Welcome to Keehn-Country!
We, Jeff & Michele Keehn, are the parents of a large family who enjoy our Portuguese Water Dogs! Our BEAUTIFUL Porties (nickname for PWD's) with our UNIQUE family team consistently have EXCEPTIONALLY adorable, healthy, and well-socialized Portie babies. (You can read what others have to say on our MANY 5-star reviews on Google.) We call our babies "Keehn-Country Porties" because they are raised in a country of their very own, unique to other breeders. ALL of the PICTURES and BACKGROUNDS on our website are taken from HOME. Our pets literally live in their own dog park with acres to romp and play with us and each other! AND we only have several Porties instead of a dozen or two. One buyer said, "Your dogs have the dream life!" They sure do. Another said, "Your puppies are home-grown and TRULY family-raised!" They sure are. Our personal transporter can bring one of our puppies safely from our door to yours. She has transported them ALL OVER the nation. One of our GOALS is to make your puppy search as special and un-intimidating as possible.
Our family way... Our family way of doing things fosters quality. In addition to being professional and detailed, we have a mixture of age, youth, and children, as well as our country setting located on many private acres. Our favorite place is home and someone is always here. One KEY to raising well-adjusted puppies is this: Lots of interaction with men, women, and children. Children are less controlled than adults as they cuddle and play. They make more noise and move spontaneously; therefore, puppies learn to "go-with-the-flow". Before leaving us, our Portie babies are introduced to a crate, car rides, doggie doors, and baths. They are well on their way in potty-training. Our animal family is made up of dogs, horses, cats, singing birds, and wild deer. They hear all kinds of tractors and other country sounds. All of these help our puppies experience the sights and sounds of our Keehn-Country life, as well as prepare them for their new adventures in the future. Check out our "Happy Customers" tab to hear of others' experiences with our unique team and our puppies.
Healthwise...Our Porties are AKC registered, and GENETICALLY TESTED (over 200 genetic tests). They are HIP-TESTED, and have YEARLY EXAMS from head-to-toe, including their eyes and hearts. In addition to having no genetic health issues, they are also not carriers of them. They've never even had allergies. Allergies sound like no big deal until you have a pet that scratches himself raw on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. We take the subject of health very seriously and we habitually have healthy litters. Our mommies enjoy our homemade organic yogurt, organic eggs, bone broth, and more, during baby-time. We use NuVet Plus as our daily dog vitamin. Our babies are started on pawTree non-GMO dogfood. Read more about "Our Health Secrets" under the health tab above. Happy and healthy parents make happy and healthy puppies!
Bonding... In addition to happiness and physical health, a puppy buyer must think about the emotional health of "bonding." Have you heard of a kennel dog? Kennel dogs are dogs that are only bonded to dogs instead of people, because they spent their first 8 weeks of life primarily with dogs. This kennel mentality starts in the first week of life and imbeds itself more deeply the longer a puppy stays in this situation. They don't have that human bond from the beginning and are timid, afraid, or "hazy looking" around people, new situations, and noises. They don't see people as a source of joy and love, and they only feel comfortable around other dogs. It is very difficult and usually impossible to change a kennel dog. But in Keehn-Country, our puppies begin with people and leave here deeply bonded with both people and dogs, making their transition almost seamless. Up to 8 weeks old, they have had only good experiences--and many experiences too--including, time with adult men and women and children of various ages. This will effect how confident they are to process life every day, as well as how important humans are to them.
FYI...Dogs are naturally drawn to adult women and shy more to men and children. Unfortunately, most breeders consist of one woman. Men and children are not involved. In Keehn-Country, our babies interact with men, women, and children; therefore, we don't have shy, cowering puppies. Our confident puppies also do well as service dogs and show dogs.
FYI...Dogs are naturally drawn to adult women and shy more to men and children. Unfortunately, most breeders consist of one woman. Men and children are not involved. In Keehn-Country, our babies interact with men, women, and children; therefore, we don't have shy, cowering puppies. Our confident puppies also do well as service dogs and show dogs.
Our Team... We have 10 children—5 boys and 5 girls and have been a homeschooling family for 24 years. Our four children that are still at home range between 12-23 years old. We also have our 3 year old grandson who lives very close and enjoys playing with our puppies. Take a moment to paws (as our entry sign above says), and check out our "ABOUT" section to learn more about us and see more pictures. Under "Health and Puppy Info", you will learn about how we care for our puppies, our unique approach to health, and how to get your very own Keehn-Country Portie. Under each tab you will see pictures of our puppies and/or doggies. We enjoy raising wonderfully socialized, hypo-allergenic, non-shedding, adorable and healthy Portuguese Water Dogs as pets, for people like YOU!