It’s Time To Pick Your Puppy: Cassie x Flash Back to School Editions
I looked forward to this litter with super high expectations. This litter is the embodiment of several years of planning and I am SOOOOOOOO pleased with how these puppies are turning out. These have been some of the most inquisitive, funny and human-focused puppies I have ever had.
I know for you the time has been probably dragging and you have been counting down the days like a kid at Christmas, but for me, it has flown entirely too fast. And now, here we are, already at the moment when you must make the significant decision of choosing your precious poodle puppy. From the first tentative wobbles on unsteady legs to the playful antics that have become a cherished part of our day, the time has come to embark on this exciting chapter of welcoming your newest family member into your loving home. As the clock ticks, it's time to take a deep breath, trust your instincts, and make the choice that will forever change your life for the better.
This is VERY LONG pupdate and has tons of great information, so please take your time and read through everything carefully. Once all deposit holders have made their selections, we will update the Available Puppies page of our website. I do anticipate that we will have available puppies from this litter.
Just LOOK at this pedigree for these babies! In the immediate lineage there are 10 Champion or better titles and several sport titles. Not to mention, Granddaddy Magic with his impressive alphabet soup of titles and accomplishments. No WONDER these puppies have been such a dream come true. The biddability and workability, the drive to please, and just the overall poodle-ness!
Alright, sorry I digress, let’s get back to business.
All the gathered data is viewable in the spreadsheet. Push the button below to view the spreadsheet. As we move through the process, I will be highlighting and adding the family’s name to the column for each puppy, as they are chosen. After all reservation holders have made their selection, the remaining puppy(ies) will be made available to those interested.
Alright, so you probably opened that spreadsheet and went “WOAHH, what am I looking at!?”. I know I would. You’re probably wondering what the heck does all this mean? Don’t worry, I gotcha!! Keep reading.
BAB Puppy Evaluations
In the past we have done the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test (PAT). This was a great test and provides a lot of great information, however, there were a few things in that test I didn’t like and I felt that the test was not the best at honoring the puppies and building trust. One of our primary goals is to teach puppies that the world is safe, people are good, and other dogs are kind. In the Volhard PAT, there are a few steps to the test that work in direct contradiction to that goal. We’ve begun using the BAB Puppy Evaluation designed by Jeanette Forrey of 4E Kennels. This evaluation is more thorough, honors and builds trust with the puppy, and tests the puppy in a more “real” setting.
How Is The Testing Performed?
The puppies are placed into a room they’ve never been in before, on a new surface, and surrounded by new distractions. The tester sits in the middle of the floor, the puppy is placed into the testing area and is given a few moments to wander around, engage with the tester, check out the toys, or just sit and look around. If the puppy hasn’t wandered over to the tester after a few moments, the tester will begin coaxing the puppy to come greet her. After the tester and the pup have built some trust, the tester will begin the test by asking the pup to play with the toys, work on the equipment, walk on a new surface, experience wobbly surfaces, engage with startling objects, handling, and unstable situations. The test is free-flowing and there isn’t a set order for the pups to be asked to complete the activities. If a puppy becomes too stressed, the test may be stopped to allow the puppy to de-stress.
Definitions
Human Assertive - This is not aggression. Assertiveness is the dog’s willingness to invade your space. Highly assertive dogs will be dogs that will sit in your lap, try to steal your pizza, and will likely want to meet most all people. This is a highly necessary trait for service dogs like Diabetic Alert and Behavior Modification/Disruption.
Prey Drive/Intensity - This could be something like chasing cats, but that is not the only thing that comprises Prey Drive. You can train away from chasing your kids and cats. Prey Drive could also be called intensity. Does the pup focus on his toys? Does he pick them up and shake them? Prey Drive is an indication of intensity and focus. Dogs with high prey drive will need a way to channel that safely.
Nerve Strength/Resiliency - This is an indication of comfort and ability to recover from new situations and new environments. This is an adjustable trait and can be fostered in a pup lacking this particular trait.
Tenderhearted - This is a big one. This is an indication of how this particular dog will handle big emotions (Huge Family Celebrations, PTSD, Depression, High Anxiety). Dogs that are extremely Tenderhearted will break down if put in home environments with a lot of extreme emotions. These tenderhearted dogs will feel responsible for your emotions and try to fix them.
The Recordings
Rather than uploading the videos directly to this webpage and slowing down the load time considerably, I have linked each video to the cover photo below. Please click the cover photo for each pup to be taken to Youtube where you can view the videos directly. The scores for this test are found in the sections labeled Stable Traits and Adjustable Traits on the spreadsheet.
Best Suited For:
*Show Home, Sport Home, Hunting Companion, Service Prospect, Classroom/Facility Dog, ESA, Therapy Dog
Well Suited For:
*Moderately Active - Highly Active Family Life
Most Challenging:
*Very Relaxed Family Life
Pencil is a very nice puppy. He is neither over-the-top active and crazy nor a total couch potato. He is inquisitive and trusting and shows an eagerness to please and nice biddability. He is somewhat tenderhearted, but not extremely so. He is a confident puppy and even though he startles occasionally, he shows excellent resiliency and recovery skills.
