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| BREEDER'S ADVICES, MY ARTICLES ABOUT POODLES |
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By the age of four weeks puppies start getting interested in their surroundings. They must have an opportunity to leave the nest and explore the space beyond it. It is possible to make a low fence on a relatively small area, but you have to take into account that soon puppies will learn to move confidently and quickly and borders of their territory will have to be extended. Special open-air cages are perfectly fit for it. They are high and allow to change the size of juniors' ground. All the time I'm having puppies with me I use to call "round-the-clock presence in the animal world". I like this time very much, I'm fond of upbringing puppies, watching them and inventing their names. Watching puppies helps you start distinguishing them according to their quality by the age of 2 months. It doesn't mean that this viewpoint won't be changed later. In the age of three months puppies radically differ from two and four months' age. In rare cases you can define a leading puppy from the start basing on his behavior and figure. Such super puppies are scarce and a breeder will hardly part with such a dog. I usually produce 2 - 3 litters per year as well as 2 - 3 litters from bitches with joint ownership. I consider pointless producing a bigger number of litters brought up by me personally. Quality suffers. That is why leading Western breeders limit themselves producing not more than 8 - 15 puppies per year or even less. They note with pride that they don't work for the "market". Club rules often state a maximum permissible quantity of puppies produced by a kennel per year. My conditions allow me to keep puppies for a long time until I find reliable owners for them. I lack neither place for puppies nor money for their feeding. The first vaccination is made when puppies are 8 weeks old; the second one - at the age of 12 weeks. I always use an imported vaccine. In two weeks after the first vaccination I start letting puppies out into the yard. It is an amazing sight. Life proves to be so BIG and at first puppies are terrified. Soon their fear disappears and they start exploring a vast space of the lawn, different kinds of flower-beds and Alpine hills. If it happens in spring or in summer it is my turn to be terrified looking at spoilt flower-beds. Nevertheless puppies are a source of an endless laugh from affection and delight and damage to spoilt plants can't be compared with pleasure from actions of a band of kutiks. In winter it is also very interesting to watch puppies. Everywhere there are hills of snow, paths, turns - you could get lost in the labyrinth of winter paths or drown in a snowdrift. In winter walks are not as long as in summer. Running develops muscles, makes movements and pushing motions of hind legs stronger. Puppies are strong, brave and curious. If the weather is bad they run in the house. I let them out of their open-air cage so that they can move freely across the house. Exit into the sitting room is blocked by a special fence, because otherwise my carpets will be ruined. Space of the hall and my big kitchen is quite enough for puppies. Most often they pee on a special newspaper, but sometimes puppies interpret the idea of newspaper more freely. Linoleum tolerates everything and remains clean thanks to constant interference of my mop. When puppies are two months old mothers stop feeding them and I have to do it five times per day. Then comes a horrible trial with tattoo. A club instructor comes, describes each puppy separately and gives a puppy pedigree to each of them. Those puppies that weren't taken from the start pass a repeated vaccination by the same vaccine when they are 12 weeks old. It is done according to instructions of the producing company. In two weeks I start carefully introducing them to an elder generation of the kennel's poodles. When puppies are four months old I start feeding them three times a day. After four months puppies must know how to behave themselves in the company of elder dogs. I take them to the room with elder dogs several times a day. At first such visits are very short. I must be sure that puppies can jump up low sofas and won't sleep on the floor which could be dangerous in winter. They'll have to spend some time without me and they have to get used to a thought that a man can't be with them all the time. After some crying puppies stop being capricious and start playing with each other. Young dogs join their company. So that is how adaptation to some elements of adult life happens. By now puppies were clipped twice, they are familiar with muzzle clipping, know what a show stance is, get used to combing whether they want it or not. I also cut their claws and pull fur out of ears. When a puppy is four months old it is possible to give a very likely forecast of his/her future. Special care and attention to a puppy are needed during the changing of teeth. I think that this period is very important in forming character and mental stability that's why I pay much attention to this period. I'm not indifferent to the destiny of puppies produced by me or my kennel. If there is an opportunity or rather a wish of the other side to preserve relations I agree with delight. I ring up myself or owners call me. It is good to have a bilateral contact. Sometimes such contacts transform into friendship and cooperation. Unfortunately promises given during the puppy's buying are very often forgotten and I get news about my dog more and more seldom. Twice I received information about death of my puppies. A wonderful 2.5 year-old silver toy-bitch Temochka - a championj of Russia and Belorussia died from a tick bite. It was a great loss for me because I loved her so much and had a certain breeding plans. Puppies' upbringing is a difficult labor. Everything is not always