FAQ

Our puppies always go home current on vaccinations. This means that at 8 weeks of age they have already had their first 2 vaccines in their puppy series, along with their Bordatella vaccine. Our puppies will have been wormed multiple times from 2-8 weeks of age with different wormers. They will be microchipped and we will provide information on how to register this microchip to you as the new owner. They will be vet checked and a report will be filled out by our vet that we can pass on to you ahead of you taking your puppy home. All of our purebred puppies are registered with AKC and we will send a registration application home with you. Our puppies are typically priced with limited registration, unless otherwise discussed ahead of time. Our puppies dewclaws are removed and tails are docked if that is the standard for that breed. We offer one of the best health guarantees you will find from a breeder. It includes a vet check period once you take the puppy home, a multi-year genetic guarantee, and in some cases a medication reimbursement protocol. You can read through the guarantee further on the “More Info” page of each of our puppies. And lastly is all of the paperwork you will need when you take your puppy home including copies of all records talked about above, as well as handouts and instructions on how to best care for your puppy once you take it home. Once you’re part of our Hidden View Farms Family we’ll always be there to support you in any situation we can.

We have always been big fans of Purina foods. Our adults, puppies and kittens get different formulas based on their age and nutritional needs. For your new PUPPY, we recommend keeping the food the same after leaving our place, for at least a couple of weeks, or until it gets settled in. We use the Purina Pro Plan Toy Breed dry puppy food variety as our puppies’ primary diet. We like this formula for many reasons which include its small and softer kibble, the high amount of fat and calories per serving, and the fact that it has chicken as the first ingredient and is a low grain food and good source of protein. We also like to use Pro Plan Puppy canned food to go along with the dry diet. We start the puppies out on the wet food at a young age and it helps to motivate them to eat a proper amount. Sometimes we will send this canned food home with a puppy depending on what stage of eating we feel it is on at the time it goes home. For your new KITTEN, we feed Purina Onc Healthy Kitten Formula. In addition to their Purina food diet our puppies and kittens get an additional supplement called NuVet Plus. Be sure to read about it’s benefits on our website or on their website. We strongly encourage you to continue your pet’s healthy start once you take it home with you. This is the reason we extend our health guarantee if you continue your puppy or kitten on the NuVet Plus supplement.

Puppies-We try to give your new puppy the best foundation for training that we can in order to make the experience of taking your new puppy home as successful as possible. We start offering our puppies pee pads at a young age. Once they have had their first vaccine, we begin letting them out of their “home playpen” several times per day into play yards that are covered with artificial turf grass. This gets them used to “grass” in a safe way and starts them with becoming familiar with the feel of real grass. Of course young puppies can’t always be completely potty trained by the time they go home, but at least this gives them a good start! We do offer artificial turf pieces here for sale as well. Always remember the number 1 key to potty training is being consistent!

Kittens- Our kittens are started on litter box training at about 4-6 weeks. They are completely litter box trained by the time they go home. Here we use World’s Best Cat Litter. It is made from corn. It has less dust and last longer than clay litters! If you plan to use a clay litter when you take your kitten home, please let us know. We will send home a baggie of the World’s Best for you to sprinkle on top for the first days!

Yes! Our puppies here are raised in playpen type enclosures with their momma and littermates. In the playpens the puppies have plenty of space for playing, pottying, eating/drinking, and relaxing! We offer crates in the playpens for the puppies to use as their bedroom when it is time to wind down or at night time where they can snuggle up with their littermates or a Snuggle Puppy.

We take puppy and kitten socialization very seriously! We start this process at 3 days of age with daily handling and the Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) program. This daily handling at an early age starts your puppy or kitten’s foundation of becoming a more mild mannered, easier to adjust adult dog as soon as possible. ENS introduces young puppies and kittens to mild stresses in a controlled way, in order to teach the puppy’s nervous system, immune system, cardiovascular system, and stress reaction systems how to operate and stimulate many other physical and mental health systems’ growth. As our puppies and kittens grow older, we continue to progress them through different programs of socialization depending on their age and abilities. Some of these include a variety of flooring surfaces, different toys and sounds, openings to walk through, different heights, etc. We do all of this while showing the puppies and kittens that no matter what, they will be loved by their caretakers and new family.

