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CRATE TRAINING
PET SHOP PUPPY |
Silky pups are always born black and tan and as they mature they change color. We call this 'breaking.' Normally if a puppy starts breaking at an early age it will be silver or a light blue. If they are older when they start to break they will be a dark blue.
Adult color should be silver, silver blue, pigeon blue, or slate blue and tan. The mature coat is long, straight, and silky. It requires weekly brushing.
Puppies weigh about 3-6 oz at birth. Their eyes do not open until they are about two weeks old.
The Silky Terrier is a breed that was developed to be ideally suited to city and apartment dwelling.
But will happily adapt to most lifestyles. Silkys are happy living in small apartments or big rambling houses, the city or a country setting on a farm or ranch. In general, they will fit anywhere.
A pet quality puppy might have a fault that only an experienced breeder will recognize. It could be something as simple as round shaped eyes instead of the standard which is almond shaped. I sell my show prospect puppies with a Show Contract. I sell my pet quality puppies on a spay/neuter contract and a limited registration.
A limited registration means any puppies whelped from the puppy you acquire from me cannot be registered with the AKC even though the puppy you purchase from me will be AKC registered. I also hold the AKC papers until I receive proof from your vet that the puppy has been spayed/neutered.
I do this to preserve the breed and to protect my reputation. This also helps assure me that one of my puppies won't go into a puppy-mill situation or to some unknowing person who decides their Silky needs to have a litter. I select my breeding stock to improve the chances of healthy puppies.
Some people want to know what the difference is in a show prospect puppy compared to a pet quality puppy. First let me say the pet quality puppy can be just as beautiful as the show puppy. A pet quality puppy would be lower priced because they would lack certain qualities in their structure therefore they wouldn't be considered for showing or breeding. Usually these faults are only recognizable by an experienced person.
I sell my show prospect puppies with a Show Contract. I also do co-owns with my show prospect puppies. This helps me to expand my breeding program while keeping the number of Silkys in my home down to a reasonable amount so each Silky gets ample attention.
Also for those of you with children interested in showing dogs AKC offers Junior Showmanship. Children have the opportunity to compete with others of their own age in various AKC events-from Junior Showmanship classes where they are judged on how they present their dog, to training and exhibiting their dogs in Obedience, Agility and the many performance events.
Junior classes were developed to recognize and support the unique relationship between a child and a dog, and to encourage responsible dog ownership.
http://www.puppymills.com
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The Crate
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While you may think that keeping a puppy in a crate is cruel, it is not. It serves many purposes. Wild dogs have their puppies in caves in the wild. The crate simulates that scenario. Puppies feel safe, and warm and secure in their crates.
It serves as a place to assist in house breaking your pup. Pups are less likely to soil thier living quarters.
Even though you love your dog there may be times when you do not want him to have free run of the house, especially if you are not home to watch him/her. When used properly the crate is helpful when it is not convenient to have him/her underfoot.
The crate, with bedding materials, can be used for a bed, as an indoor doghouse, or used when transporting your dog to the vet or just for a ride in the car when you travel.
The crate is an essential with a new puppy. There are many types of them, be sure to look around and get acquainted with them.
Crate Training Information
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PET SHOP PUPPIES
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Every pet shop that sells puppies will assure you, solemnly, that their puppies are different. Their puppies don't come from puppy mills, but from fine local breeders. Pillars of the community, in fact.
The reality is that responsible breeders will never place one of their puppies in a pet shop or anywhere else for resale or consignment. Never, ever, ever. Any breeder who has placed their puppy in a pet shop to be sold has immediately disqualified himself as a responsible breeder.
Because, as commercial establishments, pet shops are required to sell a puppy to anyone who can pay. Legally, they are not allowed to "screen" buyers for suitability. Responsible breeders wouldn't be able to sleep at night wondering which of their puppies might have gone to an unsuitable home and was not being properly cared for.
The pet shop industry has manuals and trade journals that teach pet shop owners and employees exactly what to say to persuade you to buy. Their marketing ploys include:
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"We buy only from local breeders."
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What difference does this make? Whether a breeder is local or lives in Timbuktu, whether he has produced only one litter or many -- if he has placed his puppies in a pet shop, his breeding practices are irresponsible. Geographical location makes no difference at all.
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"We buy only from USDA-licensed breeders"
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USDA stands for the United States Department of Agriculture. Their business is supposed to be livestock. They know little or nothing about dogs. As long as a breeder's paperwork is in order, the facilities are disinfected, cages are a minimum size, and no infectious diseases such as parvo are immediately obvious, the kennel passes.
The USDA has not the slightest interest in...
- whether the breeder knows anything about his breed
- whether the dogs used for breeding look like their breed
- whether the dogs used for breeding act like their breed
- whether the dogs used for breeding are free of genetic health problems such as hip dysplasia, eye diseases, or heart defects.
USDA Breeder is a label to stay away from. The only reason someone would apply for this license is to crank out lots of puppies.
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Not just health problems
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Obedience instructors and canine behavioral consultants will be happy to tell you about the temperament and behavior problems that develop in many pet shop puppies as they grow up.
Most pet shop puppies start out playful and friendly, but as they mature, their genes begin to assert themselves. If their parents or grandparents had shy or aggressive or hyperactive temperaments, those genes will show up during adolescence and adulthood.
Many pet shop puppies are nippy. Some were removed from their mother before 7 weeks of age, a critical period of time where she teaches them "bite inhibition." Some have learned to nip from interacting with so many potential owners wandering through the pet shop, including kids who tug and play roughly. Most of these potential owners thought the nipping was cute, didn't correct the puppy for it, and so the habit becomes entrenched.
Finally, raised in a small cage in which they're encouraged to eliminate freely, pet shop puppies are notoriously difficult to housebreak.
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The major reason not to buy -- supporting the industry
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You may wish to "rescue" a pet shop puppy. That's completely understandable. We all feel sorry for them.
But your good intentions will backfire, because you are feeding the industry by rewarding it with money.
You've emptied one cage, yes -- which creates demand for yet another litter to be produced to fill that cage. Even if you're very, very lucky, and your one individual puppy turns out okay, a large percentage of the others will not -- and YOU provided the incentive for them to be born by buying the one who came before them.
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So what seems like a simple, isolated purchase actually contributes to:
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- The misery of adult females who spend their lives in a cage, being bred again and again to provide puppies that you and others can buy
- The misery of these future puppies born with health and temperament problems
- The misery of future families who buy these puppies and then try to cope with the health and temperament problems
- The misery of animal rescue groups trying to deal with the flood of pet shop puppies dumped on their doorstep because families gave up on the health and temperament problems
I hope it's clear that when you buy one of those cute puppies in the pet shop window, you buy more than the puppy. You buy the budding physical and behavioral problems created by the bad genes passed on by untested parents whom you never get to see and evaluate.
Worse than that, you buy into a profit-hungry industry that is hurting innocent animals. Simply out of good conscience, a pet shop should not be anyone's choice as a source for a puppy.
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