LOTS OF PUPPY INFORMATION

This page is specifically written for our Australian Shepherd puppies. 

I'll keep this page up, so that how we raise puppies, can be read.

Our next litter of Australian Shepherds may be in 2023.

I'll edit this for our litter of American Hairless Terriers. Star is not bred yet, but we are planning to breed next heat cycle for puppies this year, 2021! 

Twizzle puppies (born January 20, 2021):

2 Black Tri Females

1 Red Tri Female

2 Red Tri Males

Spectacular puppies (born January 30, 2021):

3 Red Tri Females

1 Red Merle Female

1 Red Tri Male

1 Red Merle Male

Twizzle's puppies are ready to go to their new homes:

Wednesday March 24, 2021

Spectacular's puppies are ready to go to their new homes:

Sunday April 4, 2021

Puppies go to their new homes at 9 weeks of age. 

Please don't ask for them to leave sooner. 

We do not mind keeping puppies a little longer, however.

At 9 weeks, the puppies are done nursing and they have become very people focused. 

They are ready to bond to their new owners. 

We will send the following with the puppy:

1. A gift bag with the Little Bear Swamp Farm logo.

2. A toy that was played with here by the puppies, for the puppy to have a familiar "lovey". 

3. A familiar raw meal packaged ready to eat, for the puppy to have at home or during travel.

4. Copies of Paw Print Genetics health clearances. Twizzle and Winchester and Rascal are clear of genetic diseases, therefore all offspring of these dogs, are clear.  

5. A receipt of the puppy's veterinary health exam.

6. A signed health guarantee, puppy can be returned for any reason within 7 days for full refund.

7. American Stock Dog Registration for Twizzle's puppies. I will send in the registration application once their new owners inform me of their puppy's name. All registered dogs will have the prefix in the name of, "LittleBear".  

Twizzle's puppies are registered with American Stock Dog Registry. They can be shown in ASDR conformation shows. They can also compete in any available dog sport, for points for for fun.

Any breed/mix of dog can compete in dog sports with any club or registry. So, you can look within, or outside of ASDR if you'd like to compete with your dog.

Spectacular's puppies may or may not be registered. I am working on this currently. Spectacular's sire is not a registered Australian Shepherd. I have his tab to view his photos on this blog. There are many Australian Shepherds in USA who are not registered. I very much support registering dogs, but I also see some great dogs "out there" who are no less in their quality by being unregistered. Rascal is genetically tested and is all clear for Australian Shepherd genetic diseases. 

Our dogs are naturally reared. 
This means no chemicals of any kind, no vaccinations, no processed dog food. 

Our dogs are raised cruelty free.
This means no tail docking, no dewclaw removal, and no forced weaning from their mother.  

Our dogs are fed natural foods. 

We are looking for families who will commit to feeding the puppies a natural diet for at least 50% of their diet. Many people seek me out because I'm a Natural Rearing Breeder. But others feel overwhelmed with this way of feeding. I am here to support feeding naturally. Several of Little Bear Swamp Farm puppy families do feed completely natural (raw meat, raw and cooked vegetables, raw fruit, very occasional grain or other starches). I'm working on a "How to Feed a Naturally Reared Dog" tab with detailed information to help make feeding naturally simple and affordable.  You are welcome to feed up to 50% kibble. Please research to purchase what you feel is best. The puppies will not be introduced to kibble before leaving our home, but it is a simple process to introduce new foods. Our puppies have excellent gut health. 

We do not vaccinate our dogs or puppies.

We do protect their immune system with herbal formulas. We also strengthen their immune systems by exposing mama dog and the puppies to pathogens DURING the time they are nursing. A healthy diet and exposure to many situations help puppies immune systems to respond with antibodies to pathogens. 

We will sell our puppies 

to people who intend to vaccinate them and to people who do not intend to vaccinate them. 

Our dogs and livestsock are dewormed regularly, using  Land of Havilah Parasite Formula. The puppies hate the taste of this for awhile, so I use Black Walnut Hull to deworm puppies until they are older and willing to give LoH Parasite Formula a try :) I mix this in with peanut butter for deworming. Stool samples are delivered to the veterinarian office to be certain puppies are parasite free before they go to new homes.  

Indoor/Outdoor
Our dogs, Twizzle, Marvelous, Spectacular, and Winchester are indoor/outdoor dogs. The go inside and outside as they please. 

Puppies are born inside. The puppies spend more time outdoors around 5 weeks of age. We will bring the puppies inside the house often and allow them to explore the farm, regularly. Our puppies are not kennel raised. Our puppies will have a lot of freedom to roam, play, and interact during the day time. We will begin crate training around seven weeks of age. Puppies will be placed into crates for meal times and nap times. Sometimes they will be in crates in a group, sometimes individually. By the time the puppies go to their new homes at nine weeks of age, they are averaging 6-7 hours sleeping through the night in a crate. Adjusting to a new home may set them back a bit, but they are onto a great start in crate training and in house training!  

Our puppies are raised interacting with children in a range of ages and abilities. 

Little Bear Swamp Farm puppies are exposed to all sorts of wonderful experiences before they go to new homes. These include rides in vehicles, time with new people, play time at the lake, indoor and outdoor noises, and so on. These experiences help the puppies to respond to a variety of new situations with confidence. We also gently "pin" the puppies, so they understand where they belong in the family pack. We all pet the puppies during meal times, the puppies grow up thinking it's a regular part of life to have people near their food.

