Raising puppies

Raising your puppy

Quality home reared puppies with love and adoration.

Raising your puppy

We take raising puppies very seriously with lots of thought to their development and social skills. Being experienced we know the stages of development and the correct handling they require, plus the introduction of sounds, new smells, new experiences. We are a firm believer of providing enrichment toys for the puppies, and I spare no expense, or time to achieve this.
Our puppies are given natural treats. Only the best will do.
Our whole family love animals, and a big help looking after the dogs. None of our puppies are every left alone and their are always adults supervision.
My breeding plans starts years before I produce your puppy. We start on a journey learning about bloodlines, meeting the stud dogs in question, watching them, talking to their owners.
Please do contact me to ask questions about our next litter. You can whats app me any time and I will reply, and arrange for a call back if required.
My mobile number is 07584279384

Our puppies are loved, kissed and cuddled on a daily basis.

ASSURED BREEDERS & 5 Star Council license
We are proudly Kennel club assured breeders which means we undergo more checks than breeders who are not. An assessor has to come to our home every three years and check our dogs accommodation, health certificates, and much more.

We are also registered to breed dogs with our local council.
We have a 5 star license which means we meet higher welfare standards.

There is a lot of false info floating around the internet. This is mainly down to the guidance which is interpreted differently by each council, depending on what staff they have. It's also interpreted differently by people who want to breed their pet dog. It states you're allowed to have 3 litters in a year with out a license but so long as they are not sold.
The last bit people try to ignore. But you tell me how many breeders are giving them away for free. Dogs cost a lot of money to produce and it's true that by the time you've taken out expenses you have nothing left. That I agree on.
But unless people do a tax return they wont know what they are actually making or loosing. Or prove it either. If you have high welfare you wont be making thousands as it's impossible. Unfortunately councils do not look at our tax returns other wise they would walk away from show breeders. The pet breeder earns more money than show breeders. Because they are not doing all the health testing and we looked at a few adverts for the first time this year and was quite amazed at how little people are doing. Why? Money because it costs a lot.
Unfortunately some breeders are trying to make themselves sound better by saying anyone licensed is breeding more. Yet they are having 3 litters.! Unlicensed and not doing tax returns. Hmm you work it out!
Our council say if one sale has taken place then a license is required. So thats one puppy. So it is untrue what a lot of these breeders are saying just to make themselves sound good.
All I can say is I never worry about what other breeders are doing, thats your job the puppy purchaser. You can go to an unregulated breeder, or you can go to someone who is doing it all correct.
I was told this year out of 7 Bracco Italiano adverts only 2 were licensed. If you support unregulated breeding you are the problem. You can still put an advert online and not be regulated. So it's up to you to ask the breeder. If they stumble around with excuses, you know the answer. All I can say is PLEASE do your homework.

It is your responsibility to check your breeder is licensed. Because only the day you stop buying from unregulated breeders is the day dog breeding will take a different turn and the welfare on dogs will be higher.

TEMPERAMENT IS EVERYTHING!
Here at Silvestre we say temperament is everything and this why our own dogs are trained. We can not bear the thought of owning a dog which is a pain to own. Ive said time and time again they're is no point owning a champion if the temperament is no good. You must breed selectively. We are seeing a rise in the UK of poor temperaments in Hungarian vizsla which is very sad. We are aware of the bloodlines which have been imported in which carries a sharper element and we will never breed to them.
It's also about the mother and epigenics plays a massive part in dog temperaments these days. If a mother is worried, abused, or has a sharp temperament this can pass to her puppies and its carried in the genes. We have areas where mummy dog can get off her puppies and get on when she wants too. This creates a stress free raising element which is better for them and her. We do not do a hard wean on our mothers as she is teaching themes much. But we listen to our mummy dogs and act on how they are feeling at the time. We feed them great proteins which helps with litter size and health of mum and her puppies. We have also fine tuned holistic remedies which work for us to maximise good healthy litters. We feed our mums extremely well so she produces ample milk.
Our dogs have gone on to homes and have been the best pets you could wish for, scent dogs, show dogs, fun agility dogs, man training, search and rescue. We are proud of all our babies and we love to hear about how well they are doing.

