We love our Dakota puppies! Every litter is carefully planned and eagerly anticipated. While we hope each litter might produce a special pup for us to show that will someday be part of our breeding program, it is important to us that all our puppies are prepared to be loving, happy additions to their new families. 

A Dal puppy, just a few hours old, meets his mother.

With that in mind, we start handling our puppies as soon as they are born. They learn to associate the touch and scent of humans as something pleasant before they even open their eyes. Puppies are held, cuddled and gently restrained on their backs. By the time they are old enough to walk, we begin placing them on different surfaces and exposing them to a variety of sounds. Although we do not have young children in the house, we enlist the neighborhood children to help socialize puppies at four weeks of age. At the same time, we begin letting them climb small obstacles, play in the tunnel and explore different areas of the house. By five weeks of age, they usually can open the dog doors, negotiate steps and are playing with the older house dogs. 

Five week old puppies explore new rooms in the house and get to meet visitors.

Table training begins early so that show puppies begin to learn to be stacked and to stand for grooming. All pups benefit from table training as they will need to stand still for nail trimming and visits to the vet. Our veterinarians are always happy to work on our Dals as they are usually friendly, calm and cooperative.

Six week old pups learn to be stacked on the table.

Puppies that stay with us past eight weeks begin crate training and get individual play and training time each day. 

Puppies often choose to sleep in their crates, even when the door is open! 
Playtime with the older dogs is fun too and part of the socialization process.

They practice walking on lead and take short rides in the car. At this age, they have had many visitors and venture deeper into the yard, woods and fields.

Indoor and outdoor play and training continue as the pups grow up.

While even five week old pups play hard in the tunnel, puppies that are still with us at 10-12 weeks learn basic commands and are working with the neighbor kids on the agility equipment. While not every puppy will become an agility dog, we find that negotiating the obstacles gives the puppies confidence and that they really enjoy it. It is also a wonderful outlet for puppy exuberance, but we are careful to not let them jump too high or face equipment they are not ready to tackle. Plenty of treats and praise make training fun.

In the summer months, puppies that have had all their inoculations start traveling with us. They become accustomed to travel and being on the show grounds with all its strange sights and sounds. They are entered in puppy matches and watch from ringside as the older dogs are shown in the regular classes.

These two 6 mos. old puppies enjoy the view of the show grounds from the grooming table.

We do our best to provide every Dakota puppy with the best start in life possible. They are fed high quality food, are hearing tested, have regular veterinary checkups and care and most of all, are given early socialization, basic training and love. It is our goal to continually work to improve the breed and to raise happy, healthy, well-adjusted puppies.  With this in mind, we try to match each prospective owner with the pup that most closely matches their lifestyle and interests.

We feed and recommend Purina Pro Plan for all our dogs and puppies.

If you would like more information about anticipated litters or puppies that may be available now, please contact us. Most of our puppies are spoken for before they are born, so early inquiries are suggested. We do take names on our waiting lists and will be happy to send you an application, or you may click on Dalmatian Application  or Whippet Application to print one.

Click on Current/Anticipated litters to check puppy availability. 

   Not sure you want a young puppy? There are some advantages to adopting an older Dalmatian. Visit our "Available Dogs" page to see older puppies and dogs that may be available to just the right homes.