Our Puppies
At Parkside Whippets our goal is to produce healthy, well socialized puppies that will enrich the lives of their families and community in which they live! There are many parts to this!
Health Testing
Whippets are thankfully known fir their good health (unlike many breeds). That does not mean we are less diligent. All of our females and studs are tested for the things we monitor for in our breed. That includes OFA eye and heart (echo) exams, Embark DNA testing, thyroid testing, brucella tested, etc. All of our dogs have routine blood work radiographsand abdominal ultrasound at least yearly and before breeding. (one of the perks of mom being a vet). Dogs that are found to have health issues of any kind would never be considered for our breeding program.
Socialization
We are learning more and more just how important the first 10 weeks of life are for puppies. At Parkside Whippets we use the Puppy Culture Socialization method, backed up by research done at several universities, in order to know when and how to introduce new things, activities and places to our puppies. You can visit our Facebook and instagram to learn more and see examples of what we do!!
Selecting puppies for Families
Closing a puppy from a photo, video or from one meeting is never a great plan, that is where knowledgable breeders come in. Puppies are chosen for families around 6 weeks old based on personality tests and knowledge of each puppy that we have gained through being with them every day from the time they arrive into the world. Families are never ever forced to take a puppy that they are not in love with. Our pre-screening application and conversations with puppy families are aimed at learning what each family is looking for in a puppy so that we can set both the families and the puppies up for success!
Setting them up Right!
All of our puppies go home no earlier that 9 weeks (they go through a fear period at 8 weeks and it is not a good time to go out into the world). They fully de-wormed, have their 8 week vaccination, Embark DNA test, microchip and go home with a month of pet insurance. We set everyone up with a bag of dog food and a goody bag full of fun things. That is not where we want our relationship to end. There is no limit to the umber of updates and photos we would gladly receive from our puppy families. We are here answer any questions as they grow up and provide any support we can as needed.