all parties involved have to have full faith in the final choice.
During this phase, we will keep you up to date through the website and blog as well as personal contact.
As soon as the season starts, we will contact everyone on the list to once again confirm you really want a puppy. Any news will not only be posted on the website and blog but will also be emailed to make sure you don’t miss any of the excitement.
The period between mating and actually being sure the female is pregnant is exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time.
Although we feel we know our dogs well enough to know if she is pregnant or not, we probably will make a scan around 28 days after the mating. If only to be able to show you the new life that’s growing!
When the puppies are born
Assuming everything will go according to plan and there will be a litter of lovely puppies, we will contact everyone on the waiting-list within a few days after the birth. Based on preference for sex we will tell you if there are enough puppies born. Which of the pups may eventualy be your puppy remains to be seen.
For the first 2 weeks at least we will not have visitors, to ensure mom and babies some peace and quiet. Although peace and quiet is important, we will be kept very busy with the new litter including doing the ‘Early Neurological Stimulation’ excersizes.
Depending on how things go we might decide to make that 3 weeks. The blog, the website and webcam will have to keep you happy and occupied until you can come and visit, but we promise to update it often.
After the first few weeks, the potential new owners are welcome to visit as much as you want (after making an appointment with us). We expect potential new owners to come and visit at least twice during the litter-period, assuming the distance to us is doable.
How we place our pups
The decision of which pup will live where, will be made based on temperament and conformation of the pups and all the information we have gathered about the new owners.
We see the pups day in, day out and observe every step of their development. Temperament (especialy how a puppy handles stimuli) is the deciding factor in the choices we make for the best situation for every puppy.
This is a puzzle where all pieces fall exactly into place. As a litter contains only a certain number of puppies, most of the time there is just one fit in the end. If you insist on choosing your own puppy or if you want to be able to choose between at least 2 pups, we are not the right breeder for you.
Although we as the breeders have the last say, we understand if you have a preference for 1 or several puppies in a litter. We encourage future owners to tell us if a certain pup catches your eye more then others, but please tell us why. We expect this prefrence to be based on actual facts such as character and temperament in relation to your situation and goals, not coat-color.
As characters emerge, we do our best to tell everyone about what we see developing and we try to confirm if an outspoken preference fits into our ideas as well. This way, we will grow towards the decision together.
Even though we have the last say, it is important that both parties support that choice 100%. If that is not the case, the puppy will not be placed.
Puppy time!
Our litters are well socialized by providing the puppies with stimuli that are appropriate for their age and development to give them the best start possible. Socialisation consists of getting used to normal everyday life, getting used to the car and exploring the big world outside but also of being given toys and material that will enhance and improve their balance and coordination – both physicaly and mentaly.
At the age of 6/7 weeks, we will visit a Puppy Playground. The new owners are more then welcome to come along and observe.
During a Puppy Playground, the pups will visit a space they have not been before filled with several objects all offering different textures and challenges. A lot of these materials will have been offered at home as well.
Although we strive to inform the new owners as well as possible about the characters of the pups, seeing with your own eyes how a certain puppy reacts in a new environment is very informative. It provides a very good tool for raising and training your pup, especially the first period in their new home.
With the first litter we have visited the playground at Paws4Fun.
The second litter invaded the living room of the owners of DogSupport. There’s a video of that visit!
For the third litter, a puppy Playgroundwas provided by Hondenschool Robbedoes.
The fourth litter enjoyed a cold morning at Hondenopvoed Centrum Eemland.
The fifth litter had a ball running around Sam Turner’s playground at Paws4Fun.
To avoid putting unnecessary strain on the immune system of our puppies, they will be titered by a vet around 7 weeks of age. The vet will take a few drops of blood to run a titertest, which can tell us how much antibodies are still present from the maternal immunity the puppies received from the colostrum. Based on how high the amount of anti-bodies still is, it will be decided if and if so, which vaccines the pups need.
Of course, communication with the owners is important in this, we will send lot of information beforehand, provide clear instructions on what to do later on and are at hand to help guide you.
In their seventh week, the puppies will also visit an osteopath. She will check the puppies and if she finds any blockages, these will be treated.
Leaving the nest
When the puppies are minimum 9 weeks old, they are ready to go explore the world with their new owners.
We will bring every puppy to his or her new owner personally, as far as that is possible (puppies going to another country will be difficult to bring). The puppies will be used to us and used to our car (from socialization) and Mom will come as well. We feel this causes less stress for the puppy. Imagine being taken away from your safe environment with your mom and siblings, going into a strange car and ending up in a new house, all in one afternoon!
Once in their new homes they can explore. When the puppy has nodded off, we’ll leave you to the huge but rewarding task of raising and training your puppy to become your soulmate on four legs.
The puppy package contains a folder with information about raising, training, feeding, grooming and general care. We will also provide food for the first few days, an appropriate brush and comb, a toy smelling of their mum and siblings and a USB stick with puppypictures.
If distance allows, every puppy is welcome between 5 and 7 months for a first bathing and puppytrim.
The pages per litter offerall information about the parents, the links to the photoalbums and the individual pups’ pages.
Nuphar's Barbets 