New Dog/Puppy Care Instructions

 

Congratulations on your new dog/puppy! We hope to help make your experience a positive one for you and your family. New puppies need specific care in the first weeks in their new environment. Your puppy will need to transition from his current home to his new home, and it is very important for your puppy’s health that you read and follow our guidelines closely. Puppies can be fragile and your attention to the following will make your puppy’s experience and your experience a better one.

 

 1. IF YOU ARE GOING TO CRATE TRAIN - Transport your new puppy home in a pet transport crate. This crate will also serve as the puppy’s kennel for the first few months to make them feel safe and secure. Providing your puppy or dog with an indoor kennel crate can satisfy their instinctive need for a den-like enclosure. Besides being an effective housebreaking tool (because it takes advantage of the dog's natural reluctance to soil its sleeping place), it can also help reduce separation anxiety, prevent destructive behavior (such as chewing furniture), keep a puppy away from potentially dangerous household items (poisons, electrical wires, etc.), and serve as a mobile indoor dog house which can be moved from room to room whenever necessary. We encourage you to learn about the benefits of crate training your new puppy.

 

2. Wait a day or two before introducing your new puppy to existing pets, and avoid excessive and rigorous play, and unsupervised contact with young children during that period. New puppies need a lot of quiet time to rest. Too much playtime can stress the puppy. Put the puppy in its crate and leave it alone for regular naps. Remember everything is NEW for the puppy and the puppy needs time to acclimate to its new home.

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 3. The most important thing is to make sure that your new puppy eat and drinks. We recommend feeding the food we tell you they are eating to transition your new puppy into their new home and atmosphere. Changing food abruptly can cause digestive problems. If you want to change foods, mix the old food in with the new food over a week and then you should be able to change to the new food.

 

4. Make sure that your puppy is eating! If a puppy goes 3+ hours without eating you need to call me and we will figure out how to supplement the puppy’s feeding. Small breeds and toy breeds are very susceptible to low blood sugar or hypoglycemia which can cause death if not immediately and correctly treated. It is recommended by some breeders and veterinarians to keep a tube of Nutra-Cal (high calorie nutrition paste), honey, or Fruit Loops cereal on hand. If your puppy is lethargic and is not interested in eating or drinking, SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY - CALL YOUR VETERINARIAN! Remember that hypoglycemia is preventable.

 

5. Keep your new puppy inside and warm in the winter, and cool and shaded in the summer.

 

6. COCCIDIOSIS – or Coccidia in dogs, is a parasite which can be commonly found in puppies. Coccidia can become a problem during stressful periods such as transport, relocation, and entrance to a new environment. Some of the first signs of this problem is a bloody or loose stool, or diarrhea, lethargy, and not eating or drinking. If you notice these systems, take your puppy to your regular vet for evaluation and treatment immediately. Coccidia can be easily treated if you are alert and seek veterinarian help early on.

 

 7. Your puppy is teething, so make sure you have plenty of good chew toys so they go for the toys instead of your furniture. No stuffed animals, unless you know the stuffing is non toxic, no rawhide, they cannot digest that. Teething, may cause them to tear, this is temporary. They will again teeth around 4 to 8 months. Tearing may happen again but this is all temporary and normal. Good chew toys help this process a little faster.

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One of the best sites dealing with ALL THINGS PUPPY [Training, housebreaking, development, etc] is 

ULTIMATE PUPPY