Wassookeag Retrievers
Unique, Specialized, Professional
Q. We live on the west coast. Do you ship puppies?
A. We do not ship puppies unless attended by a member of their new family. We will provide the necessary health certificate so that the puppy can fly back with you in the cabin of the aircraft.
Q. I want to make the transition easy for my new puppy. What do you feed?
A. We’ve recently gone back to feeding our puppies Poulin Grain Pro-Form Performance formula https://www.poulingrain.com/products/232 . There is a store locator on the Poulin Grain website. This food has the fat and protein ratio that we prefer for growing Labrador pups. We recommend that you feed a quality food that is readily available where you live. Look for a puppy food with no corn, wheat or soy and with a 27% protein / 17% fat ratio. Fromm, Wellness, Eagle Pack Holistic and Taste of the Wild puppy formulas are all good options for puppy food that are similar to what we feed and is generally easily accessible. We will give you some of what we feed to get started with and you can mix it in with your food over a period of a few days to ensure a smooth transition for your new puppy.
We do NOT recommend grain-free or large breed puppy diets.
Q. When can I bring my new puppy home?
A. It is Maine state law that the puppy must be eight weeks old before it can leave here. The puppies learn many social skills from their mother and littermates during these early weeks. Once the puppy turns eight weeks old, they are ready to start bonding with their new family. We like to allow at least one hour to go over the paperwork and answer all your questions when you come to pick up your puppy. You can schedule your time as soon as you know what day you plan to come up.
Q. I’ve heard it is good to leave a blanket or something with you so you can get the scent of it’s mom and littermates on it and the puppy will have something familiar when it leaves for it’s new home. Is that a good idea?
A. We send all of our puppies home with a stuffed animal that has the scent of the puppies and mother so your puppy with have something familiar to take home.
Q. How is our new puppy selected?
A. We do a temperament test on the litter at 49 days of age. That, together with our observations over the weeks, helps determine which puppies will best suit each new home. Within a few days after the temperament test, we will use that information along with our close daily observations to recommend the puppies we feel are the best fit for each family. Of course, if you have any specific preferences or are drawn to a specific puppy in the litter we want to know that, too. In the end, we want the puppy AND their new family to be happy and this process has always worked out well for both!