The first days with your puppy
(*Note he or she may be used throughout. Everything applies to both sexes)
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO DEN YOUR PUPPY
Small puppies can not be expected to obey verbal commands until they are about 3 months old. However, unless you want a dog that chews everything, begs for or snatches your food, does not listen to commands, scratches and tears up doors when locked up, and eliminates all over the house, you need to start training immediately. Puppy training starts at birth, and should continue the moment you bring them home. The puppy needs to know where it stands, and what is expected of them from day one. Even though the puppy is not ready to learn any commands at this time, she can learn where she is expected to sleep, what she is expected to chew, where to potty, and that whining will NOT get her what she wants. Since she is too young to expect to obey, the best thing you can do is work with her natural instincts.
Denning is natural for a puppy and makes them feel the most secure. In nature wolves Den their young until they are about 6 months old. They dig a hole in a hillside. The first hole is smaller about 2 feet by 2 feet wide and about 2 feet high. In this hole, they build a nest in one corner. The nest is made of leaves and whatever soft things the Dam (mother) can find. The nest is about twice the size of the mother when she is laying down. Near the nest they hide some food.When puppies are first born, they will not urinate or defecate unless the mother licks their privates. Then, the mother eats the feces and urine. There is no mess left behind from the puppies. The mother leaves the den to eliminate.
When the puppies are about 3 weeks old, they will start to climb out of the den when they wake up. They will use the bathroom near the doorway, then crawl back in it. The mother will go behind them and lick up any mess. She starts to feel insecure about her puppies leaving the den so easily which encourages her to build a new den. The new den is larger, about 4 feet by 5 feet and 2 feet high. In this second den, she builds a nest in one corner, and will urinate in the opposite corner. This urine smell attracts the puppies to go there. When she moves the puppies, they will now start to eliminate in the "bathroom" instead of leaving the den.By the time the puppy is about 5 weeks old, it will walk the few feet away to the "bathroom" in the opposite corner to go where it is suppose to go.
When the puppies are about 8-10 weeks old they will start leaving the den to eliminate outside, further and further from the den. When the puppies are about 12 weeks old and starting to eliminate outside regularly, the dam makes a final den which eliminates any odor. The last den has a larger nest to fit the growing puppies.
The puppies will continue to stay in or near the den most of the time until they are about 3-4 months old. Then they will start to leave the den during the day for short periods, never wandering far. Slowly, they will go outside more and more. They will not hesitate to potty outside away from the den. They continue to sleep with the mother for a while. As time goes on, the mother starts to sleep outside the den. The puppies continue to sleep together. At about 6 months of age, they leave the den behind, and sleep outdoors with the rest of the pack. The adults in the pack sleep in small alcoves they find, under bushes, in logs, etc. They do not generally sleep together, but each find an alcove all in the same area. Many times you may see an adult wolf sleeping in the same alcove with another wolf that they are close to.
Wolves communicate very well with one another. They do this through body language. If you watch two dogs together, you will notice how they use their body language. We too can tell a lot of their body language. We can tell when a dog is happy, sad, angry, or scared just by watching how they act. We can tell when they are hungry or have to potty, or want to play. But what dogs don't do is talk.Verbal commands are very unnatural for dogs. Teaching a 6-8 week old puppy to obey commands is almost impossible. That is why until the puppy is at least 3-4 months old, we need to use what we know about them, and adjust the environment to them.
MAKING THE DEN AND WHEN TO KEEP HER IN IT
Many people do not like the idea of locking their "baby" in a crate or small room, and want to have the puppy sleep with them. This is very honorable, and I feel the same way about my babies. However, it is not a logical thing to do until they are housebroken. It is also not the most comfortable thing for them. Being enclosed helps them to feel secure.The very best way to train your dog is to work with their natural instincts. Dogs will not eliminate where they sleep, unless they are forced too. Unfortunately, where they sleep means a very small area, not your whole bed. This is why it is important that the bed not be much bigger than the puppy.
Puppies can not hold their bowels or bladder for very long, and they won't be able to hold it for a full 8 hours until they are 6 months old. They also do not know to wake you when they need to go. If you keep the puppy in the bed with you at this point, you will find they will potty on your bed!. Of course, they will do it about 3 feet from the small spot they sleep on. If you want to hold your puppy while she sleeps, do so while you are awake and relaxed, such as when watching tv. This way you will know when she wakes up, and can take her immediately to her puppy pad.
