YES there is a LOT of information here! Our purpose is to provide you with the education to find the right puppy and breeder for your family regardless of whether it is with us. We believe in being advocates for the well being of all puppies and families.
Our Ethical Commitment to You:
We LOVE our Goldendoodles, Englishdoodles and Cavapoos, however we know that a doodle is not the right fit for everyone. It is important to do your research to determine if this hybrid is the correct dog for your family and lifestyle. We aim to answer any and all of your questions openly and honestly. If you decide that one of our puppies is right for you, we are committed to providing you with a healthy, happy and well-rounded puppy. We will never provide you with false information regarding the expectations of our puppies. We will never pressure you into buying from us or use pay others to refer you to us.
We feel it is our responsibility to provide you with the information and tools to be a successful dog owner thus we provide a comprehensive puppy package when taking your puppy home followed with lifelong support from ourselves and community support from our puppy owners.
* Please be cautious of the recent increase in breeders who state that they run a non-profit organization directly associated with their "puppy business", particularly if that organization "donates" puppies to those in need. This is a creative way to obtain tax write-offs under the 501(c3), while at the same time raising donations which actually cover the cost of the puppy and expenses (essentially paying themselves through their non-profit). Here at AZ Doodle Ranch we have provided a puppy at no cost for specific situations and also offer discounts as needed. We do not use these select situations to advertise our puppies as we respect the privacy of the families that we work with.
We feel it is our responsibility to provide you with the information and tools to be a successful dog owner thus we provide a comprehensive puppy package when taking your puppy home followed with lifelong support from ourselves and community support from our puppy owners.
* Please be cautious of the recent increase in breeders who state that they run a non-profit organization directly associated with their "puppy business", particularly if that organization "donates" puppies to those in need. This is a creative way to obtain tax write-offs under the 501(c3), while at the same time raising donations which actually cover the cost of the puppy and expenses (essentially paying themselves through their non-profit). Here at AZ Doodle Ranch we have provided a puppy at no cost for specific situations and also offer discounts as needed. We do not use these select situations to advertise our puppies as we respect the privacy of the families that we work with.
Our Moral Responsibility to Our Dogs:
What we DO:
Our dogs are first and foremost part of our family. They live in our home and sleep in our rooms (and beds). They love going on runs, playing fetch, visiting the dog park, hiking and even kayaking. We feed our dogs a protein based large breed dog food with whole food supplements including our backyard organic eggs, and herbs/vegetables from our garden. Kari grooms our dogs in the low stress setting of our home. We continuously evaluate for the health of our dogs and carefully determine whether a female is ready for a litter of puppies. While one female may be able to have a litter back to back, another may not, thus we may not always have puppies available. We take all steps necessary to ensure that our puppies never end up in a shelter. Should a dog ever require re-homing, due to a unexpected owner situation, we require per our contract, that the dog be returned to us. We micro-chip every puppy before they leave our house and include lifetime registration for that micro-chip. We provide lifelong puppy parenting support.
https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2019/12/puppies-raised-in-home-are-better.html?m=1
What we DO NOT DO:
We do NOT PAY FOR REFERRALS and we do NOT PAY PRIOR BUYERS TO POST POSITIVE REVIEWS.
We do not adopt out our older dogs when they are finished having puppies. Our eldest spayed female is loved dearly and a wonderful grandmother to our puppies. We do not, at this time, place dogs in guardian homes for the purpose of expanding our breeding program. *This is something we may consider for extremely select and approved families in the future as demand for our puppies is increasing. We do not want any of our future puppies to end up in a puppy mill or unethical breeding situation, thus we require a spay and neuter contract. Spayed and neutered dogs also make much better behaved pets. Specifically for a dog to work as a therapy or service animal they should be spayed/neutered to be able to provide their 100% attention to their handler. We do not remove declaws from our puppies, as we believe the risks of this procedure outweigh the benefits for dogs who are intended to be family companions.