Puppies-The first few days of your new puppy coming home to you are always the most worrisome due to the fact that your family and the puppy haven’t figured each other out yet! While our focus is on caring for the puppy before it’s time to go home, we try to ease this transition as much as we can. We recommend keeping as many things similar as possible for the puppy (same food, if you purchase a snuggle puppy from us we can send it home with the litters’ scent on it, making the puppy feel comfortable with a crate and beds, etc) Every puppy has different stress levels and reacts differently. It’s important to watch its activity level, is it eating and drinking as scheduled, and is its stool healthy? These are the major warning signs to watch for in the first week!
Kittens-The first few days of your new puppy coming home to you are always the most stressful for them. It is best to move really slowly during their adjustment period, which for a kitten can be 2-5 days. Pick a room or space away from foot traffic to keep the kitten at first. A cat condo works well for this or a laundry room, spare room, etc. Keep the house calm. The new sights, sounds and smells in your home may make them feel stressed. Let them explore at their own pace. They might not like to be cuddled and held at first. Make sure they know where their bed, food and water and litter box are located!!

Our puppies are priced online with Limited AKC registration. Limited registration means that you are buying the puppy as a pet and not for breeding or showing. The true definition of limited registration means that your puppy does not qualify for AKC shows or events, and any offspring produced by your puppy will not qualify for AKC registration. We do offer Full AKC registration on most of our puppies for an additional price, so if you are interested in this option be sure to discuss that with us ahead of time.

Yes! In almost all cases we have all of our own parent dogs here at our place. This way we can be sure that we are keeping an eye on your puppy’s parents’ health and behavior so we can be sure the good traits can be passed on and the bad traits can be removed from our breeding program. Our Mini Goldendoodles and Mini Bernedoodles are raised by a partner breeder who purchased much of our past Mini Doodle breeding stock from us. Therefore, these puppies don’t come to our place to be visited with until they are at least 8 weeks of age.

Yes! The longest standing (unofficial) health test is tracking past generations of our adult dogs and cats to be sure that if we can see any patterns of issues we address those as quickly as possible. The genetic testing we have available to us these days is great, but it doesn’t test for every possible issue. We have a physical exam done on each of our adult females in between each litter to be sure each momma is responding well to the rigors of the production cycle. All of our adult males have a physical exam each year. Beyond that we use Embark to have a DNA panel done on each dog in our program and Optimal Selection to DNA our cats. We use those results to help us match which females and males, if paired together, will produce puppies and kittens that are not affected by any disease that is prevalent to the breed. We also have any of our adult dogs over the age of 2 years old tested by the OFA, which certifies eyes, hearts, hips, elbows, and patellas, legg calve perthes if it pertains to the breed. Using all of these methods of health testing help us be confident that we are producing puppies and kittens that will live long, healthy lives as new members of your family.

Yes! We don’t want location to be a factor between your family and the puppy or kitten that you have already fallen in love with! Where you live is a big determinant in what type of transportation we can use and which option will be the most cost effective. For long distance trips we prefer to use our Pet Nanny. This is a professional who will meet us at our closest airport (Columbus, OH) and take your puppy or kitten to you at your closest major airport. This method is the least stressful method for the puppy or kitten because it is accompanied by a person 100% of the travel. They have to be in its soft sided carrier during takeoff and landing, but otherwise the Nanny can have them on their lap snuggling. The cost for this service is $650-950 in addition to the puppy. We have other options as well if you are closer or need door to door service, and we’d be happy to discuss these options with you on an as needed basis.

Yes we do offer financing! Any puppy or kitten must be paid for in full before it can leave our place, whether you’re taking it home with you today or it is being transported to you. We accept cash and all major credit cards for payments. We charge a 3% convenience fee for all card payments. We do NOT accept personal checks. We don’t offer payment plans; however we do have a financing option for those who qualify. You’re welcome to apply to Terrace Finance through the link on our website, on the Available Puppies page, below the list of breeds. If you do qualify, they make everything really smooth in order to be able to get your puppy now and pay later.

If you’ve finally found the right puppy or kitten to add to your family then it is time to take the next steps! The steps to take may differ sometimes based on the age of the puppy or kitten, but always remember we can’t hold a puppy or kitten without a deposit and any deposit is nonrefundable if you were to change your mind. So be sure to contact us first with any questions you may have and we’ll get back to you as soon as we possibly can. If the puppy or kitten is not quite ready to go home yet we would ask for a deposit to hold it until that “ready to go” date. Some people are comfortable picking by picture, and you can place a deposit through our website using the “adopt me now” button, while others prefer to meet the puppy or kitten in person. Either option is good with us. Just contact us to let us know what you’d like to do! If the puppy or kitten is ready to go now we can accept a deposit to hold it until you can make it out to our place, or you could schedule an appointment to come out and take it with you that day. All of our visits are done by appointment so be sure to call, text, or email ahead of time to be sure we can have somebody available to take the time to meet with you and answer any questions you have. Once you’ve made a deposit then it is now yours! You will need to schedule your pick up appointment with us in advance of the puppy turning 8 weeks old or the kitten turning 12 weeks old. We do allow visits, if the time between placing the deposit and the puppy or kitten going home is long. Feel free to set up an appointment with us to schedule that, but please understand that our time is very valuable, so please no more than bi-weekly visits and please be on time.

