“Preparing Puppies With a Purpose: From Doodle Prep School to The Pawtism Project”

If you spend time looking through the available puppies on our website, you may notice something that raises a question.

Why does one puppy have 16 weeks of Doodle Prep School, another have 12 weeks, another have 8 weeks, while other puppies may be able to go home much sooner?

There is a very intentional reason.

At Smeraglia, we have spent decades studying puppies. From the moment they are born, we are watching temperament, confidence, personality, structure, coat, size, color, markings, and the way each individual puppy responds to people and to the world around them.

Every puppy is special. But every puppy is also different.

And sometimes, a puppy makes us stop and say:

There is something here. Let’s see what this puppy can become.

A Breeder’s Pick Is Earned

For years, you’ve heard us use the term Breeder’s Pick.

A true Breeder’s Pick is not simply the prettiest puppy in the litter. It is a puppy that rises to the top of our breeder evaluation because of the overall qualities and potential we see.

When that happens, we may place the puppy on one of three breeder-directed development paths:

🏆 Breeder’s Pick — 16 Weeks
Our highest breeder designation, with the complete 16-week Super Puppy development program.

⭐ Breeder’s Reserve — 12 Weeks
An exceptional puppy that also shows many of the qualities we value and that we intentionally want to continue developing.

🌟 STAR Puppy — 8 Weeks
A standout puppy in which we see significant potential and qualities we want to build upon through Doodle Prep School.

These are not first-, second-, and third-place ribbons.

They are different development paths we intentionally choose for a limited number of puppies.

Why We Don’t Select Every Puppy That Qualifies

This is one of the most important things I want families to understand.

There are some litters where I look at the puppies and think, several of these puppies could qualify.

There are even litters where, honestly, most of them could probably qualify as STARR Puppies.

But that doesn’t mean we should put every puppy into 8, 12, or 16 weeks of mandatory Prep School.

And I don’t believe that would be fair to our families.

Extended Doodle Prep School is an additional investment, and it also means a later go-home date.

Some families want the complete 16-week experience.

Some want eight weeks.

Some may want only a little training.

And some families may want to bring their puppy home on the traditional schedule and do much of the training themselves.

All of those choices are valid.

If we attached mandatory extended training to every puppy who had the potential to qualify, we could unintentionally make an entire litter financially out of reach for families who would otherwise be wonderful Smeraglia homes.

I do not want to do that.

So our breeder designations are intentionally limited.

Not receiving a designation does not mean a puppy failed our evaluation.

Sometimes it simply means we chose to preserve that puppy for a family who wants a different path.

That distinction matters.

The designation tells you about the development path we chose for that puppy. It does not tell you the value of the puppy.

Every Smeraglia puppy deserves the opportunity to find the family that is right for them, and every Smeraglia family deserves choices in training, timing, and financial investment.

Our Real World Is Our Show Ring

In the traditional purebred world, an exceptional young dog might be held back as a show prospect, developed, and eventually taken into the conformation ring to compete for championships.

Our Doodles have a different arena.

For us, the ultimate measure of a remarkable dog is not a ribbon.

It is temperament.

It is confidence.

It is intelligence and connection.

It is the ability to become an extraordinary family companion — and for some very special dogs, the potential to serve others through therapy, service, or classroom work.

I often say:

Our real world is our show ring.

We want to see what these puppies can become when their natural potential is combined with intentional development.

And nowhere is that more meaningful to me than in The Pawtism Project.

Doodle Prep School Prepares the Puppy. The Pawtism Project Changes the World.

That may be the simplest way I know to explain what we’re building.

Doodle Prep School prepares the puppy.
The Pawtism Project changes the world.

Our job begins long before one of our dogs ever walks into a classroom.

It begins with breeding.

Then observation.

Then temperament evaluation.

Then matching.

And then comes the intentional work of development.

CHARLES and our Doodle Prep School trainers work with these puppies to build confidence, manners, focus, adaptability, and real-world experience.

