BACTERIA and VIRAL

Past studies we looked into simple things like news paper which we have all used especially for pups as it is cheap and easy to dispose of but with the problems associated with tiny new born pups like fading puppy syndrome some research was undertaken here and to our astonishment the ink that is used in newspaper print is actually toxic. Now although fading puppy syndrome has no identified specific cause, little things like not using news paper i firmly believe has helped me to virtually eradicate any viral problems associated with my very young pups. I should also mention that i used to buy my disinfectant in large drums from the manufacturer but switched to Detol antibacterial cleaner as more tests have been conducted with this product so having identified the news print it made sense to improve on bacteria eradication. 

Over the years we have all been educated on germ and bacterial growth in our homes and on our person so it makes sense to prevent the effects on pups which are not much bigger than a mouse, this is why it is so important in their young life to be as sterile as possible.

BEDS

A few years back we looked into the different types of beds available for small dogs and to see if they would use some more than others and believe it or not they actually did then and still have a preference of shaped bed, one which i use as much as possible here as  the shape of the bed will see around 6 dogs huddled together. Being concaved in the middle it allows the dogs to naturally lean on each other when sleeping creating natural warmth for all. Vet bed has and probably always will be the toughest to use and wash everyday, in most situations and of course gives good value for money when brought by the roll compared to others. The problem with shaped and stuffed beds they lose their form and colours after a few washes.

NAILS

Small dogs spend most of their life in the house or running around the garden so don't get the natural wear and tear on their nails to keep them short so instead of using

dog clippers which understandably can be extremely clumsy on your dogs i have found the best method is to use the clippers we use for our own nails which enable a quick precise trim especially on a wriggling pup.

FOOD

Perhaps the most important and still ongoing study happening here. Over the years i have probably used just about all the well known brands of the dry and wet food available but a year ago after reading a book titled "Say no to Cancer" if got me thinking about the highlighted topic of the book which is all the man made chemicals, additives, preservatives and colourings which go into our food as well as most dog foods.Having an attitude of you are what you eat well the same goes for dogs as most of you probably know that if you feed them rubbish then you end up cleaning up a real mess.

Dry food has come along way over the years and is very good if you buy the expensive brands but most still have some form of additives and preservatives mixed in on processing. 2011 all my dogs have been enjoying a new menu which costs around the same as the top brands of dry food but gives them natural ingredients as well as lots of flavour variations. Once a week to the Abattoir to collect my order fills my car with fresh meat and bones all which we cut, chop, cook and prepare in a day. Mixed with steamed rice, potatoes, and vegetables produces fantastic meals for them which they absolutely adore when compared with the dry food everyday. The difference in the dogs has been amazing with alertness, energy and overall their attitude. Having the unique playground they have lets them use the extra energy during the day so that when they come in late afternoon they are usually asleep within 10 mins.

Although the food preparation is very time consuming  compared to putting a bowl of dry biscuit down for them, just to see them enjoy their food and the excitement in their eyes when feeding them makes it all worth it, after all dogs are carnivores so real meat really cannot be substituted with dry biscuits.

After sending a food sample to a nutritional laboratory for analysis we found that a few vitamins could be improved on so now adding a suitable vitamin supplement i can now be sure their meals are perfectly balanced.

With my pups, mincing the cooked meat and rice as well as adding a small amount of soaked small kibble has again seen a noticeable difference in their characters which i would describe as amazing. The large bones all of which are non splinter, i bake in 2 ovens over the next day which then are given twice a week as a real treat. 

My reason for the bones is that after the scraps of meat on them have been eaten they then start to chew the ends to get at the marrow bone inside which inturn helps to clean their teeth. Chihuahuas having teeth that are incredibly tight together can suffer from plaque build up on a regular basis, so with the bones being natural and enjoyable, hours of chewing becomes a past time as well as a tooth brush.

Obviously all this creates allot of washing up but my facilities include a purpose built utility building housing, 2 ovens, 3 freezers, 2 fridges, dishwasher, washing machine,tumble dryer, sink and mincer solely for my dogs needs.

BOWLS

The choice of Water Bowl i have found to be extremely important especially for the pups. There are of course dozens of different shapes and sizes available when buying but many people are still buying just for the colour or pattern rather than the shape, and size. The factors to consider when choosing Bowls are the practicality features they have to offer your pup. 