Why puppies cannot go home until 8 weeks of age:
Between the ages of 6 weeks and 8 weeks of age the puppy experiences important physical and emotional growth. Their brain experiences rapid development at this stage. At this time much socialization happens between the puppies, and between the puppy and adult dogs. We enjoy observing our dogs at this time and find it fascinating to see how our adult dogs discipline and teach limits to the puppies. Some puppies are also still weaning and this provides the puppy with additional immunity. The puppies immune systems and stomach will continue to strengthen for these two weeks thus reducing the chances of a puppy becoming ill when they go home or having sensitivities to eating dry puppy food. From 6 to 8 weeks and work with them extensively for socialization, potty training and manners. We akin the difference between a 6 week old puppy and a 8 week old, like bringing home a infant versus a toddler. While toddlers still require many limits, they are more prepared for learning the next stages in development. The only one who benefits from sending a puppy home prior to age 8 weeks is the breeder. Many states have set legal limits for certain businesses, puppy breeders, and/or pet stores to not place a puppy for purchase prior to age 8 weeks of age. You can find your state here: https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-concerning-minimum-age-sale-puppiesu
Our dogs are first and foremost part of our family. They live in our home and sleep in our rooms (and beds). They love going on runs, playing fetch, visiting the dog park, hiking and even kayaking. We feed our dogs a protein based large breed dog food with whole food supplements including our backyard organic eggs, and herbs/vegetables from our garden. Kari grooms our dogs in the low stress setting of our home. We continuously evaluate for the health of our dogs and carefully determine whether a female is ready for a litter of puppies. While one female may be able to have a litter back to back, another may not, thus we may not always have puppies available. We take all steps necessary to ensure that our puppies never end up in a shelter. Should a dog ever require re-homing, due to a unexpected owner situation, we require per our contract, that the dog be returned to us. We micro-chip every puppy before they leave our house and include lifetime registration for that micro-chip. We provide lifelong puppy parenting support.
https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2019/12/puppies-raised-in-home-are-better.html?m=1
What we DO NOT DO:
We do NOT PAY FOR REFERRALS and we do NOT PAY PRIOR BUYERS TO POST POSITIVE REVIEWS.
We do not adopt out our older dogs when they are finished having puppies. Our eldest spayed female is loved dearly and a wonderful grandmother to our puppies. We do not, at this time, place dogs in guardian homes for the purpose of expanding our breeding program. *This is something we may consider for extremely select and approved families in the future as demand for our puppies is increasing. We do not want any of our future puppies to end up in a puppy mill or unethical breeding situation, thus we require a spay and neuter contract. Spayed and neutered dogs also make much better behaved pets. Specifically for a dog to work as a therapy or service animal they should be spayed/neutered to be able to provide their 100% attention to their handler. We do not remove declaws from our puppies, as we believe the risks of this procedure outweigh the benefits for dogs who are intended to be family companions.
Why puppies cannot go home until 8 weeks of age:
Between the ages of 6 weeks and 8 weeks of age the puppy experiences important physical and emotional growth. Their brain experiences rapid development at this stage. At this time much socialization happens between the puppies, and between the puppy and adult dogs. We enjoy observing our dogs at this time and find it fascinating to see how our adult dogs discipline and teach limits to the puppies. Some puppies are also still weaning and this provides the puppy with additional immunity. The puppies immune systems and stomach will continue to strengthen for these two weeks thus reducing the chances of a puppy becoming ill when they go home or having sensitivities to eating dry puppy food. From 6 to 8 weeks and work with them extensively for socialization, potty training and manners. We akin the difference between a 6 week old puppy and a 8 week old, like bringing home a infant versus a toddler. While toddlers still require many limits, they are more prepared for learning the next stages in development. The only one who benefits from sending a puppy home prior to age 8 weeks is the breeder. Many states have set legal limits for certain businesses, puppy breeders, and/or pet stores to not place a puppy for purchase prior to age 8 weeks of age. You can find your state here: https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-concerning-minimum-age-sale-puppiesu
- We implement Sensory and Neural Stimulation starting at birth
- We follow methods in line with the program called Puppy Culture
- We put in place practices similar to the Misty Method to start potty training early
