Sugar and spice…and everything nice.
Except the poop. Puppies are adorable.
It is hard not to fall in love with each and every one. But matching the right puppy to the right family makes all the difference for dog and human.
Our latest brood was delivered by Lady Edith. She has gone to her new family and will have her long-awaited eye surgery this week.
Her pups are all spoken for; their anxious families wait. But before we send them home, we wanted to complete their puppy assessments using the Puppy Aptitude Test developed by Jack and Wendy Volhard.
Each litter we are graced with is assigned a human “mom” who watches over them, cleans up after them, and most importantly, socializes them – so critical in a dog’s early weeks. This time, the honors fell to Judy.
The test assesses personality and temperament, which will help their new families provide the environment and nurturing they need to be well-raised dogs. This is not a pass or fail test – and no – you cannot cheat off the teacher, either!
It measures social attraction to dogs and people,
confidence, dependence or independence,
willingness to accept commands or follow,
retriever instincts and prey drive,
touch, sight and sound sensitivity.
Born during a thunderstorm, raised by a good mama dog and devoted human, our pups are pretty unfazed by loud sounds, sudden movements or being handled. But certain personalities do emerge.
Puppies with a strong desire to lead or play very rough need experienced dog people with a commitment to training and exercise to bring out their best selves.
Shy or frightened pups need patient people in environments that are calm and stable.
Go-along/get-along pups are best suited to first-time dog owners, families with children, or older people.
And when the test is over…
everyone gets a well-earned nap!
Want to learn more about the Puppy Aptitude Test? Visit www.volhard.com.
Gardens For Goldens 
Oh! Migosh! They are all so precious!! And those nap-time photos just tug at my heart strings! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
OMG they are so gorgeous. The allure of the puppy, but sadly less, in too many cases, for the dog it will become.
Maybe we should require all puppy parents to test drive a one-year-old that has been left untrained. That should do it. 🙂
Nice shots. Especially considering the challenging lighting this time of year.Don’t know how she does it.
Looks like they cleaned up pretty good!
Yup. Daily.
Fascinating to learn how the pups are assessed!
Oh man, those guys are too stinkin cute! Thanks for the smile.
Cute…and a lot of work…as you well know, Will!
I’m drowning in cuteness overdose from these puppies! My productivity took a hit after I read this post, too, as I had to keep looking at the pics over and over. On a related note, w\here can I sign up to be a human puppy “mom”? 😀
Thanks for another huge dose of awesomeness, Audrey.
Careful what you wish for, Selim. But you know who to see!
This is off the ‘cute’ chart. Poor Judy – tough job having to hang with those adorable pups. 🙂
It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it!
Judy did an excellent job being the human mom! Takes lots of work to keep their area clean. I call them poopy puppys!! Ha! Ha! They do get well socialized at Homeward Bound. This post is definitely a “puppy cuteness” post.
Poopy puppies is right! I’m guessing you snuck in there once or twice! 🙂
Great way to illustrate such an important assessment. Our lovely Angel was one of the last 2 of her litter, her brother was too shy to approach even after an hour. She was a bit shy at first but then decided I was her “one” and began to flirt with me. She still does :-). Having raised many litters of pups and kittens, it always amazes me how distinct each one is from an early age.