About Cairdeas
What Does Cairdeas mean?
Cairdeas is a Gaelic word from Ireland. Cairdeas is translated as meaning “friendship, alliance, or pact”. The friendships and relationships we build with our dogs can be some of the most meaningful that we have in our entire lives.
How do you pronounce Cairdeas?
Try saying “car chase” and “gorgeous” at the same time and you’ll have it spot on.
How we raise dogs
Dogs with Purpose
Irish Red and White Setters were bred “for the field” as the breed standard states. Therefore they are a dog that enjoys working. My dogs all get the opportunity to find out what sports they want to participate in. I expose them to agility, scent work, fast cat, hunt work, etc.
Breeding should be done solely for the benefit of pushing the breed forward and helping develop a healthier and more appropriate dog that aligns with the breed standard.
I breed dogs based on three catagories and in this order of importance:
1. Health – The dog must be healthy and meet and pass all of the breed recommended health tests as per OFA and the breed parent club.
2. Temperament – I temperament test my dogs through AKC as adults. If a dog is overly timid, fearful, or aggressive that dog will not be bred.
3. Conformation – A Dog needs to meet the breed standard and although all dogs have faults and no dog is perfect they should align to the standard as closely as possible.
How We Raise Puppies
First of all, all parent dogs are full health tested and vetted.
All dogs live inside the house so puppies are naturally also born inside the house.
Puppies are whelped in my bedroom where the mom can have as little stress as possible. We follow the Puppy Culture protocol for raising puppies and socializing them.
Puppies are introduced to a variety of people of all ages, gender, and abilities. They are taken into public when safe and are given appropriate vaccinations and vet checks.
How We Place Puppies
It’s exciting when a litter is born but all puppies are not the same. Some are more brave or can handle different situations better than others. Therefore although you can request a gender for a puppy I do not assign puppies with families until they are 8 weeks old. Puppies go home between 9-10 weeks old so that they can get past that first fear period at 8 weeks old and be able to settle into their new homes easily.