The kindest thing you can do for your puppy is to den her. This means to copy a wolves natural denning as much as possible. Since Toy poodles are much smaller than wolves, we must downsize to fit the dog. First, you need to find a den. This should be a small room, about 3 feet by 3 feet. Because the puppy is going to make potty mistakes, this room should be tiled. I would suggest a bathroom. If this is unavailable, a very large closet, or a sectioned off area of the kitchen will do. Next the puppy needs a nest, in the form of a dog bed. Because of the puppies size, her bed should be about the size of a normal bed pillow. If you have no dog bed, a normal bed pillow will do. They also need a small blanket to cover with. At this age and size, a bath towel will do nicely. They will naturally crawl under it, and do not need you to cover them. Next, we have to consider that dens also have a very low roof. Dogs feel much more secure if they are closed in like this. I would suggest purchasing a crate. As you will find later in the obedience training manual, having a crate is essential to potty training. You should buy one now. For this size dog you want a crate that is about 13inches by 23 inches. A regular bed pillow will fit in this nicely. You can purchase these at walmart.
Take the door off her crate, and leave it open for her so she does not feel enclosed. Because she is enclosed on a hard floor, she will naturally go into the crate to sleep because it is the only comfortable place. Put her food and water dish right outside her crate. You need to make her potty area in her den also. This should be in the opposite corner, about 3 feet away. Dogs will not go potty where they sleep. It is a natural instinct. 3 feet is far enough away from the bed so that the puppy does not consider it too close to go, yet is close enough for him to rush there when he first wakes up and his immature bladder is full.
You need to consider now if you are going to train your dog to go potty outside, on pads, on newspaper or in a litter box. Because you have a very small dog, all of these methods are very feasible. All methods will be covered in the training manual. Regardless of the potty type you choose, for the moment your puppy is too small to actually train. You need to put newspaper in the far corner of the room for him. You can put training pads under the paper to protect the floor if you like. However, newspapers naturally attract the puppies. Pads feel a lot like cloth to them and they will often use it to sleep on instead. Later, when you move his potty to another area of the house, to a litter box, or outside, you slowly move the paper he is trained to to that area. Training him to paper now will make training him to go elsewhere much easier later on.
Puppies also need to chew. When you first bring them home, they are teething. They get their baby teeth, and they start losing them after a month or so to get their adult teeth. They should have all of their adult teeth by 7 months of age, but the chewing doesn't stop there. Dogs chew for several reasons. First, it is the way they brush their teeth. I am sure you've gotten something stuck in your teeth before, and it is bothersome. We will use what we have to try to get it out. Dogs chew on things for this same reason. Second, chewing is their way of relieving boredom.
There is no reasonable way to stop the dog from chewing. However, this does not mean it is acceptable to chew your shoes, socks, or anything else you value. By making sure that your puppy is in an enclosed area, and given chew toys that taste good such as pig ears, you are setting her up to learn that she should only chew things that are flavored, which will make training her what is allowed to be chewed so much easier.
I suggest giving her pig ears to chew on. They are safe, healthy, and flavored. Leave a pig ear in her bed and whenever you play with her use the pig ear instead of toys. If you teach your dog to play with toys made of material, then she will think it is ok to chew on any material things like socks, wash rags, or anything else that feels like the toy. If you let her chew on plastic toys, she will think it is ok to chew on shoes, plastic dishes, or anything else rubber or plastic. At this point it will only confuse her. Most of us do not have anything in our house that feels and tastes like pig ears. Make sure all of her toys are made pig ears or tasty chewy treats until she is older.
When she is about 6 months old, more mature, and has finished some basic training, she is old enough to introduce a few rubber/plastic/material toys to. She is old enough now for you to make her understand the difference between the rubber toy and the rubber sole of a shoe. Just make sure to put something on the toy to make it smell edible to her at first. Then, after the smell is gone, she should be used enough to that toy to still play with it.
Any time you can not watch her, she needs to go in this den. There is a 99.99% chance she will whine. You need to be able to ignore it. I would suggest you not make her area near your bedroom, or you won't sleep at all the first night.
When she first arrives, she needs a lot of your time, love, and affection. Be sure to make time to pet her, hold her and play with her when she is awake. She has just lost her home, her mother, her den, and her sisters and brothers. Because of all the changes she is going through, she will be in a sensitive state, and dogs normally show this by getting an upset tummy. Try not to jostle her around much, and limit the holding and playing to 15 minutes or so unless it is relaxed. Watch her actions, and you will see when she is ready to play or be petted. She is still a puppy, and will nap a lot. When she falls alseep, put her in her bed.
