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Our Puppy Curriculum: Building Confident Companions
• Includes early neurological stimulation (ENS)
• Socialization with sounds, people, and textures
• Foundational crate and litter tray potty

We raise our puppies using a thoughtful curriculum that introduces positive experiences in their first weeks of life. This foundation assists in buiding emotionally stable, confident companions with a deep desire to connect.

Puppy Curriculum Overview

The “Puppy Curriculum” is the foundational approach we follow daily in raising our Australian Shepherd and Aussiedoodle puppies. This curriculum incorporates Empowered Breeder/BAB protocols, elements of Puppy Culture with AviDog mixed in, and our own growth-enrichment practices. These combined protocols help our puppies adjust to the world they’ve entered and set them up to become well-rounded, confident companions for life.

Please note: We do not remove puppies from their mother for extended periods. All activities, such as taking weights and conducting Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), are done right next to the whelping pen, with the mother’s watchful eyes on us at all times.

ENS exercises each day during the early puppy developmental phase, days 3-16, is beneficial in:

• Introducing puppies to mild stresses in a controlled way.
• Improving stress responses in later life.
• Stimulating the neurological system.
• Improving puppies’ growth, immune and cardiovascular systems.

Each day, we gently handle our puppies to help them become comfortable with touch. Starting at week three, we introduce our “Puppy Massage,” a technique developed by Jeanette Forrey through her Empowered Breeder Program. This method gradually builds tolerance to different forms of touch and helps our puppies become more adaptable.

During the Puppy Massage, we rub their ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, tap their nails, rub their backs, gently tug on their tails, massage their paws, and rub their bellies. One of our unique additions to this program is gently holding the puppy by the scruff and moving our hand around. This simulates a situation where a quick scruff grab might be necessary for safety, ensuring the puppy is familiar with the sensation and will respond appropriately.

We firmly believe that Puppy Massage is essential for our puppies’ development, and we are dedicated to making it an integral part of our program. We also encourage our puppy parents to continue this beneficial practice once they bring their God’s Little Aussies puppy into their home!

We begin sound training with our puppies early on. This training involves exposing them to various noises at low levels and gradually increasing the intensity over the 10 weeks before they go to their new homes. The sounds they encounter include police sirens, trains, construction equipment, babies crying, doorbells, dogs barking, loud bangs, fireworks, vacuum cleaners, city sounds, laughter, classical music, and more.

In addition to sound training, we also introduce a variety of sights and different textures to help our puppies learn and adapt. Starting at 3 weeks of age, we safely expose them to new items inside the whelping box to ensure they’re comfortable with their environment.

We live on a farm and have a petting zoo with a diverse group of livestock and small critters. Our puppies are exposed to many different scents, often just from my presence alone. We also carefully introduce them to some of our animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, chicks, and mini horses and donkeys, to further enrich their scent experiences.

While we provide all these experiences, it’s important to note that as the puppies grow, they may react differently to various situations at different ages. However, the foundation we’ve built will give them a valuable memory to rely on when faced with new or uncertain situations.