- We do not utilize any single temperament evaluation tool, Dr. Potthoff has developed a process of observing and interacting with the puppies daily to collect behavioral information to assist in matching the perfect puppy with the right family
Why we no longer administer the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test at AZ Doodle Ranch:
We believe that "formal" puppy temperament tests provide misleading results and are
improperly utilized to enhance a breeder's appearance of professionalism
As a PhD level Psychologist Kari is trained in the development and administration of behavioral, cognitive and ability testing. While the results of the "Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test" have provided some contribution to understanding differences in puppy behavior, we have been unable to obtain any single large scale study to prove the long term reliability or validity of such evaluations. "Reliability" is a tests ability to prove results over time, in other words, you would expect that a puppy temperament test would hold true in proving the adult dog's temperament characteristics. " Validity" means that a test is actually testing what it is intended to do. After administering the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test to several litters it became clear to Dr. Potthoff that our puppies exhibited a lack of inhibition or struggle during many of the test items. Some examples of the test items include holding a puppy on its back, dropping a umbrella in the room, and crouching down beside a puppy. AZ Doodle Ranch puppies are exposed to so many similar stimuli at an early age that they all have presented with high indicators of cooperation to restraint paired with a lack of fear to stimuli. Puppy temperament tests actually are measuring the degree of previous exposure from their environment, as opposed to innate puppy temperament (Aptitude is supposed to be a innate skill). The same concerns with the validity and reliability testing of puppy temperament tests are noted here by Dr. Stanley Coren, PhD, Professor of Psychology author of "The Intelligence of Dogs: Canine Consciousness and Capabilities: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201407/do-puppy-personality-tests-predict-adult-dog-behaviors?amp
AZ Doodle Ranch's "Puppy Neuro-Attachment Rearing" © 2014
We know that healthy puppies start with genetically cleared and healthy dog parents who have excellent temperaments! We also know that what we do from the time a puppy is born to when they leave our home makes a big difference in the rest of their life. As a psychologist working with children Kari has completed research in the areas of attachment and resiliency, combined with her knowledge in behavior modification, she has developed over time a structured process unique to AZ Doodle Ranch. This process develops the confident, loving and cooperative temperaments that our puppies display. We take that responsibility very seriously.
- From the third day after birth we begin interacting with the newborns to introduce them to different sensations and smells. Puppies are born with their eyes and ears closed. Their first experience is a advanced sense of smell, they use it to immediately wiggle to their mother's nipples and begin feeding. We implement the "neural stimulation" approach from days 7 to 10, which involves providing small forms of stressful experiences to the puppies in order to activate their neuro-systems to cope with stress. Following each session we end with specifically the puppy at our neck so that they can smell us. Since food is also the first source of security and nurturing experienced by any mammal, we provide short supplemental bottle feeding sessions to our puppies. This both ensures their growth and supports human to dog bonding.
- As the puppies grow we increase our time holding and playing with them. We hold them on their backs, hold them elevated, hold their snout, touch their face, paws and tails. These are all areas that dogs do not naturally enjoy being touched. When their eyes and ears open around day 10 of age we make a effort to hold them close to our faces and speak to them to pair our voice to the faces of people. Often a puppy who is upset by being picked up will immediately calm when they hear our voice and see our face. We begin introducing new and varied sounds as well as toys with different textures to the nesting box.
- After the puppies eyes open they move more and establish better mobility. This occurs around age 2 weeks at which time we introduce a section of paper to the nesting box to be their potty area. This requires immediately removing soiled blankets when they are wet on and leaving in some paper which has been wet one. The puppies very quickly learn that the paper is for wetting on and the blanketed area is for sleeping, playing and eating.
- When the puppies begin eating their first baby foods (puppy formula, cottage cheese then puppy food mush) we offer it from our hands to continue fostering that attachment and trust. Before feeding we speak to them and hold them up to see our face and smell us. We continue that introduction when providing food from a dish.