Best Suited For:
*Family Life with a family of any size/speed, provided an emotionally stable environment (she is tenderhearted)
Well Suited For:
*Performance Home, NOT A SHOW PROSPECT
Most Challenging:
*Service Work, Hunting Work, Therapy Work, ESA (She is TOO tenderhearted), Facility Dog
Scissors is much like Notebook. Very eager to please and human focused. She is also highly motivated to work and please her people. She is a little less assertive and might be a little more polite around young kids (jumping up on them). She demonstrated really nice nerve strength. She is lacking in confidence, so confidence building games and training should begin very early on for her. I highly recommend nosework games for confidence building.
Best Suited For:
*Performance Home, Hunting Home, Service Prospect, ESA, Therapy Dog
Well Suited For:
*Classroom/Facility Dog, Active Individuals
Most Challenging:
*Relaxed Families and Individuals
Glue Stick is one of the puppies that would be one I would consider. She has a can-do attitude, is highly, highly motivated and is eager to please. She is confident and a bit of a busy-body. These are the traits I tend to really look for in a service dog.
Here is the downside to those great traits. In a home that is not meeting her energy expenditure needs through training and engagement, she will be a hellion. She is a dog that NEEDS a job. She shows NO tenderheartedness, which makes her an excellent fit for service work that deals with BIG emotions.
Best Suited For:
*Performance Home, Hunting Home, Service Prospect, ESA, Therapy Dog
Well Suited For:
*Classroom/Facility Dog, Active Individuals
Most Challenging:
*Relaxed Families and Individuals
From early on I KNEW Eraser was going to be a Service Prospect. Her engagement, confidence and eagerness to be please was apparent from about 3.5/4 weeks old. She is ALWAYS the first to do something. Very human focused with excellent eye-contact. She learns super quickly and has terrific confidence, nerve strength, intensity, energy, motivation and human focus.
Here is the downside to those great traits. In a home that is not meeting her energy expenditure needs through training and engagement, she will be a hellion. She is a dog that NEEDS a job. She shows NO tenderheartedness, which makes her an excellent fit for service work that deals with BIG emotions.
Best Suited For:
*Family Life with a family of any size/speed, provided an emotionally stable environment (she is tenderhearted)
Well Suited For:
*Performance Home, NOT A SHOW PROSPECT
Most Challenging:
*Service Work, Hunting Work, Therapy Work, ESA (She is TOO tenderhearted), Facility Dog
Notebook is a very tenderhearted little girl. She is the PERFECT companion for most families just looking for a new furry companion. She is easy going and has good human focus. She will be a definite velcro dog. She is HIGHLY motivated to work with people. She could definitely use some confidence boosting, but her strong desire to work will make her eager and willing to to whatever it is you want her to do.
Best Suited For:
*Family Life with families of any size/speed, provided an emotional stable environment (she is tenderhearted)
Well Suited For:
*Performance Home, SHE IS NOT A SHOW PROSPECT
Most Challenging:
*Service Work, Hunting Work, Therapy Work, ESA (she is TOO tenderhearted), Facility Dog
Sharpie is very much like Scissors and Notebook. I honestly call them the triplets. They all three look so similar and behave so similarly. Sharpie is VERY calm and chill however. She could definitely be a couch potato dog with a slow paced family life. She is lacking a little bit in both confidence and nerve strength, so taking things at her pace and letting her confidence grow naturally should really be the focus. She is a very polite puppy with low human and dog assertiveness. She is very tenderhearted, so big emotions may make her shut down and/or feel the need to “fix it”.
Best Suited For:
*Performance Home, Hunting Home, Service Prospect, Classroom Facility Dog, ESA, Therapy Dog
Well Suited For:
*Family life of all sizes/speeds
Crayons is a nice, middle of the road kind of puppy. She would make an excellent companion for someone looking to “do more with their dog” or someone just looking to have a fun and furry friend. She demonstrates great service dog potential, but it isn’t REQUIRED for her to have a happy and fulfilled life. She is not tenderhearted, so big emotions won’t be a big deal for her and she is really nicely confident.
Best Suited For:
*Family Life with Respectful Children and past the temper tantrum stage
Most Challenging:
*Service/Therapy Work, Facility Dog
Markers is a big ol softie marshmellow. She is a puppy lacking in confidence and she is EXTREMELY tenderhearted (that is a 10 on the scoresheet). Notice in the video when I throw my temper tantrum she RUNS away and does not return. She needs a very emotionally stable household to give her confidence and help her navigate the world. She is a fairly lazy puppy and would be very content for just a few walks and a lot of couch time. She does show some motivation and human focus, but paired with her lack of confidence, keeping training sessions short and fun with lots of praise will be vital.
Links to Photo Albums
Picks will be done in order of deposit received/commitment to the litter. As a reminder, the order is as follows.
Valaurah Farms
Jade Cusack
Jan McCullough
I will be touching base with those on Lily’s waitlist as well to make sure no one wants to switch litters in the order of:
Paige Sigman
Carina Sextl
Aryannah Nasser
Noelle Bareswilt
Following the receipt of this e-mail I will begin reaching out to individuals to discuss and confirm their selection. This could be as simple as an e-mail stating “I want Scissors, please” or a more complex phone conversation. Please plan to have an appointment within the next 36 hours. The document that tabulates all the testing details is changeable on my end. As puppies are chosen, I will mark them as unavailable on the master list. I will also make announcements on the Valaurah Farms Facebook and Instagram as well regarding chosen puppies.
