At Powderhill, we are constantly tweaking and evolving the process for planning, breeding, marketing and delivering puppies to our clientele. Here is our current process (Updated March 7, 2021):
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| We breed puppies throughout the year as our dams come into heat. People can call at any time to be added to our waiting list. If you wish to reserve a puppy, you will need to send a deposit check for $500.. The deposit is not refundable, however the deposit is transferrable and it can be used on any future litter.
When sending a deposit check include your name, physical and email addresses, phone and the type and size of puppy you are seeking. Once litters are born and we have provided pictures and a male/female breakdown on our web site, we will start at the top of the list and call depositors who are seeking that type of puppy. We will tell you at that time, what pick number you will have for the litter.
Note, Powderhill reserves the right to take the first female from any litter in order to continue our breeding operations.
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Our dams usually become breedable on a six month heat cycle. We do not decide when any of our female dogs goes into their heat cycle – Mother Nature does, but it's usually about every six months. The dam is usually bred 10-15 days after her heat cycle begins, but this timeframecan be either longer or shorter. We conduct extensive progesterone testing during this time so that we can determine the absolute optimum day(s) for breeding the dam.
At Powderhill, both dams and sires are health tested and DNA tested before being added to our breeding program. PHG reserves the right to substitute a different sire or add an additional sire (dual sired litter) if necessary to enhance the potential for a successful litter. From the date of the breeding to the expected delivery date is nine weeks, but the delivery could take place up to 4-5 days before or after that date.
On many litters we now use TCI (trans-cervical insemination). This method has been found to be more successful that some natural breedings - especially when we are breeding a standard dog with a mini-sized dog. TCI is more "accurate" than previously used forms of insemination because the semen is implanted directly into the cervix. Less distance between sperm and egg translates to more successful litters.
Once delivered, we prepare the mother and her puppies for their first picture, usually within 2 days, and we post that picture to the home page of our web site: www.powderhillgoldens.com
After they are born we allow the puppies to bond with their mother for a period of four weeks. This allows the mother to concentrate solely on nurturing her pups. The mother is fed frequently and given plenty of quiet time with her babies.
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| Puppy Pickup Day |
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| At three weeks of age, we microchip and begin taking weekly pictures of each individual puppy. The microchip will stay with them for the rest of their lives; initially allowing us to assure each owner that they have the right puppy, and later helping those owners to find their puppy if they are ever lost or stolen.
When the puppies are seven weeks old, just after they have had their visit at the Vet, we hold a Puppy Pick Saturday where the owners and their families can come to our location to meet us, meet the litter and select their puppy. The owners of the first pick of the litter must come first, then the owners of the second pick, etc… It’s a great opportunity for pictures and a unique chance to experience one of life’s great pleasures. Each family is given thirty minutes to select their puppy.
On week eight, the puppies are ready to go home and each owner determines a specific time to pick up their puppy and take him/her home. Besides a food sample and a blanket scented with your puppy's littermates, we provide a binder that includes the Puppy’s initial health records, instructions for registering the microchip, our written guarantee, a lineage chart, care and feeding instructions, information on our NuVet Vitamin and Puppy Culture programs, a new collar and a toy.
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