What You Can Expect from Us
We perform extensive health screenings on our breeding stock before we undertake any match. We always obtain OFA hip, elbow, and eye certifications. We test for SDCA-1 and SDCA-2 (spongy degeneration with cerebellar ataxia forms 1 and 2), and will be candid with buyers should we ever decide to use a carrier of this gene to prevent loss of overall genetic diversity and to gain other needed qualities. Dogs owned by WildRose will also be checked for thyroid hormone level, extra vertebrae, degenerative myelopathy (DM), spondylosis and CJM (Cardiomyopathy with Juvenile Mortality). Most of these are rare problems in working line Belgian Tervuren, and we want to keep it that way.
The puppies are also socialized with children, other dogs, and cats. By the time they go home at eight to nine weeks, they have been introduced to dozens of different people, livestock, and, if weather permits, to water and swimming. Their athletic abilities are developed by hours of outdoor play, going up and down steps, clambering over logs, skittering through tunnels, and playing king-of-the-mountain on a wobble board. The puppies will be familiar with crates and habituated to riding in the car. Housebreaking and simple household manners are already part of their daily routine by the time they start their new lives with you.
To protect their immature immune systems, we use a minimal vaccination protocol, incorporating nomographs and titers. We do nomographs on the mother’s antibody levels to determine exactly when the pups should be inoculated. If the titer result indicates that the puppy does not need to be vaccinated due to continuing protection from maternal antibodies, we discuss with the puppy owner whether the puppy should be vaccinated for distemper and parvovirus before they leave WildRose. If pups are to be vaccinated, it is done 2-3 days before they depart for their new homes. We provide the new owners with the dam’s nomograph results and recommendations for follow-up titers, vaccinations, and worming.
What We Expect from You
No dog meets the breed standard perfectly. Every breeder chooses slightly different priorities while still maintaining the breed’s overall appearance. The WildRose breeding program puts less emphasis on fine details of breed type and more emphasis on characteristics that contribute to outstanding working ability.
Making the effort to speak to owners of WildRose and other working line Tervuren will give you an up-close and personal view of real life with a Belgian Tervuren. We believe that the Belgian Tervuren is not the ideal companion for most American families, who are overscheduled and much too busy to add an active, intelligent puppy to their household. We expect that you will have evaluated your circumstances and made an informed decision about whether you really have the time and energy to add a puppy to your family; and if you do, that the working line Belgian Tervuren should be your choice.
Bringing your new puppy home is just the beginning of the time commitment. Your puppy is joining you during what is known as the Sensitive Period. This is a period lasting from about 3 weeks until about 14 weeks which is critical for the puppy’s long-term development. Your puppy will need a lot of attention during this time, both to meet his physical needs (tiny tummies and bladders!) and his emotional needs, as he begins to figure out what the world is and how he fits into it. You must structure your puppy’s days to get the most out of these irreplaceable few months. You will need to make time for socialization expeditions, training, and care. Vacations, business trips or heavy deadlines requiring long hours away from the puppy are not compatible with the work involved in preparing a young dog for its lifetime. This need does not magically stop at 14 weeks, of course. Throughout his life, you will need to set aside the time to willingly and joyfully exercise, train and interact with your dog.
In addition, both our pups’ owners and veterinarians should be familiar with and committed to the American Animal Hospital Association Vaccination Recommendations. Aside from puppy shots and rabies vaccinations, we recommend not following an annual vaccination schedule, but instead, asking your veterinarian to perform titers to determine which vaccines are necessary.
Your new puppy should live in your home (not in a kennel or back yard) and receive premium food, thoughtful and professional medical care, and lifelong exercise and training of some kind. Plan on regular obedience training for the first few years of the dog’s life. We prefer buyers with fully fenced yards but may make exceptions if you have the time and available facilities for adequate exercise and constant outside supervision. While previous experience is desirable, we approach each potential buyer as an individual in weighing whether we believe that a WildRose dog will be a good fit.
However, there are situations when the dog cannot be given a choice, for his own safety. We teach our puppies to accept handling from the time they are born. We practice veterinary restraint and grooming every day, and we trim nails every three days. It is important to continue practicing these skills to end up with an adult dog that can handle the restraint of emergency vet care.
