Throughout the course of each year, Celtic Kennels produces ten to twelve litters of puppies. We usually, therefore, have puppies available at virtually any time during the course of the year.
Our puppies are not released to their new master or mistress until they are a minimum of 49 days of age, this restriction having been self-imposed as a result of the various studies done by the Morris Animal foundation and the University of Kansas Veterinary School. Those studies indicate that socialization of a puppy decreases markedly should the puppy be removed from it's litter environment prior to that age.
When shipped, all of our pups will have received immunizations for distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvoinfluenza, corona, and kennel cough. All will have accompanying them a Certificate of Health issued by the Kennel veterinarian. Before shipping, you will be contacted as to a preferred shipping date and the preferred airport closest to your home. Then, immediately after the puppy is placed in the care of the airline carrier, you will be called and provided with the airbill number, the flight number, the time of arrival and the full itinerary from Pennsylvania to the puppy's ultimate destination.
We ship via U.S. Air exclusively; as you are undoubtedly aware, U.S. Air now services virtually every major metropolitan center in the continental United States.
We feed and recommend Purina Puppy Chow; that feed is offered on a free choice basis from the time that our pups are two weeks of age, thus giving them adequate opportunity to "wean themselves" from their mothers.
We believe, unequivocally, two things with regard to breeding bird dogs: that excellence begets excellence and that winning (whether it be hunting or field trialing) begets winning. These two concepts have shaped the Celtic breeding program.
Taking a page from both Bob Wehle's exceedingly successful Elhew breeding program and thoroughbred breeding history, we early concluded that only intensive line breeding could accomplish the sort of improvement which was necessary in order to bring the Irish Setter from the depth of its destruction at the hands of show breeders to the epitome of success as measured by field trial and hunting competition with English Pointers and English Setters.
Line breeding carries with it both the benefit of being able to isolate superior genes and the duty of careful selection and discriminate culling. At Celtic Kennels when puppies are first weaned, socialization and "play training" begins immediately. By the time the puppies have reached seven to eight weeks of age, we have at least an inkling as to which ones are going to meet the standard for reproduction. Those individuals are not offered for sale, but rather returned for further training and evaluation. Seldom is there more than one puppy from a litter chosen; frequently there are none and, on rare occasions there are two or three.
In order to make that initial selection, we walk the puppies frequently in the fields at our farm and shooting grounds, giving them an opportunity to chase butterflies, the occasional quail or pheasant, the more frequent grasshopper and generally enjoy themselves. Without reservation, this is the time which is most enjoyable for a breeder of bird dogs. In addition to the walking, the pups are handled on a daily basis and given some play training in the form of climbing ramps, descending ramps, lead training, "come" and "fetch."
Those that are selected then continue to be worked both in the field and with play training until they are sixteen to twenty-four weeks of age, at which point the next selection is made. Here, the selection is basically one made on personality characteristics (friendliness and boldness) and physical characteristics which, at six months of age, are much more susceptible to evaluation than in an eight week old puppy. It should be added that those dogs not chosen to continue are offered for sale and tend to be a bargain to a discriminating buyer because they have been exposed to an enriched environment on a daily basis, have been shot over while chasing birds, generally are pointing birds on their own (i.e. without a check cord) staunchly and have play retrieving pretty much mastered.
Those dogs that pass this screening then go on to horseback training and more and more bird exposure until, at the age of about one year, they are ready to accompany Butch Beyer south to his Florida training area where they begin their formal training process. Generally speaking, it is at this point that the final decision is made as to which dogs will be retained. Seldom does a dog chosen after its Florida experience not prove to be what we think it will be: an extraordinary representative of the modern field Irish Setter, suitable for reproduction. These dogs are then continued in training until they are finished bird dogs, some being groomed (and competing in) horseback shooting dog stakes, some in walking shooting dog stakes and some being offered for sale to serious field trialers or serious breeders.
Even then, however, we don't breed the dogs; on virtually no occasion is a Celtic Irish Setter bred until it has proven itself as either a field trial Shooting Dog (as opposed to juvenile stakes) winner or, alternatively, until it has performed for a minimum of six months in our regulated shooting ground environment (which calls for finding, pointing and retrieving birds on a daily basis for the hunter).
Because of all of this, our puppies uniformly point early (seven weeks is not at all unusual), finish quickly and universally satisfy both the upland game hunter and the field trialer. The Celtic program produces dark, smallish sprites which exude class both going and pointing.
They have been bred primarily for brains, so that training is a pleasure; they have been bred secondarily for temperament, so that love for humanity is more than an afterthought. Those qualities combine to make a fine gentleman's shooting dog, the canine equivalent to Granddad's double Purdey.
So confident are we of the puppies produced by our program, that we give an unconditional guarantee: if, at any time prior to the dog arriving at three years of age, you are not satisfied, we will replace the dog without charge. We know of no breeding program of any breed of bird dog that offers a similar guarantee.