Epigenics meaning -
Basically everything that happens to a dogs life, who they interact with, environment, behaviours from parents, can influence genetic changes which affects how dogs genes work.
It is noted that puppies have this inbuilt behaviour which is related to relationships with other dogs and people. So we as breeders have an awful lot to think about. We would never just use a convenient dog at stud or cheap dog at stud pulled off the main sales website. Cheap, convenient, easy doesn't mean its right. Just because its a show dog does not mean its right. So we look at every aspect in what each stud dog can bring of value to our bloodline. Does it work ? Mostly yes.

K C PAPERS
I need to explain about Kennel club papers as you the buying public do not know. Their are 3 ways you can register your puppies.
1) Activity register - This is a register of any cross breed which would like to do Kennel club events like Scrufts, or activities. So when you see an advert with papers it could be activity and the dog could be a cross breed.
2) Normal registration- this is a pedigree register or should be. On this registration system you do not have to do health testing. There is no requirement, and you can register your puppies. Lots of mistakes have been made by breeders using this system. French bulldogs are prime examples as breeders have cross bred their pups to create new colours, which caused the breed to change. The Kennel club rely on good will and honesty that you have registered the litter properly.
3) Assured breeder scheme - There are required health tests which if the breeder did not do the KC will not register. Also breeders are inspected to make sure they are of a high standard.
Their are many many breeders who are not assured breeders and I do understand why they are not part of the scheme. But we do need to make a stand in distinguishing good breeders from bad. I am forever hopeful that by supporting the scheme it will bring the change that's needed. So ideally only go to assured breeders and those which hold a breeding license. How do you know ask! Do not fuel puppy farming or badly bred pet litters. As you will be the one who will pay the costs in a sick dog.

HEALTH TESTING
Before we breed from any of our dogs they under go health testing. Each breed has required health tests. Required by the Kennel club assured breeder scheme. Remember if a breeder is not an assured breeder no health tests are required.

Some of our health tests you will not find on any online data base. For example we now do Australian Hip and elbow scoring and we retain these records. We also hold DNA tests in a large file which again you can not find online anywhere. You are welcome to see all our documents on visit.

We do not send out our health certificates for people. As we are aware they are stolen. Clever thieves no know bounds as to how they can deceive you the public.

We feel as breeders that having the health tests done are so important because we are doing everything we can to produce a healthy puppy.

I am writing a page on hip and elbow dysplasia. As in the last 12 months ive learnt more about this than all the years of owning a dog. So watch my blog for when it goes live.

We can never guarantee a dogs lifetime but we are trying our very best to breed selectively.

MATING
Mating two dogs together does not mean puppies these days, through lack of ovulation, poor fertility, semen quality, or choosing the wrong day to mate. Also animals are now being effected by environmental issues. We are now reading research which links chemicals in the environment with poor development of puppies. We are always learning.
It is not easy breeding pedigree dogs. It is very expensive to do so, if you do it right! Thats the key point, because anyone could cut corners.
The breeding dogs must be in peak condition and this comes through training, exercise, and diet.
If everything is right, and the mother is fertile we can expect puppies just 9 weeks after mating. 9 weeks goes by so quickly.
This has been why we have not made waiting lists years ahead. Because we knew that we would be letting people down as we didn't have another bitch pregnant coming along. No-one can look a year ahead and know what they are producing unless they are producing a lot of dogs. Do not promote over breeding of dogs.

HOW SOON DO WE KNOW IF THEY ARE PREGNANT?
We know if one of our girls are pregnant when they are five weeks into pregnancy. A female dog carries puppies for 9 weeks of age, and it always amazes me how they can carry puppies for just a mere 9 weeks and then born.
Photo right of an ultra sound on one mum. We do not always have an ultra sound done if we are confident mum is pregnant.
As scans are not very reliable on numbers of puppies.
We can not tell the sexes of the puppies when scanned. We do not know this until the day they are born.
Their is no magic number of males v females. Its just what ever comes out.
Mums have subtle changes and are often hungrier, slight chances occur up to 5 weeks. After 5 weeks is when the puppies start growing. This is the time we know our mums to be are pregnant.

BIRTH
It still fascinates me watching new life come into the world. Our girls are never left home alone and we do not expect them to go through this alone. We are there for reassurance and care. Keeping mum hydrated with drinks, and it gives them some confidence. Birth doesn't always go to plan, and the mum may require help. She may require the vet. We have great faith in our veterinary surgeon and he is always on call day or night when we are whelping babies.
When puppies are born they are still growing and developing. Their eyes are sealed shut and so are ears. They can suckle, and their noses smell where mums boobies are. They need to be kept very warm, and quiet.
Our puppies are often born downstairs where I have access to make tea, coffee all night long. I have a camp bed I erect beside them. Also I have access to water, to wash my hands. I have many a photo where I look like death warmed up as I have not slept, and in my pjs in the whelping box. I spend as much time as needed with mums with their new borns and if I need to catch up on sleep then the rest of my family will come and help me.

