Visitation Procedures & Visitor Conduct
We encourage those visiting to be considerate of all the families on the list for a current litter and arrive on time for your puppy-choosing appointment and likewise don't overstay past your appointment time-slot! Getting a puppy is exciting and everyone deserves to have their allotted time-frame dedicated to their choosing of a puppy! We would also like to be able to concentrate and dedicate our time to each family to ensure that we are able to guide you to a puppy that is suited to your home and dynamics in temperament and energy level!
Please also be sure to read all the elements on this page!
Visitation Procedures:
For all families who have already placed a deposit on a litter to choose a puppy:
~ NO visits will be permitted until the puppies are turn 5 weeks of age! By this time the puppies will have a reasonable amount of immunity to their environment and they will have sufficiently matured to start showing developmental traits, individual temperaments and "personalities".
~ You may see the parents of the puppies and ONLY interact with your puppy or any available puppies if you are visiting to choose a puppy.
~ For safety reasons and out of respect for all families, you will NOT be permitted to touch or play with any puppies that have already been chosen and are ON HOLD for another family.
~ Some of our breeding dogs may be staying with our extended family at various times throughout the year if they are not being bred, and most of the time we only have a few retiree dogs and/or puppies growing up as future stars here at Pleasant Meadows. The mom of the puppies for the litter on which you have placed a deposit will, of course, always be onsite for your viewing, and most times the dad will be on site as well.
FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR PUPPIES, visitation is limited to those on our waiting lists to view a specific litter at an age appropriate time when the puppies have sufficient immunity to their environment and their temperaments are evident. We do not permit visitation for "sight-seeing" or for the "fun of it"! Visitation is permitted as per our Waiting List Procedures for those on our waiting lists to choose a puppy at 5-6 weeks of age, or if there is an available puppy ready to be viewed that is a minimum of 5 weeks of age. We also want to be able to meet you and help match you to a suitable puppy. We have these strict procedures in place because this limits the traffic coming and going into our home and helps to keep our puppies safe from transferable diseases! Our waiting list rules are set up in a way that we REQUIRE families to come and choose a puppy IN PERSON or by SKYPE VIDEO CALL which includes seeing WHERE the puppies are raised, MEETING THE MOM or BOTH PARENTS (often other relatives too!), and choosing a puppy based upon TEMPERAMENT, ENERGY LEVEL, ESTIMATED SIZE, and GENDER, and much more! The risk of disease and parasites being tracked in by a constant traffic of people visiting just for the thrill of it is far too great to allow just anyone to visit. Those on our waiting lists ARE ALLOWED to VISIT at 5-6 weeks of age in the order in which their name is on the waiting list, any ARRANGED TIME AFTER CHOOSING A PUPPY, and of course to PICK UP their puppy.
Why have rules? For the following reasons:
1. While the idea of visiting your puppy at an early stage may be thrilling, doing so may cause unnecessary stress on the mother dog when strangers want to get too close to her newborn puppies. Each mother dog may react differently, and each will cope with stress in her own way as well. We want to avoid stress in every possible way so that our mother dogs can properly care for their puppies, as even a slight change in routines can cause a mother's milk production to go down. We have rules in place to minimize stress on our mother dogs and their puppies. Furthermore, if we allowed regular visitation year round, the risk of diseases and parasites being carried in on vehicle tires, shoes, clothing, etc. would increase dramatically. Our adult dogs may not get sick because they are vaccinated and dewormed regularly (as directed by our veterinarian), but they could carry the disease or parasite that was tracked in by visitors and then a puppy or an entire litter could be infected and possibly perish all because we let in visitors prior to their immune systems developing.
2. We want to give our puppies proper time to build up their immunity to the environment around them before exposing them to anything that their little bodies potentially couldn't fend off -- you can NEVER be too careful when it comes to diseases and parasites! If you desire to come for a visit, you can arrange to come at the 5-6 week range when it is safer for your puppy (and all of our dogs), as puppies are VERY susceptible to diseases and parasites that you could UNKNOWINGLY carry onto our property and into our home. And diseases and parasites can also be transferred to adult dogs and carried onto their fur, etc. and then affect the puppies. Puppies are born without immunity and need time to develop before being exposed to the world and so precautions must be in place to help prevent disasters which could result in death!
