What is Puppy Culture?
Puppy Culture is a program developed by Jane Killion, professional dog trainer and breeder. It is a comprehensive, organized program for breeders to follow during the first weeks of a puppy’s life. 

The first 12 weeks of a puppy’s life are incredibly important. This is an almost magical time when a breeder has the power to change the outcome of a puppy’s life by what we choose to teach him. By doing just the right things at just the right time, we can give your puppy the best start possible.

Prenatal Period
Making sure that your puppy’s genetic material is excellent is only the beginning. The physical and emotional health of the mother will affect the health of her puppies. Since research has shown that puppies born to mothers that receive prenatal massage are more docile and enjoy being touched, we spoil our mothers with lots of affection and belly massages. A puppy’s predisposition to form deep and meaningful relationships begins even before they are born.

Neonatal Period: 0-14 days
Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) begins on day 3 and continues through day 16. Research shows that tiny struggles and stresses in appropriate small doses are actually good for puppies and will help them grow into strong, healthy well-adjusted adults. Benefits include greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat. This is a gift that a breeder can only give their puppies once during the window of 3-16 days.

Transitional Period: 14-21 days
Behavioral markers are used to identify the beginning and end of each developmental period because every puppy is different and these timelines are simply guidelines. The transitional period begins when the puppy’s eyes open and ends when they first startle upon hearing sounds. 

Critical Socialization Period: 3-12 weeks
Most people think of socialization as exposing their puppies to as many new experiences as possible while the puppy is young. While this is part of the process, it’s not enough. Our goal is to raise dogs that have the emotional intelligence to connect with you. Emotional intelligence can be taught to young puppies and one of the goals of the Puppy Culture Program is to teach breeders how to do this. There are 7 key things that will nurture the emotional intelligence of a puppy.

​1: Communication – giving a puppy his own voice: Communication Trinity – power up clicker, box game, manding, attention/distraction protocols
2: Emotional stability – the ability to recover easily from fear as well as stress (startle recovery, barrier challenges, Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test at day 49
3: Habituation – familiarity with the maximum number of things: Puppy Parties, sound protocols, habituation soundtracks and noises, meeting different people, dogs, other animals
4: Enrichment – the view that novelty and challenges are opportunities for enrichment rather than things to be feared or avoided: novelty items, Adventure Box, off premises socialization
5: Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way: daily weight checks, grooming, vaccinations, deworming, proper nutrition, vet health checks
6: Skills – learned behaviors which allow him to function in human society: recall, manding, simple commands, litterbox training, crate training, leash walking, resource guarding, bite inhibition
7: Love – the desire to seek out the company of both dogs and humans as emotionally positive experiences: shaping emotional responses, Happy and Calm CER (Conditioned Emotional Responses), daily cuddles with humans and mom

This is definitely an incredible amount of work, but it is 100% ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT!!!!!! When you adopt your puppy, you will be just as thankful as we are for this program!

When something is in limited quantity and that quantity has been sold out. There will nearly always be a profiteer in the wings... For those not wanting to wait for the Second Edition to come out, most likely mid-2021, you can always order a copy from Blurb HERE and it'll save you a good $899.90 or so depending on the shipping option you select. Even more If I happen to have any on hand from a bulk Blurb order (as of this writing I have 2 copies on hand).

Two Gun's Sky Island Manzanita Rush, aka Ila was one of the twenty-two puppies who made the now-famous puppy issue of Gun Dog Magazine and one of the few with a half page at that! How fun! Photo by Jenna O'Connor at Miller Ranch a great place to spend some time.

​The 25% 'lighter' dog will closely resemble the Ideal dog, but feeling for ribs and hips will be a little bit easier, but without any jutting bony protuberances to be seen or for that matter felt. There should be no appearance of muscle loss.

Esp. Ch. Joksan NABAR The Gloucester CGC, aka Booker

22 August 2008 – 18 December 18, 2019
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To be honest, from the time Booker was a very young dog I had always had the feeling that once I had lost one of my boys, I would soon lose the other. This ‘feeling’ was something that never waivered, but I also didn’t give it much credence either. Booker was imported from the Netherlands to New Mexico by Rob Key for me. I can still vividly remember watching Rob walk him through the El Paso airport. Rob was beaming, walking this tiny, happy, self-possessed, puppy on a taut line. His head held high, tail up, prancing, the self-elected Prince of the El Paso airport – Booker. All Drent puppies are super cute, but Booker was more. In fact he was more with just about everything. His brother Paxson was the moderate, Booker was flash, bang, pop. Why not? I mean if you got it flaunt it. He was a handful, he was beautiful, he was naughty as hell, he was sweeter than them all. He was Booker, named after my favorite bourbon (back when it was personally attended to by The Booker Noe, a hand selected sugar barrel bottled, uncut, unfiltered, and likened to a runaway freight train - Booker’s) he was pretty damn much the same – too much. But when you liked it, really was it a problem? Just grin and bear it, be a man LoL. Booker was born for the show ring, confidence poured out of him, what could he not do? Without much fanfare he quickly became the first beauty Champion of Spain for the breed. He was judged by some of the most prestigious Group 7 judges in Europe – he owned them despite his shortcomings. He was guided in the art of hunting by Terry L.  Chandler Sr., a huge name in the German Shorthair community. Booker was a wickedly effective hunter of every game bird presented to him. He was hunted just about everywhere on just about everything with just about everyone worth a squirt of piss. His resume is missing only the prairie grouse, the mountain quail, ptarmigan, and the Himalayan Snowcock. The more he was bragged about the worse he performed, the less that was said, the better. He knew, he was in charge – that was Booker, take a sip, enjoy the ride. Fighting it was for little girls and sissies. Booker sired two lovely and large litters of Drents, with many becoming involved in active breeding programs her in North America and possibly even back in the Netherlands. He was on track to sire his third and last litter, but as fate would have it, his condition deteriorated at an astonishing pace and so was not. Neil Young can be quoted as having said, “it is better to burn out than to fade away” and that is certainly how Booker lived his life from the beginning. Go big or stay home. He started with a transatlantic/transcontinental flight and passed quietly with his head in my lap. Go run with Pax my friend, run hard.

​Paxson the Gloucester CGC, 9 June 06 - 13 November 19.

Sadly this is the first year that we played and didn't make the finals. I suppose a little humble pie is good for us all from time to time. Apparently we had become too accustomed to bringing home one of the coveted jugs of pickles or one of the other lesser prizes. That being said, I am very proud of how Powder ran this morning. She worked the field expertly and handled like a pro. The conditions were tough, many people came in with no birds or only one. Usually the finals are determined by the fastest time, today only those who got their two birds to hand within the ten minute time limit moved onto the final. Powder did have her second bird, but the horn sounded as I moved into position... Disappointing to say the least. We let little Ila tag along and she had a field day romping around as you may have expected.