Dark Loch Hounds

The short answer is, it may take a while. We do not breed a litter every year. This may mean that you must wait 18 months to 2 years before a litter is produced here at Dark Loch Hounds. Breeding a litter of puppies is not something we take lightly and the responsibility of whelping and raising happy, healthy, well-adjusted puppies starts with making sure our adult dogs are physically and mentally  developed before we consider making breeding plans for them. 

The chihuahua in the photo gallery is named Ranger. He is the dog who helped us raise our Irish Wolfhounds and Scottish Deerhounds who came into our home after him. Ranger is a 12-year-old, neutered, blue merle chihuahua. There is a blog post about him if you want to know more about him. He gets to be in our photo gallery because he is important to his family, and we want him to feel important.

AKC and UKC registration allows your puppy the chance to participate in sanctioned sports through these registering bodies. You can earn titles and awards. 

But most important, you have a guarantee that your puppy is bred from other dogs of the same breed.

Puppies do a lot of growing in their first year. Especially large and giant breeds, such as Deerhounds and Wolfhounds. Ideally, you should let your puppy choose their own free play activities. They do not need structured exercise until they are much closer to their fully matured state. While it is important to teach leash manners, you do not need to march your puppy along on a miles long walk. Give them plenty of space to run, and lots of opportunities to explore their world. Most puppies need to sleep between 18-20 hours a day until they are at least 18 months old. This may seem extreme, but they are growing in many ways, and that much growth is exhausting. While puppies will run and jump and romp, it is our job as their loving people to make sure they get adequate rest as well.