Registration, Selection, and Naming

This is due to several factors. First, our dogs are bred to have good temperaments. We want to see dogs that can adjust and adapt to the unexpected. 

It also helps that we handle our puppies daily, beginning at birth, simply holding and cuddling them. We begin the Super Dog program at 3 days old, then, at a few weeks of age, we start our proven acclimation and socialization program, and continue this until placement. This exposes the puppies to a wide variety of experiences, leading to dogs that can adapt to almost anything.  We also utilize the Puppy Culture program to assist with desensitizing and socializing puppies to real life. We focus on the rules of 7 with every puppy we produce. 

The fact that we keep the puppies longer to work with them and don’t let them go home until after their fear period ends helps enormously.

Yes. At 10 - 14 days of age, we microchip each puppy with an ISO microchip. We chip our puppies so young for 2 reasons. First, because at this time we submit DNA samples for genetic testing, and to the OFA and AKC for DNA profiles, as well as individually registering each puppy. We cannot do all of this without a microchip to verify which puppy is which. Second, because we do not like keeping collars or neckbands on our puppies after they start moving around and playing, we need a way to positively identify which puppy is which.

We do this for several reasons. First, many times, buyers, for some inexplicable reason, don’t care to have their dog registered. They buy a limited registration dog as a pet and decide that they don’t care to fill out and submit the paperwork. As part of the Breeder of Merit program, which we are striving for, it is required that the breeder in question makes every attempt to ensure that every puppy produced by the breeder is registered. When we sell a pup and give the registration application, we cannot force the buyer to submit it and register their pup. This hurts our standing in the BOM program.

Another issue is that often, the buyer does not think it necessary to register the puppy right away, and loses the application. Then they have to contact us for another copy, which we have to pay for, meaning we have to charge the buyer for this, and this means that the buyer gets upset claiming we are scamming them out of more money. Plus there are late fees the AKC and CKC charge if applications are not turned in by a set period, and buyers get upset at this.

We also have had issues with buyers upset with us because the application was not filled out properly, and the registration was voided or denied.  

Then we had the problem with name choices. All of our puppies are named in a specific manner, using the lettering method and our kennel name. We found that all too often buyers don’t want to use our method to choose the registered name, and want to drop our kennel name or pick a name that starts with the wrong letter.

All in all, it is easier and less stressful for us to individually register each puppy at a few weeks of age than it is to have the buyer do it. 

Honestly, same as the transfer of an adult dog. When we pick your puppy at 8 weeks, and you approve him, you have to make a trip to our kennel so your whole family can come to visit the puppy in person. The day that your puppy is picked up or shipped, we fill out the AKC transfer of ownership online and pay the fees. We also fill out the form transferring your dog’s AKC Reunite registration. These fees are included in the purchase price. Your dog’s new electronic certificates will be e-mailed to you as soon as they are processed, with a hard copy coming in the mail at a later date.

At the time that we individually register each puppy, we register all of them with limited registration. At 8 weeks of age, when we are determining full or limited registration quality, we will lift the limited registration from those who we deem breeding and show quality. When you get your full registered puppy, we will have a form that we send to the registries along with the signed papers, to give your puppy full registration.

We are not fans of this, as we feel that breeding and show quality puppies should end up in homes where they will be shown and potentially added to the gene pool. We would much prefer to wait until we find another puppy for you that would be designated as limited registration, or to sell with full registration and possibly a co-ownership if desired. 

But, if you have your heart set on limited registration, and the perfect puppy for your family is breeding quality, we will add a limited registration to this puppy, and sell him or her to you at limited registration cost. 

However, we will NOT do the opposite, selling non-breeding quality puppies with full registration.  

Sort of. We match our puppies to buyers in the following order: temperament/personality, gender, registration options, and other preferences.

It is critical to us that you are happy with your puppy for the next few decades. You are not going to be happy with a puppy that is not temperamentally a match for your family. Because of this and because we know our dogs much better than you do, we begin the selection process. When you submit your buyer questionnaire, we give you a list of available dogs and puppies that will suit your lifestyle and let you pick from that list. If you do not like any of them, you are simply put on our waiting list.

Yes and no. The reason for this is that our puppies are named using the letter method along with our kennel name. When a breeder uses this method the kennel name either makes up the first or last part of the name and the other part begins with a specific letter. For instance, our dogs have SouthernStar as the first part of their names. For the A litter, there might be SouthernStar’s Ace In The Hole, SouthernStar’s Alabama Slammer, and so on. The second litter is the B litter. We might have SouthernStar’s Belle Of The Ball, SouthernStar’s Badge Of Honor, and so forth. 

When we individually register each pup at a few weeks old, we select the registered name. When you know what puppy you are getting, you can discuss changing the registered name with the transfer of ownership, provided our kennel name remains the first part and the rest begins with the correct letter. You can also add your kennel name at the transfer of ownership. 

However, as our kennel name is registered AND we were the first owners of record, the name cannot be changed without our written approval.

Since the CKC does not allow change of name, we do not register the pups in Canada until we transfer AKC ownership. Once we know the AKC name will not be changed, we register the puppy in Canada to you.

You are more than welcome to choose the puppy’s call name or his everyday name.

Our puppies can go home at 10 weeks of age.

We are aware that there are breeders out there who let their pups go home earlier than we do. However, breeders that release their pups before 8 weeks of age should be avoided at all costs. The reason is that puppies need time with their littermates and mama to learn proper canine etiquette and behaviors. Pups that go home at 6 and 7 weeks of age tend to have a lot of behavior issues later in life.

With that said, we like to keep our pups until at least 10 weeks. This gives us time to evaluate the puppies for registration status, temperament, and personality quirks and get them over their fear period. It also gives us time to work on crate and house training and teach attention, clicker, manners and a few obedience commands.

We begin attention and mark training, teaching the Ready Cue “Ready”, the Finish Cue “All Done”, and the mark (clicker). We teach the puppies the following specific commands: “No”, “Here” (come), “Quiet”, “Kennel Up” (get in your crate), “Hurry Up” (go potty) “Load Up” (get in the vehicle) “Spot” (go to a designated spot like a towel or bed). We also begin to teach our puppies to focus on the handler, walk on a loose lead, go potty outside, chew on approved toys only, no biting, and manners at mealtimes.