GROWING UP
For the first two weeks they require a different type of care which is given by the mum. They do not enjoy being handled. Although every day each and everyone is handled, touched, and they start to learn that when the eyes open this human monster is the one thats been touching us. Mother dog is most important to the development of the puppies. Mother dog cleans them and stimulates them to urinate and poop. With out this stimulation the puppy would die. We have to watch and make sure she is doing it correctly, other wise we have to step in.
Its very rare to have to hand feed a Vizsla puppy.
They do not crave for human attention for the first two weeks as all they want is mum. The Vizsla grows rapidly, and by 3 weeks look like little puppies. Suddenly they start to enjoy being picked up by us, and we develop a close bond. By 4 weeks they are growing cuter by the day. Around 4 weeks we can introduce toys, and they can bite them, suck them and push them around with their noses. By week 5 they are ready to be viewed by the pawparents. They are stronger, and look like little puppies. You can meet mother dog and father dog if we have father dog. This is the most exciting of times for you. By week 6 they are running about outside on our patio and we take them into the gardens. They can play and amble about, interact with the other dogs and cats. It is at this point we can start to see characters develop.

HOME REARED
I can not imagine any other way to rear puppies as they require absolute all round supervision, but also because their social aspects are changing as they grow. Handling is important, and hearing of sounds. The fire work CD, babies crying, train stations noises, etc is all important. Puppies learn to live around us, and it teaches them manners as well.
The start in life gives them a blank canvas and when you collect the puppy you go into life with a puppy whose had the right start, and you can then build on experiences and have a well adjusted puppy in society.
I provide a lot of toys, treats, games for them to get used to new things. Sounds of the vacuum cleaner, TV, music, and in todays world hearing doorbells, vehicle noises, and our other animals. Cat, small dogs, chickens and turkeys. My young grandson will visit occasionally and have puppy cuddles. I have fabulous photos of him with the puppies but his parents wishes are he is not put on the internet for obvious reasons. I can assure you the way we rear our babies makes them bomb proof.

VISITNG US
Covid kinda changed a lot of the way we did things as before Covid we would welcome people into our home. We now do video calls if required before placing a deposit.
We also now have an outside room which is just for puppy visits. Its fabulous with a sofa in and you can sit and play with the babies during your visit time.

We have available to purchase slip leads which are hand made, biothane collars, clip on leads. Plus snuffle mats. A snuffle mat can take up to 4 hours to make one, so if you wish to place an order for one i need time to make it and be ready. Snuffle mats cost £40 and they are 60 x 45 cm in size with lots of fabric tied in.

WE CHOOSE YOUR PUPPY
When living with a litter 24/7 we begin to know their personalities.
If you wish to show your dog tell us before we choose the puppies, Tell us if you wish to work your dog as we can assess if it has a natural aptitude to picking up game.
I need to know key points about you and your family so I can try and place the right puppy.
I have been told time and time again that people are glad they didn't have to choose, as its a lot of responsibility to get it right. But also matching puppies to the right owner with the right energies.
We choose at about 6 and 1/2 weeks of age. This is the right time to choose the right dog for you and your family. I do send photos of your dog.
I guess we are one of the lucky breeders who do not have sickly puppies, and all our dogs are fit and healthy. The sizes all are maintained the same and no-one gets a bad dog.

PICTURES
I send photos and videos by whats app, whilst the puppy is growing up.
I believe this is a nice touch to feel bonded to your puppies.
I love taking photos, but please note any pictures I take and send to you are mine, and can not be posted on social media, can not be sold on in any format.
I try sending photos weekly, sometimes I run over the week because Ive been busy and not had chance to take photos.

Please do not keep asking for photos as sometimes its not always possible to drop what Im doing to take photos as you can take 100 blurred photos and 1 good one.

