We are a very hands-on breeder and will always be. For me, it's the only way to really know each and every one of our puppies. This is important when making the decision on which puppy would be the best match for their forever family.

From the moment they are born, I take great effort in studying, observing, holding and just playing with our puppies to make sure I know them. It's not just about "how they look" which is important, especially when considering a show/breeding puppy, but what is even more important in a companion puppy is to evaluate "how they act", their temperament.

Because we spend so much time with our puppies, we know them, but we also take it a step further and actually perform a Puppy Aptitude Test as well as a Obedience Test on each puppy. I can happily say, with one exception our own evaluation was in total agreement with these tests.

So far, every puppy we have placed in loving family homes show or companion dogs have been correctly placed.

The Puppy Aptitude and Obedience Test we use was developed by Joachim and Wendy Volhard. If you are a breeder and aren't temperament testing your puppies, I highly encourage you to consider this test. It's a very helpful tool and it's fun! We test our puppies at 49 days old. It is recommended that you have someone unknown to the puppies perform this test in an area of your home that is new to the puppy. This test along with our own observations and of course input from our puppies future families determines what puppy will go to which family.

Here is a copy of the Tests for your use with permission of Wendy Vollard as noted on her website.