3. Please also consider that it is not just your puppy that we are protecting, but the other siblings in the litter, any other litters that may be present, and ALL of our breeding dogs. It is a costly risk and potentially LIFE THREATENING to allow visitors too soon or to not have sanitation precautions in effect! So, please be prepared to follow the pre-cautions for sanitation listed below!
When you visit your puppy you will be expected to comply with the following:
Please Note: The following rules are for the protection of our puppies and dogs! We want to be able to ensure the health of our puppies, and to do so, we must lay down some visitation rules for EVERYONE to follow. We practice BIOSECURITY, which is just a fancy term for compliance with safety precautions against viruses, parasites, and diseases to safe-guard our property and keep our animals healthy and secure!
1. ONE WEEK PRIOR TO VISITATION:
~ To the best of your ability, for 1 week prior to visiting Pleasant Meadows, please avoid going to any places where other dogs or animals may frequent.
Example: parks, walking trails, pet stores, or homes of friends, family, or neighbours with pets of any kind.
2. COMING FOR A VISIT:
~ You must wear freshly washed clothing! This has nothing to do with personal hygiene so please don't be offended! Everybody has that favourite over-coat, sweater, shoes, etc. ... but where have your clothes been? Did you pet the neighbour's dog? Or wear your favourite jacket or jeans when you went for your daily walk? You could be unknowingly carrying a parasite or disease on your clothing -- please wear freshly washed clothing!
3. ARRIVED AT PLEASANT MEADOWS:
We will greet you with a warm "hello!" as you walk up to our door. PLEASE do not be offended by the fact that we will not offer to shake your hand -- it's for puppy safety as your hands would not be sanitized at this stage.
Once inside our home:
*Take off shoes in our front entrance way.
PLEASE DO NOT wear flip flops or sandals as you will be required to remove your shoes! One alternative option is to bring a pair of socks along with you if you insist on wearing a sandal type shoe.
After you remove your shoes, we will direct you to sanitize your hands! This has been a standard practice procedure loooonnnngggg before COVID -- so no complaining please!
*Sanitize hands thoroughly!
We will provide a hand sanitizer! Once your hands are sanitized, you can freely pet our dogs and puppies within the guidelines already listed on this page.
REFUSAL to FOLLOW these requests designed for the safety and health of our puppies and dogs will result in you being asked to leave our property IMMEDIATELY! We will guide you through the steps as they unfold, so you don't have to worry!
Think this is extreme!?! Think again! Following these simple rules is a very small price to pay to help us at Pleasant Meadows ensure that your puppy is healthy and stays that way! Parasites and disease are not something to be taken lightly! Diseases like, Parvovirus, Giardia, Coccidia, Distemper, Kennel Cough, etc. can all be carried on clothing and live on most surfaces for anywhere from a few months to up to a year!
WE SINCERELY THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION
TO HELP US KEEP ALL OF OUR DOGS HEALTHY!!
NO BATHROOM FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AT PLEASANT MEADOWS!
There are public washrooms available in the nearby towns -- please ensure that you use them prior to visitation.
Why can't you use our washroom?
As responsible breeders we have to maintain a bio-secure "safe zone" where disease and parasites cannot be tracked into our home. We have to keep future litters safe.
Masking may be required depending on the severity of the flu/cold seasons.
Please come prepared.
Visitor Conduct:
We ask that you please enter our home in a calm and confident manner. Our dogs are very well behaved, but they will read your energy if you are nervous or excited!
Once we open the door for you to enter, please walk into our home right away and please don't stand in the doorway so that our door is left gaping open and our dogs are left wondering if the door is open for them or for you.
Our dogs meet many strangers on a regular basis and it is hard to regulate consistency in how people respond to meeting them. The best way to enter our home is to walk in with calm confidence and for the first few minutes just focus on meeting us and IGNORE our dogs until they either settle down if they are excited, or allow our dogs to relax and approach you in a calm manner.
