Even with my extremely high expectations for breeders, I have been blown away with my Daintree experience and puppy. Trisha and team put in countless hours not only keeping their puppies clean and healthy, but going out of their way to make sure the puppies are as well prepared for their adult life as possible through early and intensive puppy training and socialization. I know this not only because my puppy showed me the results, but because I spent two weeks with Trisha and Scott last summer to assist with raising the Story Time and Wild West litters.
Daintree raises their puppies with a phenomenal puppy rearing program called Puppy Culture. What this means is that these puppies have been introduced to a variety of concepts including sitting as a way of asking for things like attention (called manding), coming when called, relaxing in a crate, walking on leash, basic problem solving, and more. As a professional dog trainer, I have often been asked “Why don’t you just teach this to your puppy yourself? Why go through the trouble of having your breeder do it for you?” The answer is that I would if I had my puppy for those first critical weeks, but I don’t. The moment I took my puppy away from his littermates, he was able to relax in a crate, walk with me on a leash, and engage with me in already familiar training games. This invaluable headstart resulted in a stress free international trip home and a seamless integration into my household.
As I type this, Freddie (formerly Amico of Anything Goes 2.0) is 6 months old. More and more every day, it is clear that I made the right choice and was matched with the perfect puppy. He is showing incredible potential for the Service Dog life, as well as great drive for the dog sports we hope to compete in. His personality is perfectly happy-go-lucky, focused, driven, thoughtful, playful, silly, affectionate. Overall, he is fearless. But when things do scare him, he recovers very quickly and looks to me for direction. I have worked with hundreds of puppies (maybe more), and this has seriously been puppy raising in easy mode.
Because I am a dog trainer and see dogs with severe behavior problems every day, the behavioral aspect of puppy raising was and is most important to me. However, the nutritional aspect is a close second since nutrition has a very direct effect on a dog’s behavior and a puppy’s overall potential. Daintree puppies and adult dogs are fed a raw food diet and have been for many generations. The freezer stockpile and organization it takes to feed so many dogs raw is no small feat. Daintree’s commitment is extremely impressive.
Then there are vaccinations. I won’t pretend I am an expert on this subject (far from it), but Daintree is very mindful about vaccinations and encourages the use of titer tests as an alternative to the standard over vaccination of puppies and adult dogs which can also lead to biological and behavioral health issues.
Lastly, there are my “bare minimums” for any breeder. Daintree is simply an ethical and humane breeder. If you must rehome your dog at any point in their life, Trisha would and does welcome them back with open arms. The dogs are health tested and matings are carefully selected. All of the dogs are raised and live inside her home, get daily exercise and love, are regularly groomed, and are trained using positive methods. Trisha is honest about the fact that a Toller is not the right breed for everyone and very carefully selects puppy buyers to make sure her puppies will have the best lives possible.
The extra mile Daintree goes to raise their puppies is invaluable to anyone considering a Toller puppy as a pet or otherwise. I cannot overemphasize how pleased I am and how strongly I recommend Daintree if you are considering a Duck Toller.
- Victoria Thibodeaux KPA CPT, Michael’s Dogs Houston TX
Freddie and Victoria on the day they met, 2019.