If you’ve ever heard of the Puppy Culture program, you might be wondering – what is Puppy Culture and why is it important? In this guide, we’ll give you a comprehensive overview of the Puppy Culture program, discuss what the Puppy Culture method is, and also share with you a list of some Puppy Culture breeders that offer Doodle puppies in the US. Let’s get started!

What Is The Puppy Culture Program?

The Puppy Culture method was created by Jane Messineo Killion along with other dog behaviorists, veterinarians, and experts with the purpose of helping puppies develop to their fullest in their first 12 weeks of life. It’s a complete program with over 50 lessons for successfully rearing a puppy. It’s a helpful guide that teaches how to raise puppies to be calm enrichment seekers who are eager to learn and discover. 

The Puppy Culture program covers a variety of topics, such as Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), early socialization, basic skills, potty training and crate training, household desensitization, leash walking, manding, aggression prevention, grooming, and much more. 

The Puppy Culture program for breeders comes in video format and it’s split into an easy-to-follow, week-by-week timeline. For each developmental period, the Puppy Culture program covers different topics that are crucial for the puppies’ proper development during that life stage. 

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Pros & Cons Of The Puppy Culture Method

There are many, many amazing benefits of a breeder utilizing the Puppy Culture method. Puppy Culture breeders follow all of these guidelines and can therefore provide the most well-rounded puppies to loving families. 

As the Puppy Culture program also includes various training methods, such as potty training and crate training, it will make new dog owners’ and the puppies’ transition to a new family setup much easier. 

Additionally, the Puppy Culture program teaches breeders how to influence the puppies’ communication with humans and other dogs, emotional stability, overcoming fear, and coping with stress – all of which are crucial for a puppy’s proper development in those very early stages of its life. Teaching puppies how to communicate can greatly reduce their frustration. This in turn reduces the risk of aggression later on in life. 

In fact, we have nothing bad to say about the Puppy Culture program, as it covers all the important aspects of breeding and raising puppies in terms of their behavioral development.

Puppy Culture Training & Methods

The Puppy Culture program includes a huge variety of different lessons that are crucial for puppies’ proper development and enforcing good habits and behaviors. 

For dog breeders, the Puppy Culture program consists of the following training lessons:

  • Preparation & Prenatal Care
  • Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS)
  • Weaning Setup & Suggestions
  • Developmental Periods
    • Understanding behavioral markers
    • Age appropriate games and exercises
    • Handling fear periods
  • Enrichment Effect
    • Creating an enriching environment
    • Puzzles and problem solving
    • Active vs passive challenges
  • Early Socialization
    • Safety measures
    • How to hold a puppy party
    • Vaccination vs socialization
  • Communication Trinity
    • Training marker
    • Offering good behaviors
    • Manding 
  • Problem Prevention
    • Emotional resilience exercises
    • Anti-agression protocols 
    • Sound-proofing puppies 
  • Preparing Puppy Buyers

As we mentioned above, the Puppy Culture program is split into week-by-week lessons. The whole program is broken up into four stages: prenatal period, neonatal period, transitional period, and crucial socialization period. Let’s take a closer look at what the Puppy Culture program teaches during each of these stages…

Puppy Culture Developmental Periods

  • Prenatal Period
    • Teaches the importance of physical and mental wellbeing of mama dogs. It also includes tips and tricks on how to keep the mama happy and calm, such as belly rubs, a good diet, and more. 
  • Neonatal Period: 0-14 days
    • Covers the Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) method that has shown to improve the puppies’ heart health, tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to diseases.
  • Transitional Period: 14-21 days
    • Using behavioral markers to understand the beginning and end of each developmental period. Only after the transitional period are puppies ready to start socialization. 
  • Critical Socialization Period: 3-12 weeks
    • Teaches the importance of influencing the puppies’ emotional intelligence through 7 key points:
      • Communication: how to influence good communication between the puppies, the mother, and other dogs. Helping the puppy to find its own voice with the help of games, manding, clicker training, and attention/distraction protocols.
      • Emotional stability: teaching the puppy how to overcome stress and fear, and how to improve their emotional resilience. 
      • Habituation: introducing the puppy to other puppies and adult dogs, different sounds, sights, new people, and more. 
      • Enrichment: teaching the puppy problem solving, learning, and discovering new things and situations. 
      • Health: understanding how the puppy’s physical wellbeing contributes to their neurological and physical development, such as regular grooming, weight checks, vaccinations and dewormings, good diet, and vet check-ups. 
      • Skills: teaching the puppy essential skills like recall, manding, simple commands, potty training, crate training, leash walking, bite inhibition, and resource guarding. 
      • Love: teaching the puppy to seek out the company of humans and other dogs. Also, desensitizing the puppy to body handling, hugging, and kissing. 

Puppy Culture Exercise Chart

The Puppy Culture exercise chart found here is a great guideline that both breeders and dog owners can follow. It includes a variety of exercises that are suitable for a puppy at each of their puppy growth stages, which are split up into 8-12 weeks old, 12-16 weeks old, 4-6 months old, 6-12 months old, 12-18 months old, and 18 months to 2 years old.

Should Breeders Consider Teaching the Puppy Culture Program?

Our short answer is, yes! The Puppy Culture method is scientifically backed and it truly is a great, comprehensive program that covers all aspects of raising healthy, well-rounded puppies. The Puppy Culture program teaches many useful Puppy Culture training methods, but also covers the importance of prenatal care and how to take care of mama dogs before the puppies are even born. 

Of course, not all breeders follow the Puppy Culture program and have instead opted for different, similar programs. For instance, Avidog or Baxter & Bella. Some breeders have thoroughly studied various programs and implemented all of them into their breeding practices. 

Regardless if a breeder follows the Puppy Culture program or not, you should only look for breeders who utilize various enrichment methods, such as household desensitization, socialization, and early training. Although puppies are so small, only 2 months old upon adoption, their very first weeks are going to shape their behavior and emotional intelligence for the rest of their lives. 

Puppy Culture Breeders – A List Of Doodle Breeders Following The Puppy Culture Method

If you’re looking to adopt a Doodle puppy in the US from a Puppy Culture breeder, here are some places you might want to check out:

Puppy Culture Program: Final Thoughts

There are many different puppy rearing methods, but the Puppy Culture program is probably one of the most well-known options out there. The Puppy Culture method was created by true experts in the field and it covers different aspects that any breeder should keep in mind when raising the puppies.

Of course, all of the lessons in the Puppy Culture program are extremely useful for dog owners as well. In fact, once you’ve adopted your puppy, we recommend you keep up with the Puppy Culture training methods that the breeder has already started. This way, you’ll enforce good manners, behaviors, and support your puppy’s emotional development until they reach adulthood.

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