How to secure the puppy of your choice. 

A deposit can be placed once a person is approved for one of our puppies. Each person will select a puppy in order of approval/deposit. I do have a waitlist. I will be contacting each one first, to give each person a chance to decide if they will be placing a deposit upon one of these puppies. 

A puppy can be chosen from Twizzle or Spectacular's litter. Since one litter is registered and the other litter may or may not be registered, a puppy may be chosen upon a number of factors:

1. are breeding rights desired? or is it desired to show in conformation competition?

2. Male or Female

3. Color

4. Personality

We welcome families to come meet their puppy after their veterinary exam (at 6-7 weeks). A deposit can be moved to any puppy who doesn't have a deposit, if desired. We really prefer that puppies are chosen based upon personality, or whom they "click" with, but understand that some people have been searching for a particular color or gender. We know our dogs well and can describe the temperaments of this breed well, to anyone interested. (Temperaments are more accurately expressed at six weeks of age and older). 

Puppies go to their new homes at 9 weeks of age. On the date that the puppies go to their new homes, families can plan to "hang out" at our farm as long as they'd like to be sure their puppy feels connected to them to help the trip home go as smoothly as possible. Those who have visited their puppy regularly, will be able to take their puppy home more quickly since the puppy is already familiar with them. Those who were unable to meet their puppy  before the go-home day, please take your time at our farm, letting your puppy get to know you. 

We will not "ship" our puppies, but puppy families can make arrangements themselves to fly in and fly out with their puppy. They can also fly in, then drive back home with a rental car. 

Around four weeks of age, each puppy will have it's own tab at the top of this blog to help potential owners view. I aim to add photos of each puppy weekly. 

I have a Facebook group,  "Little Bear Swamp Farm Australian Shepherds With Tails". You must click "groups" to find it. This will be a place where owners of our past puppies can share photos of their Little Bear Swamp Farm puppies/dogs. It's a good place to show what the dogs are doing now and accomplishments. And of course, it's a place to post photos of the growing puppies. The Facebook group will also be a place to discuss things like nutrition and training. The puppies are all individuals, but share many similar temperament traits. It can be helpful to bounce ideas off of each other as training challenges arise.  

What upcoming owners will need to prepare for puppy:

Leash. Bring it with you on puppy pick up day. Our favorite leashes are 6 foot climbing rope leashes by K9 Cord. The puppies can't chew through them.
*It appears this company is closing business. I see very few leashes available now. It's too bad, these are tough! There are other similar companies.

Harness. I prefer a harness to start puppy out on leash training. When the first harness is outgrown, I then purchase a collar. New owners, feel free to purchase which ever you like. I will provide puppy measurements when the puppies are getting closer to pick up dates, so that the proper size can be purchased.  

Crate for house training. Be sure it's large enough for an adult Aussie. Our puppies will likely be between the parent dogs sizes: 17-18 3/4 inches tall and between 25-40 pounds. 
Our puppies current crates are 30"l 19"w 26"h. 
This size is may be large enough for an adult dog. A crate of about 4ft by 3ft is a large, "for sure to adulthood" size. I have only needed to keep my dogs crated (when I'm not watching them) until about six months. Every dog and families' routine is different though. I did keep my crates available as a safe place for the dogs to relax. Crates are their NO KID ZONE. I teach the children, that if a dog is in a crate, they are not to even acknowledge the dog. Families who have children, must show the puppies/dogs that there is a place for them to "get away" from hugs or commotion, if they desire. 

The dogs seem to prefer plastic crates to give them the feeling of being in a den. A wire crate with a cover would give the same feel. be certain the cover is not something that would be harmful to the puppy if chewed.


Please be mindful that keeping a puppy in a crate for extended periods during the day, is unkind. 
These sweet puppies need:
1. interaction with people. This breed loves to shadow their people.  
2. physical exercise
3. mind stimulation
4. a "job" to do (trick and obedience training, for example, are jobs)
5. playtime with other dogs
6. time to chew (remember if left to natural eating, they would be eating whole prey which takes time to tear and chew). We do feed our dogs whole prey sometimes and we see how well it calms and satisfies them
7. nap time (puppies do need daily nap time, just don't overdo it on that alone time)   

Food Take time to be fully prepared for a puppy who has been fed a very healthy diet of raw and also if feeding kibble, research for the best. 

Bedding Our puppies and dogs have been loving this bed in this size:  bed

Toys A variety is best. Their faves are: crinkle toys, big stuffies, and wool toys.

Bowls I use stainless steel bowls for food and water.  

These two litters are Little Bear Swamp Farm's fifth and sixth litter of puppies. 

I raised Australian Shepherds years ago and desired to have this wonderful breed again when I purchased Twizzle as a puppy in January 7 years ago. We welcome puppy buyers as friends. Our puppies are healthy and strong and spend a tremendous amount of time with children and adults. We hope for the puppies to join people who will give them much socialization with people and dogs. We desire also that they will be able to use their energy and intelligence toward activities such as: Therapy Dog, Disc Dog, Swimming, Fly Ball, Agility, Hiking, and so on.