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! The "Why" of Puppy Culture from Jane Killion on Vimeo.
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If there were a way to reduce the incidence of hip dysplasia in dogs — not by 10%, or even 25%, but by 50% — would you want in? Well, it looks like there may be a way. It's simple, it's cheap (in fact it saves money) and the data has been out there about it since 2006! Read the article HERE, and suddenly the photo sourced by Craig from a 1826 painting will make total sense.
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.
**For more detailed information on Hip Dysplasia in dogs please visit HERE to see what the Institute of Canine Biology has to say.
That is how my calendar is marked, and with this post you may begin to learn why. This was a good trip despite quail numbers being at the low end of mediocre. Sadly, hunting pressure was way up from the previous year, and we hit the late season... Still, only a madman complains about hunting quail in Arizona, in particular Mearns quail.
Round trip we drove 4,800 miles, 1,600 of which were spent on Forest Service roads in search of our quarry. The autofocus in my beloved DSLR totally went out, so it was up to the cell phone to save the day. We managed to capture a few nice landscapes and a couple of okay videos, shared below. ​All in all, we did well, and as an added bonus I got to meet a few members from BD&FF I've known from Facebook for quite a while, got to run around with an old coworker/friend, bumped into some old friends at the Steak Out, visited a good number of the local wineries, discovered a real treat along the way called the Meading Room, and even made some time to evaluate a dog for the DPCNA. I recommend you not go...​Mearns Madness, once you have it there is no known cure!  Booker Esp. Ch. Joksan NABAR The Gloucester CGC, aka Booker 22 August 2008 – 18 December 18, 2019 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.
The DPCNA decided to retain the difficult to pronounce native name with the intent to help ensure the Drent stayed true to type and form - One Drent. Besides Dutch Partridge Dog, as the English translation typically goes is terribly generic and threatens to pigeonhole the Drent as a ‘one trick pony’ here in North America...As for those in the know, the Drent is so much more.
As far as pronunciation goes, when in doubt, just say Drent.
 When you get your 8/10 week old puppies, please keep this image in mind. Although this photo is a very young puppy, it's to show how much has yet to be formed. Their bones do not even touch yet. They plod around so cutely with big floppy paws and wobbly movement because their joints are entirely made up of muscle, tendons, ligaments with skin covering. Nothing is fitting tightly together or has a true socket yet. When you run them excessively or don't restrict their exercise to stop them from overdoing it during this period you don't give them a chance to grow properly. Every big jump or excited, bouncing run causes impacts between the bones. In reasonable amounts this is not problematic and is the normal wear and tear that every animal will engage in. But when you're letting puppy jump up and down off the lounge or bed, take them for long walks/hikes, you are damaging that forming joint. When you let the puppy scramble on tile with no traction you are damaging the joint.
For more detailed information on Hip Dysplasia in dogs please visit HERE to see what the Institute of Canine Biology has to say.