LAST FEW WEEKS WITH US
8 weeks is the legal age to release puppies!
Our Vizsla, Bracco are fast developing breeds of dogs, and are ready to leave at 8 weeks of age. French bulldogs are 8-9 weeks as they are not quite as developed as the HPR breeds.
By leaving at 8 weeks this makes sure you are going to start the social skills the pup requires in life. I personally would never want a 9 week old Vizsla puppy as I feel I've lost some important early stages of bonding. If someone can not pick up a puppy on the date we say then we will tell you to wait for a future litter. Ive seen it before and from experience I can tell you that your puppy will have less problems if taken at 8 weeks. Everyone assumes it can not happen to them, and no breeder knows what they are talking about. But with the Vizsla in particular they need to be in a family home by 8 weeks.
I provide a whole variety of toys. Puzzle toys such as snuffle mats, Kongs which release small natural biscuits. Balls, cuddly toys, paddling pool. Fabric toys, to plastic toys. Lick mats and most importantly natural treats. The more you can give the pups the happier they are.
We do not send out nervous pups, quite the opposite.

MICRO CHIPPED
By law all puppies should be microchipped at 8 weeks before sale. We use the data base Animal tracker as this is the only data base. I believe they have now changed hands and also their rules are different. Where as a free transfer was available you will have to pay just under £10 to register your puppy in your own account. This still remains a database which I think is an easy one to navigate.
By law a puppy should be registered first to the breeder, then to the new owner. If a breeder has not done this correctly then they do not understand the laws of the UK. I am fully qualified to microchip not just my dogs but other peoples too. Having trained with a veterinary surgeon to complete my training on microchipping. I had to do two dogs and a cat in front of the vet before they would sign me off as competent.

Micro chips can migrate in the dogs skin, remember if this happens you do not need to have it removed. But just have a new tag printed on migrated chip and then when anyone finds your dog they will know to scan the whole body.

VETS VISIT
Personally I think this is one of the most important things that we do. Because their are a lot of breeders who sell dogs with out a health check first.
We have your puppy health checked a few days before leaving. Our vet is thorough, and will not say a dog is healthy if it is not. I microchip the puppies around 5-6 weeks of age, so he can scan the micro chip and write a letter for each puppy.
What would happen if the vet picked up something? We would ring you if we had designated a dog for you, and you are then given our vets telephone number if you wish to talk to him. We are extremely honest in what we do.

DIET
Do not worry about what you need to feed your dog. I will send you a diet sheet by email when I send your receipt for deposit paid.
This will tell you times to feed your puppy and what type of food.
On the hidden pages you will find diet info which you can read. Their is a long list of food companies names for you to choose from.
Remember you need a balanced diet and when feeding raw you want a ratio of 80/10/10
Puppies thrive on raw weaning food. They also grow slower than kibble fed dogs which is ideal for joints. But we know that dogs need a varied diet so they get all the adequate vitamins, minerals, amino acids and nutrients they could possibly require. We do not just stick to one food group. My puppies are given for example minced mackerel, cubed beef heart, spinach, apple, and so on. Lets make their life fun.

OUTSIDE FREEDOM
We are one of the rare breeders who has extensive outside space. My father brought the original house with land and passed it to me when he died. This is the ideal home for adult dogs and puppies. It is a huge responbiltiy looking after this amount of grassed areas, fencing etc. We have cameras everywhere, and our phones bling when you walk a step onto our property.
Puppies must have access to the outside as soon as they can. They need sunshine. This is something people do not talk about. Good old vitamin D is essential to animal health as well as humans. They develop muscle, and can walk properly. I have seen myself one breeder who kept their puppies in a small pen daily. Their was no muscle tone, it walked funny, plus it was scared to death of walking on grass. I find it a great shame that puppies are not given access to grass. Puppies need the explore which is part of life.
Our puppies will of stood on every type of surface possible. Shingle, concrete, porcelain, grass, soil, wood chips. They will play outside with toys ideal for them.

HIDDEN FILES
What are the hidden files? I have written pages of information with regards to rearing your puppy. My knowledge that I have gained from living with dogs for 52 years of my life is shared with you. I am told I should write a book. In fact this is something I am now considering doing. If you have a problem with your dog you can look it up on the hidden files and get an answer.
Their is a password for these pages, which changes every single litter. So if you are an owner from a dog years ago and can not get in, email me or whats app me and I will send the password over. Passwords should be changed regular to stop hackers getting at private information.