- Around age 4 weeks the puppies begin making trips outside into our separately fenced puppy play area for interactive playtime with each other, ourselves and our adult dogs. They experience the texture and mobility practice of walking on grass, sand, rocks and our interactive structures we have made for them to play in and on. This is also an important time where puppies learn what is appropriate behavior between other dogs. We allow our adult dogs to take the lead in teaching vital canine social skills to the puppies. We also begin multiple scheduled trips outside to go potty to begin developing the concept of now pottying outside the living area.
- When we are interacting with the puppies we always focus on them learning that humans are fun and loving companions, while also setting limits on behavior. All of our children hold and play with the puppies daily resulting in dogs who LOVE kids! We ensure that we continue to expose our puppies to as many forms of stimulus as possible so that they are not fearful. We provide them with a variety of interactive toys, experiences, and noises while having a person close by to support each puppies exploration and any fears.
- Between the ages of 6 and 8 weeks, after the puppies have been matched to their families, we work with the puppies more individually to introduce sustained attention to task as well as basic commands. We introduce them to the doggy door and to walking on a leash. We also provide them a significant amount of time to interact freely with all of our adult dogs. Through this they learn important canine social skills and are corrected by the adults dogs when needed.
Every action that we take with the puppies is intended to produce healthy, calm, confident, and intelligent canine companions with the potential to perform therapy, service, or obedience training as young adult dogs.
Link to AKC article series: "Puppy Socialization Starts with the Breeder"
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeding/puppy-socialization-starts-with-breeder-4-to-6-week/
Raising puppies correctly from birth to 8 weeks of age is a full time 24 hours a day, 7 days a week job. We love what we do and it's all worth it when we see how much our families love their new companions!
We Believe DNA Testing of Parent Dogs is Mandatory:
DNA testing for canine genetic health traits is not a new practice. Information can be collected to detect the presence of hundreds of genetic health conditions from a simple saliva swab. The only way, for anyone who chooses to breed a litter of puppies, to know for sure whether their parent dogs carry a active or recessive health condition is to DNA test their dogs. Why should this matter to you as a prospective puppy parent? Because, not all genetic conditions in dogs are displayed at a early age. Some don't occur until a dog is in their elderly years. Therefore, if a breeder tells you their two or five year old dame or stud dog is healthy and so are their previous puppies that is not a guarantee (for example if a female dog stops breeding at age 6 years, her oldest puppies would be four years of age and may not have presented with the hereditary illness yet). This is particularly important when it comes to recessive health traits. If a parent dog carries a recessive (hidden) genetic disease and the breeder does not know, then they may breed the dog to another with the same recessive genetic disease. When this occurs the puppies will obtain a active version of that genetic disease and be symptomatic despite the health of both parents. This is how genetic illness can skip several generations then result in actively sick dogs. Given the practice of in-breeding in many purebred dogs, nearly all purebred dogs carry at least one recessive genetic health trait. It is therefore imperative that breeders know the DNA results of their dogs to ensure a appropriate match when breeding.
For a complete list of health concerns and genetic health conditions common in poodles please click on this link:
https://poodleclubofamerica.org/health-concerns/
We take this very seriously, thus we have chosen to DNA test all of our adult dogs, not just for the conditions that are common to their pure-bred ancestry but for over 175 conditions evaluated through the Embark DNA Test.
"Embark is the only canine genetics company that uses a research-grade DNA genotyping platform, which our industry-leading scientists spent years developing at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. That not only means that we can give you the most accurate results, but it gives us the greatest potential to make future genetic discoveries." For a complete list of all genetic conditions
evaluated click here: https://embarkvet.com/health-list/
For a complete list of health concerns and genetic health conditions common in poodles please click on this link:
https://poodleclubofamerica.org/health-concerns/
We take this very seriously, thus we have chosen to DNA test all of our adult dogs, not just for the conditions that are common to their pure-bred ancestry but for over 175 conditions evaluated through the Embark DNA Test.