If you place a deposit on a puppy or kitten that is not ready to go yet, we ask that you schedule your pick-up appointment before its “ready to go” date and it be picked up within one week past that date. If the puppy or kitten is already ready to go home that you have placed a deposit on then your deposit will hold that puppy or kitten for up to 1 week. If you need to make other arrangements with us, no problem! Feel free to contact us with any questions. Boarding fees may apply according to our sales contract.

We are very confident in how we run our business and the proof is in all of the happy customers that we have had over the past many years. We appreciate each and every one of them! There are many things that qualify us as a professional breeder and those are the reasons that we feel you should choose us with the important purchase of your new puppy or kitten. First, we are COMMITTED to this profession and have been breeding since 2000. This gives us over 20 years of EXPERIENCE! We are a FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED business so we have much to talk about at the dinner table. We are constantly working with other professionals in the world of dogs and cats that help us to learn ways to IMPROVE on the things we do. We STRIVE TO DO WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR DOGS AND CATS to be sure they are happy and healthy physically, emotionally, and socially. Our FACILITIES ARE TOP OF THE LINE when it comes to being new and maintained, having the newest technologies and processes that make the dogs and cats happier and our jobs easier. We take opportunities to always LEARN FROM MISTAKES to help improve. We take every opportunity to attend classes, seminars, and webinars to CONTIUNUE OUR EDUCATION in dogs and cats, genetics, health testing, business, and much more. And, although we do earn a living from what we do, most of our PROFIT GOES BACK INTO OUR DOGS AND CATS and their comfort and care.

No! Everybody has a different opinion of what a puppy mill is and there is no real definition. But, in our opinion, puppy mills are ran with the attitude that we care about how much profit we can make with no regard to the overall health and condition of the animals. Puppy mill dogs and cats are raised in deplorable conditions, small cages, fed substandard food, typically receive no attention, and no exercise. Puppies and kittens are raised with little human contact, no exercise, and poor socialization during their first weeks. They usually have a lot of genetic issues, health conditions, and behavioral problems without getting these issues addressed by a veterinarian. Adults are bred for years and then who knows what happens to them after they are no longer producing. Have I hit on them all? Unfortunately, there are probably even more terrible things happening in puppy mills all over the world. Well, it would seem that we are the complete opposite of this!! Everything we do is with our dogs and cats in mind. Our facilities are designed to keep our adults, puppies and kittens healthy and happy. All of our enclosures have been custom built with designs that improve the way we clean, handle our dogs and cats, and to where they are happier. Our girls and boys have large areas to live with inside and outside access, and plenty of enrichment from toys, activities, other dogs and cats, and our caretakers. We have over an acre of fenced in ground for our dogs to go out and be able to run and play as much as they’d like. We feed all of our adults and puppies a premium diet with good food and additional supplements. Our dogs get spoiled with daily treats. (Their favorite part of the day!) We work very closely with our vet and over the past 20 years of that relationship have formed our Program of Veterinary Care. This is our manual to the health of our dogs and cats written by our vet for us to follow on a daily basis. Our vet makes weekly visits to our place to keep an eye on what we’re doing, do physical exams, and follow up on any issues we may be having. We are also traveling to their office as often as we need to! We make sure that all relevant health testing is done on all of our breeding adults and be sure that we are using those results to make the most informed breeding decisions, also taking into account behavior, confirmation, size, and many other factors. We make sure that all our adult dogs and cats are responsibly retired and placed in pet homes when their breeding careers are over. These girls and boys work hard for a portion of their life and then get to spend the majority of it being spoiled by their new families. So, as you can see, we go the extra mile for our dogs and cats and will continue to do so!