A pup is obviously very small so the height of the bowl naturally needs to be low but not low enough that they will walk into the water as they tend to do with a saucer. On the other end of that being to deep can be a real hazard which can lead to drowning as the energy a pup can use to try and get out could leave them helpless even to stand up. Bowls of water i always look at being a danger object so you must always be aware of the problems surrounding them, rather than large bowls for large litters i have always got into the routine of putting down 2 or even 3 smaller bowls so to minimize any risk. 

The materials used to make them is a subject that I feel is equally important again especially when pups are involved. Most of you who have had pups in the past know that they tend to chew anything made of plastic with their Food and Water Bowls no exception. Firstly chewing a water bowl inevitably will lead to their water being spilt, not only making a mess, but will leave them without water, something that must be avoided especially in the summer months. Plastic food bowls are a100% no no!! Chewing leaves teeth marks which then become bacteria breeding grounds due to the food and dirt embeded in them. Stainless steel is really the best option for durability and cleanliness so spend that little extra as it will be worth it in the end. 

BREEDING COMBINATIONS

Having 7 stud dogs gives me the opportunity to look at breeding combinations with my females in great detail. Although i have had most of my dogs Colour DNA profiled it still surprises me what variations i can get with certain parents. The same goes for appearance quality of pups as a female can have good quality pups with a good quality male and also bad quality pups with a different good quality male. What this means is DNA structuring of the parents play a huge part in what the quality the pups will be therefore finding good combinations will always be an ongoing priority in my breeding program. Just because 2 great looking Chihuahuas mate does not mean that all the offspring will be of the same quality. DNA structuring differs in every dog so only through documented breeding patterns are you then able to get an understanding why breeding combinations are so important, this is a foundation of my work here and one that i will continue to study.

PUPPY TOILET TRAINING

How nice would it be for pups to understand the difference between urinating outside on the grass and inside on the carpet? This is one of the fundamental teachings of any dog so we can live in a clean house with our dogs but so many people by pass this and use puppy pads which are great but obviously not desirable. I am currently trying different methods to help educate pups to the different environments they will be expected to empty themselves. Initial customer feedback has been really positive and has exceeded my initial expectations.

After 3 months of the trials that i have introduced, the pups recognition of grass and other materials have been very encouraging as they are proving even at 7-8 weeks of age they understand where it is desired to relieve themselves and where it is they can play. Being 2 different surface materials enables them to distinguish texture rather than us showing them where they have to go.

8 months on now and again the results are incredible. Customer feedback has been wonderful as have the puppies behavior. This topic could potentially be a real sticking point for some when they think about buying a dog as none of us like dogs relieving themselves around the house so to actually educate the pups before they leave mum will take the hard work away from you when taking your new pup home.

NEW PUPPY HOUSE

March 2012 i have just completed my new all weather heated Puppy play house which i had built solely for the development and education of my pups from 4 weeks of age. Designed around a conservatory i added features to cater for the pups enjoyment and comfortability whilst having all the features to enhance their maturity from 4 weeks of age. This i had built in the adults playground so daytime can be as much fun for mums and pups as it is for the rest of my adults. The underfloor heating is kept at a constant 24 degrees so when they come out to their house in the morning no matter what the temperature outside it will always be maximum comfort level inside.

The floor covering on top of the screed is in one piece so there are no voids for urine or bacteria so penetrate thus smell will never be an issue after cleaning. The walls are all plastic clad with no edges to chew so again cleaning is extremely easy and efficient. All the opening windows are set at roof line so the wind that can blow through will not interfere with mums and pups or even effect floor temperature. The roof i had upgraded to glass with a high solar reflective barrier which will protect pups in those hot summer days. Out side they have their own gravel and astro turf play area where they can venture safely and securely accessed via a cat flat in one side of their house. After a couple of weeks of the pups experiencing their daytime activities regardless of weather, i am greeted now by screaming pups every morning who just cannot wait to get out and play. 

With as much glass as possible the pups are able to see what is going on around them especially when my adults are playing outside.

This next bit you may find hard to believe as i did to but due to the weather when writing this, windy and raining, after feeding them and closing the glass door i carried on feeding my adults. After a couple of minutes when walking past their door one of the pups was scratching at the glass, so i opened it to go and have a little play again but he ran outside to the astro turf where they always pee and poo and done his usual business. I stood there amazed that at only 7 weeks of age in the right conditions my pups are actually asking to go to toilet. Spending the last year to educate all my pups to wee on a grass surface rather than anywhere else they are now taking it to the next level by actually thinking how they can get outside to perform this task. Just amazing i know but also an incredible sense of achievement being as this education leaves here with them which again will help you enjoy my pups from the very first day.