"Embark is the only canine genetics company that uses a research-grade DNA genotyping platform, which our industry-leading scientists spent years developing at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. That not only means that we can give you the most accurate results, but it gives us the greatest potential to make future genetic discoveries." For a complete list of all genetic conditions
evaluated click here: https://embarkvet.com/health-list/
Be informed to help stop puppy mills and irresponsible breeding practices:
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Has your business ever used a previous name? Some breeders have changed their name to avoid negative Google and BBB Reviews. If they have used a previous name then look up that business name on Google Reviews, Yelp Reviews, and with the Better Business Bureau
(AZ Doodle Ranch, was originally called Desert Sky Doodles, we changed our name to avoid confusion with similar names)
Are you associated with or share parent dogs with any other breeders? Ask for the same reason as above
Why did you breed this litter? Why did you choose the breeds and generations to cross?
How many dogs do you own and how many litters do you breed a year?
Do you have adult parent dogs living with Host Families? This means the dog was "gifted" to a owner while the breeder retains breeding rights and takes the dog back for breeding.
Have you dna tested your parents dogs for the presence of genetic health traits? The only acceptable answer is YES
What exact generation is the doodle puppy?
What specific characteristics and needs does this breed of dog require of me as a future owner?
Can I meet the parent dogs and receive information on their temperament and health?
Can I see pictures of the puppies? Always note the condition of the puppies in the pictures, are they clean and vibrant?
Can I come visit the puppies and mother at your home? If so at what age?
Can I see where the puppies sleep and play? How do you keep these areas clean?
What do you feed the puppies? What did you feed the mother during pregnancy and after?
What vaccinations, de-worming and health certification are included?
Do you micro-chip your puppies and if so is the registration fee included?
How do you ensure that your puppies are well socialized?
How often are the puppies played with and held? Do they receive individual attention?
Do you provide a contract? The only acceptable answer is "yes." The contract should outline requirements and provisions for returning the puppy to the breeder if necessary, and other aspects of the sale.
When can we take the puppy home? A puppy should not be placed with a new owner until at least 8 weeks of age.
How can we contact you after the sale? A good breeder will want to stay in touch
with you and be available for questions and concerns for the lifetime of your puppy.
© 2014 All images and content are the sole property of AZ Doodle Ranch
® 2021 AZ Doodle Ranch is a registered trademark with the state of AZ
(AZ Doodle Ranch, was originally called Desert Sky Doodles, we changed our name to avoid confusion with similar names)
Are you associated with or share parent dogs with any other breeders? Ask for the same reason as above
Why did you breed this litter? Why did you choose the breeds and generations to cross?
How many dogs do you own and how many litters do you breed a year?
Do you have adult parent dogs living with Host Families? This means the dog was "gifted" to a owner while the breeder retains breeding rights and takes the dog back for breeding.
Have you dna tested your parents dogs for the presence of genetic health traits? The only acceptable answer is YES
What exact generation is the doodle puppy?
What specific characteristics and needs does this breed of dog require of me as a future owner?
Can I meet the parent dogs and receive information on their temperament and health?
Can I see pictures of the puppies? Always note the condition of the puppies in the pictures, are they clean and vibrant?
Can I come visit the puppies and mother at your home? If so at what age?
Can I see where the puppies sleep and play? How do you keep these areas clean?
What do you feed the puppies? What did you feed the mother during pregnancy and after?
What vaccinations, de-worming and health certification are included?
Do you micro-chip your puppies and if so is the registration fee included?
How do you ensure that your puppies are well socialized?
How often are the puppies played with and held? Do they receive individual attention?
Do you provide a contract? The only acceptable answer is "yes." The contract should outline requirements and provisions for returning the puppy to the breeder if necessary, and other aspects of the sale.
When can we take the puppy home? A puppy should not be placed with a new owner until at least 8 weeks of age.
How can we contact you after the sale? A good breeder will want to stay in touch
with you and be available for questions and concerns for the lifetime of your puppy.
© 2014 All images and content are the sole property of AZ Doodle Ranch
® 2021 AZ Doodle Ranch is a registered trademark with the state of AZ