For learning life skills and manners, a pushy dog will do best with an owner who sets boundaries from the start. We strongly believe that dogs need and understand clear communications that say, “I’d like a little more of this” and “I’d like a little less of that,” and sometimes, “We don’t do that in this house!” Your dog cannot be allowed to harass cats or livestock, or chase deer when off-lead. There are positive methods available to deal with problems like these, but if they aren’t working, a more balanced approach may give the dog a higher overall quality of life.
- Honesty. We respect the members of our WildRose family enough to always tell them the truth. Although we do our level best to produce Belgian Tervuren that are healthy, durable, and fit for your purpose, we will not always succeed. We will be transparent about the risks and benefits that we expect from each breeding, and if unexpected problems crop up, you will be the first to know.
- Planning for Success. Our mission at Wildrose is to safeguard the qualities of the working Belgian Tervuren that have been entrusted to us, and to produce dogs that are sound in mind and body, ready to participate in the work and sports that you want to do with your new dog. The sires and dams used in our breeding program are chosen for their strong genetic background. They are selected for social, biddable temperaments and sound, athletic structure. We strive to produce offspring who are strong, clear-headed, environmentally stable, resilient, and have a “never-say-die” work ethic.
We perform extensive health screenings on our breeding stock before we undertake any match. We always obtain OFA hip, elbow, and eye certifications. We test for SDCA-1 and SDCA-2 (spongy degeneration with cerebellar ataxia forms 1 and 2), and will be candid with buyers should we ever decide to use a carrier of this gene to prevent loss of overall genetic diversity and to gain other needed qualities. Dogs owned by WildRose will also be checked for thyroid hormone level, extra vertebrae, degenerative myelopathy (DM), spondylosis and CJM (Cardiomyopathy with Juvenile Mortality). Most of these are rare problems in working line Belgian Tervuren, and we want to keep it that way.
- Home-Raised Puppies. Our pups are raised in the living area of our home, accustomed to the confusion and hubbub of a multi-dog, multi-cat environment, with family and visitors coming and going at all hours. From the time they can walk, they have separate living and “potty” areas, and by the time they go home to their new owners, they are accustomed to routine trips outdoors to relieve themselves. Giving them a chance to stay clean facilitates a smooth housebreaking experience when you take your new puppy home.
- Early Education. We follow the Avidog International Transformational Puppy Rearing Program. You may be more familiar with the Puppy Culture Program. Our puppy raising process incorporates some elements of the Puppy Culture DVD but focuses primarily on following the daily schedules from the comprehensive, science-based Avidog Puppy Rearing Program. WildRose puppies are handled and socialized from birth, with daily individual attention. During the critical period from 3 to 16 days, this includes Early Neurological Stimulation, which helps condition the nervous system to positioning and handling, and Early Scent Introduction, a formal program to improving scenting ability by introducing the baby puppy’s brain to a number of different scents.
The puppies are also socialized with children, other dogs, and cats. By the time they go home at eight to nine weeks, they have been introduced to dozens of different people, livestock, and, if weather permits, to water and swimming. Their athletic abilities are developed by hours of outdoor play, going up and down steps, clambering over logs, skittering through tunnels, and playing king-of-the-mountain on a wobble board. The puppies will be familiar with crates and habituated to riding in the car. Housebreaking and simple household manners are already part of their daily routine by the time they start their new lives with you.
- A Healthy Start. WildRose puppies receive the best of care while they are with us. They are raised naturally, nursing as long as their mother will allow, transitioning to an AAFCO-compliant raw diet at around 4 weeks, or when weaning begins. Before the puppies depart for their new homes, they are switched over to a premium AAFCO-approved kibble for all life stages. The pups are wormed at 3 and 6 weeks, with fecal checks at 4 and 7 weeks to ensure that they are worm-free. Each pup also receives an individual examination by our veterinarian, an experienced practitioner, to ensure that every WildRose puppy goes home in perfect condition.