Paxson the Gloucester CGC, 9 June 06 - 13 November 19.  Paxson in Gun Dog magazine. Photo credit: Dave Carty Whether the North American Drent community realizes it, we have all suffered a great loss with the passing of Paxson. Without so much as making a deliberate effort, he became the face of the Drent in North America - a true ambassador for the breed. It is without ego that I can say, if a North American has a Drent under the age of eleven, odds are the owner learned about the breed because of Paxson. If it were not for him there would be no DPCNA, the Drent would very likely not be part of the AKC's Foundation Stock Program and been one of the first breeds to be allowed to participate in both Hunting and Retrieving tests, and I most certainly would not have written any book. Most dog owners would say their dog has enriched their lives, made them more complete and/or balanced. Some may even say their dog had been instrumental to their ability to pull through some dark times (I can count myself among this crowd). After all dogs are pretty much perfect companions. Paxson did all of that, but he did more. He changed my life in ways no other dog has, because of his love I was inspired to create the DPCNA, connect with the AKC, as well as Gun Dog Magazine, and write a book. Because of this many more people are now coming to learn about the Drent and their ability to move into your heart. Because of him the best kept Dutch secret is out. Rob en Tiny Key, of the Gloucester kennel, selected Paxson for me. They could not have chosen more wisely. I will forever be grateful for their mentorship and friendship over the years. Most of all I will forever be thankful of the gift which was Paxson. Smart, affectionate, gentle are some words which come to mind, but so do goofy, and athletic. He was selective with who he warmed up to and those he deemed worthy of his attention and love generally were gifted with a dog willing to make himself a fool for you. It was always interesting for me to see who he approved of. Paxson was my first from pup bird dog and sadly my inexperience and lack of understanding of training in this filed were evident in his work, but it was through no fault of his own - it was all me. Still over the years he managed to overcome many of my missteps and became an effective pheasant hunter and when hunted alone he was deadly on Mearns quail. There wasn't much Paxson and I didn't do together: hike, hunt, bikejor, and canicross to name a few. Most of all he was my beautiful friend, always nearby and always ready for a new adventure. He was the consummate 'good boy' from his first days to his last. Paxson was born in Boxtel, The Netherlands, and because of my military career, he lived in The Netherlands, New Mexico, Spain, Idaho and Washington. He also had the opportunity to travel to many other places in between. His stately looks and gentle disposition drew people to him wherever he went. Paxson had a life filled with love, as many mud rolls as he could manage, and plenty of adventure. I can't imagine a day where I will not miss him. This post was inspired by having a few memories jogged after reading a favorite article by Dave Carty: Slow Down (Let Your Dog Work)
After a few pit stops on our long and winding way, we arrived to the spot. Dave got his Chevy parked in one of the standard places for hunting the area and, it became quite apparent that the temperature was already getting the best of us. Dave was immediately expressing concern over ‘dropping’ Powder to hunt, but the desire to have her down was high, since it was clear she was not going to have another season. Having an old and frail dog now myself, you take it day by day. They could have six more months, or today might be their last. I know this is where Dave was, so I just did my best to be supportive and respect his decisions doubly so when it came to Powder.  Yes, this is that bull Mearns The intent was to hike down one branch of a ‘Y’ shaped coulee, mill around at the junction and then head back up the other unmolested branch. So that is what we did with very little fanfare. I still have a soft spot for Brits since my own, Mountain Sal. As we hiked, keeping an ever-watchful eye on Powder, we reminisced over some of the hunts we had shared over her. One which will likely stick out in mind for as long as I am able to keep memories neatly cataloged, is the hunt in which Dave bagged a gorgeous fully masked adult bull Mearns over a nicely stuck point from Powder. Making the event even more memorable was the high overhead passing shot Dave successfully made to bag the bird. With the bird plucked from the sky, it pitched into some heavy cover. Powder was asked to make her retrieve, which she did so with purpose and grace and with an impressively gentle mouth the bird was retrieved perfectly preserved. Dave gifted me the bird and I had it mounted.  Powder on the job I digress - after hiking ever so slowing down to the heart of the ‘Y’ the heat continued to rise, and it was clear Powder wasn’t really liking the heat. It was easy to see in her gait, how much water she had taken, so it was no surprise the level of Dave’s concern was ever so increasing with every few minutes. We paused in the shade in the crook of the ‘Y’ and talked about the easiest way to go back up, how best to try and keep Powder in the shade and debated at what point do we consider picking her up to carry her. The more we debated the pros and cons of our ideas, interspersed with our normal casual conversation Dave became very frustrated with himself for taking her ‘this far’ and that she hadn’t even gotten birdy. The risk wasn’t worth it, and I understood. As we talked about all of these things Dave kept his gaze uphill, presumably looking at the peak which the truck was parked just below. I, on the other hand, was watching Powder.
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Two GunI'm just a guy suffering with an infatuation with gundogs since childhood. Forty some years later this is what you get. 
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