According to most vets and professional trainers, a pet’s sex shouldn’t be a major factor in choosing. Your first choice should be to make sure that the breed that you are looking at has a personality and activity level that fits your family lifestyle. As far as the differences between the two sexes, most of them are hormonal related. If you have the pet spayed or neutered, most of those differences disappear. Behaviorally, most of the changes between the sexes are caused by “human projection”. So, basically, whichever puppy or kitten you fall in love with will likely be just fine!

Yes! Our adult males and females are only part of our breeding program for a portion of their life. When it comes time for them to retire, we place them up for adoption just as we would a puppy or kitten. One of the benefits of adopting an adult vs. a puppy or kitten is that you don’t have to maneuver your way through the baby stages. Most adults are more laid back and ready to be the perfect lap warmer for you! Before it comes time for them to leave here for their new family we have them spayed or neutered, and have another physical exam to be sure they are healthy at that time. We are always excited for our adults to be able to get to their new homes and experience new things in life!

The most important thing that we can tell you is how extremely important it is that you socialize your pet early on! It’s easy to think “Oh it’s just a baby, we’ll work on that later!” but it’s important to get started right away. Keeping in mind that your puppy is not protected from disease until it has had all of its vaccines, your puppy needs to get out often and meet people and other animals of all kinds! It’s easier for kittens, just work on the socialization inside! Get them used to: People with hats, people with sunglasses, adults, kids, strollers, city traffic noises, etc. This helps to keep them from being fearful as an adult and making it as well rounded as possible. Fearful dogs and cats are more stressed, bark or hide more, and don’t handle social situations well at all. Dogs and cats who are not socialized well can also become aggressive for these reasons. Also, two places your pet will likely need to go at some point that we should try to acclimate them to ahead of time is the groomer and the vet’s office. Many of our puppies and kittens will need to be groomed in their lifetime. Some things to work on at home is combing, brushing, blow drying, touching the feet, nails, ears, and tail. Also, if you have any hair clippers at home you can turn them on and let your new puppy or kitten get used to the vibrations around their face. A lot of these things will also socialize your pet to the vet’s office, where at some point, they’ll need put on a table and examined all over. One way to make a puppy or kitten more comfortable is having a travel carrier that they are comfortable with. They will also be safer if you are ever were in an accident in the car! Your groomer and vet will both appreciate you a lot more if your dog or cat behaves well during these times!

Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) is a back/spine issue that refers to a health condition affecting the discs that act as cushions between vertebrae. With Type I IVDD, affected dogs can have a disc event where it ruptures or herniates towards the spinal cord. This pressure on the spinal cord causes neurologic signs which can range form a wobbly gait to impairment of movement. Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) refers to the relative proportion between a dog’s legs and body, wherein the legs are shorter and the body longer. There are multiple different variants that can cause a markedly chondrodystrophic appearance as observed in Dachshunds and Corgis. However, this particular variant is the only one know to also increase the risk for IVDD.
With the breeds that we have in our breeding program this gene is extremely common. Some statistics show that at least 90% of our breeds (Dachshunds, Shih Tzus, Poodles, Cavaliers, and Frenchies) carry this gene. However, this gene is not the most common factor in whether your dog will be affected by IVDD or not. Statistics show that this gene is responsible for only about a 5% increase in the chances your dog would ever be affected by IVDD in its lifetime. While doing research, and talking to many different health testing companies, the answer is all the same when we ask, “How do we remove this health risk from our breeding program?” This risk should not be removed from a breeding program out of necessity, but rather out of caution. Because this gene has been widely spread throughout these breeds by years of breeding before health testing was possible, it will take quite some time to remove it from any breeding program. These companies have warned that if we remove a low-risk concern like this too quickly it will actually have more negative impact in other ways that can be avoided. Our number one goal is to improve the health of our dogs, puppies, and breeds for future generations, and we will work toward doing this responsibly!
The most important things to keep in mind if your dog carries the IVDD gene is environmental factors are the number one cause of back pain/injury. The two most popular environmental factors are the number of times and the kind of jumps your dog makes throughout the day, and how healthy of shape your dog is. Be sure to keep your dog on a healthy eating schedule and keep them active. Unnecessary weight and lack of muscle tone can very hard on the stretched out back. Also, be sure to remove any repetitive or unnecessary actions your dog makes throughout the day like jumping off furniture or going up tall steps.
To summarize this all for you while making your decision on a new puppy. It is important to understand the genetics of the breed you are interested in adopting. This will help you to be prepared to care for your new puppy right from the start and help you to think about ways to setup his or her new environment in order to best protect the back from any issues!
References: Embark.com