Poodle Puppies
We are proud to have been able to offer you beautiful, healthy puppies for family companions who with proper training excelled as therapy and service dogs as well as obedience, rally and agility competitors, tracking and search and rescue dogs. Below is the information of how our pups were raised.
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Our puppies are de-wormed and are up to date on vaccinations according to their age when they leave here following the New vaccination protocol
We start them at weaning on 2 meals daily of a wide variety of foods including yogurt ,raw ground beef, heart & kidney ground pork,liver ground chicken, liver, heart and gizzards, green tripe, canned jack mackeral and free choice feeding of dry Innova Evo or Canidae no grain the same as the adults. At 6 to 7 weeks we add raw chicken necks to their diet.
We start letting our puppies go to their new homes between 9 and 10 weeks of age.
They spend their first 2 weeks in our bedroom then come downstairs to a 5' x 9' x-pen fenced area in our dining room where they are in the center of all that goes on in our household. Here they get used to our other dogs, cats, family and visitors and are well socialized when ready to leave. In good weather they spend part of every day in the fresh air outdoors in their own special fenced play area. See Feeding Information page for information on feeding and supplements.
All our sires and dams are certified Optigen Genetically Normal/Clear or are clear through parentage.
Significance for breeding: Genetically Normal/Clear dogs can be bred to any dog and will produce no pups affected with the prcd form of PRA.
See Information about DNA blood testing for PRCD the major form of PRA in
With careful testing and breeding we can produce all normal unaffected progeny now and all breeders can completely eliminate this genetic defect in two to three generations.
There are many things one can test for. Most tests are not definitive and only tell you if the dogs tested are normal or not at the time of testing. They do not tell you if they are genetic carriers or if the progeny of these healthy normal, tested dogs will have these problems. It will be wonderful when the day comes that there are DNA tests for all the problems such as epilepsy, diabetes, etc. Only then will we be able to breed them completely out of our beloved dogs.
One thing to remember for everyone is that no matter how much testing and researching you do there is no way to guarantee that every dog you breed will be healthy. Testing is one of many tools that help to give a breeder higher odds of producing healthy dogs, we are working with genetics and there are so many variables that perfection in any area is impossible. Even though much is "known" about genetics much much more is not and genes have the ability to mutate to make things even more difficult.
We do the best we can to provide you with the healthiest dogs possible, both mentally and physically.
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In the US we have three sizes of poodles.
The toy which is under 10 inches at the withers
The miniature over 10 inches and under 15 inches
The standard which is over 15 inches.
In Europe and most other countries under FCI there are four sizes of Poodles
Toy-Toypudel: Under 28cm (10.92")
Dwarf-Zwergpudel: 28cm to 35cm (10.93" to 13.78")
Miniature-Moyan-Kleinpudel: 35 cm to 45cm (13.79"to17.72")
Standard-Grosspudel: 45cm to 62cm (17.73" to 24.18")
We are specializing in the dwarf and miniature sizes. We also do not dock tails, but leave them natural as is required by many European countries & Australia.
After much deliberation, we have decided to stop docking tails. As of Jan 1st. 2003, all our puppies will have their tails natural, the way they were born. The way they were meant to be.
Many European countries and Australia now outlaw tail docking.
For people interested in showing their dogs internationally, the tails must remain natural.
In this country, tail docking is allowed. It is still preferred by the U.S. show community in spite of the fact that you take a 3 to 5 day old puppy, cut off the top part of his tail putting him under stress at a time when he is needing all his strength to get a start in life.
Finally, a few U.S. breeders are leaving their dogs tails natural.
The dogs below have their tails natural & undocked
Casa Strega Princess Regina A German Black & Tan Tassmania's Cruella de'Vil
The two pictures above right were taken from pages I found on the web.
The dogs below have their tails docked.
It is time we took a stand against fads that are not good for our dogs,
but are strictly for cosmetic purposes or the convenience of people.
We encourage every pet owner to do basic obedience training and if possible
to continue with more, such as training and showing for
CGC, rally, obedience & agility titles,working therapy dogs, etc. This is useful and fun for both you and your dog. It will make them much better companions and strengthen the bond between you.
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JUST A PET
"We only want a pet" This phrase is heard so often. I think what most people do not understand is that "just a pet" has to be as close as possible to the written breed standard as the show dog. The most important thing that makes a good pet is over all good health. This includes mental health (good temperament and personality) as well as physical health. For good physical health a puppy needs a strong immune system. Proper structure and movement are also neccessary so the bones and joints do not develop problems later in life (such as hip dysplasia or loose patellas) .
"Just a pet" should be the dogs in a well bred healthy litter that may have minor faults in structure that are strictly of cosmetic value.
Perhaps a slightly rounder eye than desired in the breed ring, or a tail carried slightly lower or higher than perfect. It may be a personality conflict since sometimes the most perfectly structured and moving dog just does not have that moving out strut your stuff look at me aren't I beautiful attitude needed for the "show dog" to be truely competitive, yet is the ideal mellow pup to be the perfect family companion.
"Just a pet" should not be a dog of inferior breeding, poor conformation, poorly raised or of bad temperament, but should be as well bred, socialized, properly fed & carefully nurtured as the finest show dog to give you the best possible family companion. We at Casa La Strega do not breed dogs specifically to show, We breed beautiful healthy dogs for you to enjoy as family companions, obedience,rally & agility competitors and to work with as therapy dogs. We do the best we can to provide the healthiest dogs possible, both mentally and physically for those of you who want "just a pet".
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