Our Breeding Policy

Our Goals

Olympic Lemonade is relatively new to breeding papillons with no plans on becoming a big commercial breeder. Right now, we have only one female, of breeding age, from a strong European blood-line of Sable Papillons and she just had her first litter! We have plans to either keep a girl from this first litter or add a girl to our home from another bloodline. Our ultimate goal is to produce a strong, championship line while at the same time remaining fairly small. We are an ethical breeder, and the health and happiness of the mother(s) is our primary concern, our female(s) will only be bred once per year and only if they are in good health and have previously produced strong brood. Before breeding, we will seek a stud from another breeder to provide the most ideal and compatible genetics following all regulations and guidelines concerning the correct and ethical breeding of pedigree papillons.

Ethical Breeding Guidelines

Being a young breeder, we want to do what is right by our dogs, by the breed and by the industry. To ensure we are doing the best by all, we regularly consult government, kennel club and other organization breeding policies and guidelines. You can be certain, that if we choose to deviate from any of these recommended guidelines we will do with grave consideration given and with the consultation of our veterinarian.

Pregnant Mother(s)

These so called “Pregnant Mothers” are our pets. We are very close to them and very invested in them. They sleep in our beds every-night and are part of our family. The needs of pregnant mothers are very different than the needs of non-pregnant females. For one, they are nauseous. Not just in the morning, but all the time. Despite needing to feed the rapidly growing puppies inside them… their appetites become greatly reduced and the goal is to keep them healthy and maintain as much body weight and fat as possible Diets are adjusted to support their nutritional needs during this time and we work hard to keep their appetites up often experimenting with different meats and by hand-cooking daily meals of fresh meat stew. From week 6 of pregnancy the mother is transitioned to a high-calorie puppy food of the mothers choice. We want our girl to eat and it serves nobody any purpose to serve a high-quality food that the mother refuses to eat. Once the puppies are born, the amount of food served daily is rapidly increased to meet the mother’s appetite. Nursing mothers can be very hungry! Once the puppies have started to wean the mother will be gradually transitioned back to her normal food.

Puppies & Weaning

Puppies will be encouraged to drink their mothers milk and mothers will be encouraged to nurse. Weaning will commence at about 3 weeks. Initially we wean using a veterinarian recommended puppy food, purchased directly from the vet to ensure the puppies are receiving max nutrition. Food is initially mixed into a gruel with a fiar portion of milk to make the transition to wet food easiest for the puppies. We continue to feed our puppies a wet food diet at least 3 times a day until they move to their forever homes and we recommend that their forever homes continue with a wet food diet, served 2-3 times per day interspersed with treats. Dry food should be left out in reasonable quantities so that the dog can supplement their diet if hungry. We have never had a puppy overeat when fed in this manner, but if you do manage to get a puppy who eats more than they need you are welcome to restrict the calories as logic dictates.

Feeding Regime

At Olympic Lemonade we provide fresh water and sometimes fresh milk for each puppy on a daily basis in separate bowls. Water is changed once daily or sooner if visibly soiled/contaminated. Water bowls are kept separate from food bowls and positioned to allow all puppies to easy and constant access water. Puppies that show signs of aggression when fed have this behaviour corrected immediately. All puppies are fed at least three meals per day unless more is advised by our Vet. We allow our dogs to choose their preferred foods by constantly searching for and purchasing new varieties, then repurchasing only those foods which are accepted. The current preferred pet food in our house is Cesar’s, but you never know when their tastes may change. We also cook meat stews for our dogs, using beef, chicken, pork or lamb with a mixture of carrot and rice at least once per week and supplement with treats from restaurant outings.

Cleaning Regime

Puppies can be very messy while they are learning to be dogs, during the first few weeks we do a lot of laundry! The puppy whelping basket is washed & all bedding replaced on a daily basis. To help in reducing the amount of cleanup, we immediately put the puppies on a schedule and good hygiene is taught from day one. Puppies are immediately placed on a pee-pad as soon as they wake up before returning them to the nursery for feeding. After the puppies are fed, they are then put into a play space to safely run around and learn how to be puppies. A pee-pad location is provided within the play area and we continue to monitor the puppies while playing. Most puppies will automatically look for an acceptable location to relieve their little bladders without much coaching, but where needed puppies are lovingly guided to use acceptable locations. Messes which do not make it onto a pee pad are immediately cleaned up to prevent playtime from becoming bathtime. The routine of wake-pee-eat-play-pee is repeated several times a day as the puppies age with the preferred pee location gradually moved outdoors. Puppies are showered only when necessary for the first few months, and this continues on an as needed basis as they grow up.

