There are a few basic things that can cause a puppy to stress: birth, weaning, adjustment to a new home, shipping and overexposure to children without time to rest. Stress can bring on stress related issues, such as Coccidia. We give Albon as a preventative for Coccidia, but it is also important to protect your puppy against these common stresses. It is important to understand what can cause a puppy to stress, in hopes of preventing it, and making their transition a very smooth one. The first thing that will typically happen if a puppy stresses, is that they will get the diarrhea. All puppies will have firm stool when they leave our home. However, since stress can cause diarrhea, it is important that you monitor your puppy's stool during the transition.

We give our puppies a mixture of canned pumpkin and PLAIN yogurt (mix equal parts). This mixture is great to firm up loose stools, as well as sweep out any irritants in their bellies. We recommend giving this mixture for the first week in order to help make the transition a smooth one.

We do our best to guard against these stresses. Being with mama, and nursing, helps guard against the stress of birth. We wean our puppies slowly to help guard against the stress at this time. We feel this helps greatly. When we start the weaning process, they are also nursing. We don't take mama away until the puppies are ready, and we feel they are eating enough without nursing. This is much easier on the puppies, and is much less stressful. The puppies wean at different paces. Some wean quicker than others. Most puppies are ready to go home at 9 weeks of age. However, the smaller puppies will need a little longer. In addition, we give all puppies Albon (antibiotic and Coccidia preventative) around six weeks of age, to help guard against the stress of weaning. We always give our puppies another round of Albon before they go to their new home, to help guard against the stress of the adjustment to their new home. We have no way of knowing if a puppy will stress....some do, some don't. It is just important to be aware of the possibility. Adjusting to a new home is a lot for a puppy to take in.....new home, new family, new routine, and the absence of their litter mates.

At this time, we raise Cavaliers, Cavapoos, and a few Maltipoos. All of these breeds are WONDERFUL family dogs. They LOVE children! In fact, we have no interest in raising a breed that aren't great family dogs. That has always been top priority for us. However, even though our puppies are great family dogs, and LOVE children, they still need a break from time to time. We have five chilren. So all of our puppies are accustomed to children. However, our children have all been raised around puppies, and know the importance of being gentle and allowing the puppies some down time, so that they can rest and recuperate. The added energy that children bring to a home can be overwhelming for a puppy. If the puppy isn't allowed some quiet/rest time, he/she could stress and become sick. It is a great idea to have some snuggle time with your puppy on your lap, after the kids are in bed.