Rule of 7's

Our puppies development is important to us, that is why we practice the Rule of 7's

Dr. Carmen Battaglia created the Rule of 7’s as a guide to increase a puppy’s exposure.

You do not have to follow it, however we wanted to provide our new puppy parents with this information. Please make sure your puppy is current on all shots before taking him/her out into a strange area. By the time a puppy is 3 months, make sure he/she has:

1. Been on 7 different types of surfaces: carpet, tile, linoleum, concrete, wood, vinyl, grass, dirt, gravel, and wood chips.

2. Played with 7 different types of objects: rope toys, plush toys, big balls, small balls, soft fabric toys, squeaky toys, paper or cardboard items, metal items, and sticks.

3. Been in 7 different locations: front & back yard, basement, kitchen, car, garage, laundry room, bathroom, kids room, living room, hallway, Vet’s office, groomers.

4. Met and played with 7 new people: include children and older adults, someone walking with a cane or in a wheelchair or walker, someone tall, someone in a hat.

5. Been exposed to 7 challenges: climb on a box, go through a tunnel, climb steps, go down steps, climb over obstacles, play hide and seek, go in and out of a doorway with a step up or down, run around a fence.

6. Eaten from 7 different containers: metal, plastic, cardboard, paper, human hands, pie plate, tin pan, frying pan, Frisbee, elevated bowl.

7. Eaten in 7 different locations: crate, yard, exercise pen, basement, laundry room, living

room, bathroom, back yard.

Each new, positive experience will help your puppy thrive into a confident companion. Allow your puppy to learn and explore on their own, but make sure the puppy is completely supervised and that it is a controlled environment. Do not use any harsh training methods with a puppy because you will break the bond of trust. Training should be fair and fun.

We believe all puppies should go through puppy socialization called the “Rule of Sevens.” The rule of 7's is a method we use to help introduce our Labrador Retriever puppies to new environments and get them used to many different things they may encounter in their lives. Much like ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation) the Rule of Seven introduces the pups to small stresses that will help boost confidence, social behavior, and their train-ability.

We start applying the "rule of 7's" at four weeks, we allow the puppies 7 new items they hadn't had contact with before. Around four days later, we changed these to 7 new items/things. By the time you take our new puppy home, he or she has been exposed to 49 different or new changes/items. So when your puppy goes home, they are confident and ready to begin obedience training.