Our 2012 Puppy Plans

*** We have no Beauceron Litters Planned for 2012 ***

	"Ava" Photos Taken July 2006   Photos: Row just above at the lake left & right agility photos

Puppies socialized, evaluated for correct placement and imprinted with all situations, people, children, animals and noises.  Always guaranteed and sold on written contract-guarantee.  Come visit and see our dogs and home and see the difference in quality, temperament and extensive care and loving environment : )

Our lines are producing consistently dogs of good temperament, health and trainability. We have dogs working in Search & Rescue, French Ring Sport, Schutzhund, Police, Service Work and of course in Home Protectors.  Please see our litter information above for specifics.  Pups sold with written guarantee/contract.

If you are interested in purchasing a puppy from us please complete our Puppy Buyer Questionnaire and return it to us by email, fax or regular mail so that we can know you better and know your expectations for a puppy or adult dog.   You can download a copy of the Puppy Questionnaire and of our contract - guarantee  and you can return by scanning the documents and e-mail them back to me. 

All our puppies are extensively socialized and handled.  We begin when they are newborns with the "early neurological stimulation" techniques to condition the puppies to touch, handling and stress.  We continue their imprinting as they grow and introduce them to many textures of toys (plastic, metal, wood, leather), puppy size agility obstacles, many noises along with the bite work and retrieve imprinting when appropriate.  Puppy evaluations are done at crucial stages of their development as well. 

We highly recommend that you visit and meet our dogs and other breeders as well.  If you cannot visit yourself have a friend, family member or associate come and visit any breeder that you are considering purchasing a puppy from.  I do not recommend "meeting" at a dog show or park as your sole contact with the breeder and their dogs.  If you do not know someone close then I recommend talking with your local dog trainer, breeder friend or other dog professional to see if they know someone in the breeder's area that can visit, such as a fellow dog trainer, groomer, dog behaviorist or breeder friend.

Visit other breeders and then come see the difference.  We are very proud of our dogs and our ranch home environment that we raise our dogs in.  All reputable breeders welcome visitors and will give you a tour of their kennel.
 

For Our Puppy Buyers - Answers to Commonly Asked Questions

Vaccinations & Worming Schedule: The puppies have two vaccinations prior to going to their new homes.  We provide a detailed health record for each puppy, which shows the vaccinations, worming schedule that the puppy has been on.  We recommend taking your puppy to your vet soon after bringing him/her home with the puppy health record.  Your vet will put your puppy on an appropriate vaccination schedule for your area.  Also, be sure and educate yourself and follow the vaccination schedule that you feel is in the best interest of your pet.  Here are a couple resource links: Dr. Jean Dodds Vaccine Protocols and It's For The Animals.  Also, Science of Vaccine Damage and C.A.R.E.S. Are Vaccines Dangerous?   Puppy Shots: Vaccination Issues for Breeders   Vaccine Controversy   To Spay/Neuter or Not?  Determining the Best Age To Spay or Neuter?

Early Spaying & Neutering -- Cause of Cushing's Disease -- Karen Becker Videos (3 parts):

Excellent Video Interviews - How Often Should You Vaccinate Your Cat or Dog?, an interview with Dr. Ronald Schultz in 4 parts:

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC--bGthNN8

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Zvg8tIxeY&feature=related

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc-6exZcbJ4&feature=relmfu

Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdPhj8Vq9ck&feature=relmfu

Importance of Early & Regular Handling of Puppies: Our puppies are extensively handled from birth.  We also, have friends and family handle the puppies, introduce the puppies to various animals including horses and cats, various distractions, music, traffic, atvs, lawn-mower noises.  We have a mini-agility course and we play tug and retrieve games with them.  They are provided with many different toys at all times. They are taught a recall "come" with a whistle.  We teach them some of the basics including introduction to a leash and being tied so they learn to give to the leash, sleep in a crate (door removed) in their individual play areas so they become at ease being separated from their siblings.  We use our daily observations, the puppy buyer's questionnaire and puppy buyer input to make sure each puppy is fit with the right owner. 

