Stag Valley Homestead

Week two was a cacophony of growth and development. Eyes opening ears listening and legs exploring. The last few sessions of ENS (Early Neurological stimulation) are giving way to Tolerance building, sensory exercise and the beginnings of experiences and introductions. From here on out we'll be working on all the prep work, smells and sounds that we can use to gauge interest, aversions and individual confidence and curiosity. As an added fun note it looks as though MOST of our ept parents are going to be in or around southern Colorado where most of last years pups also found their forever homes! Stay tuned!

🐾 LITTER UPDATE: THE WEEK 1 SNAPSHOT 🐾 We are officially one week in, and what a whirlwind of growth, squeaks, and tiny milestones it has been! Overall, the entire litter is hitting their targets beautifully, showing incredible resilience, and keeping us on our toes with an amazing mix of big personalities. 🐾 The Great Scale Debate: Big vs. Small 🐾 One of the most fun parts of week one is watching the dramatic size differences develop across the whelping box. To give you an idea of the scale we are working with right now, just take a look at these two. We love seeing a steady rampant growth streak and an overal.cibrantly healthy pup just as much as the next person and always fret over the smaller runty pups treating them like porcelain only to be corrected time and time again by how well they hold their own. Seeing them side-by-side in the box really accentuates how beautifully unique each individual puppy is right from the start! Even our black collar runt, Toph, is proving that size has absolutely nothing to do with heart—she is keeping up robustly and easily holding her own against her giant siblings at the milk bar. 🐾 Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS): 🐾 This week was all about laying down high-quality behavioral foundations. The puppies have been working through their daily ENS exercises, and their stress recovery times are phenomenal across the board. We're already using these early handling sessions to customize our care; for instance, since Erden and Kaya showed a little bit of early sensitivity around their paws, we are spending extra, gentle moments massaging their feet now to ensure they grow up to be completely relaxed for future nail trims. 🐾 Box Dynamics & Personalities: 🐾 Though their eyes and ears aren't open yet, their individual spirits are already shining bright! We have everything from independent explorers like Kaya (who loves seeking out new corners of the box) and sun-bathers like Jörde, to total snuggle-bugs like Zola and Avani who melt into our arms the second they are handled. And of course, Miss Urui has officially crowned herself the voice of the litter, keeping us thoroughly entertained with her constant musical whines. We are so incredibly proud of how this healthy, happy group is thriving. Thank you all for following along on their journey—stay tuned for open eyes and first steps in Week 2! Deposits officially open June 4th of this week and the wait-list is full so be sure to reach out and ask anything you need to tidy up your selections on pups.

Echos final litter has arrived! This pairing was earlier than we had planned due to a silent heat cycle but we are still thrilled for 8 happy healthy babies! Puppy profiles will be updated in 48 hours to allow ample time for momma to simply enjoy her babies in low stress with only health check handling. As of now the wait-list is FULL and we will be accepting only reserve applicants to safeguard any last minute family backouts. We will NOT be accepting deposits for pick of litter placement and will NOT be accepting deposits to hold specific pups until they are 14 days old. This window is to allow us the time to evaluate each pup's growth and progress over those days to ensure they're advancing normally. We will not mark pups available if they show signs of struggling to grow and thrive until they meet their age target goals. This 14 day window allows all our longstanding vigilant waitlisters to have the same fair shot at selecting their pup as someone newly committed. For all those who are just joining feel free to follow along on our face book page stag valley bc owners or follow us here. For all our approved waitlisters and families- The countdown starts today for your future as a stag valley steward 🐾 😁

Hope everyone had a fantastic Howl-O-Ween! Pups are eyes open, ears open and personalities are starting to shine! I'll be updating individual profiles shortly but wanted to give an in depth look at what they'll be working on this week. 🐾 Motion: As the pups start to orient themselves in the world with newfound sight and sound we work on motion to develop their balance, equilibrium and inner ears to later hopefully offset any potential motion sickness . 🐾 Sensory: sudden movement, sounds, stronger smells and activity help develop their tolerances and curb any overactive fearful mindsets. 🐾 Tummy time: pups have officially moved out from the secluded whelping corner into the playpen where they can explore things like teething rings, toys, tunnels, pillows, thin bricks and wood ramps all to help them hone their motor skills. 🐾 Water: while pups are dominantly on milk introductions to shallow pans of water help not only introduce them to water as a part of life but encourages them to start drinking early giving momma a break from hungry vs thirsty and setting the stone for her to start spending more time away from them. 🐾 Nail trimming: these puppies have some INCREDIBLE nails at this age and momma direly needs us to nip, file and get them to a safe level. This is also when we start introducing vibrations and slight pressure in hopes that it helps pups on the long path of grooming tolerance so their future groomers are blessed with good dogs too

Today we got our colors! It was a early morning photo shoot and will be. A bit before profiles are officially updated but wanted to share here for a minute while I was on to answer messages. All pups are doing fantastic, with some already straining to open their eyes and see the world. A few pups stand out in their own ways and I can't wait to date them with you!

This week the pups are starting to get fully integrated into the routine on the farm. No more going from the inside puppy pen to the outside puppy pen only. We've started expanding our journeys around the livestock, around the gardens and separate yards, up and down the back steps and front steps which are ironically less dangerous than the back steps but seem more intimidating to the pups for some reason. We are coming along great for crate training, mild regression on potty training has started to fall back in line. We've entered the weary and cautious phase of puppyhood where they were on the side of caution instead of rushing headfirst which helps a ton when exposing them to new situations, areas or experiences. We're aiming to have everyone get familiar with staying close off leash, working on eye contact and keeping pups trained up not to wander beyond eyesight preferably in a 50 foot radius of us with lots of work on personal names and recall to better shape their recognition and obedience. The goal this next week is to also be keen on staying out of roadways with the use of a lightweight pull behind cart going by at varying speeds on the roadway to teach pups that roadways are a place of vigilance and risk. The cart is pulled by rope or lightly pushed from behind and meant to spook the pups into avoiding roads and wheels all together. This same cart shuttles them across larger terrains on the farm when the were smaller so it simultaneously helps ease them into car rides early on. Helping keep the balance between safety IN and OUT of vehicles. We will progress to a slower ATV with a cardboard puppy guard that goes a whopping 5mph, just fast enough to keep pups attentive and weary of roadways when they get a bit bigger. All in all enjoy the autumn cool down as well as these cute pics and videos to celebrate the increasing bravery of these little titans.

Week 4 🐾