as smooth as I described it above. Illnesses as well as deaths occur, too. If death of very small puppies causes a storm of negative emotions, loss of grown clever kutiks (a Russian tender name for puppies) leads to a nervous derangement. You don't sleep nor eat trying to get a puppy back but sometimes all efforts are in vain. There is a corner on the territory of my country estate "Russky Dvor" where our beloved Tootsie, her mother J. Legre and four puppies are buried. Two big stones and four little ones remind us of them. They are a part of the kennel's history, too. I also want to add that I keep two German sheep dog males for guarding. Beautiful strong animals live outdoors the whole year round. Everything in their life is based on rules. Both dogs are well-trained. There is a big open-air cage and warm kennels. They get tasty food and are as well looked after as poodles. Walking with them has to be more intensive, because some time must be devoted to repeating orders so as not to forget them. German sheep dogs like obeying and fulfill orders with pleasure. When the weather is warm and dry they run 4 - 6 km a day with different speed. I pass the adjusted route in 30 - 40 min on my small scooter (if there is no swimming in the pool). In winter sheepdogs also enjoy playing with snowballs in deep snow. Next winter when the weather is cold 8 years-old Jiskar will live in the house. Young Falko is passing an attack and defense course in a well-known serious Moscow company "Exler" and soon will replace the elder dog in the estate guarding. These dogs are very picturesque in each season. My dear readers, probably you came to the conclusion that I don't do anything besides upbringing puppies and looking after dogs and spend all my time with them. It is not so. Life in a country estate doesn't resemble common city life. You don't have to spend much time walking with dogs. They walk on their own. I have a lot of free time which I spend with my landscape garden. My working day begins at 8 a.m. and is over by midnight when I boil rice for my dogs' breakfast. Every year I have new ideas about design of one or another part of the garden. I have to look through a lot of landscape literature. Neighbors come to me for advice on design of their gardens. When we moved to Kokoshkino no one was interested in ornamental design. There were only beds, greenhouses and a bit of flowers planted in line. Vast lots half a hectare each with wonderful fifty-year-old trees remained practically unreclaimed. Now there is space for a lawn, Alpine hills and other elements of landscape design. People want to add beauty to their everyday life. Design is a very fascinating occupation. This winter (2000/2001) I'm getting familiar with computer and Internet and I find this occupation very interesting, too. I often take my poodles to dog shows. I prefer taking part in big shows CACIB class as well as All-Russian ones. I also take my dogs abroad, for they are competitive and I don't need to go to small local shows and take titles from local dogs. It is a complicated task to get a Russian Champion and an Interchampion in the future for each of my young dogs. The results of the most prestige shows (World and European ones) allowed us to conclude that Russian poodles are quite competitive. Many of them are imported from well-known and less known European kennels. Different combinations of these dogs allowed us to receive in Russia offsprings of the highest international level. I'm proud that my stud-dogs Silver Kolja of Twist Castle, Piccadilly's Wonderboy, young Superstar's Black Unexpected Joy and Marlon of Twist Castle were and are directly connected with forming and development of silver, white and black dwarf and toy poodles in Russia. Maybe not all dogs imported into Russia are ideal ones, after all ideal dogs don't exist, but great love of their owners and unsurpassable proficiency of Russian groomers help to win convincing victories of native poodles on Russian and European rings. And I'm very sorry when all our efforts and hopes are crushed for the sake of ring "policy" (Europe, Posnan-2000, Dwarf Classics). I want to give several pieces of good advice to future owners of kennels: 1. Don't hurry to buy a poodle or one more. Wait for a month or for nine months if it is necessary and buy a "super" dog. Listen to the advice of 2 - 3 specialists, seek counsel from experienced breeders and form your own point of view. The best variant is to search dog shows and to find a male/female whose puppy you'd like to buy. 2. Be ready to the fact that poodle kennel is an unprofitable business. Your 1 - 3 litters per year won't cover costs on feeding, veterinary treatment, cutting, grooming facilities, show fees, road expenses etc. Cost of your labor is not even taken into account! Only real fanatics can work without profit and get pleasure from their work. Are you a fanatic?! Than you are welcome! 3. If you start a kennel with joint ownership choose your partner basing not on your sympathies (they come and go), but on his/her excellent bitches. You don't need simply very good ones. The kennel mustn't produce a constant average quality. Your reputation as a breeder is at stake. 4. And the last thing. Knowledge has no limits. Be curious and inquisitive, acquire knowledge and share it. Learn the pleasure of sharing your knowledge. I tried to tell you, dear readers, those novices and amateurs who love this breed about my kennel "Russky Dvor", my dogs and their influence on developing this breed as a whole, about a new turn in blood breeding in the kennel and preserving traditions, about peculiarities of my "special" puppies' breeding. I hope that I managed to pass you my love to this beautiful breed. I think that this is more informative than simple listing victories, trophies and titles of each my poodle. This information is given on my site
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