Howlite Dogs

03/08/2022

02/17/2022

12/15/2021

When people get a new dog, everyone talks about puppyhood, the does and don’ts, how to deal with specific puppy issues. People will prepare themselves for the first few challenging months with a puppy.

The mess, chaos and sleepless nights are generally overshadowed by the cute fluffy cuddles and the expectation that it won’t last for too long. Your eager little puppy will start to master toilet training, sleeping through the night, basic skills and even recall, but then adolescence hits.

For some it hits like a bus, but very few people talk about adolescence.

Adolescence is a really hard and trying time for both dog and owner. For owners, it can be really frustrating, as your puppy that was making loads of progress can suddenly stop, and even regress in some areas. Some of the behaviours that were adorable as a tiny puppy, become annoying and rude by a dog who is a lot bigger. With the largest number of dogs being placed into rescue during adolescence.

From roughly 5-6 months until around 18-24 months, your puppy is no longer a puppy, but rather a teenager. This can look very different in different dogs. Some may become more anxious, or fearful, some more reactive to things, others over confident, and for some lucky owners their dog will remain easy going and steady.

For the dog, adolescence is a really difficult period to navigate through, there are so many changes with hormones, genetic drives, even the brain structure and a second fear period, all happening simultaneously.

Hormones play a bit part into the development and sexual maturity of a dog. For female this may be a season and potential subsequent phantom pregnancy, this may result in dramatic behaviour changes. For males, they have the highest level of testosterone in their body, than at any other time in their life, even adulthood, and you may find your adolescent male starts to become more aggressive particularly toward other entire male dogs.

You may find that certain innate behaviours get “switched on” and become more easily triggered. So with Collies you may find that your dog starts to herd more things, and becomes more reactive to things.

Your dogs behaviour may also change, there are a number of behaviours associated with adolescence such as:
- Increased independence, some may label this stubbornness.
- Decreased responsiveness to trained cues
- Increased impulsivity
- Increase in energy
- Gender specific behaviours (i.e scent marking)
- Exacerbation of existing patterns (i.e Destructive behaviour, reactivity, fear based behaviours, excessive barking, compulsive behaviours etc)

During adolescence the brain structure changes and develops into a mature brain. New neural pathways are made, and others are lost, even ones that you use regularly, infuriatingly. Your dog may become more reactive, the reason for this is that the inhibitory neurons of the amygdala don’t fully mature until the end of adolescence, these help to dampen down emotional responses. You may find that they become more sensitive to things, and remember negative things more than previously, this is because extinction memory is impaired during this period, which means your dog is more likely to create fear memories due to a bad experience. The training you do with your dog may feel like you’re taking one step forward, but two steps back, this is because there is a decrease in the communication between the frontal cortex and amygdala, this is a key component for skills training.

It is important to try have patience and compassion, for both your dog and yourselves, as you guide and support your dog through this sensitive developmental period.

10/25/2021

For those who are struggling with puppy or even young adult behaviours, this fantastic chart lays it all out for you. Whether your teaching a basic sit, or an advanced competitive command, the strategy is still the same!

09/06/2021

07/25/2021

The biggest downfall by far of reputable breeders is that they do not advertise as well as backyard breeders. Backyard breeders are all over Facebook, Craigslist, broker sites like PuppyFind, etc., so all a person has to do is google “X breed puppies near me” and they pop right up. A large majority of reputable breeders still tend to operate based on word of mouth, meeting at dog shows, or assuming people know the appropriate steps in which to find them through breed clubs.

Unfortunately, it has become abundantly clear that most people are unaware of how to properly search for and vet a good breeder. Hopefully someday soon reputable breeders will start shouting from the rooftops about their breeding programs the way that backyard breeders do, but until then let’s walk through some basic steps of how to find a reputable breeder.

Once you know what breed meshes well with your lifestyle, the best place to start is the parent club website. Typically, you can just google “X breed club or America”. For example, for Siberian huskies it is https://www.shca.org/. Most parent club websites will have a breeder referral page where they will list breeders by state who adhere to their code of ethics. They may also have a program that will refer you to your state or closest city breed club. Starting by contacting the breeders near you or in areas to which you are willing to travel is a great start. Even if they do not have any planned litters that will fit your needs, they often can refer you to friends in the breed who might.