FEEDING
Your puppy may not want to eat much the first day. They are homesick and want their mother. By the second day, she should be eating well. Her stomache is little, so don't expect her to eat more than a tablespoon or so at each feeding. Most of the puppies are eating well before they are sold. Sometimes they are even already eating dry dog food. Sometimes they still need a little urging. Leave the water dish full and available all the time. The puppies are sometime leary of drinking because their noses go in the water. If your puppy seems to have any problems, put the water on a saucer instead. Make sure the water is all the way to the edge, and put her face near it Make sure you always feed her in her den. This will help her to learn not to beg for food from you, and not to try to eat anything she finds in the kitchen or other areas of the house. There is nothing worse then setting your plate of steak down, walking to answer the phone, and coming back to an empty plate!
She may or may not be used to hard dog food, and wet food will go bad if left out. If she still needs encouragement with caned food, feed your puppy several times a day, at least 4 times. She should be fed every 4 hours during the day. 8 hours is a long time for a puppy to go without food. Make sure you feed her before bed, and first thing in the morning. If you must leave her to do things such as work, I would suggest having someone come over to feed her and play with her mid shift for the first week or two until you are sure she is eating dry food. For the next few days, mix some canned food with some dry food . You will only need about 2 tablespoons of wet food, and about 10 kibbles of dry. Put the rest of the can in the fridge. It will be good for about a week. Push this food to one side of the dish. Put this down in her den, and put her face near it. Then leave her alone with the food for about 30 minutes to an hour. Watch how much she eats. If she does not seem to want to eat the first time, give her 2 more hours, then try again. This time, warm the food to just above room temperature(15 seconds in the microwave should do it). Be sure to stir it as microwaves cause hot spots. You can also try giving her the food off your finger to get her started, and lead her to the dish. If she leaves a lot of food when she eats, try giving her less. If she licks the bowl clean, try giving her more food at a time, or more often. Ideally, she should only leave a little left in the bowl. The amount she eats should increase regularly as she grows.
After she has eaten, wash the bowl out, count 10 kibbles of dry food, and put it in the bowl. Leave this down. When you go to feed her again, see if any kibbles are missing. When she appears to be eating some of the kibble, start increasing the amount of dry kibble you put in the canned food. Over the next week or two, you should be using less and less wet food, and more and more dry in the mix, until she is on pure dry food. After about 2 weeks, she should be eating dry food pretty well. At this point you can leave her home with dry food down for 8 hours or so. As she relies more on dry food, you can start decreasing the canned food feedings to three, then two, and eventually one feeding in the morning. By the time she is 3 months old, she should be off canned food completely.
At three months, when she is off canned food and is eating well, you need to establish meal times. I know this is time consuming. It is much easier to just leave dry food down. You will be able to do that after she is housebroken. However, just like people, Dogs have to go potty about 20-30 minutes after they eat. Knowing this, it is important to use it for housebreaking. She needs to be on a regular meal schedule before being potty trained, and during training. Once she is fully potty trained, you can leave the food down all day.
Wet food such as canned food and cooked food are not recommended for dogs. Wet food can get caught in their teeth and gums and is difficult to get out, which can lead to tooth decay. Small dogs such as poodles are highly susceptible to dental problems. Vets will tell you that most tooth decay is caused by dogs eating wet food.The raw food diet is, however, highly recommeneded if your schedule allows. Be sure the food is raw, and purchase books as guidelines. Never feed him cooked bones, or a diet of cooked food. If you decide to give your puppy a taste of some cooked human food, never give it anywhere except in her dish, in her den. Otherwise, you are teaching her to beg for your food. Also, be sure to brush her teeth the same day you give her the snack. Your puppy should be on raw or dry food by the time they are 3 months old, before they get their adult teeth. It is not necessary to brush her teeth every day while she is eating the canned food if she is under 3 months, because she is going to lose all of those teeth anyway and get new adult teeth.
