At Border City Bullies we take our puppy rearing job very seriously! There are so many different things that a breeder can do with their puppies before they go home at 9-10 weeks of age that will set them up for a brighter, better future for not only the first couple transition weeks into their new home, but will help fine tune their coping skills for the remainder of their lives.
We currently use the AVIDOG and Puppy Culture programs. Our puppies start ENS (early neurological stimulation) from birth and are exposed to everything we can thing of! If you have any questions or want to learn more about these programs, I would be happy to get nerdy and explain the logistics of it. For now, I will keep it simple!
Every Puppy that leaves our home is familiar with:
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Sit on Command
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Lure into Down & Stand position
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Recall from a Distance & Out of Sight
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Kennel for Night
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Basics of Potty Training
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Walking on Leash
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Hand Luring (makes training tricks in the future a breeze!)
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Impulse Control
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Bite Inhibition
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Grooming & Bathing
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Nail Trims - both Clippers & Dremel
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Stand (Stack) for Exam
One of our puppies from our 2019 Woodsie x Kali Breeding napping through a nail trim with the dremel at just 6 weeks old.
DETAILED CONTRACT
to protect the puppy & new owner. Pet Home, Co-Own, etc. Learn more here.
LIFETIME BREEDER SUPPORT
we will take the puppy back at any point throughout it's life, for any reason.
LIFETIME TRAINING SUPPORT
we will assist you with any basic training or problem-solving help you may
need for the lifetime of the dog. We want you to succeed!
All BCB puppies are eligible for Registration with:
WHAT COMES
With My Puppy?
HEALTH TESTED PARENTS
= Healthier Puppies!
We take health testing very seriously here. We health test for pretty much everything under the sun and our dogs' results are able to be viewed in the OFA, Embark and PawPrint online databases. American Bullies are relatively unhealthy as it stands, but with these things being genetic and testable, there is no excuse for breeders to not be doing their best to try and prevent these issues in their future generations. It is important to note, however, that genetics are still a gamble. Environment plays a role in health. There is no guarantee that healthy parents will never make an unhealthy puppy - but we can promise our dogs that we are trying our best to stack the odds in their favor by digging deep and not cutting corners.
We do the following health tests on all of our breeding dogs:
Hip Dysplasia (OFA, Pennhip)
Elbow Dysplasia (OFA)
Shoulder Osteochondritis (OFA)
Advanced Cardiac Screening (OFA)
Tracheal Hypoplasia (OFA)
Patellar Luxation (OFA)
Thyroid Conditions (OFA)
Kidney Function (OFA)
Dentition Exam (OFA)
All Genetic Diseases (Embark, Pawprint)
Additional health testing we do when available:
Hearing Conditions (OFA) by Canine Audiologist
Eye Conditions (OFA) by Canine Ophthalmologist
Click here to learn more about health testing the American Bully.
THE PROOF
is in the Puppies!
We use both AVIDOG & Puppy Culture Puppy Rearing Principles with our litters. We have seen fabulous results in our puppies that make sending them to their new homes a breeze. Thanks to these programs, they have the tools & skills to set them up for success!
Puppy Culture is a puppy rearing program of over 50 lessons for breeders, from whelping box to new home time. From early neurological stimulation, to potty training, manding, and leash walking, it covers most things that breeders need to know and is scientifically proven to greatly improve outcomes for puppies.
Avidog is a complete program for breeders with hundreds of different lessons and modules covering everything from breeding goals, ethical breeding practices, puppy rearing, parent dog health and everything in between. They also have regular webinars with industry leading professionals and are constantly expanding the database of information they have available for breeders.
"There is no such thing as a Perfect Puppy......Just the Perfect Puppy for You."
This is the most thorough temperament evaluation system available to us at this point in time - these evaluations are done in an unfamiliar environment to the puppy, with "brand new" people (trained, very experienced dog professionals) and dogs that they have never met before, using items they have never seen before. Now that we are well versed in these evaluations, we take special care to make sure that our puppies never meet the tester, nor do we show them the items found in the testing site - this is to help us gauge real, genuine reactions. The findings from these evaluations help us pinpoint which puppy is best suited where.
We are currently the ONLY American Bully Breeders taking
advantage of this method of temperament testing.
AVIDOG APET
Temperament Evaluations
APET Temperament Evaluation Example
This is the APET Report on a puppy named "Sorry" from our Canadian themed litter we had at the end of 2019.
As seems to be the theme here, this is something that we try hard to go above and beyond with. We are constantly finding ways to do things better, more efficiently, and provide more interesting stimulation items for our puppies to enjoy before heading off to their new homes. Because of this, you will notice that with each litter we have, our pen will look a little different. Whether it's more toys, a more strategic lay out for potty training, or a different location of the house altogether! We typically have multiple areas set up throughout our house to accommodate puppies so they get to see "all of the sights" that our home has to offer.
Though this shouldn't need to be mentioned - all of our puppies are raised in our home and the dogs that we own all live in our home with us as our pets. We are not a commercial breeding operation where our females produce litter after litter that would require a full-time set up. We displace our home to accommodate raising a litter, ensuring that our puppies get used to all the sights, sounds and activities that their future home life will provide them. Our puppies spend a great deal of time outside of their pens in our backyard, in our home, or out and about doing meet & greets in new places.
If we are not the breeder for you, that is fine! But please do your research and ask the breeder to see the pups current living conditions - NOT just a photo of the puppy being held or placed on a table! Click here to learn more.
EARLY NEUROLOGICAL STIMULATION (ENS)
Designed to help puppies respond better to stress, have stronger immune
systems, and problem solve better as adults. The following exercises are done
once a day for 3-5 seconds each in random order: Head Up, Head Down, Belly
Up, Belly Down, Foot Tickle, Placed on Cold Surface. A different foot is done
each day and "tickled" with a Q-tip.
EARLY SCENT INTRODUCTION (ESI)
Designed to help puppies scenting ability. It has been used and seen positive
results with thousands of pups of all breeds/shapes/sizes including working,
service, competition and pet puppies. This exercise is done once a day and
goes at the puppies pace - they can choose to move towards or away from
scents.
Scent articles include but are not limited to:
Natural Items: grass, tree bark, leaves, pine needles & cones, moss, dirt, etc.
Fruits, Herbs, Spices: lemon, apple, banana, orange, rosemary, mint, clove,
pepper, carrot, thyme, etc.
Training Items: ball, leather, cloth, wood, plastic, oils, detection odors, etc.
Miscellaneous: items used by a cat, rabbit, gerbil, horse, etc.
NAIL TRIMMING & HANDLING
Starting at just 2-3 days old, we will begin trimming nails every second day as
well as practicing calm handling and snuggling. We hold the puppies in as
many comfortable positions as we can and focus on having happy, calm, warm
experiences with humans. Nail trims are done while they nap "milk drunk" to
encourage happy vibes & no stress. Nail trim = nap time right from the start!
RECORD KEEPING
Beginning before the puppies are even born, we record everything! Especially
with the inevitable sleep deprivation that comes with whelping a litter, record
keeping is an absolute necessity around here and helps us stay on track.
Everything from weights, ENS/ESI responses, "milestones", responses to
challenges, supplementation if any and so on, gives us a crystal clear picture of
how everyone is doing and what, if anything, certain puppies need help with.