How our puppies are raised

Born in the kitchen, raised on the farm

Puppies are born in a whelping box in our back kitchen, next to the range, and stay there for three weeks. At four weeks they move to the puppy room next door, with a door out to a fenced puppy garden of grass, gravel and bark. From five weeks they come out onto the farm in short, supervised trips: the yard, the quad, the ducks through the fence, the sheep from the other side of a gate.

We do not follow a branded programme. What we do is a mix of early handling, a sound programme, new surfaces every day and a lot of people, written down so we can tell you exactly what your puppy has met. A puppy that has seen it all calmly at seven weeks still needs you to keep going for the next six months.

Week by week

Weeks 0–2With Sorcha in the whelping box. Weighed every morning. A few seconds of gentle handling daily from day 3 to day 16. Vet check on day 3; first worming at 2 weeks.
Weeks 3–4Eyes and ears open. First soaked food on about day 24. Move to the puppy room; a toilet area they choose themselves. Sound programme at low volume while they eat. Worming at 4 weeks.
Weeks 5–6Puppy garden most of the day. Car rides, the yard, the quad trailer, ducks and sheep through a fence. Visitors from week 5, one family at a time. Microchip and DNA swabs at 6 weeks.
Week 7Litter eye screen by a BVA/RKC/ISDS panellist. A structured temperament assessment by a trainer who has not met them. Matching to families.
Weeks 8–10First vaccination and full vet check. Go-home days from 8 weeks; we are happy to keep a puppy to 10 weeks if that suits your diary.

What every puppy has met before it leaves

People

Men, women, teenagers, children from three upwards, a person with a stick, someone in a hat and wellies, a high-vis jacket. At least twenty visitors across the litter.

Sounds

The hoover, the washing machine, pots and pans, the tractor, the quad, thunder and fireworks recordings, a crowd at a show, the dog-show tannoy.

Surfaces

Lino, carpet, grass, gravel, bark, wet grass, a rubber mat, a wobble board, a low plank, a shallow tray of water, the metal floor of a trailer.

Stock

Ducks and sheep through a fence from week 5 — calm exposure only. No puppy is allowed to chase. Stock homes take it from there with their trainer.

Car and crate

A crate in the puppy room from week 4, crate naps from week 6, and three car trips before going home.

Grooming and handling

Brushing, nail trims every week, ears and teeth looked at, being lifted and held on the table the way the vet will.

Alone time

Short spells away from littermates from week 6, a few minutes at a time, so the first night at your house isn't the first time alone.

Other dogs

Tess, Fia, Lasair and Rua, all adult, all sensible. No outside dogs until they are vaccinated.

What a puppy goes home with

First vaccination (Nobivac DHPPi + L4) and a full vet health check at 8 weeks, signed off by our vet in Aughrim

Microchip, registered to you on the Fido database on go-home day (chipped at 6 weeks)

Wormed with fenbendazole at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks; dates and doses in the record

EU pet passport

IKC registration certificate and signed transfer, endorsements explained in writing

Five-generation pedigree

Litter eye screen certificate (BVA/RKC/ISDS, at 7 weeks)

The puppy's own MDR1 and DM DNA results from Laboklin

Copies of both parents' hip, elbow, eye and DNA certificates

The Fernhill puppy contract, signed by both of us

Diet sheet and 2 kg of the food they are on, a blanket that smells of the litter, a toy, a collar and lead

An MDR1 drug card for your vet and a care folder from birth to two years

Why 8 to 10 weeks

Irish law sets 8 weeks as the youngest a puppy may be sold, and we keep to that. Between 8 and 10 weeks we will fit your go-home day around your holidays. A puppy can't travel abroad before about 15 weeks (rabies vaccine at 12 weeks plus 21 days), so families in Britain or the continent should plan for that.