THE SOCIALIZATION of J&A’s Brittany Pups begins at birth with specific, gentle, brief, individual, personal attention administered daily by John & Ann. As pup matures, they are provided opportunities to interact with others (including closely supervised children of all ages) Weaning begins at 3 weeks and completed by 5 weeks of age.

They are first introduced to baby rice cereal that is gradually replaced with moistened puppy chow. By the time they go home they will be eating moistened puppy food 3 X a day. Although weaning is complete our pups will still be with their mothers until just a couple of days before going home with daily quality time, interactions and romps together. Her methods of teaching respect and manners are important for their development and will have a major influence on them for life! (Some people advocate early separation from the mother, we do not!)

Also important to their growth and development is the supervised interaction our pups will have with other Brittanys of all ages. Depending on weather conditions and time of year, our pups will have opportunity to experience romping and exploring woods and fields, wind blowing, water, sunshine, and more!

By the time they go home they will be familiar with a variety of surfaces including paper, fleece, grass, carpet, newspaper, brick, sand, vinyl, etc. J&A’s Brittany pups will have been introduced to sounds that may include TV, vacuum, instrumental music, tractor running, telephone ringing, kids playing, barking, thunderstorm, pans banging, running water, crowds of people and more! Other miscellaneous experiences a J&A’s pup will have prior to going to it’s new home include baths, car rides, naps in crate or oversized adult dog bed, individually and with litter mates.

Pup will have experienced a leash. "Training to Lead" is introduced in stages: Pup dragging an attached lightweight check-cord; Wearing a lightweight puppy collar for brief periods; Dragging a lightweight leash attached to collar. You should continue this training by enrolling in a Puppy Class.

All of our Brittany pups have early, playful "scent awakening" experiences. They are observed for "birdiness" and for early flashpoints. This is fun for all but serious gun dog training can wait until they are older for working dogs.

In the "dog pack hierarchy" of a litter each pup has a special position. Their behavior, character, way it approaches other puppies, interacts with people, and explores the environment is based upon this.

Generally within a litter, each pup fits into one of the following categories: Top dog, next in line, middleman, or passive/submissive. (Sometimes, there is BOTH male AND female ALPHA/TOP DOG!) In the wild, the "pack hierarchy" is challenged as dogs mature, grow stronger or bigger. A pup that is peaceful and calm with littermates may try to become the ALPHA/TOP DOG in a hurry in your home if it doesn’t perceive leadership in it’s humans!

The Top Dog/Alpha Dominant: Playful and loves to wrestle, mouth, jump and be first at everything. Aspires to be leader of the pack. Self-confident, out-going affectionate. Happy, bold, feisty and independent in fun loving non-aggressive way. Recommend serious training commitment establishing who is boss. Lapses in training may result in re-establishing ground rules!

Next In Line - Confident, happy, may mouth and jump just to be noticed but not to challenge. Energetic and boisterous. Very inquisitive and loves to explore. Keeps a close eye on you. Temperament in the middle. Recommend assertive yet gentle training.

The Middle Man: When compared to the above, energy level seems moderate! High tolerance for noise and confusion. Enjoys coming alongside of you once their energy spurt finished! More laid back (doesn’t mean sedentary though!) Needs training, but occasional lapses shouldn’t result in a renewed challenge for control.

The Passive/ Peaceful Pup Playful outbursts follow keen observation of situations. Sweet, easy going, self-assured and passive but still very energetic! Although calmer, quieter is very independent. Recommend very little discipline, positive reinforcement, gentle training.

When pup goes home, ALL members of your household need to assume an Alpha/Top Dog role! Brittanys, being as intelligent as they are, will quickly decide for themselves to be the leader of your home "pack"! No matter what temperament your pup demonstrates in the litter, a Brittany adapts well and soon accepts it's position within your home.

If there is another dog in the home, supervise the introductions. Within reason, allow the older dog to react on its own terms. Most important is NOT to coddle the new puppy immediately IF the other dog seems to come on too strong. This could generate jealousy. You must respect the seniority of the older dog while protecting the pup. Usually they will work it all out just fine with little need for our intervention. As pup grows it may become the alpha dog over your current pet. As unfair as it may seem to us as humans, let it happen. You'll see power struggles over toys etc. You may hear what sounds like "savage" cries and growls but again, supervise from the sidelines. One thing to observe is the paw and/or head over the shoulder gesture. This compares to a wrestling match with the winner coming out on top. In the end your two dogs will most likely learn to respect and love each other while easily communicating among themselves. We have found that having two Brittanys together in the house is really quite enjoyable and keeps life interesting! They do have their scuffles and we find that a loud "NO!" followed by a gentle stream of water squirted from a spray bottle works well to intervene from a distance. (Keep a spray bottle of water and label it "QUIET WATER" for obvious reasons. Use it for crate training, bark control, discouraging bad behavior etc!) Little things like putting the older dogs' food down first, letting the older dog out first, etc. may help the process as pup grows but may not always be possible. Usually it is best to simply let the dogs be dogs and work it out between themselves.

For more in depth information we suggest you refer to J & A's Brittanys Reading List. Good luck and enjoy this great adventure!