About us.
We are a family of 5: Tammy, Darryl, and 3 teenagers (Megan, Stephanie and Brandon). We all grew up and lived in the city but a few years ago we decided to take the plunge and move away from the hustle and bustle. And that we did! We sold our house in Mississauga and moved the family, our cats and our dogs out to Fisherville, a small town near Cayuga, Ontario. We have a small 15 acre hobby farm and our family quickly grew to include a few more dogs, a horse and chickens. It still amazes me how scientific farming is...never underestimate the intelligence of a farmer! We definitely had a huge learning curve after we moved. Limited water, heating with wood, septic, cistern, sump pump, power failures, weird weather... they all taught us many lessons on our environment and how wasteful city life can be.

Our eventual goal is to be as close to self sufficiency as possible. We may not make it off the grid, or be able to produce all our own food but we know our lifestyle changes have definitely made an impact on the environment and our quality of life. We eat our own eggs and humanely raise chickens, collect rainwater from our roof for showering and laundry, conserve as much energy as possible, and only collect dead-stand from our woodlot to heat our home in the winter.  Don't get me wrong, we have laptops, high-speed wireless internet, cell phones, and a satellite dish (we can't get cable here). In fact, when we have a power failure our lifestyle changes marginally as we are very self sufficient.

The kids and schools here are great, and much to our kids' relief, there are no children that go to school in overalls with a piece of hay in their teeth! We absolutely love our little neck in the woods and can't imagine being anywhere else.

It's a dog's life.
I guess the most unique aspect of our home is that all of our dogs live in a pack together. They only sleep in individual crates at nighttime, sometimes for a nap or if we happen to go out for a short period of time. If we are out for more than 2 hours, we hire a dog sitter come in to take care of the dogs. Not one of our dogs has ever slept a night outside.

We do not isolate any of our dogs unless it is completely necessary (such as heat cycles or adults needing a short break from puppies) and if we do, it is only for a few hours and they are then integrated back into the pack. In the wild, a pack may attack one of their members and this can happen for a number of reasons. Heat cycles can definitely set things off with both the males and females, one dog may try to raise it's position in the pack order, an external stimulus such as a cat or a loose dog or chicken, or even unfamiliar vehicles on the property can all heighten tension within the pack. These reactions are all a normal function of dog sociology, but of course, we don't want our dogs to ever hurt each other. The most obvious solution would be to separate dogs into groups that we know will never fight together but this would separate our pack. We know they can all live together harmoniously but they always need to be supervised. We are available to any of the dogs or puppies throughout the entire day so they know that if a water or food bucket is empty they can tell us and it will be filled. They know if they want to play or they want one-on-one attention we will be there for them whenever they want. If we had our dogs separated into 3 or 4 different runs or kennels this wouldn't be possible. We couldn't be there in their moment of need or want and essentially the other groups of dogs would be ignored while we were attending to a select few.

Our dogs view us as the pack leaders. We communicate well with them using a combination of verbal commands and body language and they know our daily routine very well. Although we have a regular routine, ultimately the dogs dictate the moment. If we are in the middle of a chore and someone wants to play, of course we will stop and play with them or give someone a nice belly rub. Our cleaning, sweeping, floor washing, laundry and grooming is done with all the dogs and puppies under foot. It does take longer to accomplish tasks, but at the same time everyone is taught boundaries.

The socialization process is our highest priority but it is imperative that we match it with health and cleanliness.

Yes, we do have days were nothing seems to go according to plan! How could we not with so many beings requiring our attention? During those times you know you will be challenged (as we all are in our lives) and you suck it up and take on the challenge. Within a few hours we are back on track and all is normal again. If we had visitors on our very worst day, we would not be concerned in the least.

Our vision is quite similar to the dynamics of an elementary school. We have our adults which would be the Grade 7's and 8's. They know the rules and routines, sometimes need a check to get back on track, and they challenge occasionally to declare their individuality. Really they require little supervision. Weve already done our work, reinforced our expectations and they know them.

Our 'teenagers' are our Grade 5's and 6's. These are the 3-12 month olds we have kept for our breeding program. They learn from the 7's and 8's and usually follow their lead. They do require more reinforcement but behave very well at this point. They will challenge more often so it is important to keep on top of them so they receive consistent guidance but they know their place and do quite well with their own judgment.

The puppies are similar to the Preschool to Grade 2 students. The newborn to 4 week pups are the Preschoolers being cared for only by their mother and us. The 4 to 5 week olds are the Kindergartens and Grade 1's, learning to walk in the halls with the older kids, integrate in the school yard, and find allies that they can look up to or call upon for support or guidance. The K's and Grade 1's are the most closely watched. The other adults co-parent them, teaching them boundaries, pack order and how to accept what is. They learn there is no possibility for them to have any aspirations of becoming the 'alpha' dog and they must find their place somewhere near the bottom of the pack. This is vital to our approach. They learn how to hold their own with their peers, but never to challenge another dog.

Once they no longer live with the other puppies, they will only act to protect themselves when absolutely necessary. Their first instinct is to assume a submissive or unassuming stance with a new dog, showing they have no intention of challenging. After the first few minutes of introduction, all is fair in fun and games!