Our Puppies
Each litter, be it Boston Terrier or Whippet is carefully planned, usually a year or so in advance and all options and aspects for the 'best pairing' of two dogs is considered and arranged in plenty of time before the bitch has come into heat. This includes carrying our relevant health tests on both parents (even if we don't own the sire) and ensuring the bitch is kept in good health to prepare her for coping physically and mentally with having a litter. Every litter we breed takes around six months of work from conception until when the pups are old enough to leave us. Nothing is ever left to chance or arranged last minute. We usually breed four litters per year and and this is usually split equally between Boston Terriers and Whippets.
Due to being entrusted with some world class dogs from top breeders around the globe, all of our puppies leave us with two endorsements placed upon their Kennel Club registration document. Both endorsements help to protect the individual puppy, our breeding program, the breed as a whole, as well as protecting the work of other breeders before us. The first is an endorsement that prevents the dog being exported and registered with another countries Kennel Club for show or breeding purposes by the new owner, as it prevents the issue of an 'Export Pedigree'. This ensures that we pick who and where our pups are exported to in the world. We have exported pups to Bermuda, Switzerland, Italy, Iceland and Ireland and we are more than happy to discuss this process with any potential new owner who doesn't live in the United Kingdom. The second endorsement is one that prevents any progeny of the dog being registered with the Kennel Club and helps prevent the pup being used for breeding without our consent. Both this and the export pedigree endorsement can be lifted by ourselves at any time in the dogs life if the new owner requires us to do so, but ensures that the new owner comes back to us for help and advise regarding breeding their dog, as we believe it is not something that should be entered into without careful consideration or support from an experienced breeder.
Each litter is very important to our breeding program and we do not breed simply because we have people waiting for puppies. It is very rare for us to have any more than one single litter from our Boston Terrier girls. This is due to them usually needing a cesarian section, as Boston Terriers have the highest C-Section percentage at 96.4% than any other breed, so when we breed from our Boston girls, we always do so with the view that it will be our one chance to keep a pup to breed on from. Our Whippet girls can and do have more than one litter, as they more often than not give birth naturally, but it is still rare for us not to keep a pup from a litter. Therefore we always have 'pick of the litter' and occasionally keep more than one pup from a litter. This means that from time to time there may not be an available pup for everyone on our 'waiting list' or that the potential new owners may not get to choose which pup they have.
Our puppies are raised in our living room in a whelping box and whelping pen, we never breed more than two litters at a time as we feel that if we did, we would be unable to devote the time that each one of our pups needs to enable it to grow into a confident and well adjusted individual that is ready to cope with big wide world. We begin each pups socialisation programme from day one and gradually introduce more and more positive experiences of daily basis. This includes feeding our pups all around the house once they are weaned, to spending time with our older dogs learning how to interact and play and lots more in-between.
Our pups usually leave us in-between eight and ten weeks of age, having been wormed at two, five and seven weeks with Panacur liquid wormer, microchipped with a Smart Breeder anti migrating Smart Microchip, fully vet checked and having received their first vaccinations at around seven weeks of age. We ensure each pup leaves us having been Kennel Club registered, with two comprehensive free insurance policies for the new owner to choose between, a full record or growth, worming and health / registration documentation and of course a puppy pack which includes a 3KG bag of Purina Pro Plan Opti Digest Puppy food that we wean our pups on to, a home made personalised blanket and some useful essential items to help our puppies settle in their new homes. We also provide you with a Boston Terrier or Whippet puppy handbook written by Jo, that explains everything you need to know about the breed, health, training and how to carry on what we have started, amongst other important topics, as well as how to prepare for your new arrival.
It goes without saying that we are available for our owners from the time they prebook their puppy from us, all the way through until the end of the dogs life. We obviously enjoy sharing in the happy times with our owners and the dogs we have bred, but it is important to remember we are also always there for help and support through the difficult times as well - be that behaviour or illness related.
The Process of Having A Puppy From Us
The process of having a pup from us starts with filling in our Client Questionnaire and we will then be in touch to confirm that you are on our waiting list. Being on our list does not obligate you in any way into having one of our pups, we do not require a deposit to be on our waiting list, all we ask is that if you have a pup from another breeder and no longer wish to be on our list you let us know. Also it is worth noting that being on our list does not guarantee you a pup from our next litter, as we are dealing with nature so we can never guarantee the number in a litter or ratio of male and female pups.
Being on our waiting list enables us to get to know our owners well before they have a puppy from us, as this builds trust and understanding between us, it also means that our new owners usually get to be involved with the whole process from conception to birth and birth to when their pup joins their family.
Once you have been confirmed as on our 'waiting list' we will let you know our next planned litter and then again after the matings have taken place. It is then around five weeks later before we are able to confirm if the bitch is pregnant. We usually share ultrasound images of the pregnancy with you from the first scan we do. Then it is a further four weeks of waiting before the pups are due to be born. When the pups are safely here, we let you know and will share photos of the pups as group with their mum. It will be at least a week after birth before we get back in touch with further update and individual photos, as the first few days of being born are extremely stressful for us and we get very little sleep, as we simply concentrate on mum and her babies. We then start to share more photos and updates from around two weeks of age. New owners are invited for a visit to meet us, the pups and of course Mum and Dad (if we own him) at around 5 weeks of age. This visit can only happen once weaning is well and truly underway and the pups are interacting with each other and responding to human contact, as this ensures that mum to the pups is pleased to meet you and not over protective towards her babies. We discuss everything at the visit from feeding to training and answer any questions you have, We also like to know as much as we can about your experience of dogs, as well as work and life commitments, as this ensures we give you the correct advice that is tailored to you and your family. We also complete a Puppy Reservation Form which confirms which puppy is yours as well as the agreed collection date. We also give you your copy of our puppy handbook to take away and read in your own time, which helps you prepare for your new family member. It is only after this visit has taken place and both parties are happy to proceed that a deposit is placed on your puppy. We then keep in contact with updates on important events and milestones such as vet health checks, completing the weaning process or going outside for the first time, until your pup leaves us between eight and ten weeks of age. We are then on hand should you need us for the rest of your dogs life.
If you would like to begin the process of having a Mumuland Boston Terrier or Whippet pup, please complete the Client Questionnaire and we will look forward to you becoming part of our extended Mumuland family.