Nutrition: I start the puppies at 3 weeks old on Innova EVO Herring & Salmon Formula and raw diet.  We wean the puppies from their mother at 5 weeks and begin very thorough bonding and interactive play with the group and as individuals.  We feed our dogs Innova EVO and also give all our dogs and puppies raw meat, tripe, organ meats and bones.  We realize this feeding regiment is not possible for everyone to continue.  Also, it's been brought to our attention by several puppy buyers that Innova EVO is sometimes difficult for them to find locally.   If you are interested in seeing if Innova EVO is available near you visit their store locator page.   We feed three times per day.  We feed the puppies as much as they will eat and when they walk away we pull up the food.  We do not free feed the puppies.  If you are interested in learning more about dog nutrition and supplementing with raw check out Volhard's Nutrition and Holistic pages.  You may be surprised to learn that imbalanced nutrition can be the cause of behavior problems in dogs just like in people.  If you would like to see how your current dog food choice rates visit Dog Food Analysis & Reviews

Video Interviews with Karen Becker  - The Quality of Pet Food Ingredients (Part 1 of 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWHxvjI_as&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Video Interviews with Karen Becker  - The Quality of Pet Food Ingredients (Part 2 of 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdDPi-1Yjy0&feature=relmfu

Each "Les Ombres Valeureux" puppy has two types of permanent identification:   1. Micro-chip: Either Avid or HomeAgain Chips.  The puppy has a micro-chip implanted at the top of his shoulder which when scanned will identify him and his owner information (owner must register the micro-chip).  All paperwork and details are provided.  We keep records of the chip number in case we are contacted as the breeders/implanters as a backup measure.  Your puppy's micro-chip number is on the health record and contract.  2. Tattoo.  The tattoo is unique to your puppy and each digit has meaning.  The tattoo consists of 5 letter/numbers.   Lets examine the tattoo "OV9A1".  First 2 letters are always "O"  "V"  for Ombres Valeureux.  Next is the last number of the year your puppy was born.  "9" for 2009.  Next is the sequential Litter letter.  Example "A" for the first litter born in 2009 or "B" for the second litter of 2009.  The final number or letter is for the individual puppy in the litter.  Example:  "1" for the 1st puppy tattooed in a litter of 10.  and "0" for the 10th puppy and "A" for the 11th puppy.  Your puppy's tattoo number is on the health record and contract.  We keep copies as well as a backup measure.

Have Your Beauceron Be An Ambassador Not an Embarrassment:  Remember to properly socialize you puppy, but not to overwhelm him when he just arrives as you are strangers.  Let your puppy settle in for a few days before making additional introductions.  Also, we do not recommend taking young puppies in areas such as dog parks and dog beaches as unvaccinated or unhealthy dogs may visit these areas.  The AKC web site is a great resource for training and socializing clubs.  Also, there are many useful tips regarding basic care, being a responsible dog owner, health information, canine courtesy, lists of poisonous plants and household products, training resources, emergency preparedness, AKC events and how to get started.  There is no such thing as a dog that has too much training!  I highly recommend beginning handling classes which can be found through your local AKC Kennel Club as these classes help socialize and leash train your puppy in a fun, positive atmosphere with other owners of purebred dogs.  These classes require the puppies to be current on their vaccinations.  The handling classes are fun for puppies and you never know, you might get the "bug" and decide to show your puppy in the future.  At the classes the puppies are taught to stand calmly while being touched by the practice judge.  Also, there is the Canine Good Citizen program that can be earned by your dog and is a good first step in training your puppy.  There are obedience, agility, rally, herding and tracking events available through the AKC. 

