Journeyman Labradors
Our Puppies
Greetings and Welcome to Journeyman! Thank your for your interest in one of our puppies. Please read through the information below so you can get to know us and what to expect from us as the breeder of your puppy. You will also learn how we raise our puppies week-by-week. Once you have read through this page, please complete our Puppy Questionnaire and send it along with your inquiry.
Our goal is to produce top quality, beautiful, healthy pups with awesome temperaments and correct structure that will be successful in both performance homes and as a beloved family pet. We breed first and foremost for ourselves, keeping a puppy or puppies to continue and build on our own lines. Puppies that we do not keep are placed in pre-screened, carefully chosen pet homes on Limited AKC registration with spay/neuter contracts.
As responsible breeders, we make every effort to get to know our potential puppy families before puppies are ready to go home. Your answers to the questions in our puppy questionnaire will help us learn more about you and allow you to tell us about your expectations and desires. We also use this information to help us place our puppies. We will be in contact with you within 3 days of receiving your submitted questionnaire. We will set up a time for a phone interview with you and your family with Deb and Jen. You will be able to get to know us and ask any questions you may have and we will be able to get to know you.
Journeyman puppies come with a health guarantee for eyes, hips and genetic diseases that we test for, such as EIC, HNPK, and PRA. We are proud to say that our puppies are 100% Dilute Free. Our puppies may not be neutered or spayed prior to 24 months of age to ensure proper growth and health. Puppies will leave with their first round of vaccines and be de-wormed and parasite free. A health record will be provided. Puppies will also be microchipped and litter pan trained. A 5 lb. bag of Victor Professional All Life Stages kibble and and a slip lead will be provided with your puppy. You will also receive a wealth of information on puppy care, training, exercise guidelines, and the benefits of waiting to spay/neuter. Please bring water, a towel or small blanket, and a hard or wire crate to transport your puppy home. We recommend a 28” or 30” crate for an 8-10 week old Labrador puppy. If you do not own a crate, a 28” hard crate will be provided. Your puppy will be registered with the American Kennel Club on the day of pick up. The basic AKC registration fee is included in the cost of your puppy. Additional options are available during the registration process, such adding a co-owner, purchasing a pedigree, and more. If you think you might want to add on any options, please bring a credit card number to use for payment or cash/check to reimburse Journeyman Labradors for the additional registration fees.
To promote responsible breeding, all of our puppies are sold on AKC Limited Registration. Limited Registration means that the puppy is eligible for registration and can compete in agility, rally, obedience and hunt tests, but not in conformation competition. Any offspring produced by the dog would not be eligible for AKC registration. We do not sell dogs for breeding purposes. Puppies going to show or performace homes may be sold with AKC Full Registration, with co-ownership with Journeyman Labradors, but this exception is rare. We do not ship young puppies but ground transportation may be arranged.
We use Puppy Culture protocols to raise our litters. Our puppies are raised inside our home, in a puppy nursery, and are handled from the day they are born. Our young grandchildren are in the whelping box early and make sure each puppy is cuddled and loved, as do we. Puppies are weighed and handled daily for the first four weeks. We believe in early introduction to many new experiences for the puppies. When the puppies are 3-16 days old, we do Early Neurological Stimulation daily with each puppy. The benefits of ENS are 1) Improved cardiovascular performance; 2) Stronger heartbeats; 3) Stronger adrenal glands; 4) More tolerance to stress; 5) Greater resistance to disease. Also during the 3-16 days old period, we do Early Scent Introduction daily with each puppy. The puppies benefit from this simple stimulation and we see increases in confidence and stability in performance work, service work, and in pet homes.
Two to three weeks old is a transitional period. This is when puppy eyes and ears open, We observe startle and recovery by dropping dog dishes and slamming cupboard doors. We use sound protocols like classical music, TV, and a quiet room. We begin fun exercises to shape emotional responses. Puppies learn to take treats and are introduced to warm goat milk. We provide challenges like rolled towels to climb over, stuffed animals. If we note any with fear, the protocols will be discontinued for a short time and then we will start again.
When our puppies are four weeks old, the socialization period begins. Challenges and games are introduced to get their minds working and problem solving. We begin to discourage behaviors such as mouthing and jumping by encouraging alternative behaviors such as feet on the floor, and finding a toy to bring with them when greeting or playing with us. Fear responses are worked with until the puppy shows a recovery, and less severe or positive reaction on the next exposure.
Between four and five weeks, we begin to swap the pee pads for a litter tray with pine bedding pellets. We begin weaning to kibble moistened with warm goat milk. At the age of five weeks, the puppies move to a toddler area in our kennel room located in our converted garage attached to our house. They are introduced to the crate at this age as well as additional activities such as an enrichment cube, interactive toys, a shallow puppy pond, a playhouse and our kitties, goats, chickens, and other Labradors.
At the age of six weeks, the socialization period continues. We begin taking the puppies for short jaunts outside on the ranch. We usually have a puppy party at this time. The puppies are introduced to new items placed in the pen, new textures and surfaces to walk on, new sounds to engage with like tarps on a exercise a pen or a wobble board. We continue to watch for fearful reactions in our puppies so we can encourage the startle recovery to new situations, experiences, objects or noises.
During their seventh week of age, we begin acclimating puppies to short periods of crate time. We work on recall and basic puppy etiquette. When the puppies are between seven and eight weeks of age, an evaluator does temperament and puppy aptitude testing. We utilize the Volhard Pupppy Aptitude Test (PAT) Each puppy goes home with his or her own “report card.” This testing gives us a good read on where each puppy is at in their development, and helps us match them with the right homes. It does not show what the pup will grow up to be, as the training and lifestyle they have in their new homes will impact that more. However, it does give the puppy’s new family an excellent “starting point” of what to work on and individual characteristics.
At eight weeks, the pups have an excursion to the vet. We bring treats and make it a positive experience. We do stacking on a table and car rides in a crate, leash walking in a puppy sae area, sit, down, and recall, and something new everyday. Structural assessment for show puppies is done. We work on distraction training and add in some more socialization in our home.
By the time our puppies are ready to go home, our goal is that they are as confident, healthy, and happy as possible, and ready to join their new families for the best possible start to their lives. Because some puppies might be in their fear-impact stage of development at 8 weeks, our pups go home between eight and ten weeks of age. When the time is right for their new family, and we feel the pup is ready.
We encourage our potential puppy families, as well as “alumni” families with our pups or adults to stay in touch with updates and any questions at any time. If you would like to arrange to visit us, we welcome you to reach out so that we may set up a good time. We would love to meet you!
Best regards,
Jon and Deb Quast, Owners
Jen Bailey, Trainer-in-Residence
Journeyman Labradors
www.journeymanlabs.com
journeymanlabs@gmail.com
559-855-2356 (ranch)
805-252-7595 (Deb mobile)
559-355-4680 (Jen mobile)
