Puppies are Not always available. Any pet puppies we may have are placed in approved, loving homes with limited registrations (Not eligible to be bred), No exceptions..  All of our puppies are placed on contracts and all have inherited genetic health defect guarantees covering the heart, liver, and lungs. All puppies are vaccinated up to date before being allowed to leave our home. We don't allow our Yorkie babies to leave us until they are 12 weeks old, and our Pom babies at around 9-10 weeks. The exception would be if a puppy was tiny and needed to remain with us a little longer for their health and development.

We do have a waiting list for most of our future planned breedings.
You may inquire on how to get on our waiting list for a future available puppy.

Please call, or e-mail us if you have any questions.
puppies@ponderosas.com

Visit our puppy room to see some of our babies and parents.

We are glad you are here to visit and it is our hopes that when you leave you will have enjoyed your visit and maybe learned a little too.

We protect our Dogs by "Micro-chipping" with Avid Microchip. We offer Microchipping protection, upon request, to protect your puppy from being stolen or lost, at a reasonable price.

A little about us, our beliefs, and how we raise our Babies

     Here at Ponderosa we strive to raise healthy, happy sociable dogs.  That meet or exceed the standard of the breed. Our hopes are to raise excellent quality dogs that can and will be shown by us or other show people, and that any pet quality pups will get all the love they deserve in a wonderful pet home.  Pet puppies are placed in their new homes with limited registration and we strongly urge spay/neutering of all pets.
     We have been raising our babies since March 1992. We raised almost all our breeders from pups so we could develop good social personalities in all our dogs. We do not believe in over breeding (breeding every heat), or breeding of unhealthy animals ever. We do not breed our  dogs to make our living, we all work jobs outside our home. You can ask any reputable breeder and you will find that it is true that breeders who are breeding for the love of the breed spend more money on their dogs, their health and well being, showing them to be sure they are producing quality animals, than they will ever get from the sales of the few puppies they have for placement. We want to be able to provide happy healthy puppies to people who really want one, for its entire life, and will love and care for it. I bet I have been ask hundreds of times "You make good money off selling puppies don't you". I just smile at them and my reply is always the same... "Oh Yes, I only went a few Thousand in the hole this year on my dogs."
    All breedings are pre-planned and scheduled. Our females are not bred until they  are at least a year old, or in their second heat, sometimes longer if we feel the female is not mature enough or ready for motherhood. We never just  put dogs together to breed at will, and without supervision. The utmost care is taken to see that the animals are healthy and ready prior to breeding. We do NOT mix breed our animals. Any breeder that has mix breeds on their premises for sale, are either careless about watching their dogs or are not responsible breeders working at the betterment of the breed. There is always the possibility that an accidental breeding could happen, as humans are not error free and even the most careful person can have things happen beyond their control and before they can stop it, but the result of a litter from this type of breeding, in our opinion, puppies would be placed into loving pet homes and not sold.
     All of our dogs we breed are AKC Registered, and we do NOT, and will NOT sell our babies through or to pet shops, puppy millers, or to puppy brokers. We want to know who has our babies and to be able to keep in touch with the new owners, and to be there for them any time they need us. This can not be done if you buy puppies from pet shops or puppy mills.

Here is the Typical expectation and time spent raising a new litter....

It's Delivery Time:

     All expectant mothers are brought into our home 10 to 14 days before their due date and watched carefully. I sit on their blanket, on the floor, with them from the onset of labor until the last puppy is whelped, nursing and doing fine. This way I can talk to and soothe the mother, assist them with delivery, help them with a breech puppy, difficult labor, or just help take care of a newborn while the next one is being born. It is tiring,requires a lot of your time, love, and devotion, but it is worth it when you see healthy puppies arrive into the world that might not have lived otherwise. This also seems to help comfort and prevent the mothers from becoming overly exhausted. It gives the mother more time to bond with, and care for the pups that have already been born. It also helps assures that I am there if a small or weak puppy is born that needs special attention, or maybe a little help getting its first meal.

 Puppy Development

     Puppies are kept in our homes with their mothers where they can be checked regularly. They receive daily human contact by touch and talking to them. We start introducing moistened puppy food to our babies as soon as they start showing an interest in the mothers food, in general this is around 4 weeks of age. They are given a few licks of soaked puppy food a few times a day along with their feedings from mom. After their teeth start coming in good, between 4 and 5 weeks old, they are continued on the soaked food, as they can not eat enough dry food as of yet, but we also put a small bowl of dry in with them so they can start learning to chew on solid food and to help them with their new incoming teeth.
     Every puppy, like children, can be different and can develop differently, some slower  than others. No puppy will be allowed to leave us if it is not healthy, as we do not sell or condone the selling of an unhealthy dog of any breed. Nor do we allow a puppy to go to their new home until they are able to eat their puppy food on their own for at least one week. This way both of us can be better assured that you are getting a healthy puppy that is not going to require special attention or get sick from not being able to eat what it needs to remain healthy.
     All our puppies are started from birth with newspaper in their pen as their initial potty training. As soon as they open their eyes and begin to walk, a change can been seen as they eagerly bark and call for you when they see you enter the room. It is usually  now time to start teaching them what no-no, stay back, don't scratch, kiss kiss, and other little things like that mean. It seems that these words are used daily as you try to feed, put in fresh water, and change their paper. Kiss kiss, sweet puppy kisses, and love you are told to them every day to show that they are going to be loved, and  allowed to show love.
     They are never totally ignored or ever made to feel like they are not important or loved.  But just as important, we try to teach them that they cannot interrupt the households lives all the time just because they want attention at that very, and every moment. It is hard sometimes not to go pick a baby up when it is crying for you, even if you know nothing is wrong and it just wants you to hold it all the time. As soon as they are old enough to run and play in the fresh air, they are allowed to do so daily, with all the young babies of our clan, to develop good, acceptable social behavior. After they are totally weaned they enjoy the daytime, weather permitting, in the fresh outdoor air on a large screened in deck, and spend the nights indoors in their special built puppy playpens until they find that special loving "home of their own".
     All of our babies have genetic defect health guarantees and will have their up-to date vaccinations, at minimum their first puppy shot, usually 2 vaccinations and worming have been given before they go to their new homes so all you have to do for the first couple of weeks is get to know and love your new baby, as it should be.