To protect their immature immune systems, we use a minimal vaccination protocol, incorporating nomographs and titers. We do nomographs on the mother’s antibody levels to determine exactly when the pups should be inoculated. If the titer result indicates that the puppy does not need to be vaccinated due to continuing protection from maternal antibodies, we discuss with the puppy owner whether the puppy should be vaccinated for distemper and parvovirus before they leave WildRose. If pups are to be vaccinated, it is done 2-3 days before they depart for their new homes. We provide the new owners with the dam’s nomograph results and recommendations for follow-up titers, vaccinations, and worming.
- Dogs You Can Live With. The bitches that we select for breeding are house dogs. They are pets and companions first. As adults, they are adaptable, able to settle when appropriate, and are generally quiet. They can conserve their energy for working, whether in a real-world application such as Search and Rescue, or in any of the many dog sports they can excel at.
- The Right Dog for the Right Home. We make every effort to match each owner or family with the pup that best suits their personality, lifestyle, and goals. We carefully consider what you tell us about your training plans and methods to find the best fit between you and your new working or competition partner. To effectively match pups to homes, we gather information from prospective owners about their lifestyles, experience with dogs, and expectations for their pup. We also keep careful records of each puppy’s behavior and personality to assist in placement. During their seventh week, we evaluate the puppies’ temperaments, using the Avidog Puppy Evaluation Test. Separately, we evaluate their structure and conformation, and assess their scenting abilities. We use all this information to choose the right pup for your needs, making our final decisions on placements after the vet check at 7-1/2 weeks.
- Lifetime Commitment. We expect to remain in contact with all of our puppy owners throughout the dog’s life. When you buy a WildRose puppy, your puppy becomes part of your family, and you become part of ours. Through private Facebook groups for each litter, and through a main WildRose group, you gain access to a network of experienced working line Belgian owners who can offer training and management advice, enthusiastic support, and simple understanding. We don’t micromanage our puppy owners, but we are there for you, ready to help you with any problems you encounter, and ready to celebrate your successes with you.
What We Expect from You
- Honesty. We will always be honest with you. In return, we expect you to be open and honest with us. We don’t judge what you tell us about your hopes, dreams, training capabilities and home life. We just use your honest self-assessment to make puppy placement decisions that will make both puppies and families as happy as possible – including the possibility that we may explain to you that we do not think we have a puppy that will be a good fit for your situation. We depend on your openness with us to help you throughout your Wildrose pup’s life: we always stand ready to help you with problems you may encounter as your puppy grows to adulthood and beyond. But we can’t do that if you don’t let us know. As breeders making a good faith effort to produce healthy dogs, we count on you to fulfill your commitments for health testing of your dog, and to report any health problems that arise.
- Do Your Homework. As a starting point, we expect you to have thoroughly read and studied the AKC Belgian Tervuren breed standard to ensure that a Tervuren is the right breed for you and your family. We also expect that you have read through all the sections of our website and have a clear idea of the kind of Tervuren we produce. At WildRose, we breed working line Belgian Tervuren. If you are not certain about the differences between working and show line Belgians, this 15-minute YouTube video based on an interview with a Tervuren breeder in the Czech Republic should be helpful: https://youtu.be/q7VCtU3wHmM.
No dog meets the breed standard perfectly. Every breeder chooses slightly different priorities while still maintaining the breed’s overall appearance. The WildRose breeding program puts less emphasis on fine details of breed type and more emphasis on characteristics that contribute to outstanding working ability.
Making the effort to speak to owners of WildRose and other working line Tervuren will give you an up-close and personal view of real life with a Belgian Tervuren. We believe that the Belgian Tervuren is not the ideal companion for most American families, who are overscheduled and much too busy to add an active, intelligent puppy to their household. We expect that you will have evaluated your circumstances and made an informed decision about whether you really have the time and energy to add a puppy to your family; and if you do, that the working line Belgian Tervuren should be your choice.