Building on their abilities to want to do their business outside i have had a cat flap cut into the play house so mums and pups can leave and enter their house of their own free will. Again i am totally amazed at their willingness to want to do this as using a CAT FLAP is not easy for such small pups so i am having another one installed so they have 2 to be able to use when there are a few litters in the puppy house.

What this means of course is my customers have the beginning of a simple solution for toilet training which they can carry on if they wish when they take one of my pups home. Finding more ways to make your experience with my pups even more pleasurable is and will be continuous work here which is why I'm proud to be able to say Chihuahua World is setting new standards in today's breeding world.  

BONES

We all associate dogs with bones but very few people now days actually give their dog a bone but instead usually opt for the more convenient less hassle pet shop treats. These are usually interfered some how with in their cooking process where by preservatives, colourings, artificial flavouring etc etc may be introduced. If you can find 100% natural bones most are deep fried in a synthetic oil and smell nothing like a real animal bone.

 Although  i have always fed my Chihuahuas bones it wasn't until the beginning of this year that i included them in one of my trials. Having access to just about all our edible animal's bones a few stood out through out the year as being most importantly safe and healthy for my dogs but also great for fitting in with our lifestyle , by this i mean they won't smell, decay or attract flies when lying around. Most shop brought bones as i said earlier are cooked in a crude oil type so will always attract the flies due to the oil emitting an attractant.

All my bones get oven baked slowly for one and a half hours which ensures them totally Chihuahua Puppies friendly and safe. 

There is one particular bone that really did stand out in my trials and that was a particular pork bone that believe it or not you could still have sitting on your kitchen floor 2-3 weeks after your Chihuahua Puppies first started on it without any problems what so ever.

This bone is truly remarkable as it is packed with marrow bone which takes hours and hours of gnawing to retrieve, so not only a boredom breaker but a fantastic teeth cleaner.

Due to the success of this trial i have now incorporated it my puppy program which means now all Chihuahua World Puppies from the age of 6 weeks are introduced to bones as part of their weekly diet. I feel there will be more to come on this topic so keep checking back for more news.

This bone is available to my Chihuahua Puppies Club members in your member pages. 

We are approaching the end of year and my bone trials and experiments with which there have been a few suprises and and some excellent results. Keeping away from any additives, preservatives and artificial enhancers i have had a challenge to find ways of preparing bones for maximum taste, life and of course being Chihuahua Puppies friendly. One of the biggest challenges through the summer was the obvious fly problem that is always a part of any food products, so to leave bones laying around in the heat was one of my main concerns so this needed alot of thought when choosing suitable bones. 

The cooking or preparation process was the key to this as extracting the oils and fats was an absolute must before they could be given to my dogs.

Recently i have been able to conduct a trial on another pork bone that i new would not be suitable for the summer due to the time it would take a Chihuahua to extract the meat situated deep inside. Because this bone lasts for so long and has a high meat content at the end of the day the exposed moist meat would be a major fly attractor so leaving it to winter time was the perfect solution due to no flies being present.

Results: Another success and incredibly happy Chihuahuas once again.

PUPPY PROGRAM SUCCESS

A recent experiment i carried out came from comments from my customers regarding their experiences when going to view other puppies. 

The sort of comments customers made regarding characters was how unfazed my puppies were by their surroundings in my office and by the presence of strangers compared to when they have visited other breeders puppies before coming to me. This led to me conducting a little experiment whereby the next 2 litters i kept mum and puppies in my kitchen in their beds for the duration of the 9 weeks until the puppies were ready. This meant that they would live and play in my kitchen, which is extremely big by the way, whilst other litters carried on being part of my Puppy Program meaning they would play all day in my 

Puppy House and then come in of an evening to their own designed area of the house. The puppies in the kitchen were obviously subject to house hold noises, my family etc and human interaction but when i took them for customers to view in my office the results were quite unexpected.

The comparison of the puppies from the two scenarios were quite dramatic regarding their characters as the puppies that were subject to my puppy program which includes daytime living and playing with other litters and their mums were so much more mature and possessed a lot bolder characters. The puppies which were brought up in my kitchen were nothing like they usually were when back in my kitchen with mum. What does this mean? Well i will explain, taking a puppy out of it's environment or comfort zone they have become accustomed to triggers fear and caution which can be displayed at various levels, ranging from hiding away watching what is going on or just sitting there not knowing what to do except to be cautious. This is not necessarily a bad thing as they have never been subject to a strange area or a few unknown people so it can be said this is a natural reaction. But compared to my puppies involved in my Puppy Program it is as though they couldn't be further apart as people are amazed at how they interact and show their bold characters from their very first viewing.