Breeding and raising a puppy that will provide a service to people is my greatest joy. To see a puppy that I birthed and raised to be suitable to provide a service to someone in need, is so worth while. This was my dream to help people. 

First, I started with amazing breeding dogs...

In choosing my foundation dogs I searched long and hard for healthy lines with temperaments that were suitable for service and therapy. Dogs that not only had correct structure and lovely non shedding coats, but came from lines that were known for good health such as solid hip structure, healthy eyes, free of known genetic disease and disorders, but also people focus. This took many years to develop and am still developing to better and better each year.

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How We Start Making a Great Puppy...

First and foremost our puppies are well cared for, eating a quality food and being raised in a home environment. I totally feel that because I raise my puppies in a home environment they are one step ahead of a puppy that was raised in a kennel situation. Our puppies are not left alone for hours at a time, there is activity and stimulation. Our puppies are in the home getting used to visitors and all home activity right from the start. 

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We also use the Avidog's Puppy Culture to ensure each day, with each puppy, they are getting stimulated to the ability of their age. Below are things we do to ensure each and every puppy is raised to be as social and developed as possibly in mind and body.

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• Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) to enhance the development of strong nervous systems.

• Teaching positive emotional response that helps puppies have positive association with things like crate training, vet visits, and handling.

• Barrier challenge in pens to instill problem-solving ability and teach the puppies frustration tolerance.​

• Attention to people to be confident to look at people and have that connection to people from the start.

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Temperament Testing...

We raise our puppies in a great environment, with suitable stimulation that we do each day many times a day. This helps ensure our puppies have a great start to be candidates to provide service or therapy for people in need.

Temperament testing at 8 weeks is super important to find out which puppies out of the litter would be suitable for each family. When helping a family find a puppy that will provide therapy we take all information that we know already about the puppies and then do additional testing on each puppy using the Volhard Temperament testing between 7 and 8 weeks. There are 10 items that test for social attraction, following, restraint, social dominance, elevation dominance, retrieving, touch sensitivity, sound sensitivity, sight sensitivity, and stability. The testing information we use, along with the bond and attraction to the family is noted at puppy pick out and we feel this is also very important.

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For Service dog requests, depending on what service is needed, we do additional testing with Avidog's Puppy Culture testing which we also do in that 7-8 week timeframe. Tasks such as diabetic alert or seizure alert dogs will need to have a good sense of smell. We do scent testing with scent from the customer that helps us decide what puppy is more attracted to that smell.

All these steps help us determine what puppy is best for each family so they have a puppy right from the start that is suitable for the tasks that puppy is needed to provide.

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If you are wanting a puppy to provide a task or a dog that is suitable for going into a nursing home or hospital give me a call and I would love to discuss what you need and how we here at Sunrise can help you with a puppy suitable for you.

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