Almost of of your supplies can be purchased at PetSmart. Please stick with one specific kind of dog food, as changing foods can upset her tummy and give her diarreah. If you do switch foods, do so slowly. Mix the old with more and more of the new food over a period of about a week until she is on the new food. We recommend Wellness Core
If you decide to switch to another food, we recommend grain free food. Dogs do not possess the enzymes to digest grains. Stay away from food containing Corn, Wheat, Soy, beet, by-product or cellulous (saw dust) in the label. These words found anywhere on the label even if followed by other words Such as "Corn gluten meal" or "beet pulp" are very unhealthy for a dog and can result in many problems.To see common dog food and reviews visit www.dogfoodanalysis.com .
The healthiest foods for dogs, and for puppies are Wellness Core and Orijen. Some of the other 6 star foods are not recommended for puppies because the calcium and phosphorus is to high for a growing pup. Orijen and Wellness Core are well within the guidelines. For more information about your dogs dietary needs and choosing a dog food, refer the the CANINE DIET information included.
POODLE SPECIFIC
Toy poodles have specific qualities just as all breeds do. Here is a little information to help you to know what to expect of your dog. First, the physical. Your puppy will not look the same when she is one year old as she does now. Toy poodles lose their puppy coat and get an adult coat. They start losing the puppy coat at about 6 months old and their adult coat will be fully in by about 1 year. Their puppy coat is soft and straight. Their adult coat will come in with much tighter curls. This period can be discouraging because it is difficult to get his coat into anything that looks right. No matter how he is brushed or cut he may still appear scruffy. During the time when they are shedding their coat, it is important to brush them more often, every day. Mats will show up very quickly, sometimes it seems overnight.
Their adult coat may also be lighter. Often times it may be the exact same color, but many times it lightens to a new color all together. The coats never get darker, only lighter. The most extreme changes occur in silver, or gray toy poodles. All silver toy poodles are born black. Generally, if you look at the pads of the puppy and see gray between the toes, then it will grow up to be silver. Also, when the face is shaved on a black puppy, if the shaven face looks black, it will generally be black. If the shaven face looks silver, it will generally be silver. There is no guarantee though. Silvers take the longest time to change color. Some areas such as the ears and tail may take longer to turn. So, for a short while, your puppy may be silver with black ears and tail. don't worry, these will change completely long before she reaches 2 years of age.
Toy poodles are also hypoallergenic. Their fur is much more like hair than most dogs. They don't shed all over the house, and they don't shed dander. They do lose fur, especially when losing their puppy coat. But because of the texture of the fur, it stays on their body, wrapping itself around the fur that is still attached, causing mats. This is why poodles need to be brushed much more often than many dogs. Also, because their fur does not fall out, it grows long. This makes removing mats more difficult. Poodles need to have their fur cut regularly. When the puppy is between 6 months and 1 year, you will notice her fur is starting to get much denser, and more fur comes out on the brush. I would suggest getting her fur cut short at this point, even if you prefer it long. Then, by the time it grows out, the shedding should be about over and you have saved yourself a lot of hassel. Their fur grows very quickly, so in about 4 months, he will be a poofball again.
You may notice your puppies face has very short fur. This is not natural. The puppy's face is shaved in a classic poodle style. If you let the fur on the face grow out, he will get a "teddy bear" look. Some people prefer the "teddy bear" look. If you prefer the smooth face, it will need to be shaved this way. Toy poodles were show dogs, often used in circuses for many years. You will notice some amazing things about your puppy. To begin with, she will probably stand on her hind legs for very long periods of times, especially when excited. She will dance, often doing figure eights around you when she wants something or is playing. They are also very active. You will notice he often uses his paws as hands. He will reach over, grab your hand, and put it on him when he wants to be petted.They love people, and love playing tug of war, go fetch, or whatever other games you can imagine. Toy poodles are also very intelligent. You may think this is great, but it can work against you. They learn things you don't want them to. They learn that if you pick up the keys, you are going for a car ride. They learn how to stand behind you, just right, in such a way that as you open the door they can sneak out without you noticing, and the next thing you know, he is hopping in the car, and you don't know where he came from. He will also learn things that help a lot. Such as automatically getting out of your way if your hands are full so he doesn't get stepped on, or to run and hide if you are arguing with someone. They can also learn about any trick you want, if you teach them correctly. Because of this high intelligence, they can get bored easily. My suggestion to help combat this boredom is to teach them a lot of tricks, and have practice sessions with them daily, as well as letting them run in the yard, or taking them for walks daily.
You may have heard some old sayings that dogs age 7 years for every one of our years. You may have heard that they have a life expectancy of 12 years, or you may have heard the life expectancy is 20. Science used to believe this, but have found it is not true. They have discovered that a dog's life span is a little more complicated, and vary by breed.