Life in "The Dog House"

         We live out in a country area of the foothills of North Carolina, and have a couple of acres of grass yard to keep our babies happy on. We have several housing units for them to sleep in. We have indoor "doggie" rooms in our homes where our mom's expecting pups, young pups, and show dogs (who have special coat care needs) live until they are through showing, and coats can be cut down to puppy cuts, can join the others in the big play yard, or when they just get big enough to be with the others. We also have 1 outside unit for our Poms and cut down Yorkie kids (we converted a barn we had, painted, insulated it, added solid floors, & radiant oil heating). They always have fresh water, and access to their outside exercise runs at all times. They are never "kept" in small cages or sleeping areas where they can't get out and run anytime they feel the urge. They also enjoy a 1/2 acre fenced grass yard with lots of toys and chews. They all love to play tug 'o war and chase games together in it.
     Once a new pup is going to become a member of our clan, and is old enough to stand up for itself and start developing ranking and social skills, they are placed with other "kids" closer to their size and age to learn these vital skills. Here they begin to learn how to get along with all the other dogs and not be afraid and hunker down like a "whooped pup". They also get valuable lessons on respecting their elders. It is a lot of fun to watch the little ones run around the big yard chasing each other and playing tug o' war with the older ones and the adults. This is where they learn acceptable social behavior, and that serious fighting is not allowed. Like I would my own child, I discipline any of them that miss-behave, is intentionally mean, or starts fighting with anyone else. I can honestly say that the only time I feel guilty about the way I raise my dogs, is when I can not let some of my females out in the big yard to play with all the others because they are in heat. But I do not want any "OOP's" pregnancies. I try to make up for it by letting the females in heat out with some of the girls to have fun, after I put the males back in their regular yard after a few hours of playing.

*Click here to visit our kids indoor doggie room and play yards*

Visitors

     You are always welcome to stop by and visit with us and our babies. We ask one thing though, please understand & don't expect our babies to always look like they have just been groomed for a show, like children who play outside, our kids get to play outside daily and their hair may not look perfectly groomed, and their faces and hands may be a little dirty from playing until they get their baths.

Retirement

         After our animals have attained the age, or if any health reasons should develop, that we feel that they should no longer be breeders; they will be spayed/neutered, retired and allowed to live out their lives with us. Or if we know someone that is loving and in need of a friend, we will place them in a good home as a companion. Even though the AKC recognizes and will register litters from males and females that are 12 years old at the time of mating, we do not breed our our dogs that long. They will usually be retired during their fifth year of breeding, sometimes sooner. Occasionally, if one of our  females is in exceptional health we may retire her during her sixth year. Our males generally will be retired in their 8th year. It is just my personal opinion, unless I am shown to my satisfaction otherwise, that it would be unnecessary and would be hard on a dog's health to be used as breeders when they are over 8 years old.

Pick up, Delivery, & Shipping Policies

        We prefer to have our babies picked up by their new owners so we can meet them, and make sure they receive everything their new baby needs. But since it is not always possible for someone come pick up a puppy especially if they live several states away we will consider shipping.  Our puppies are not priced with shipping expenses already added into the price, as they are usually picked up or delivered and not shipped. We have, within NC, met our customers at a 1/2 way point if it is reasonable to do so. We will consider shipping our babies, weather permitting, at the from and to destination points.   If shipping is necessary we will ship only PDQ, Delta Dash, or Counter to Counter which average cost is $175.00 to most US cities. Shipping will be done at purchasers expense: air fair, vet certification, microchipping, & carrier. Pre-shipping cost is $65.00, this includes pet taxi travel carrier with water bottle, the veterinarian health certificate and the microchipping of the puppy. Microchipping, is for positive identification, for your protection as well as ours and the puppy's, and is required by us for any puppy that is shipped. This will be done by us by with an Avid microchip, which we use to identify our own dogs. (The cost of our microchip, which is currently $20.00 is included in pre-shipping expense). Identifying microchip transfer papers, AKC registration application papers, puppy pack, and health records will be sent separately and before the shipping of the puppy. We would insist on shipping the puppy by the most straight through flight available, for the health of the puppy.

I hope this gives you an insight to who we are and what we do. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

Tammie & Joyce

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