PIXIEDUST
PAPILLONS
PIXIEDUST
PAPILLONS
Having trouble emailing us? Try
one of these addresses
pixiedust@pixiedustpapillons.com
or
pixiedust@hughes.net
Raising Papillon puppies at Pixiedust
Papillon puppies at Pixiedust are
treated like members of the family. After all, when papillon puppies are
sold to a new home, that home wants a papillon puppy to become a
member of their household.
Basic care and socialization begins with the
parents. Both the potential sire and dam of our papillons must have
good health and stable tempers. An AKC champion title does not guarantee either
health or temper, so we evaluate potential papillon parents on more than just pedigrees,
although an AKC champion title is a nice bonus. Properly feeding both sire and
dam of the coming papillon puppies extremely important to
producing quality papillon puppies.
Papillon puppies should be born into a quiet environment. The
papillon mother needs peace and quiet, and to feel safe and protected
while she feeds her new puppies.
Most of our papillons start to self wean at around 4 weeks of
age. By 5 weeks old, they are eating moist food from the mother's dish and
drinking milk from a dish. Just like human babies, this can be a messy time. By
6 to 7 weeks old, the papillon puppies have learned that only their mouth needs to be in
the dish to get the food they want.
Our Papillon puppies are removed from the dam at 5 weeks old. Why??
Because it is vital for papillons--for pets or show-- to
learn to look to humans for care and safety and food. The dam cannot teach
papillon puppies to act as humans want a puppy to behave--this is a
myth. Sounds good but does not prove out in reality.
Pixiedust Papillons provides an enriched growing experience for all
our papillon puppies. They are raised next to the kitchen, where
they can hear all the household noises. Our Papillon puppies learn
that humans bring warm food and gentle strokes. Our puppies see our faces many
times a day and know that all is well.
As our papillon puppies start to investigate their surroundings, we
move them to a pen in the living room. There, they watch TV and safely visit
with our adult papillons. Our papillon puppies get to
play with each other and experience different types and textures of toys. Some
toys squeak, some are soft, some are smooth. Some of the toys roll and some can
be shaken. We have found that our papillons love an old sock,
that has a rattle in the toe and tied with a knot.
Pixiedust papillon puppies get a lot of human touch as we carry them
back and forth to the rooms in our house.
By the time our papillon puppies are 8 weeks old, they are ready for
a new family. It is not fair to teach a puppy to fit into my household, only to
sell it at 4 months old and expect it to go through all the changes of a new
family and schedule. Far Far better for the papillon puppy to adapt to it's new home as
young as possible, to reduce the stress of a total life change for the puppy. As
quality breeders of papillons , at 8 weeks old, all the care for the
puppy is coming from the human.
Why is it so hard to believe that another human (other than the papillon breeder) cannot
do the simple feeding and loving that papillon puppies needs at this age? If we can do
it, so can a new owner.
We have a page on the best age to get a papillon puppy. But we firmly
believe, and we see proof of this in the papillon puppies we place--that papillons
that are properly placed as puppies, adapt better to the very different
lifestyles of the owners. Owners who may live in the city or country, who may be
active or want a couch potato, owners who may have children or other pets.
By providing an enriching environment for our papillon puppies from
birth, we believe papillon puppies are adaptable at this age and
readily learn their place in a new family.