Each breed has a specific life span, and a specific growth rate. Larger dogs tend to have shorter life spans of about 12-16 years Smaller dogs are generally 16-22 years. Toy poodles have a life expectancy of about 19 years. Dog's also do not age the same amount every year. They age much quicker the first 3 years of their life than they do the rest. Here is the ages for toy poodles.
7months= 12 year old human
1 year=15 year old human
2 years=24 year old human
3 years= 31 year old human
Every year after that is equal to four years, and speeding up again in the last few years of their life.
So, a 4 year old toy poodle has the body and mindset of a 35 year old human.
Some important benchmarks in your dogs life are>br> 8 weeks needs second shots and deworming
3 months, ready for training
4 months- needs booster and rabies shots
5 months-he is starting to lose his puppy coat to get his adult coat
6 months-growing cycle is complete, your dog will not get much taller, though he may still gain a little weight
7 months-he has all of his adult teeth
6 months-1 yr-She should go into her first heat if not spayed.
1 yr- He should be done with coat changes. If he is a silver, it may take another 6-12 months for even color
Do not mate your female before she is at least a year and a half. Mating before this time is like a 12-15 year old girl having a baby. If a female is mated in the first year it can take about 3 years from her life expectancy. There is a lot of knowledge necessary in breeding dogs. The first litter especially needs special care as the mother has no idea what is happening, or how to handle it, and her vagina is smaller and less likely to stretch since she has never given birth. The first litter the mother is often not certain how short to chew the cords, sometimes not even knowing to eat the placenta, and she may need her owners help to get the puppies out. Many dogs lose the first litter. 50% of wolves in the wild lose at least one pup from the first litter Some dogs die giving birth to their first litter because they do not get the help they need in delivering. If you intend to breed, do your homework and make certain you know how to handle the situations that will arise, are able and willing to get your hands bloody in the process, and have the money to take her to the vet for any emergencies, as well as for the normal treatment after birth. I must suggest you get your puppy spayed or neutered if you have no breeding experience.
GROOMING
You may decide to groom your puppy yourself, have a professional groom her, or let her grow into a fluff ball. That decision is yours. However, your dog needs to be brushed about 3 times a week, and needs grooming maintenance every 2 weeks. Grooming maintenance means a bath,teeth brushed, nails trimmed, mats removed, fur on paws trimmed, and fur around the butt.
Brush and comb your dog at least every 2-3 days, and always before her bath. Be sure to brush her before bathing, because getting mats wet makes them worse. If you leave her unbrushed for more than 3 days, you will find that brushing her is difficult, because you run across mats. If you brush her every day or 2, you will find that it is simple, and should only take about 2 minutes. After you brush her with the dog brush, you need to comb her thoroughly down by the skin. The comb will get the hair near the skin that would cause the matting.
When you bath your puppy, use pert plus shampoo until she is 3 months old. Vets recommend pert plus, because it is safe and gentle on the skin, and contains no harsh chemicals, yet it naturally helps prevent flea infestation. It also has conditioner in it. Dogs skin dries out quickly. You should never bath them too much, or it will cause rashes and such. Every two weeks is perfect timing for bathing. Make sure the water is comfortable to your elbow. The water should cover the puppies legs, and should reach about to her stomache. While bathing her, hold her and soothe her so she learns not to be afraid of baths. Start her grooming schedule as soon as you get her.To get the full flea preventive effects of pert plus, you must leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes before rinsing. After bathing, she should be dried thoroughly and brushed and combed again.
Teeth
Be sure to brush her teeth with each bath. Some puppies may resist brushing. If you find it difficult to do, they sell toothbrushes at PetSmart that slide on your finger like a "finger glove" and are much easier to use on resistant dogs.If you start brushing her teeth immediately, along with the whole grooming process , she will be used to it, and it should not become a fight. Do not use toothpaste for humans. There is dog toothpaste you can use, but it is the friction of brushing that does the most good. Brushing with plain water is fine.
Nails
Many dogs have dew claws. These are a fifth toe, like a thumb. This toe is completely useless, they have no muscle control over it and often does not even have a bone in it. It dangles from their leg, further up above the paw. Dew claws can cause a lot of problems. The nail does not grow straight, it curls up, and can quickly grow into the skin. The dangling dew claw often gets caught on things like blankets and can literally rip off, hanging by skin and causing pain. On toy poodles, the dew claw if often knicked during grooming, causing more pain. For this reason, your puppy hopefully had his dew claws removed at birth. If so this is one problem you will not have to worry about.