PICK UP
We encourage you to collect your puppy at 8 weeks of age as it is detrimental to their development to keep them longer with siblings. But if we are asked to keep on on its own for a few days that is fine, but we have to socialise the puppy. This takes a lot more work as if the Vizsla misses the early social skills it can have development behaviours later which you will not want to see.
Dogs develop in stages, and we even know the week you may contact us with a question later on. Its not clever its just a pattern we see with all the HPR breeds. 8 weeks they are actually in a nervous stage, so better to be early 8 weeks than later. Years ago puppies were allowed to leave at 6 weeks, and although I would say this is too early, we knew that 7 weeks was spot on. But along came defra and put the Vizsla in the same box as a toy breed of dog, and came up with the magic number 8.
This bonding stage is important, as it helps your dog get to understand you, be your dog. It will follow you and develop trust with you. We must be on the ball though and teach routine, and training must come in at 8 weeks. The first thing you will teach your puppy is recall. So name first. A puppy left with siblings will develop bad behavioural problems. They start to inwardly fight with each other. The puppy who is being bullied can carry this nervous disposition into adult hood. The puppy who was dominant and won each time will take that into adult hood too. Its a spiral of behaviour you just don't want. We know if you collect a puppy at 8 weeks we probably wont hear from you again with behavioural issues so long as you have build on the good foundation we have given you, and have gone to training classes before 16 weeks.

PICK UP
Is short and sweet so you can get home in day light and start the puppy's learning about its new home. When you visit me at 5 weeks you can ask me absolutely anything you want too. Also you can contact me by whats app afterwards. But we try to make pick up short and sweet so you can get home. Many people travel 8 hours or more for a puppy. We know you want to get home quickly. A puppy settles in much better if its in your home by mid afternoon, rather than evening, especially winter times. This day is the first of many where your dogs life becomes as important as yours. You will fit in with the needs of your new baby. If you can not then don't buy a dog as its going to be like this for the next 10-14 years.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Check out HERE
The page called Recommendations has been written by owners of our puppies, from their point of view.
This is very kind and we appreciate it. It is now difficult to put you in direct contact with people, as under data protection we can no longer do this. Things have changed drastically with the law on animals. But if you go to Instagram you will find plenty of happy dog owners on there, who comment on our posts.
We now have again a facebook group. Contact me to be added to the group.
Pictured right is Vicky Grylls with Lani. You can find her two silvestre dogs on instagram as Spice the search and rescue dog, and lani.

VACCINES
To learn more about vaccines go to my page
"ALL THINGS NATURALLY"!
We do not vaccinate your puppy, and this is because we have spent a lifetime learning about vaccines and how they work or in some cases do not work. The older the puppy the better chance of it developing the correct antibodies to the virus.

All puppies that drink the colostrum milk from mum already have antibodies. From 8 weeks there is a weaning of maternal antibodies. Which can take up to 16 weeks. We know of some dogs which have never been vaccinated and still have full immunity as the owners have tested them.

Side effects are so many unfortunately that we do not feel we want to subject your baby to a life time of health issues by doing it too early. But don't take my word for it. Research vaccine reactions. Dr Karen Becker, Dr Ronald Schultz are not anti vaccine. But they will explain it in a better way than I can do. Go to U TUBE and put their name in and start to listen to the information they are trying to share.

The last two puppies of my own were vaccinated at 5 months because they were fit and healthy with out vaccine up to this time. This is my choice.

What kind of reactions are seen in dogs? It can be with in 24 hours facial swelling, pus, death. Or it can develop as allergies from 6 months of age. Kidney failure, vaccine induced anaemia, post vaccine inflammation, vaccine induced meningitis, to name but a few. In all breeds regardless of size, regardless of breed or cross breed.

Above Rodney enjoying playing in the water at 8 weeks of age. We provide paddling pools for our dogs

A puppy must be well and truly settled in before you go off for a vets visit and vaccine. This can take a minimum of 2 weeks. I would look to vaccinate at the earliest around 13-14 weeks if you wish to get into training classes at 16 weeks. But socialise your puppy well during this time. Parvo is not airborne so use common sense.

WORMING
Worming puppies is something we have always done and we do them three times before you collect your puppy. In your folder there will be a worming chart to tell you when we wormed, and what did we use. Also when your next one is due. We periodically worm count and Giardia count our adult dogs, so that we know before mating they are clear of any parasites. This is a much more efficient way of breeding with out parasites.

AFTERWARDS
It is never here is the dog and goodbye. If you want to keep in contact with us we welcome this. We have a private chat group in Facebook which you can join if you wish. Find me as a friend first then I can add you to our group.
We also have an open page where I share Memes and info on dogs.
Remember puppies are frightened when they leave home. They must be well and truly settled before you head off to the vets.