What is Puppy Culture?

Puppy Culture is a science based approach to canine socialization and training. It was developed by vets, behaviorlists, trainers and breeders, compiled by Jane Killion to create a week by week approach as to what a puppy needs at each point in their development.

Week by week we work to teach pups to learn to deal with fear, frustration and overcome obstacles, therefore building confidence with activities such as “the box game”, barrier challenges, obstacle challenges, tarp challenge and much more. Through this, our puppies learn to problem solve.

*Our pups are raised in our home, with lots of toys and household noises, along with intentional sound stimulation. We reinforce, with training, positive elements in daily life, like baths, nail clipping and much more. These are experiences that can’t be replicated properly in a kennel environment. Our puppies wander the house before they head home and since we have so many of our pups that go on to be service and therapy dogs, almost every litter goes through some sort of temperament test, and even if they don’t, I prepare as if they are. The way we interact with them in the little moments and use small opportunities to create positive experiences and imprints. We don’t have a huge house or a massive set up, but we make it a priority for the pups to have both a play area and a sleeping area in our home, and we let them become comfortable in our home by being able to explore on their own, sit on the couch with us, watch movies and have one on one time.

*Other elements included in the pups weeks with us is learning to “mand”, which is sitting to ask, instead of jumping or other bad behaviors pups learn to get our attention. At our house we teach that the way to get our attention is to “sit to ask”.

*They learn to walk with/next to us (without the leash) so that when the leash is added, they have already learned to walk with us, the leash isn’t a surprise.

*We crate train our pups starting at 5 weeks old and by the time they head home, they are typically sleeping from 10pm-6am without accidents by the time they go home.

We work hard to complete as much of the Puppy Culture program as we can with each litter, making us 1 of 20 golden retriever breeders in the United States and only 1 of 3 golden retriever breeders in Texas that have earned our way onto the Puppy Culture map, which is the only way to know that a breeder is actually verified by a member of the Puppy Culture team. I have pictured the map below, but you can also find it on the Puppy Culture website under “breeders map”.

I have posted their map so you can see us and other (actual) verified breeders. Even then, the proof is in the puppies, and a breeder that claims they use this program should be able to explain 1. What they are doing with the pups each week 2. Why they are doing it 3. Prove that they are actually doing what they say.

If you have a pup that has the foundation layed for confidence, obedience training will come easily. Its not that we can’t or won’t focus on these things, but having a confident, well socialized pup, is the most important thing since we only have the first 12 weeks to lay that foundation, and that is by far the greatest focus.

Ultimately, these are exercises and lifestyle are a great start for our/your pups, but you will need to continue training and interacting this way if you want to have the greatest impact on your pups temperament.