- Make Time for the Puppy. Once you’ve decided that a WildRose Belgian Tervuren is the right dog for you, it’s time to take a good look at your calendar. Do you have time to come and visit with us in person for a few hours before the puppies are born? This isn’t a requirement, but it helps us get to know you better, and gives you a chance to meet our adult dogs and make certain that a WildRose pup is the best choice for you. Can you come and pick up your puppy when he is ready to go home at 8 weeks? If you can’t, it’s not the right time to get a puppy. We will not ship puppies as cargo. You can depend on us to prepare your puppy for the strange sights and sounds he will encounter while traveling with you, whether by car or by air. But your commitment to your new puppy starts with you making the personal effort to pick him up.
Bringing your new puppy home is just the beginning of the time commitment. Your puppy is joining you during what is known as the Sensitive Period. This is a period lasting from about 3 weeks until about 14 weeks which is critical for the puppy’s long-term development. Your puppy will need a lot of attention during this time, both to meet his physical needs (tiny tummies and bladders!) and his emotional needs, as he begins to figure out what the world is and how he fits into it. You must structure your puppy’s days to get the most out of these irreplaceable few months. You will need to make time for socialization expeditions, training, and care. Vacations, business trips or heavy deadlines requiring long hours away from the puppy are not compatible with the work involved in preparing a young dog for its lifetime. This need does not magically stop at 14 weeks, of course. Throughout his life, you will need to set aside the time to willingly and joyfully exercise, train and interact with your dog.
- Build on the Strong Foundation. Help your puppy reach his full potential by feeding an appropriate diet. We will provide you with a list of premium foods that we use in rotation. However, as long as you choose premium foods that meets AAFCO standards for puppies, and then transition to high quality AAFCO-approved All Life Stages foods at 3-4 months of age, you will be giving your puppy the nutrition and energy he needs to grow. Puppies are sent home with enough food to help you make a smooth transition to the diet you choose based on our recommendations.
- Be Your Pup’s Health Care Partner. We expect WildRose owners to consider the financial impact of good veterinary care before taking on the responsibility of a new puppy. We recommend enrolling your new puppy in a pet insurance plan to help with unexpected injuries or illnesses that can be quite expensive. We also expect our dogs’ owners to become partners with their veterinarians in their dog’s health care, rather than turning all decisions over to their vet. Get a second opinion if you are not sure about a diagnosis or treatment plan.
In addition, both our pups’ owners and veterinarians should be familiar with and committed to the American Animal Hospital Association Vaccination Recommendations. Aside from puppy shots and rabies vaccinations, we recommend not following an annual vaccination schedule, but instead, asking your veterinarian to perform titers to determine which vaccines are necessary.
- Treat Your Pup as a Family Member. We ask you to commit that your puppy will be a significant and beloved member of your family. The first step is to make sure the whole family is on board for this project. A working line Belgian Tervuren is a lot of dog to have around if the whole family doesn’t agree on getting the dog. Even if one person is the main caretaker and handler, some level of help and cooperation will be needed from everyone living in the home.
Your new puppy should live in your home (not in a kennel or back yard) and receive premium food, thoughtful and professional medical care, and lifelong exercise and training of some kind. Plan on regular obedience training for the first few years of the dog’s life. We prefer buyers with fully fenced yards but may make exceptions if you have the time and available facilities for adequate exercise and constant outside supervision. While previous experience is desirable, we approach each potential buyer as an individual in weighing whether we believe that a WildRose dog will be a good fit.
- Teach Your Pup Manners. At a minimum, we expect our buyers to commit to daily, intensive exercise and training throughout the life of the dog, as well as weekly formal training classes from puppyhood to maturity at two to three years of age, preferably at an established, well-regarded dog training facility.
However, there are situations when the dog cannot be given a choice, for his own safety. We teach our puppies to accept handling from the time they are born. We practice veterinary restraint and grooming every day, and we trim nails every three days. It is important to continue practicing these skills to end up with an adult dog that can handle the restraint of emergency vet care.
For learning life skills and manners, a pushy dog will do best with an owner who sets boundaries from the start. We strongly believe that dogs need and understand clear communications that say, “I’d like a little more of this” and “I’d like a little less of that,” and sometimes, “We don’t do that in this house!” Your dog cannot be allowed to harass cats or livestock, or chase deer when off-lead. There are positive methods available to deal with problems like these, but if they aren’t working, a more balanced approach may give the dog a higher overall quality of life.