You can purchase some dog nail clippers from your local pet store. Never use human nail clippers on the puppy. Human clippers are not shaped for dogs, and will cause the nail to split which is very painful to the dog. Dogs must have their nails clipped regularly. Without regular nail care, the nails will get long and make it painful for the dog to walk. In the wild, dogs would grind their nails down by digging their dens in the dirt. If the nails become bothersome to the dogs, you may find holes dug in your yard. The nails can also curl up on the dog, and grow into her flesh, causing great pain and surgical removal by a costly vet.
Dogs nails have veins in them. If the nail is allowed to get long for very long, this vein will grow. Then, when you clip her nails, you will get a spot of blood. This means you knicked the vein. Do not panic, the dog will not bleed to death. This is similiar to us cutting our nails too short and drawing a little blood. It does hurt the dog a little, and she may yelp. This is very common, and most professional groomers have about 2 nails out of every 10 that bleed. This is because most people only get their dogs groomed once a month at the most, and seldom that much, with no nail grooming in between. If you make sure to cut your puppies nails the same length every 2 weeks, the veins in her nails should not get a chance to grow out, and it is unlikely you will have to worry about hitting a vein. I would recommend purchasing pedi-paws nail grinder to do your dogs nails. They are easy to use and much less likely to cause the dog any pain. Grind for 10 seconds. Then look at the bottom of her nail. When you see a circle in the middle of her nail, it is time to stop grinding it. If there is no circle, grind it for another 10 seconds. This circle is the softer tissue at the end of the vein that you come to before you get to the vein. If you stop when you see it, it will not knick the vein and hurt her. I would recommend surfing the internet to find a video showing when to stop grinding. You can purchase pedi-paws for about $20 at your local pet store
The fur on the bottom of the paws needs to be trimmed regularly. This fur gets pretty long, and because they walk on their paws, they collect germs, gum, and gunk. In the winter time, snow can freeze to the fur on their pads and can cause frost bite Even if you do not get her groomed, you will need to trim this fur, along with her toenails about every two weeks. When you do this trimming, also check for any mats in her fur. If you find a mat, be sure to either gently pull it apart or cut it out. Also trim any long fur near her butt as sometimes feces can stick on this. Even if you take her to the groomers, this needs to be done every 2 weeks in between grooming visits. You need good scissors in order to get a clean cut, and for the scissors to stay sharp so they don't snag the fur.You can buy a good pair of barber scissors from CVS pharmacy for about $15-$20. Be certain that the scissors have a little adjustable screw on it.
If you are leary about doing any of this, you can find a nearby groomer that will handle all of these things for you except the regular brushing. Tell the groomer you want bath, nails, teeth brushed, and paws and butt trimmed. The groomer may tell you to come in monthly, but stress to them that the dog really needs all of these things done every 2 weeks to prevent problems. Also, be sure to stress these things, as groomers don't always naturally do things like brush their teeth. If you find it is difficult to find the time to brush your dog every few days, I would recommend getting her fur trimmed short so it is easier to manage.
LOSING YOUR PUPPY
Most dogs will get loose at some time in their lives. Luckily, most of the time they simply find their way back home, or are returned by a neighbor. However, many are not, and it can be heartbreaking. There are several ways you can try to ensure that your baby returns home.
The first thing to do is get him an ID tag. They have a machine to make dog tags at PetSmart for less than $10. When you make the tag, never put the dog's name. Instead simply type REWARD CALL and your phone number. If you change phone numbers frequently, you may consider putting the phone number of someone you know that is stable, or your vet's phone number. By putting REWARD CALL on the tag, there is a better chance that a person finding her will return her instead of trying to keep her.
I also recommend having your dog microchipped. This costs about $40 . The vet inserts a small microchip in his ear. Unfortuneatly, at this point they can not trace where your dog is. They are working on being able to do that in the near future. However, that microchip has your name, phone and address on it. If someone should steal your dog and you think you know who has him, you can call the police and the matter of proving ownership will not be an issue. Also, vet's automatically check for microchips. If someone should find your dog and ever take him to the vet, the vet will read his chip, and is required to contact you in case the dog is stolen.
