Frequently Asked Questions

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Do you offer payment plans?

Yes, we are happy to accept payment plans as well as different forms of payment. Please touch base to discuss further.

What health testing do you do?

Our own dogs are fully health tested. This includes hips, elbows, eyes, heart, thyroid, full blood panels, DNA genetic disease testing, and temperament assessments. All documentation is available to puppy families.
 

When using external sires, including those overseas, we endeavour to match the same level of testing or as close to it as possible.

 

Can I pick my own puppy?

We will do that for you because we have raised them and know what personality is going to better suit your environment.  You can, however, give us your criteria, i.e., hairless, coated, male, or female.

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Do you provide a health guarantee?

Just as it is impossible to guarantee the lifelong health of a human baby, it is not realistic to guarantee the lifelong health of a dog.
 

What we can guarantee is that your puppy will not develop genetic diseases that we have tested for and cleared. We take health screening and thoughtful breeding extremely seriously, but nature still plays a role, as it does in humans.

We expect puppy buyers to have pet insurance in place to cover accidents, unexpected illness, or breed-related realities.

Learn more about Xolo Health here.
 

What puppy raising do you do?

We take puppy raising very seriously and take around 2 months off work to raise our litters.
 

Our foundation litter received Early Scent Introduction (ESI), Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), and were raised using the Puppy Culture program.
 

For our next litter, we will be dropping ENS. As we are already extremely hands-on, adding ENS on top can be too much for some puppies.
 

We will be using a structured developmental program similar to Puppy Culture, likely as a hybrid approach, to support a well-rounded outcome.
 

Daily visitor socialisation will begin at around three to four weeks of age.
 

From around four to five weeks, weather permitting, the litter will begin spending time in an outdoor day pen. This provides carefully planned obstacles, enrichment, and appropriate challenges.

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We also offer daily live videos to our Facebook group for the entire time the puppies are with us.
 

Do I need to tape my puppy’s ears?

That depends on your goals.

Pet puppies that are not intended for the show ring do not need continued ear taping. Some hairless puppies’ ears will stand naturally.
 

For hairless puppies, ear taping is usually complete by around four months of age. For coated puppies, it is often closer to five months, as they are heavier.

Taping is not painful, and no surgery is involved. The tape simply supports the developing cartilage during growth.
 

What makes a good Xolo family?

A good Xolo family is one where everyone is on the same page and committed to consistent rules and boundaries.

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Xolos can be manipulative and pushy. Putting in the hard work during puppyhood and adolescence is rewarded with a much easier adult dog.  We expect puppy owners to go to puppy school and then ideally onto obedience school to keep up their environmental socialisation and working relationship with their owners.
 

Xolos are generally not suited to novice dog owners and may be challenging for families who have only owned very easy-going, biddable breeds - it really depends on the individual families, their proven dedication, and access to resources for raising such a unique breed.

Xolo families must be committed to a high level of socialisation/exposure and puppy training - this is non-negotiable. 

 

Learn more about Xolos here.
 

What are your expectations of puppy buyers?

We expect puppy buyers to stay in touch with us. It is important to us to follow each puppy’s development and to support our owners through puppyhood and adolescence.

 

We hope our puppy families will participate in dog sports in some form - we can provide guidance and support, but it is not a must.
 

Do you provide ongoing support?

Absolutely. Our puppy buyers are always welcome to reach out to us for support at any stage of their dog’s life.  We remain close to our local families and see them often at training and sporting events.

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Do you take your dog back?
We will either take the dog back or help you facilitate its rehoming - whatever is in the best interests of the dog.

A poorly trained and under-socialised Xolo may not be suitable for rehoming, so it is essential that families put every effort into their dogs in case they ever have to rehome their dog.