Health

Daily observations are made to check if any puppies are showing signs of illness. Should any puppy show signs of illness they are immediately brought to visit our Veterinarian. If necessary, the puppy will be isolated from the remaining puppies to prevent spread. Our home and vehicles are cleaned according to the cleaning regime detailed above. Our breeding dogs are above average in genetic diversity and test clear for all genetic diseases. All puppies are guaranteed to be free from Genetic Deficiencies, PRA and Patella Luxation. However, even with the most careful planning occasionally a puppy may be born with defects, and it is our policy to ensure that even puppies with deficiencies are delivered to loving and caring pet only homes. We require all puppies with genetic health deficiencies to be spayed/neutered between the ages of 9 – 12 months.

Vaccinations

An up-to-date vaccination card will accompany all of our puppies including vaccination against:

Canine parvovirus
Canine distemper
Infectious canine hepatitis (adenovirus)
Leptospirosis
Infectious canine hepatitis

Spay and Neuter Clauses

Our breeder contracts require pet-quality dogs to be spayed or neutered. But as veterinary attitudes and research evolve, the age at which surgical sterilization is performed can vary markedly. We require that owners wait until the dog has stopped maturing somewhere between 9 months and 1 year, which some studies have shown reduces the risk of bone cancer. Buyers are required to keep your dog securely contained and not permit it to wander to avoid unintended breedings until it reaches the age where it can be spayed or neutered. Pedigree documentation will be withheld by the breeder until such time as the dog has been properly sterilized.

Training

Papillons are in the top 10 smartest breeds you can own. This means training starts from the day they are born, first with potty training and then progressing to harder feats as they get older. We use a combination of positive-negative reinforcement to train our pups. Puppies are quickly rewarded with high-levels of excitement and cuddling whenever we notice them doing something right, and equally grumbled at when they do something wrong like pee in the wrong location. Biting rapidly results in strong No’s, which are quickly followed by the supply of a toy which is acceptable to bite on. This was they understand fully what is expected of them. Sit, High-Five, Stay, Come are all taught before 7 weeks of age and continually rewarded and reinforced as the puppies age. We constantly speak to our dogs as if they understand, which helps them learn the english words they need to know first. Leash training starts at around 6 weeks old, initially beginning with just being comfortable in a harness (we don’t use collars as they are harsh on the neck and not necessary in such a smart breed). After 7 weeks old we start to break the puppies off for one-on-one sessions to be sure there is no distraction. We expose our puppies to cars, loud noises and a variety of environments from day one so that they aren’t shy or scared of different things and there is never any hesitation to let passerby’s say hello to our miniature pride and joy’s. It is always interesting to see how each puppy approaches all of these varied experiences!

The Waitlist

While we take names and interview potential owners, we reserve the right to select the home for each puppy. We strongly believe there should be an energy and personality match or you may not bond with your puppy. Our goal is to find FOREVER homes for each of our puppies and to ensure they will get the change to live their best life! If a puppy is not fitting in well with a new family, that family is obliged to return the puppy to our kennel so that we can safely find them a forever home. We love to see how our puppies are doing in their new homes and strongly encourage families to share pictures and/or create an instagram account for their new family members so that we can all keep in touch. New puppy owners are always welcome to reach out at any time for advice regarding their new family member. We enjoy helping and hearing both the good and the bad.

Return to Breeder Policy

Good breeders don’t sell puppies with the expectation of getting them back: A forever home is supposed to be just that. But life happens to the best of us, and a whole host of issues – illness, allergies, divorce, relocation, and financial problems, to name but a few – can make it impossible for an owner to continue keeping a dog, despite the best of intentions. We offer a no questions asked return to breeder contract. No matter what the reason, we require buyers to notify and/or attempt to return the dog if for any reason they are unable to care for them. Even if your now-adult dog is going to live with another loving family or close friend, we will still want to know about any change of ownership. These puppies started out as our family first, and it would be unethical to let them out into the world without providing a support network for them. When you buy a puppy from Olympic Lemonade, you don’t just get a new family member… you get an entire extended family.