Why is buying a Family Raised Labradoodle Puppy is so Important?

Every breeder has their unique story and their own stamp on how they raise their puppies. I love being a breeder who focuses on "family raised" puppies, because I have a family and I believe that puppies raised in this atmosphere are the best for a family. What puppies learn first is what they learn best. This why I believe that Loving Doodle raises terrific family dogs, because we raise our puppies in the midst of our busy family.

Reading time with the Labradoodle puppies

I have seen a tremendous impact in our Labradoodle puppies emotional stability and social skills by raising them right in the middle of our living room. I didn't always do it this way, I had a mentor breeder who was terrified of Parvo, and as a result mainly raised puppies in a special room in her house away from "germs." She was extremely careful that Parvo would not reach her puppies. So of course, I trusted her in the beginning, and in fairness, despite their quiet raising her, breed did seem to adjust pretty well to the families they went home to at 8 weeks. But as I began to take classes with Avidog, Puppy Culture and listen to the Bella and Baxter podcast, I realized that I wanted to take my puppy raising in a different direction. I because dedicated to the idea that all of our puppies would be family raised right in the middle of our living room.

At this point, I have my family raised Labradoodle puppies all across the U.S. The reports that I get from my families are that they are well-adjusted, love other dogs and people, and that they are very calm and unphased my noise and chaos. I truly believe that this is directly the result of them being "family raised" Labradoodles. By being exposed to the noise and motion of a family, they are used to it. Because I am home with my 2 year old twins everyday, the puppies get lots of love , noise and attention (sometimes too much attention) and I believe that those are the key ingredients to wonderful family dogs.

When I was growing up, my mother always told me that to children love is spelled "T-I-M-E." I have carried this philosophy forward both as a mother and a dog breeder. I think that our Labradoodle puppies are extra special because they get lots of time in the midst of our family every single day. By being in our household, I don't have to funnel in "noise", they are exposed to the vacuum and the blender, they hear doors slam, since we are in a constant state of renovating our home, they hear saws and nail guns. All of this exposure helps their brains startle, but recover quickly, and long term makes them less frightened when they are exposed to these things and loud noises like fireworks.

I have to admit, I laughed a little bit when I started hearing about the 7-7-7 rule that many breeders talk about using in their program. This rule is that each puppy is exposed to 7 people and 7 different surfaces by the time they are 7 weeks old. Clearly, I understand the importance of these things, but our puppies are exposed to twice as many people by the time they are 4 weeks old, because of our household has 11 people in it, and we have friends over and they always LOVE holding the puppies. I rotate them through rooms, indoors and outdoors, give them beds, give them different stepping stones, so they have all kinds of surfaces to walk on. And this is just normal life when a puppy is family raised!

Besides these benefits, I also find that daily interaction with the puppies happens organically. The kids are watching a movie or reading a book and they pick up a puppy to snuggle at the same time. As well, I am very motivated to keep their pen clean, because I don't want a stinky living room! While we may have grown our breeding program over the last few years, I am dedicated to our program never out growing our ability to raise our Labradoodle puppies as part of our family. And all of these reasons are why I would say it is so important to find an ethical Labradoodle breeder who is dedicated to family raising their puppies. You want a puppy that has been treated well and has been exposed to normal family life from a young age. This will help them adjust quickly to living as part of your family and being used to what life looks like in a normal family.