We raise our puppies using an advanced service dog curriculum that incorporates a variety of enrichment activities at the ideal stage of a puppy’s development, preparing them to be well-balanced and loving service or companion dogs. We believe that dogs have the incredible ability to improve the quality of life for others through service or companionship, and we do everything in our power to ensure our pups grow to be happy, healthy, well adjusted dogs.

Early Neurological Stimulation and Early Scent Introduction are both completed during the first two weeks the puppies are with us.

Early Neurological Stimulation is a series of exercises we do with our puppies during their first two weeks with us. There’s a host of health benefits to the exercises, including improved cardiovascular performance, stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, and a greater resistance to stress and disease. This form of stimulation begins laying the foundation for a confident, well-regulated dog that bounces back from stress with ease.

Early Scent Introduction involves introducing a new scent to our puppies each day, increasing nose awareness and confidence. These skills are required in diabetic alert dogs, as well as hunting and tracking dogs.

From 3 to 8 weeks old, we gradually increase the puppies’ exposure. A variety of loud noises are slowly and carefully introduced so that puppies are well adjusted to the sounds of everyday life.

Gentle handling exercises begin so that puppies are comfortable being handled from head to toe.

Our exposure activities are designed to train puppies so that they feel safe and confident in new situations. We accomplish this by introducing simple novelty objects and gradually working up to more complex and unpredictable ones, monitoring our puppies' responses throughout the activities to ensure that the experience is always a positive one. Examples of exposure objects/activities include stuffed animals, wooden blocks, ping pong balls, toy cars, pop-up toys, stairs, slides, crate exposure, time outside, car rides etc. All these activities help build nerve strength and startle recovery so that our puppies are empowered and confident when they go out into the world.

At 6-7 weeks old, we evaluate our puppies on a number of different traits to see what kind of lifestyle each puppy’s temperament is best suited for. The traits we test for are: assertiveness, confidence, motivation level, nerve strength/resiliency, touch tolerance, energy level, sound sensitivity, sight sensitivity, prey drive, human focus or pack drive, tenderhearted, and dog friendliness. These results are shared with our buyers prior to Puppy Selection and Go Home Day so that our new puppy owners can pick the best puppy for their lifestyle and needs. The other perk is that this sets both puppy and owner up for long-term success.