We will REQUIRE you to be in control of your children -- we are NOT responsible if your children act inappropriately towards our dogs! You need to instruct your children to stand quietly and allow our dogs to approach them, so that they enter our home in a calm and controlled manner. This means ... NO squealing or screaming in excitement, jumping up and down, running, or other excitable behaviours! If you children have a fear of dogs, please let us know beforehand so that we can work with you and make the greeting low key!
We will introduce the parents of the puppies to you, or any dog that you are meeting, but please just IGNORE them for a few minutes, unless they are specifically wanting to interact with you. It's time to STOP normalizing behaviours that make dogs nervous, which include:
-- bending over a dog (viewed as a threatening posture and invasion of space from the dog's perspective)
-- reaching out your hand for a dog to sniff (another invasion of space, especially from a standing position!)
-- forcing interactions (like hugging a dog or touching them when they don't want to be touched -- violation of space)
When a dog doesn't want to interact with you, it does NOT mean that they are nervous, that they aren't socialized, or that they have a bad temperament. It simply means that YOU ARE A STRANGER and they do not have a reason to want to interact with you.
You are coming to meet their puppies, and young mothers may not understand why STRANGERS are coming around HER puppies, and older mothers may completely understand that you are there to TAKE one of her puppies. So, please have respect for our adult dog's space and understand that they aren't monkeys that are here to put on a show for you. They are living, breathing, wonderful souls with emotions just like we have, the only difference is that they cannot express them in "words", and so we have to read their body language.
Please follow the below guideline while visiting:
IMPORTANT RULES FOR HANDLING THE PUPPIES:
1. EVERYONE must SIT DOWN on the FLOOR to handle the puppies! This rule is REGARDLESS of age! Puppies can wiggle and easily leap from your arms if you are not used to handling them, or simply slip from your grasp because you have a lapse in your attention! PLEASE sit on the floor and we will take the puppies out of their puppy enclosure to interact with you.
2. While puppies are running free on the floor -- please SHUFFLE YOUR FEET if you need to move about -- this will help prevent you from accidentally stepping on a puppy (eg. don't lift your feet too high while walking)!
3. Do not try to insist on interacting with or touching another puppy that is already ON HOLD for another family! Families are trusting us to keep their puppies safe and it is better to be "safe than sorry" when it comes to accidents, diseases, etc. We will make it clear which puppies are AVAILABLE for you to choose from at 5 weeks of age, and we will in most cases leave the already chosen puppies in the puppy enclosure unless taken out for a specific reason.
IMPORTANT RULES FOR RESPECTING THE PARENTS:
1. Follow the guidelines on how you should greet dogs. Here is a quick re-cap:
2. Be respectful of the parents and do not try to force them to interact with you! Cavapoos are extremely friendly with everyone, HOWEVER, it is sometimes DIFFERENT and it is NORMAL for it to be different while the parents (especially the mom) are allowing you to be around HER puppies. Not every mom or dad will want to interact with you because they do know what is happening! You can still see the temperament of the parents without touching them if the dog does not want to be touched. Watch how the parents interact with each other, and how they interact with us. Every one of our dogs reacts to people being around their puppies a little bit differently because they are individual just like people are! Some of our parents will be right there giving you kisses, tail wagging, and others will prefer to stay on the sidelines and observe you. This is nature, respect it!
3. Lastly, please relax. Simply put, your energy will be the deciding factor on how our dogs interact with you. We know that it is exciting to get a new puppy, but practicing staying calm will help you when you bring your puppy home with you! Staying calm will help you to train your puppy faster and more easily no matter what you situation you face! We know that there are a lot of guidelines to follow, but we will be right there to help!
How can you help us?
During the course of our daily routines throughout each year we use countless numbers of sheets, blankets, and towels for birthing puppies and in their puppy enclosures for comfort and texture, as well as, towels for bathing/grooming of the puppies and their parents.
When you come to choose your puppy at Pleasant Meadows at 5-6 weeks of age, or for pick up at 8 weeks of age -- if you think of it -- we would truly appreciate any used towels or sheets which you are no longer using. Small tears, fraying, and fading are fine! Thank you so much!
