Meet Us!

My husband Zach and I (Kristen) live in southeastern Pennsylvania. We got married in 2014 and since then have been working to build a godly home and life together. We welcomed our first daughter in January of 2017, and we are excited to be expecting our second child in April of 2019! We enjoy working outside together on our one-acre property where we have a large garden, a few fruit trees, a grape arbor, a raspberry patch, and a few chickens. Feel free to email us with any questions you may have at KristensHappyTails@gmail.com.

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Our Breeding Practices

We are neither a puppy mill nor a kennel. Our dogs are a well-loved part of our family. Although we did buy them with the intention of breeding, they are by no means simply a financial investment to us. They each receive lots of love and cuddles, regular exercise, and veterinary care.

We aim to keep our dogs in the best physical condition that we can. Before breeding, we make sure our girls are strong and healthy. We are careful to maintain a healthy weight and good muscle tone by feeding a high quality diet of Life’s Abundance food and NuVet Plus supplement along with plenty of exercise.

Our goal is to sell healthy puppies that have received plenty of early socialization to ensure that they will have that loving and friendly temperament that will make them your perfect companion!

How We Raise Our Puppies

Birth-3 Weeks: During this “newborn” stage, the dam will provide nearly all the care for her puppies. She will nurse and clean them, and she will spend majority of her time with her puppies. We work hard extra hard to keep the dam healthy during this time by carefully monitoring her and supplementing her diet to help her maintain her weight while producing milk. For healthy puppies, we must first have a healthy momma!

We track the weight of each puppy daily to insure that each one is growing well. Between two and three weeks, we begin de-worming the puppies. All puppies are vulnerable to contracting intestinal worms, since they have very little immune system to fight them off. To keep puppies healthy, we give them three rounds of de-wormer prior to the time they leave our home, typically at three, five, and seven weeks of age.

We begin an Early Neurological Stimulation program with the puppies during this time, which is the first stepping stone of our puppy socialization. This ENS program involves gently handling and manipulating the puppies in specific positions. This early sensory stimulation has been shown to help puppies be more confident as they grow. They will exhibit lower stress levels, as well as be more active than non-stimulated puppies. There has been documented health benefits with this program, as well, such as improved cardio-vascular performance.

Weeks 3-5: We begin the Misty Method of early potty training during this time to help establish good habits in our puppies. This puts them well on the way to being crate trained by the time they leave for new homes!

We begin weaning the puppies onto Life’s Abundance puppy food. This is done very slowly to help the puppies’ sensitive digestive systems adjust easily from milk to solid food. We soften the food with raw goat milk for the first while until the puppies are able to chew the food well.

We continue socializing the puppies during these weeks. They are handled and played with every day by adults and children. They can now spend some time outside, weather permitting, of course. The puppies are exposed to a variety of different noises and other stimulations to help them develop a calm and confident temperament.

Weeks 6-8: The puppies are now fully weaned, and they receive their first vaccinations. They each receive a health certificate from our veterinarian.

After being weaned from their mother’s milk, puppies’ immune systems become particularly vulnerable to disease and infection. To protect and build their immature immune systems, we start each puppy on NuVet Plus, an immune system support made with human-grade ingredients. (This is also the supplement we use as a prenatal vitamin for our dams.)

The puppies are now fully active and very social! We continue exposing them to a variety of household and outdoor sights and sounds. We begin crate training, and we work to insure that each puppy is physically, mentally, and socially ready to go to their new home!

We also offer several Puppy Packs to help families get all things that they need for bringing home a new puppy! You can see our Puppy Packs here.

Meet Our Dogs!

Mia- Miniature Goldendoodle

We purchased Mia right after we got married in 2014. Mia is a nice compromise when it comes to size, falling in the medium range. We like the low shedding characteristics of the Mini Goldendoodles, and we definitely like the friendly and gentle temperament. She has proven to be intelligent, friendly, and easy to train. She never tires of playing fetch, and she adores little children! Her loving and playful antics have brought us much laughter and entertainment. Sometimes she is content to snuggle on the couch, and other times she wants to run around the yard chasing tennis balls. She is always happy and eager to please. Her easy going personality makes her a good match with other dogs, people, and children.

Duchess- Irish Setter

Duchess joined our family in the fall of 2015. Zach wanted a hunting dog, and Irish Setters are such stunning dogs, so we settled on this breed for our second dog. Duchess has become my big, cuddly lap dog when she isn’t bounding back and forth across the yard. She loves every person and every dog she meets. Her energy is endless, and her clownish joy is contagious. Her pedigree is impressive, coming from a long line of excellent and healthy setters. Her grandfather was a grand champion field dog, and those strong hunting instincts are very evident in Duchess.

Jade- Golden Retriever

Jade is the youngest of our girls. We got her in the early spring of 2016. She is very laid back, and we love that about her. She is very eager to please and was super easy to train. In fact, she learned so much from the other dogs, it seemed we hardly had to train her at all. She is happy, gentle, forgiving, and curious. She happily greets new people and new dogs and is generally well-mannered. Because of her laid back, charming personality and champion bloodlines, we are very excited for the day we can bless other families with her puppies.

Timber- Irish Setter

Timber is our only male dog. He is also the only one of our dogs that we did not raise from a puppy. He comes from the Celtic Irish Setter bloodline- an excellent line of field Irish Setters.  He has the classic happy setter personality along with their trademark determination and independence. Timber has outstanding hunting instincts and a very handsome appearance.