- Work Your Working Line Dog. With rare exceptions, every puppy from WildRose is sold with the expectation that it will be used as a competition/performance dog in some venue, or as a working dog. We expect you to train and show performance puppies to compete at the higher levels of your sport(s), and preferably in more than one discipline. This might include AKC sports like obedience, agility, tracking, nose work and herding; or protection sports sponsored by other organizations (French Ring, Mondioring, IGP (Internationale Gebrauchshunde Prüfungsordnung, or what used to more commonly be called Schutzhund or IPO)). If you are using your dog for a working purpose such as SAR (Search and Rescue) or Scent Detection, it is expected that you will participate regularly in training with your local group, and that you will seek nationally recognized certification.
- Help Us Breed Healthy Dogs. As breeders, we have a responsibility to safeguard the health of our beloved Belgian Tervuren. We need your help to do that. For this reason, we require that all of our pups have hips and elbows x-rayed for OFA certification and eyes checked (CERF) between 24 and 30 months of age, at the owner’s expense. Depending on where you live, this testing will cost on the order of $500.
- Let Us Help You. Make sure you have a good support system. Perhaps you are an experienced dog owner with other breeds, or even show line Belgians. You were sure you knew what you were getting into with a working line Tervuren, but now you are wondering about some of the puppy behavior you see. Is your puppy normal? It is almost certainly 100% normal for an energetic, intense puppy learning self-control and teamwork. But if you have questions, contact us. It is a pleasure and a source of real satisfaction to be able to help you over any bumps in the road. As a member of the WildRose family, you have access not only to your breeder, but also to the entire network of WildRose Tervuren owners, through our private Facebook groups. Some of these are top trainers who have seen almost everything. They will have good advice. What we ask is that you listen to and make use of the advice you get.
In our view, a strong commitment to adaptive learning and to accepting expert advice is the most important ingredient in developing a successful relationship with your working line Belgian Tervuren puppy.
In Memory, 1999 Litter
"Tucker was our first Tervuren (Thanks to Dawn Kundert!) and he was my soul mate. .
He taught me so very much throughout our time together, much more then I taught him and as long as we were next to each other, all was well.
His temperament was suburb, his drive awesome and his willingness to learn unstoppable!! I would never hesitate to get another dog from Dawn."
AG-1, AG-11, U-CD, ARCH-MX Epris Q.T. Tucker of Tuckaway Farms “Tucker” (CGC) (HCT) PT AX AXJ BN CD RAE2 DELTA DOG TN-N TN-O TN-E HP-N NJC WV-N NCC OCC OJC NAC OAC TG-N S-BJA S-BGA S-BSLA V-BSLA -GV-BSLA S-BTA V-BTA V-ITA V-ITA S-BAA S-BSA V-IRS #1 RL3 2009 #6 ARCHEX National 2011 RL1 AOE RL1X RL2 AOE RL2X4 RL3 AOE DCD-CF RL3X2 RLV AOE #10 National 2011 RL1X2 W-FD/HTM W-FD
12/8/99—9/4/14 - One in a Million and heart-breakingly missed!
He taught me so very much throughout our time together, much more then I taught him and as long as we were next to each other, all was well.
His temperament was suburb, his drive awesome and his willingness to learn unstoppable!! I would never hesitate to get another dog from Dawn."
AG-1, AG-11, U-CD, ARCH-MX Epris Q.T. Tucker of Tuckaway Farms “Tucker” (CGC) (HCT) PT AX AXJ BN CD RAE2 DELTA DOG TN-N TN-O TN-E HP-N NJC WV-N NCC OCC OJC NAC OAC TG-N S-BJA S-BGA S-BSLA V-BSLA -GV-BSLA S-BTA V-BTA V-ITA V-ITA S-BAA S-BSA V-IRS #1 RL3 2009 #6 ARCHEX National 2011 RL1 AOE RL1X RL2 AOE RL2X4 RL3 AOE DCD-CF RL3X2 RLV AOE #10 National 2011 RL1X2 W-FD/HTM W-FD
12/8/99—9/4/14 - One in a Million and heart-breakingly missed!