Registration: Also, be sure and register your puppy with the AKC.  All our puppies' official names begin with a certain letter of the alphabet keeping with the French system on naming.  Also, our puppies' names all end with our kennel name.  For example, in 2010, all Les Ombres Valeureux puppies and all puppies in France have a "F" name such as Fidele des Ombres Valeureux, Frick des Ombres Valeureux , Fello des Ombres Valeureux,  .   You can Google "F Names" and get a bunch of Name Sites.  Once you give us your puppy's name, we send in and register the entire litter using this AKC Form.  When we receive each registration, we sign off and send it to you so you can mail it to AKC with your names as owners. 

Resources: The American Kennel Club maintains one of the world's largest libraries devoted to dogs, the development of purebred dogs and the sport and enjoyment of dogs. Books:  The main subject categories are individual breeds, care, training, behavior and breeding. There are also titles on the various occupations performed by dogs as well as representations of dogs in art, literature and history along with their role in the development of field sports.  There are over 350 videos and DVDs in the collection. These include all of the AKC programs as well as tapes from other sources on topics such as grooming, training, breeding and dog shows. The library's catalog provides access to the Internet.  The Library has an online public access catalog which is accessible over the Internet. It can be both searched and browsed by author, title or subject. In addition, there is an on-site index of Gazette articles by subject. 

Breed Specific Information: For those that want to get back to your dog's roots, there's the French Beauceron Club, Le Club des Amis du Beauceron, and memberships are available to US Citizens.  You will receive the French Beauceron magazine as part of your membership, which has a lot of photos and results of the winning dogs in France.  It's in French, but the photos and information is worth it.  You can read the official French Standard in English on their site.  Some of us travel back to France as well for their National Specialty, the National D'Elevage, which is held each May or June in France in a different region each year.  Also, the AKC Beauceron Breed Standard is available online on the AKC Web Site.  Also, there are several Beauceron Internet Groups available.

Dog Sports: Some of you will want to train your new dog in a protection sport such as Schutzhund or French Ring Sport or PSA while others may train in Search and Rescue, Herding, Agility, or Flyball.  You can visit my links page for resources.

Les Ombres Valeureux "Health & Character Survey".  Please email me for a copy of our Survey and we appreciate you taking the time to complete it once per year or sending us an updated one if/when there has been a change in your dog's health or when you dog has become certified for hips/elbows/eyes/heart, etc or completed a performance title.  Also, please let us know when you dog passes away and what was the cause.  Please take the time to complete it and email it or mail it back to me.  It is a MS Word file.  If you have any trouble opening it, please let me know.  Thank you from the Les Ombres Valeureux Family for taking the time to complete this survey on your dog.  Your feedback is essential and very much appreciated.  

Beauceron Health Study -- Needs Blood Samples:  Please consider sending blood samples in for your Beauceron to help study health problems.  For more information read page 6-7 of the ABC NL http://www.beauce.org/docs/Newsletter/May-June2010/Newsletter-May-June-2010.pdf  You can contact the lab directly for the "free test kits" to be mailed to you by emailing Gretchen Carpintero-Ramirez at dog_genome@mail.nih.gov  and say you want to participate in the canine cancer study and state how many kits you need.  Some of the blood submitted will be saved back for breed specific studies on diseases affecting Beaucerons. (Gretchen M. Carpintero-Ramirez, Lab Samples Manager, CGB/NHGRI/NIH, 50 South Drive, MSC 8000 Bldg. 50, Room 5347, Bethesda, MD  20892-8000.  (301) 451-9390) and if you want to surf the National Institutes of Health web page: http://www.nih.gov   You can ask your vet to draw the blood or a tech or nurse that knows how to draw blood can do this as well. 

Communication: If you ever get into a situation where you can no longer care for your Beauceron, please contact us as we are always willing to help with placement through networking and we are always willing to take any of our dogs back to re-home as well.  Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, photos and brags!

If you have a useful link or information that I've missed, please let me know as this list is a work in progress and I want it to be as informative as possible for future puppy owners.