Sundridge Canines
NO LONGER ACTIVE AS A BREEDER - JUST A DOG ENTHUSIAST
About the Breeders
We are private goldendoodle breeders in London, ON that raise our female and her puppies in the home. We strongly believe that a well-loved and socialized mom is the key to happy pups, portraying a sense of comfort and trust with humans to her pups during their first 8 critical weeks of life. We consider Juneau a member of our family and spend a great deal of time hiking and exploring in the outdoors with our girl.
My name is Katelyn Weaver and I am a student veterinarian at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in Guelph. Animals are my passion and I have devoted my life to studying and protecting them. Prior to starting here at OVC, I completed a BSc in Conservation Biology and a MSc in Biology. I have raised animals my entire life, participating in dog obedience, dog agility and now pet therapy work.
Myself and my partner Kyle have entered into the breeding business because of our love of dogs and the goldendoodle as a breed!
Responsible breeding is of utmost importance to us and we take care to select the best quality dogs based on genetics, appearance, temperament and intelligence to use in our breeding program. By doing so we ensure we are breeding the best possible quality puppies. Our goal is to produce healthy, well socialized and loving puppies that bring you as much joy and companionship as they brought us.
Everyone knows that the loyalty and temperment of the golden retriever is second to none. Partner that with the non-shed, hypo-allergenic and intelligent qualities of the poodle and you have what we consider is the best breed on the planet! We chose to breed goldendoodles because we feel that we can provide families with a puppy in the best of health and temperament, with their first eight critical weeks of their lives spent learning to love their litter mates, children and other animals.
When picking out your puppy, we are happy to provide suggestions as to which pup would be best suited for your family based upon your lifestyle. Temperament is a very important factor when selecting your dog and we want to ensure you are the best suited puppy parent possible!
Our Socialization Methods
Socialization of puppies during the first four months of their lives (known as the critical period for brain development) is incredibly important. This is especially true during the first 8 weeks of a puppies life and we will strive to provide your puppy with the best possible start. We do this by following the Puppy Socialization Plan. This plan is established based upon the biology and psychology of a developing puppy. In nature, animals must naturally express fear of novel objects and situations to help them survive. This same fact is true in domestic dogs, but this "fearful" instinct develops slightly later in domestic dogs than it does in the wild (likely because there are much fewer dangers presented). Once the "fearful" instinct begins to develop, any situation or object an animal hasn't met may be regarded as potentially dangerous and is thus avoided or defended against. Depending on the breed and the puppy, this "fearful" instinct develops between 5-7 weeks of age in domestic dogs, which makes these first 5-7 weeks especially important for introducing as many new items, noises and situations as possible.
While we can’t hope to introduce every single thing a puppy will have to accept later in life, the more positive experiences guided by us they get in this period, the more accepting they will be of novel things and situations. Not only that, but they will also be developing their learning skills, learning how to problem solve and deal with the inevitable frustrations of life, which in turn will help with their behaviour and training in the future.
A puppy who is properly reared in this critical period will be far more likely to grow up to be confident, calm, more accepting to novel situations, and in short, is more likely to become a good family dog. In contrast, a dog who has not had this good start in life is more likely to be over-reactive, unable to concentrate, fearful, slow to learn, and develop preventable behaviour problems. For this reason, we believe it is vitally important as breeders that we work hard to socialise and habituate our puppies long before they go to their new homes. We will expose them to new noises (e.g., vacuum, thunder, fireworks), sights, sudden or unpredictable movements, animals, etc.. We will also begin to teach our puppies about independence and provide them with as much love and snuggles as their little hearts desire.
Up to the first 16 weeks of age, your puppy is also learning who is in their social group, who the people and animals are that form their family, who they are social and friendly to, who they plays with and who they are building a bond with. Once our puppies goes to their new homes, we highly suggest the new owner uniquely customizes the Puppy Plan to make sure their puppy fits into its new life and family.