For the right puppy, those weeks can prepare them for something much bigger than simply going home as a well-trained family companion.

Through The Pawtism Project and Project Outreach, that puppy may someday walk into a classroom and become a source of comfort, connection, confidence, and joy for a child.

That is where preparation becomes purpose.

We’re Identifying Pawtism Project Candidates Early

This is something I am especially excited about.

CHARLES and our Doodle Prep School team are intentionally looking for puppies we believe may be strong candidates for The Pawtism Project and classroom work.

We are beginning to identify those puppies before a school, teacher, or family necessarily chooses them.

We are looking at them through a very specific lens.

Could this puppy walk calmly into a classroom?

Does the puppy naturally seek connection with people?

How does the puppy respond to new sounds, movement, and environments?

Do we see confidence without overwhelming energy?

Gentleness?

Focus?

Adaptability?

The ability to settle?

The temperament to connect with a child who may experience or communicate with the world differently?

We cannot know everything about an eight-week-old puppy’s future, and no designation guarantees what a dog will ultimately be suited to do.

But decades of breeding, evaluating, and training puppies gives us an incredible opportunity to recognize potential early and begin developing it intentionally.

That is exactly what we are doing.

And Then We Match

This is one of the most important parts of the process.

If you are a parent, teacher, educator, school administrator, or organization interested in a Smeraglia puppy for The Pawtism Project or classroom work, please tell us.

Don’t simply scroll through the website and choose the puppy whose photograph steals your heart.

Let us help you match the puppy.

Tell us what you hope this dog will eventually do.

Tell us about the classroom.

Tell us about the children.

Tell us about the environment.

Then let CHARLES and our team look at the puppies we have already identified and help determine which puppy has the qualities that best align with that purpose.

Once that match is made, those weeks in Doodle Prep School become even more valuable because we know what we are preparing the puppy for.

Imagine What 16 Weeks Can Do

Sixteen weeks gives us something incredibly valuable:

Time.

Time to build confidence.

Time to establish manners and obedience.

Time for socialization.

Time for carefully planned real-world experiences.

Time to observe how the puppy develops.

And when we know that puppy may eventually work in a classroom, we can begin incorporating experiences that help prepare the puppy for the type of environment he or she may encounter later.

That is very different from simply teaching a puppy to sit, stay, and walk nicely on a leash.

We are asking a bigger question:

What life are we preparing this puppy to live?

And that is why you may sometimes see a puppy on our website with 8, 12, or 16 weeks of required Doodle Prep School.

There is a purpose behind those weeks.

What Could One Puppy Change?

After all these years of breeding dogs, I have come to believe that the greatest measure of a breeding program is not simply how beautiful its puppies are.

It is what those puppies are capable of becoming.

A beloved family member.

A child’s best friend.

A calming presence during a difficult moment.

A reason for a child to look forward to going to school.

A bridge between a child and a classroom.

A source of comfort when words are not easy.

One dog may touch one family.

Another may walk through a school and touch hundreds of lives over the course of its lifetime.

That is why we are so excited about what is happening with The Pawtism Project.

And it is why we are becoming even more intentional about identifying these puppies early.

Could One of These Puppies Be Meant for Your Classroom?

If you are a parent, teacher, school, educator, or organization interested in participating in The Pawtism Project, we would love to hear from you.

Reach out before choosing your puppy.

Let us learn what you are hoping to accomplish.

Let us help identify the right candidate.

Let us match the puppy.

And then let our Doodle Prep School team begin preparing that puppy with its future purpose in mind.

Because when the right breeding, the right puppy, the right match, and the right preparation come together, we have the opportunity to do something much bigger than train a dog.

We have the opportunity to change a life.

Doodle Prep School prepares the puppy.

The Pawtism Project changes the world.

Intentional breeding. Intentional training. Intentional impact.

Love God. Love People. Love Dogs.

— Sherri Smeraglia