If the parent club website doesn’t quite have what you are looking for or just is not kept very well up to date, there are a few Facebook groups that can aid in your search. My favorites are:

Uncensored Opinions of Breeders (for real)
(FB wouldn’t give me a link)
Uncensored Opinions of Breeders- Purebred Edition
(https://m.facebook.com/groups/399353377878943?group_view_referrer=search)
Fact or Fiction: Uncensored Opinions of Breeders
(https://m.facebook.com/groups/165506736957539?group_view_referrer=search)

These groups are full of reputable breeders and breed enthusiasts who can help point you in the right direction for a breeder that will fit your needs while also being ethical.

Once you have found some breeders to look into, let’s go over some of the first things I look for in a breeder’s website or page to determine if they are someone I would ethically buy from.

Health testing:
I want links directly to the results for every single one of their breeding dogs or I want registered names available so I can look them up on OFA myself. (Please note that I am from the US, so my recommendations are based on that. If you live in another country or are looking for an import, health testing results may be in a different database). The breed parent club typically has a subpage that lists the appropriate health testing required for ethical breeding or you can search by breed through OFA’s site (https://www.ofa.org/browse-by-breed).

Accomplishments:
I want to see what they are doing with their dogs that makes them worthy of being bred. This is part of what sets them apart from a BYB throwing any two random dogs together. I would like to see their registered names listed out with all of their titles. Photos or videos of them performing work would also be excellent if you are looking for a working breed that isn’t titled to be proven. Even if you are only looking for a pet and not a show dog, this is still important. Champion titles in conformation show that their breeding dogs are to standard and structurally correct. This in conjunction with health testing means you are likely to also have a structurally sound puppy. Performance titles are indications of drive, energy, and biddability, which are all important things to be aware of for the pet you are bringing home. Be weary of anyone who advertises “champion bloodlines” as this just means they are riding on the coattails of dogs higher in their pedigrees, but have not actually proven their own dogs.

Stacked photos of their breeding dogs:
Candid and action shots are nice to have, but a proper stacked photo will help you see the structure of their breeding dogs.

Age of breeding dogs:
Under most circumstances, two years is the minimum age for breeding. Many health tests cannot be completed until after 24 months of age.

Number of breeding dogs/litters:
Quality should never be sacrificed for quantity. If they have 10 studs and 10 dams and multiple litters on the ground regularly, it would make me question the level of care given to each litter. It would also make me question how someone would have time to prove their dogs worthy to breed if they are constantly whelping litters.

Contract/health guarantee:
I will skim through this in my preliminary search for any glaring red flags. For example, if the breeder requires I purchase NuVet, a MLM product, from them for the life of the pet for their health guarantee to even be upheld, they are a hard pass from me.

Registry:
I want to see that their dogs are registered with a reputable registry, such as AKC, UKC, or CKC (Canadian), but never Continental Kennel Club as they are not a reputable registry.

I also recommend that you familiarize yourself with at least some parts of your chosen breed’s standard, that way you can quickly see if a breeder is intentionally breeding for out of standard dogs. A few aspects of the standard that you can tell at a glance:

Coat type:
The standard will outline the coat type and length appropriate for the breed, as well as faulted or DQ coat types for the breed. For example, a long, rough, or shaggy coat on a Siberian husky is considered a fault and therefore no reputable breeder will intentionally breed for wooly coats.

Coat color:
The standard also outlines all acceptable coat colors and patterns. There may be some discrepancy amongst registries, for example AKC does not allow multi-colored poodles to be shown, but UKC does. However, it helps to note which colors or patterns do not naturally occur in the breed. Siberian huskies come in just about every color and pattern possible, but merle and brindle are not naturally occurring and therefore had to have been bred in from another breed. Similarly, breeders emphasizing certain colors are often not reputable. For example, golden retrievers come in various shades of red from very pale to very deep, although per the standard these extremes shades are undesirable. Breeders claiming to be “English cream” golden breeders are typically not reputable as they are breeding for an undesirable color, often choosing that color over proper structure.

Size:
The standard outlines typical height and weight ranges for the breed. It also can be where you can find if there are size variations in a breed, such as toy, miniature, and standard poodles. This can help you determine if a breeder is intentionally breeding under or oversized dogs or claiming to be breeding mini or toy versions of a breed that does not have a mini/toy version. (Note that the term “teacup” is always a BYB term).

Additionally, here is a post with some other immediate red flag terms:

https://www.facebook.com/460665667688318/posts/853289681759246/?extid=0&d=n

Finding the breeder that is right for you can be a daunting and lengthy task, but hopefully with these tips you’ll be able to more easily w**d out the obvious backyard breeders because the less people support them, the less inclined they will be to keep producing.