What We Do

What we do-our style of puppy raising

 “We all want insight into how our furry companions think, and we want to understand the silly, quirky and apparently irrational behaviors [that] Lassie or Rover demonstrate,” Coren said in an interview. “Their stunning flashes of brilliance and creativity are reminders that they may not be Einstein’s but are sure closer to humans than we thought.”

According to several behavioral measures, Coren says dogs’ mental abilities are close to a human child age 2 to 2.5 years. (Stanley Coren, author of more than a half-dozen popular books on dogs and dog behavior).”

Our dogs are crucial members of our family, we always want them to feel safe and loved and we work hard to provide them with the psychological safety and mental stimulation that all cognitive creatures need in order to thrive.

Whilst our puppies make wonderful family companions and pets we have actually designed our raising program around those used by many assistance dog companies, and we make special efforts to acclimatize our puppies to being around individuals with a wide variety of disabilities both physical and mental during their time with us. If you are looking to train your own assistance dog we have provided our puppies with the best start at the process.

Please do not apply for one of our puppies if you are not committed to continuing to do the same. as the odd saying goes “A puppy is for life-not just for Christmas.”

Although a better,more modern version would go “A puppy is for life not just for Covid.”

We are constantly learning and improving our breeding and raising program as new scientific studies emerge, with a focus upon nutrition and preventative methodology (preventing disease and harmful physiological conditions). We frequently seek the advice and input of other dog breeders and trainers to incorporate into our own program as well as recent peer reviewed scientific research on new (and old) methods to improve our dogs health and to minimize potential future behavioral issues.

From 2021 each litter of puppies is being raised using both the Super dog ENS (Early Neurological stimulation) and the Puppy culture programs (see section on Puppy culture and ENS) We also utilize an extensive positive stimulation program to accustom our pups to a variety of stimuli whilst in a safe a familiar environment to minimize prolonged fear responses.

We want our pups to be observant not reactive, and since we raise them with the intention that they go on to continue training in a variety of assistance dog fields this means exposing and socializing them to a huge variety of different environments and stimulation-from Wheelchairs and hospital beds, to a variety of transport vehicles (cars,trucks, motorbikes, scooters, roller blades, bikes, airplanes, boats) as well as different people, animals and noises.

A well socialized dog isn’t just one that gets one well with other dogs but one that can maintain focus in a wide variety of different situations and environments.

What does this mean?

Well this means that you receive a puppy that has already began both toilet and crate training so that their integration into your family occurs with the least muss and fuss possible, we also ensure that the puppies are accustomed to a wide variety of different kennel styles so that they feel comfortable with whatever type you decide upon -although being family focused breeds they prefer to sleep inside with their people.

We take care to create as many positive exposure experiences for the puppies as possible while they are still in our care so that even if their new families are limited in their ability to take their new puppy to many new places during the critical socialization and exposure window (3-17 weeks old) they can be comfortable knowing that their puppy has already undergone extensive socialization beforehand in a safe and controlled manner.

We go above and beyond this basic short check list of exposure items, instead we are constantly adding to our lists as we get feedback from previous litters and from dog trainers. A trainer’s comment is why we expose puppies to white tiles as they’d had some freak out when exposed to them latter in life, feedback from last year’s litter had us adding a range of different dog kennels and dog bed styles to our puppy’s concept of “Normal”.

Our exposure training program also includes the following initial basic obedience tasks:

• Manding (sitting politely for attention rather than jumping up) which then cued to “Sit”
• Recall (To “Pup pup come”, unless you pre-chose your puppy’s name in which case, we can start teaching your pup to come to its name)
• Basic leash training/heeling– we use cross body harnesses and teach the pups to walk with it on in order to better preserve their skeletal health.
• “On your mat” We start to teach pups to sit on their beds/mats
• Basic clicker training– We begin the process of clicker training with the puppies, so they associate it with positive learning experiences. Your puppy kit will include treats, a clicker and treat bag.
• Grooming and handling– being taught to enjoy the handling they will receive at a groomers-including nail clipper/Dremel’s, clipping, teeth cleaning, full body washing and drying.
• Veterinary examinations– standing for examination, ears and mouths checked, temperature checks, full body handling, ears cleaned, eyes are ears examined (otoscopy) heart rate check, weighing.
• Car trips– we take our pups on a number of excursions so they become accustomed to car rides (to minimize them developing car/travel sickness) we use a smooth SUV and an old farm Ute so the pups get used to a range of rides.

• Resource guarding-teaching puppies to share resources with other members of their “Pack” (family) so that they don’t start to hoard or guard food, toys, people or places (such as prime spot on the couch)

• “Give”- as part of our training on resource guarding, we begin to teach puppies to “give” the object they have in their mouths to us in exchange for another item.

• Litterbox and potty training- we teach our puppies to utilize a artificial grass toilet station when inside and to take themselves outside to grass areas to potty. Note if you intend to utilize a different inside toilet system (such as a litter box please inform us of this as soon as possible so that we can get your chosen puppy acclimatized to associating this material with a toilet station rather than a play surface. We do take care to ensure the pups also understand the difference between the artificial turf used for their toilet station and the different textured astroturf used on dog play equipment.
• We like to get the future owners involved early on in this process so that their chosen vocal and hand gesture maybe taught to their puppy.

This of course does not mean that we don’t want you to take every opportunity to create new and positive experiences for you and your puppy, and we highly recommend that you enroll your new puppy in a positive training based puppy preschool as soon as possible so that they can meet other dogs of different breeds. We endeavor to conduct numerous puppy safe play dates for our pups with other dogs (fully vaccinated and temperament tested) while in our care so that they learn to correctly interpret other animal’s body language and to engage in safe puppy play.

Our puppies head to their new homes having already undergone positive exposure training to a wide variety of people, places and stimuli. We are careful to ensure that all exposure experiences are carefully controlled so they stay positive.

The key role Diet plays:

Most breeder simple wean their puppies from mother’s milk straight onto mush (puppy kibble softened by warm water)- resulting in lifelong digestive issues, food stealing behavior and a lessened immune system and gut microbe. At Casacanines we treat our puppies with the same care and attention to nutrition as human babies, introducing one new food every 24hrs from 3 weeks of age to ensure no negative food reactions. From all commercially available protein sources (both cooked and raw) to a wide variety of grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts (not Macadamias which are toxic to dogs) and seeds as well as Dairy from cows and goats.

Our puppies can safely eat any type of balance omnivorous diet-be it kibble, raw,cooked or mixed. No emergency trips to the vet or messy bouts of diarrhea when the kid feeds the dog the wrong food. The best part is our puppies are raised with food security and don’t feel the “classic retriever” need to eat everything in sight! When they are full they stop eating, helping them maintain a healthy weight for the rest of their life.

So that whatever diet you chose to maintain your dog on you can rest assured that they don’t have any digestive issues adjusting to your choice.

The puppies will be undergo flea and worming treatments and will come with a puppy pack and a scent market dog blanket to help acclimatize them to their new homes, this pack will include copies of all the photos and videos of all the puppies and their progress so you can enjoy experiencing their entire journey from mum’s belly to your arms.