About Berkshire Hills

BERKSHIRE HILLS, A NEW ERA OF BREEDING! 

At Berkshire Hills we raise our dogs and puppies with the dignity and manner a beloved pet would be raised with. We don’t use kennels but rather a variety of appropriate and beautifully designed spaces in our house and property.

Many of our dogs do therapy work and so we prepare our puppies to become great therapy and companion dogs.

Before a Berkshire Hills puppy goes home 

  1. Our puppies are born in the whelping suite, which is right in my office. The mom and her newborns have a quiet space away from the household activities, but can be checked on at all times.

  2. Before the pups are 2 weeks old and their eyes and ears have not opened  we practice an exercise called, “NEONATAL SOCIAL IMPRINTING” This is an exercise that boosts the canine-human bond by imprinting on their limited senses. We find this creates more confident puppies and ones that are very connected with people.

  3. When the puppies have out grown their whelping box and need more space to play they are moved to our renovated puppy house.

  4. In the puppy house our puppies are exposed to a wide variety of environments, including tunnels, swings, grates, ramps, mirrors, variety of toys and surfaces. They also have a play room and several play grounds to explore.

  5. Puppy Buddies are local volunteers who come weekly to help out with socializing of our puppies. Each week we interact according to the new stage of the puppies’ development. Our regular volunteers follow strict hygiene protocol to keep our puppies safe. Our puppies will have met over 50 people before they leave here. 

  6.  Our puppies sleep in crates (with doors open) from 4 weeks old. They learn to love the coziness of the crate for their naps. They also learn to use a litter box at around 6 weeks old.

  7. We work on no nipping or jumping as well as do exercises to develop confidence.

  8. We feed our puppies fresh food, along with the highest quality puppy kibble. We believe that feeding or adding fresh or raw food is the best diet for our dogs and puppies.