Preparing for Success
One of the highest priorities we have here at Idaho Jewels Poodles is starting each of our puppies off on the right paw. In order to do that you have to prepare and plan out what “success” may look like for you. For us, it’s producing happy and healthy puppies for families that will love them for a lifetime. In a previous post, we’ve talked about what we've done to build a foundation of health for our puppies. Once that foundation is solidified, then it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty work of having a successful and happy litter— through adequately preparing your puppies for success as well as your puppy buyers!
Early Neurological Stimulation
Presley’s Summer 2021 Moyen Poodle Litter
This past Summer, I learned about and started integrating “ENS” into our breeding program. Early Neurological Stimulation has truly been an absolute game changer in our efforts to properly and adequately socialize our pups! If you’re not sure what benefits ENS can integrate into your program, please read the AKC’s article on Early Neurological Stimulation for an explanation of each step taken in ENS and outlining some of their benefits in doing so! This is something that takes hardly any time each day for your litters!
For our program, ENS has greatly impacted the following behaviors and stress factors in our program:
Greater ease to meeting new people
Less stress and weight loss when weaning
Easier to bathe and blow-dry
More easy-going, friendly, and even-tempered
Stronger bonds between breeder and puppy
I’m sure as we get more experience with ENS, we will see even more of an impact on our program, but so far it has been incredible to see the difference it makes for our puppies! Part of what makes running a breeding program so rewarding is making improvements that make all the difference in the quality and happiness of your puppies and puppy buyers.
Importance of Up-Front Information
What sets Idaho Jewels Poodles apart from a lot of breeders is the wealth of information and pictures that we have available here on our website for each of our puppies. On each Available listing you are able to see their birth date, estimated adult size, when they’re ready to go home, links to their parents’ information, a personality description, relevant genetic testing, as well as pictures and pricing. We think it’s incredibly important to be very up-front and honest about what you’re getting when you choose to adopt an Idaho Jewels Poodle. Nobody likes surprises, especially if they’re going to impact the confidence of whether or not a prospective puppy buyer even wants to adopt a puppy anymore.
In addition to our thorough listings, we do require questionnaires & applications for our prospective puppy buyers. We find it incredibly important that our applicants have done their research on the breed and have a good idea of what they want from the get-go. It’s important for us not to get too deep in the process before realizing our applicant hasn’t even gotten approval from their spouse or landlord, or isn’t serious about adopting. We don’t want to waste our time or theirs, so this screening process is really a way of adequately judging whether a puppy would be a good fit for them, or whether they’ve done the necessary work in order to be approved for a puppy from Idaho Jewels Poodles.
Kellie and her Poodle-Pack. She’s a Repeat Puppy Buyer here at Idaho Jewels Poodles
Puppy Buyer Education
Here at Idaho Jewels Poodles, we feel very strongly about starting our puppy buyers on the right foot! We want our puppy buyers to feel confident about their decision to adopt from us, and we want them to feel like they’ve been adequately prepared to take on this big responsibility of caring for an Idaho Jewels Poodle!
Over the years, we’ve received many questions. For a puppy buyer, it can be very difficult to sort through what information is important and relevant to know, and what information is totally inapplicable to them. In an effort to ease our customers into welcoming their new addition, we have curated emails that we send specifically to guide our puppy buyers through the process, step-by-step, and answering any questions they may have about the following:
Importance of Grooming
Product Recommendations via our Amazon Storefront (as requested)
Final Steps, Insurance, & Preparing for Your Puppy to Come Home
Transportation Instructions & Pricing Quotes (if applicable)
How to Transfer or Register your Pet’s Microchip
Though we have a wealth of information available, inevitably we will still get asked questions. Questions are a good thing though because it means that our buyers really care about the puppy they are adopting and want to do everything the right way and want to feel prepared. Based on the questions we get asked, we are eager to improve our emails to answer those questions better for our future puppy buyers!