When you train your dog, it is important to teach him the exact words COME HERE and GO HOME. Most people will automatically call a dog saying either COME HERE or COME or HERE. If you dog knows this command, it will allow the person to get close enough to read the ID tag. When someone is afraid to approach the dog, they generally use the words GO HOME. If your dog knows this, he may return to you. Use the words GO HOME every time he goes into the house.
Another thing you should do is walk your dog frequently. If your dog is taken for walks, he can familiarize himself with the area. Then if he ever gets out, he is much more likely to find his way home. The larger area you walk him in, the better his chances of finding his way back. If you have a fence or a boundary that you do not want your dog to pass, such as through a gate, use a water bottle, and squirt him every time he tries to go through it without a leash on. Also firmly yell NO as he starts to head for that boundary. Never take him out of his boundaries without a leash, even as a puppy. Once he has his leash on, tell him to come, or even make a habit of carrying him over the threshhold
CONCERNS
Fleas live naturally in our environment. A few fleas are not a sign of a bad dog owner. Fleas live in the grass and in carpets and such, and will jump on your dog at the first chance, whether she is clean and healthy or not. A flea infestation however, Is a sign of a bad dog owner. While almost every dog will get fleas,especially in the warmer months, no owner should let them get that bad. If you find that your dog had fleas, and she is over 12 weeks, get frontline plus from a local vet's office or pet shop. You do not normally need an appointment to purchase Frontline plus. I have never found any other remedy that works, and you can waste a lot of time and money trying. Be sure it is Frontline plus, and not Frontline Topspot. Frontline Topspot is cheaper, but it does not attack the eggs like Frontline plus does. Frontline Plus kills live fleas within 24 hours, and is literally a miracle cure.
If you notice red tear staining around your dogs eyes, try Angel Eyes. There are many treatments out there for tear staining, but most of them just remove the stain, not the red yeast infection. As soon as you stop cleaning their eyes daily, the red stains will return. Angel Eyes contains an antibiotic that gets rid of the red yeast infection, and in my experience, is the only thing that really works. Most vets will not recommend it, because they won't make any money by doing so. For both of these things, your puppy must be over 12 weeks of age. Once tear staining is cleared up, find the source of the staining so that it doesn't return. For more information, read the Tear staining manual.
Your puppy has just been dewormed. Almost all puppies have worms. Because of the deworming medicine, you may notice worms in her stool. This is normal. It is a sign that the deworming medicine is working. Without the medicine, the worms would not come out. The worms normally look like spaghetti. Use gloves to touch any feces until his deworming is complete.Also, at this age, puppies sometimes do not clean their butt after having a stool. This can lead to her getting constipation, and can lead to death if left uncleaned. Check her butt every couple days and see if there is any stool left around the rectum. If there is, put her in the sink or tub, and wash her butt with a wash rag. After a couple weeks she should start cleaning herself.
Your puppy got her first shots and deworming at 6 weeks of age, on the date stated in her shot record. It is VERY important to get he seconds shots and deworming two weeks later for them to work. Vet's will recommend many different shots and prescriptions. Through my research I must stress that your puppy absolutely NEEDS the 8 week second shots and deworming, a complete set of booster shots at 16 weeks , rabies boosters every 3 years, and regular boosters every 5 years.
Your puppy will be just fine with your love and care
Be sure to follow the following simple steps to ensure her health:
1. Make her a den as described
2. Feed her several times during the day as described.
3. Schedule her next shots for when she is 8 weeks old, and make the appointment.
4. Brush her every 2-3 days and check for any stuck stool
5. Groom her as described every 2 weeks
6. Make time to play with her
7. Keep breeder's number and the vet's number handy, and use them for any questions.
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET FOR YOUR NEW PUPPY
IMMEDIATELY
Bed about 13" by 23"
Paper for pottying
Canned food (Merrick Puppy Plate is very healthy recommended)
Dry food (Wellness Core or orijen are most recommended)
A tiny bit of milk
Food/ water dishes
pig ears
Brush (a human brush will do, some dog "slicker" brushes can actually hurt the animal)
Comb (teeth should be difficult to break, metal combs are recommended)
Have a den ready
WITHIN A FEW WEEKS
Crate 13' x 23"
Leash
Harness
ID tag
Pert Plus shampoo
Dog nail clippers or grinder
Barber shears
Puppy shots and deworming at 8 weeks if the breeder did not get them If you have any other questions, please email me at porshiana@yahoo.com.