Marking Puppies
This information is provided for your personal use as a client of Avidog International. Unless the
information is on a public website, it is not intended to be shared or distributed in whole or part,
except as noted. Please support us in this effort.
 Product: Chenille Yarn, Lions Brand is the best we’ve found—inexpensive and
available in many colors. It is available at Walmart and Fabric.com for $4.00 or
less per roll. Each roll will last 5 or more litters.
 Product: Older Puppy Collars. For use after 6 weeks of age.
 Product: Older Puppy Leashes. To send home with your puppies.
 Product: Lupine Collars. Lupine has a breeder program that you may be
interested in. Their collars are too expensive for us but are high quality with great
customer service.
Marking Puppies
We mark puppies for two reasons: to monitor their health and viability, and to evaluate
them once they are six weeks old. In some breeds, puppies look so different due to
coloration that there is little reason to mark them. However, in most breeds you cannot
distinguish pups at a quick glance so they should be marked at birth.
Safety is the first concern with marking puppies. Whatever method you use should not
risk the puppy’s life or health. For these reasons, we do not use any chemicals or
unbreakable collars. Even child-safe chemicals are not intended to be licked or sniffed,
like a dam or littermates are likely to do. Most puppy collars will not break if the collar
gets caught on the dam, a littermate or an inanimate object.
Visibility is the second criteria for marking. You should be able to tell who is who at a
glance. Early on, you will be very tired so you do not want to expend any extra effort
required to determine who is the smallest or who is not gaining weight. During the
middle weeks, you want to be immediately aware of pups that are struggling with a
concept or situation so you can give them extra practice or development opportunities.
And once the pups are older and you are starting to evaluate them, you want to be able
to assess them without interfering with their activities. Who is the boldest, who is
aggressive towards his littermates, who is shy and who just did that amazing thing?
Good marking will allow you to answer those questions quickly and easily.
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© Avidog International LLC 2014
Marking Puppies
Over the years, we have tried almost every type of marking available and have settled
on two that meet our criteria, one better than the other.
1) Our first choice in marking is chenille yarn. Chenille comes in a wide array of
colors in 100-yard balls. Some colors look alike as they get dirty so avoid white
and beige, purple and brown, or light blue and medium blue in the same litter.
Put collars on soon after birth, right after you’ve weighed and examined each
pup. The collar should be tight enough that a pup cannot get a foot caught in it
but not so tight that the pup cannot arch its neck to nurse. Change the collars
regularly as the puppies grow.
If you have a coated breed, add little strings to the collars as the coat grows in.
These “clown collars” enable you to see the pup’s color even when the neck collar
is buried in its coat.
2) Clipping a small amount of coat on different parts of your puppies’ bodies is also
very safe, however, it does not provide great visibility. If you choose to clip your
puppies, clip them soon after birth. Decide on your sequence and stick with it
during whelping: right shoulder, left shoulder, right hip, left hip, head, neck, back,
tail. Do not have a Right-Shoulder male and a Right-Shoulder female since
checking plumbing is even more difficult than seeing clips. Redo the clips every
four days or so as the coat grows.
We transition to regular collars when our pups are between six and seven weeks old for
a few reasons. First, we want to accustom the pups to these collars before they go
home. Puppies will scratch a lot at new collars and we do not want our buyers worrying
that there is something wrong with their pup because it is scratching all the time.
In addition, we start leash breaking our pups around seven weeks by tying short cords
onto their collars. These cords become tug toys for littermates so every puppy has felt
pressure on its collar before the first human has even picked up a leash. This way they
quickly become habituated to the collars all by themselves and spend much less time
resisting the collar once they go home.
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© Avidog International LLC 2014
Marking Puppies
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© Avidog International LLC 2014