How Dragomir Dobeman Puppies Are Raised

First and foremost, we are not a kennel. All of our puppies are born and raised in our home and smothered with care and love. We feel that this is the best way to raise nice healthy, mentally stimulated, well-adjusted puppies.

 

All of our puppies are whelped in a custom built box that we designed and built that utilizes the Misty Method principles. The Misty method of raising puppies uses three areas that are designed for different functions but work together for the betterment of the puppies learning.

 

The first area is the whelping box with a pig rail included and then removed when it’s no longer needed. The puppies are whelped in the first area and have access to mom until they are weaned. A heating pad is provided in a portion of the whelping area to help make sure the puppies stay warm. We also use a heating in the whelping room to maintain the proper temperatures as the puppies needs change.

The second is a potty area. We use wood chips instead of newspaper to train the puppies where to go. We believe the woods chips smell similar to the outdoors and helps with house breaking the puppies. The potty area is opened up at 3 weeks to take advantage of the puppy’s natural instincts to leave the sleeping area to potty. The wood chips are removed as needed and replaced with a new supply. This makes house breaking a puppy a snap. We also find that when we take the puppies out to other areas of the house to explore that if we provide them a smaller container filled with the wood chips, the puppies will potty in the chips and not on our floors. This happens as early at the 4th week for most.

The third area is all about exploring and fun. We rotate all kinds of textures, toys, small crates and things to climb under and over. Every day we switch out different items to explore. This area is opened to the puppies during the day and closed off at night to help with a sleep schedule. The play area is in addition to all the exploration the puppies get in different areas inside our home, outside when the weather allows, friends’ homes and car rides to name a few ways.

 

Our Whelping Box that utilizes the Misty Method Principles

At 3 days old, we start the "Bio Sensor”, "Super Dog" or the early neurological stimulation program as it has been called and continue to day 16. The "Bio-Sensor" program was developed by the United States Military's canine program and has been proven to give the puppies a superior advantage that lasts a lifetime.  To read more about the program and the steps we take,  Click Here.

In addition to all of the above, sights and sounds are a big part of a dog’s life. As soon as ears start to open, the sound effect CD's start to play at a low volume and over the weeks it increases to the actual sound level of the object making the noise. The puppies are exposed to sounds of thunder, fireworks of all kinds, heavy machinery, small children playing, infants crying, kitchen noises, gun fire or all calibers, etc. This helps to prevent sound sensitivities when the puppies get out in the real world. Everyone has had or seen dogs who go crazy over thunder or bark the entire July 4th weekend. This sound exposure reduces if not eliminates this behavior completely.

 

We do many other things that are too many to list with the puppies all the way up to the time they leave for there forever homes. They have all made road trips of several hours each way for evaluations, ears and for pleasure. We take them to as many different places as we can go such as the mall, Home Depot, the woods, my companies’ office to visit with everyone, friends and family homes. We invite children and adults of all ages to come interact with them. All of this exposure is after shots and always supervised. We feel that when the puppies do leave, that they we have sent them off into the world with the skills and exposure they need to be a successful member of the family.