OUR PUPPY PLAN PHILOSOPHY
THE IMPACT BEYOND EIGHT WEEKS 💛
We are incredibly proud to have had a number of our puppies go on to become school dogs, including within Special Educational Needs schools, as well as a puppy who now accompanies their owner to a care home.
The feedback we receive about these dogs and the positive difference they are making to people’s lives makes us incredibly proud. One of our dogs was even recognised within the school’s Ofsted report for the positive impact they were having on the children.
We believe this is a reflection of careful breeding, alongside the huge amount of emphasis we place on The Puppy Plan, early experiences and socialisation during those incredibly important first eight weeks.
The first eight weeks are our part of that journey, and the second eight weeks are yours. Once you have reserved a puppy, we send you a copy of The Puppy Plan, so you have four weeks to prepare while you’re waiting for your puppy to join your family, giving you time to read through it and get to grips with the Puppy Plan.
We take our eight weeks incredibly seriously. We put a huge amount of time, care and thought into giving our puppies as many positive, age-appropriate experiences as we safely can.
Our puppies are raised around our children and grandchildren of different ages.
We’re constantly thinking of new ideas, different textures and little everyday experiences that will help prepare them for the world they’re going into.
The list of experiences our puppies have with us is endless, and that’s the part I get most excited about. I’m always creating new ideas and experiences for them. I’m constantly thinking about what else we can safely introduce and different ways for them to experience something new.
Along with all of the obvious experiences- small things like the puppies having different food bowls daily, different shapes and materials, including reflective aluminium bowls, because something as simple as seeing their own reflection or hearing their food move around a metal bowl can be a completely new experience for a puppy.
Body handling is part of every day. We gently touch their paws and legs, look at their teeth, eyes and ears, run our hands along their bodies from the tip of their tail down their back, touch between their toes and gently hold them in different positions, including safely on their backs like a baby. We want being examined and handled to become a normal part of life, helping prepare them for future grooming, veterinary care and everyday handling.
Our Puppy Plan is never just a set checklist that we work through. It’s constantly developing and evolving, because there is always something else we can think of to help prepare our puppies for the world ahead.
The Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club, together with leading trainer and behaviourist Carolyn Menteith, have developed a unique initiative to ensure every puppy has the very best start in life.
We are proud to follow this plan from the very start of life.
One of the first methods we use is Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS).
During the first eight weeks, we guide each puppy through a carefully designed process. Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) - gentle handling exercises carried out during the first two weeks of life.
Designed to help kick-start a puppy’s neurological system, this can help:
• Strengthen the immune system • Improve heart and lung function • Build resilience to stress • Support brain development and learning
ENS forms the first stage of the Puppy Plan, a nationally recognised programme developed by Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club. The Puppy Plan continues right through the first 16 weeks, introducing puppies to sights, sounds, people, places, and experiences so they grow into confident, well-rounded family dogs.
We encourage new owners to continue the programme for the next eight weeks at home. This approach achieves fantastic results—helping puppies and owners build strong bonds, set healthy boundaries, and enjoy a smoother start together.
WHY THE FIRST 16 WEEKS MATTER
From birth to 16 weeks of age is the most important window in a puppy’s life. Puppies learn more during this short period than at any other stage of their development. The experiences they have now will shape their outlook on the world and their ability to handle new situations in the future.
A puppy who is properly reared during this time is far more likely to grow into a confident, calm, and adaptable adult dog..
THE SCIENCE, AND WHY IT MATTERS
The brain of a 16-week-old puppy has exactly the same number of brain cells as a newly born puppy — but it is roughly 10 times bigger. This extraordinary increase in size has nothing to do with the brain cells themselves but the number of connections established between them. These connections can only form as a direct result of all the experiences the puppy has in those first critical four months of life.
Every single thing your puppy sees, hears, feels, smells and tastes, every meeting he has and every new thing he discovers produces trillions of new brain connections in those first 16 weeks, and they will last for life. He is learning what things are part of his new life and his new family, what is safe and who his social group is.
A puppy who is properly brought up in this period, will be far more likely to grow up to be more confident, calmer, learn new things easier, be less likely to respond to new things fearfully or aggressively — and in short, be the perfect family dog.
A dog who has not had this good start in life is more likely to be over-reactive, unable to concentrate, fearful, a slower learner, develop preventable behaviour problems — and in fact have a less well developed brain than his well socialised siblings.