How we raise our puppies
The first eight weeks of puppy life
Groodles Australia prioritises the health and happiness of our parent dogs and their gorgeous puppies above all else. Our breeding dogs are pets first — they live in their forever homes before, during, and after their breeding years — never in kennels! Puppies are born in real homes with their mums, feeling comfortable and secure, surrounded by the human families that love them.
The first weeks of life
From day one, our puppies are closely monitored. A vet nurse or team member visits for health checks, and the champion family weighs each puppy regularly to track their growth. Puppies are usually raised in the heart of the home — the living room or kitchen — so they’re surrounded by the sights, sounds, and rhythms of everyday family life.
From days 3–16, we introduce the Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) program: a series of gentle handling exercises that activate the puppy’s nervous system and have been shown to improve health, resilience, and temperament for life.
We also run a scent introduction program, exposing puppies to a range of smells — rubber, lavender, and more — and noting their responses. This is on top of all the everyday household scents they naturally encounter.
Socialisation from the start
Our puppies are gently handled and cuddled by humans from very early on. Once their eyes and ears open, they experience everything a busy household has to offer: kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, TV, music, visitors, in many cases children playing (or the occasional meltdown), and more.
As they grow, we expand their space with safe fencing so they can explore. Around 3–4 weeks, we introduce a crate with cosy towels inside — puppies love to snuggle up in there, and it helps them feel comfortable with crate travel and crate training later on.
When they’re old enough to walk, we introduce different surfaces — grass, tiles, carpet, concrete — and give them short solo adventures around the house. A puppy might explore the kitchen during dinner prep, or sniff around the laundry on their own. Later, they might take short car trips to school drop-off or visit the vet in their crate.
Champion families invite people of all ages and walks of life to meet the puppies, and if there are other pets in the household, the puppies get to meet them too.
Week by week
Week 1: The day puppies are brought into the world, they’re checked by one of our experienced vets or vet nurses. The first week is when they sleep, feed and grow — puppies often almost double in size. From day 3, our ENS program commences and continues for 12 days
Week 2 (days 10–14): Eyes and ears open
Week 3: Tails wagging, vocalising, walking, exploring; a vet nurse checks each puppy, and weighs and worms them
Weeks 3–4: Teeth appear, weaning begins (timing depends on mum); a vet nurse checks, weighs and worms the puppies in week four
Week 5: Puppy cuddle session for families on the waitlist
Week 6: Vaccinations, microchipping, health check, and a full veterinary checkup at the vet clinic
Week 7: Puppy temperament testing and personality profiling by our team; matching with families
Week 8: Puppies go to their forever homes
Our puppies spend a full eight weeks with mum — learning from her and socialising with siblings, even after weaning. Regular interactions with veterinary professionals help to acclimatise them to future visits.
Matching puppies to their forever homes
From the time our puppies are born, our champion family observes each of them closely, noting their personalities — what they love, what they don’t, how they respond to new experiences. We use this information, along with our own assessments, to carefully match each puppy with the right family. We take our time with matching rather than simply filling spots on a waitlist or prioritising people’s colour preferences.
A note on temperament and settling in
Every litter has a mix of personalities. Just like children in a family, some puppies are naturally more confident, some more cautious, and some more independent — regardless of how they’ve been socialised. Our team takes this into account when matching puppies to families, but it’s worth knowing that temperament is not just shaped by their early weeks.
Once your puppy is home, one of the most important things you can do is establish clear, consistent boundaries from day one. Puppies thrive on structure — they feel more secure when they understand the rules of the household. Simple habits make a big difference: walking through doorways before your dog, feeding the family first, asking your puppy to sit calmly before meals, not rewarding jumping or barking with attention, and keeping furniture off-limits if that’s a boundary you want to set.
It can be tempting to treat a new puppy like a baby, but dogs are happiest when they’re treated like dogs — with love, kindness, and clear expectations. We’ve seen that puppies who grow up without consistent boundaries are more likely to develop anxiety and behavioural issues as they get older. These are much harder to address later than they are to prevent early on.
If you notice any behavioural concerns in the first weeks or months, we’d always encourage you to seek professional guidance sooner rather than later — early intervention makes a real difference. Our team is happy to point you in the right direction. For more on early training, setting your puppy up for success, and finding the right support, see our Puppy School & Early Training page.
