Maintaining your Puppy's Good Health
Veterinarian
Appointment - Prior to receiving your puppy, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. This appointment
must be within 72 hours of the time that you receive your puppy as stated in the Health Guarantee. Any health
concerns must be reported back to the breeder within 72 hours. Bring a fresh stool sample along for this first appointment.
At this time your veterinarian will evaluate the puppy's health and schedule all follow-up vaccinations, de-wormings
and provide flea, tick and heartworm preventives and control. Do not allow your puppy on the floor at the veterinarian's
office to avoid contracting puppy viruses prior to further vaccination.
Do not
bring your puppy to public places until ALL puppy vaccinations are complete. If you stay on schedule with your
puppy's vaccines, they will be completed by 4 months of age. Serious life threatening puppy viruses can be contracted
by walking in an area where an infected pet has been. Life threatening Parvo and Distemper can live in an environment
for many months and still be highly contagious. Please limit your puppy to your house and yard. Avoid walking
your puppy on leash through your neighborhood or in pet stores until all vaccines are complete.
Feed the
same puppy food as we fed for 1 week. We feed premium quality puppy food and will include a small bag
with your puppy. If you would like to change to a different food, please make this transition over a 1 week period by replacing
a small amount of our food with the new food to each feeding until completely transitioned. This will help
avoid diarrhea and upset stomach. Some puppies will over eat. It is not recommended to free feed. It is
recommended to set a feeding time each morning and evening and also allow approximately 20 minutes for the puppy to eat.
If the food in not finished within 20 minutes, remove the food. Refer to the feeding chart on the bag of food to determine
the portion. Your puppy's weight and body appearance will also be a factor, more or less food may be needed. You
may switch from puppy food to adult food between 6 - 10 months to slow growth and eliminate stress on the joints.
Do
not run with your puppy on a lead until 18 months old. Repetitive motion on the joints prior to full growth
can cause stress on the joints. This can cause or contribute to joint problems that could affect your dog for a lifetime.
Free play, exercise off lead, short walks and training walks on lead are recommended.
Ear maintenance and
grooming are needed. It is important to keep your puppy's ears clean and dry to prevent ear infections.
There are cleaning and drying products available at the pet stores or at your veterinarian's office.
Information
about ear cleaning and grooming are on the
Grooming Tips page.
Training and Socializing your New Puppy
Training or Obedience Classes - At 4 months of age your
puppy should be fully vaccinated and this is a great time to start obedience classes. These early classes provide basic
obedience and the needed socialization for your puppy. The obedience classes and training tips can help prevent behavior
problems before they begin. It is also time for the owner and puppy to bond and learn who is the leader of their pack
in a fun, social environment. Puppies want to please their owners and thrive on praise for doing the right things. Helpful
insight is on our
Puppy Stages page.
Socializing - It is important to make opportunities for your puppy to play with
other puppies and dogs. Always check the temperament of the other puppies and dogs prior to allowing the socialization.
Puppy socializing and play groups are often offered through pet stores. Expose your puppy to as many people of all ages
on a regular basis. Also, frequent short car rides are important to prevent stress when traveling in the future
to the vet, groomer, parks, etc.
Children and Puppies - Careful supervision of children and the
puppy is very important. Although children want to play, hug, and love the puppy, it can be overwhelming
at times for the puppy. A puppy must have his own space where he/she feels safe and can retreat. "Raising
Puppies with Kids" is a breeder recommended book.
What to Buy for your New Puppy
- Iams Smart Puppy Food
- Feeding
bowls - Stainless steel dishes are recommended.
- Collar - Your puppy will arrive with a
puppy collar. You may want to wait to purchase another collar until the puppy is close to outgrowing his puppy collar.
- Lead (Leash) - Although, it is not necessary to lead train before 10-12 weeks, it is good to have
a lead on hand to protect the puppy in areas that are not fenced. Training classes will require a 6 foot lead, rather
than a 4 foot lead.
- Crate - Wire or plastic crates are recommended. Wire crates are great
because the puppy can see out in all directions You may want to cover the crate at night with a blanket to avoid drafts
and encourage sleep. Most wire crates comes with a divider that can limit the space in the crate until house training
is completed. With a divider, you can purchase the crate that will be a suitable size for your puppy as a full grown
adult. Plastic crates also work well and are easy to wash. Helpful tips about house training your puppy are on
our Crate Training your Puppy page.
- Bedding - Washable bedding, such as towels, is best for the crate.
Accidents will happen.
- Carpet Cleaner - Be prepared with a product that will take care of the stains
and eliminate the odors that can cause the puppy to return to the same spot.
- Bitter Apple or Bitter
Yuck - This product will help train your puppy not to chew the items that are not his toys. I have found it
to be safe for plants, carpeting, furniture, and shoes, but read the product label before applying it to surfaces.
- Chew
Toys - A good variety of chew toys will help your puppy occupied and not bored. My favorites are Nylabones
and Kongs. Avoid rawhide, it is not completely digestible and can cause intestinal blockage.
- Play
toys - Ropes and stuffed toys with squeakers are recommended. If the stuffed toy is torn, be careful to take
the squeaker and throw it away.
- Treats - Treats should be used mainly for training. Never
give your puppy a treat without asking for a simple behavior task to be performed. The puppy should learn to earn the
treat. Do not use treats in excess. This can cause diarrhea and upset stomach. Puppies are very happy to
receive praise or a treat.
- Grooming Products - Please refer to our Grooming Tips page for instructions and helpful tips.
- Shampoo -
Choose a tearless puppy shampoo.
- Cowboy Magic - This grooming product is great for maintaining a good coat
and to help eliminate mats.
- Brushes - A medium slicker brush and a comb. During the puppy to adult coat transition
a matt breaker may be of use.
- Ear Cleaning Solution
- Nail Clippers and Kwik Stop - scissor or guillotine
type clippers
- Blunt Trimming Scissors - To trim between the eyes, ears and feet.
Please contact us with
any questions that you may have about caring for your puppy. We will be very happy to help.
