While the Puppies are in Our Care

Our puppies are raised using Puppy Culture socialization.  We perform Early Neurological Stimulation beginning when they are 3 days old, which strengthens their immune system and allows them to adapt to change as they grow.  

We take excellent care of the puppies until they are old enough to leave us. We provide lots of love and attention whenever possible. When we cannot be right there watching and holding them, we have video cameras set up inside and outside the kennel, and around the yard, so that we have visual access at all times. 

Weaver Dairy Goldens provides lifelong support for our Golden Retriever puppies. If you ever have questions or concerns, please reach out to us. If we do not know the answer, we will research thoroughly and get back to you. Our Facebook group "Weaver Dairy Goldens" has lots of great educational articles pertaining to raising, training, and healthcare of puppies. Please feel free to check out all of these documents.  

The puppies are bathed and their nails trimmed several times before they leave. A holistic licensed veterinarian examines each puppy for cleft lip/palate, hernias, heart murmurs, cryptorchidism, and any other abnormality prior to the puppies leaving our care. A personalized Puppy Health Record is provided when the puppy leaves for the forever home. This record can be given to the new vet to demonstrate the care provided during the first 8 weeks of life. 

The puppies are not dewormed unless necessary. Fecal samples are taken to our holistic vet, who examines the sample under the microscope to look for parasites. Treatment is given when necessary, at the direction of our vet. 

The puppies are not vaccinated while in our care.  After conducting extensive research into human vaccines after learning that our son was vaccine injured, we learned that a healthy immune system is much more effective at protecting against all disease.  Instead, we choose to feed a species appropriate raw diet and raise our Goldens and pups naturally.  We also use homeopathic nosodes to boost their immune system so it will recognize parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis, etc. if encountered.  

Weaver Dairy Goldens has kept two pups from our previous litters (Aspen from Arya & Baxter, born 4/17/2020 and Luna from Lucy & Baxter, born 9/4/2020) who have never been vaccinated and have never been sick a single day of their lives.  Our Goldens encounter bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other pathogens every day.  Pathogens seek out unhealthy beings.  As long as the pups are not being stressed with multiple vaccines throughout puppyhood, flea and tick and heartworm medications, chemicals in and around the home and yard, their immune system should be strong enough to conquer any illness.

Allopathic vets recommend that puppy vaccines are given every 2-3 weeks, beginning at 6 weeks of age, with the last booster being given after 16 weeks of age. Multiple puppy vaccines are given because there is no way to determine when the antibodies from the mother (known as maternally derived antibodies or MDAs) will be gone. The amount of MDAs depends upon the strength of the dam's immune system at the time of whelping (birth of the puppies). The CORE vaccines (those highly recommended due to the possibility of severe illness following exposure to the diseases) are given in a modified live virus (MLV) vaccine. A single dose of a MLV vaccine is sufficient to provide lifelong immunity, as long as MDAs do not interfere with the immune response. However, not all puppies or dogs will develop immunity following vaccination. In a small percentage of animals, an immune response will never occur, despite multiple doses of a vaccination.  According to the the first paragraph on page 46 of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Guidelines for the Owners and Breeders of Cats and Dogs, [https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/WSAVA-Owner-Breeder-Guidelines-2015_1.pdf] 1 in 1,000 dogs will never develop immunity to parvovirus; and 1 in 5,000 dogs will never develop immunity to distemper. These animals are known as "non-responders."  In other words, vaccination does not equal immunization. These guidelines also recommend that the CORE vaccines not be given more often than every 3 years. There have been scientific studies proving that MLV vaccines can last 7 years or more. The study is still ongoing, but there is every reason to believe that they will last the life of the pet. Additionally, there have never been studies to prove that the presence of antibodies in the blood equates to immunity to a disease.  

North Carolina law states that the Rabies vaccine should be given at 16 weeks. 

As mentioned, Weaver Dairy Goldens is using a holistic vet. Our vet recommends that we use Nosodes, a homeopathic remedy that provides protection against disease, instead of using vaccines. Nosodes do not contain the adjuvants (i.e., Mercury, Aluminum, Polysorbate 80, Antibiotics, etc.) found in vaccines that are required to jump-start the immune system. Over-vaccination can result in the development of allergies, autoimmune disease, and cancer that last a lifetime. Our vet recommends treating weekly with Nosodes drops (dripped onto the mucous membranes of the mouth) until a single dose of each puppy vaccine (distemper and parvovirus) are given after 20 weeks of age, when the mother's milk antibodies have been depleted and the puppy's immune system has recovered from the rabies vaccine. When maternally derived antibodies are present, a vaccine is unable to cause an immune reaction, rendering the vaccine ineffective; therefore, the puppy receives the toxic adjuvants and gains no benefit from the vaccine. We will no longer offer our buyers the choice whether they would like us to have their puppy vaccinated at the well check (before pickup), or if they would like to continue Nosodes once per week until a single vaccination is performed by their vet after 20 weeks of age. If a buyer chooses to vaccinate their puppy, they are welcome to have their vet perform this service when they take their puppy for the well check.  WDG feels strongly that vaccines are not necessary, and that the puppy has an immune system that will protect them against foreign invaders.  Aspen and Luna have never been vaccinated, and they have never been sick a day in their life.  Instead, we treated with homeopathic nosodes.