My husband & I have raised Chihuahuas & Toy Poodles for several years now. My mother raised dogs when I was young & when she decided to retire, we took in her poodles & chihuahuas. We can trace all our female poodles from one dog---Skippy, who had her first litter in the early 1980'S. Since I enjoyed these babies when I was younger, we decided to carry on with the same bloodline. I simply can't imagine living in a house without a poodle there with me.
Our Chihuahua lines also came from my mother. Although they came along a little later, I couldn't let these strong willed little creatures go, so we took them in too. We keep females from our own mammas & only introduce new males when needed to prevent inbreeding or "too close" line breeding. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how unique chihuahuas are from each other---they have a personality all their own. They may be the smallest dog in size but their spirit can be larger than life.
Living on a farm taking care of dogs, horses, cows, chickens, pigs, rabbits, goats & each other is a full time job but our life has truly been enriched by all our babies.
Day By Day Farm & Kennel is a USDA, AKC & Missouri state licensed & inspected kennel/home.
We are in the process of getting ready to build a house here at the farm & will hopefully start the actual construction sometime next year. For now we ALL live "in the dog house" which has central air & heat & most of the luxuries of home. My husband & I are at one end & the dogs occupy the other end with a kitchen, bathroom & office area separating the two. I don't like cages & my dogs are not kept in them except when a new dog is brought in from somewhere else & has to be quarantined till all has been checked out ok with the vet. We have individual "rooms" that keep mommas with pups separated from the others & Poodles with Poodles---Chihuahuas with Chihuahuas, males with the correct females, etc. My adult dogs sleep, eat, & play with each other which helps with their socialization. Each indoor room has plenty of room to run & play but also has a bed, bedding,food, an automatic water spout & toys with a doggie door that leads outside to a sheltered fenced in area so they can "do their business", lay in the sun, run & play & bark at the chickens or horses & come back in whenever they choose. I like dogs to be able to run & jump & play whenever they feel like it so our dogs & puppies are on the floor inside & when they go outside through the doggie door they are on the ground.
I do not sell my puppies or expose them to anyone but me & my husband till they have received atleast 2 puppy shots to help protect them from contracting all those horrible canine diseases such as Parvo, Distemper, etc. I have baby puppies throughout the year & since we all live under the same roof, I can not have visitors exposing my newborn puppies so I try to be available to meet people so they can see if I have their new family member. Until we get our house built--this is the only way I can do it safely.
I am a full time farmer wife whose main job is to love, feed, play, clean up after, bathe, trim, doctor & pamper all our animal kids. I am with them everyday for most of the day long. We don't have children so they are our babies. They are exposed to all the "goings on" of our everyday life, the television, radio, washing machine, vacuum (which most of them absolutely hate & me too for that matter), etc.
We feed Purina Pro Plan Small Breed Dog & Puppy food currently but we also like Eukanuba Small Breed Dog & Puppy food also. We switch back & forth with these two brands every year or so. We recommend continue feeding a pup after it is sold whichever brand we are using at the time for at least a couple of weeks until it gets settled in it's new home & then mixing half it's old brand in with half it's new brand for another week or two to help it's tummy adjust to the new food.
I hope this gives ya'll a little insight on how we do things here at the farm. I always like to stay in touch with the "adopted parents" to see how my former babies are doing & make myself available to any question they may have along their long & happy life with their new family member. And just remember: Love doesn't make the world go around, but love is what makes the ride worthwhile!!!
