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SETTLING IN • FEEDING • MILK • TOILET TRAINING • REST & SLEEP • PLAY • BAD DOG • GROOMING & DAILY CARE • VETERINARY CARE • FLEAS • BREEDING & NEUTERING
Most young puppies will be a bit nervous in a new home for a day or so. They need time to get accustomed to new sights and sounds. Scared puppies can easily run away and get lost. So, it is best to keep your new puppy safe in one ESCAPE PROOF part of the house, or sheltered part of the yard for a few days. It will help to give it an old cardboard box or similar, with some soft bedding in, so it has a cosy place to sleep and hide. Make sure everyone in the house including children and any visitors know where the puppy is and that you have to watch out for it. Once the puppy realises this new place is home, you can allow it to explore more parts of the house and yard. Always keep a very close eye on it at first, especially if there are larger dogs or other hazards around. Puppies will vary in how long they take to accept a new place as home. Watch your new pet. If it looks jumpy, nervous and edgy and if it is not eating well, it is still feeling unsettled. Wait a lot longer before you allow it more freedom. If it is lying about looking contented, playful and eating well, then it is feeling more settled and happy and you can gradually begin to give it more space and freedom.
IF IN ANY DOUBT, KEEP IT CONFINED FOR A WHILE LONGER! It is easy to lose a new puppy and it can be very difficult to get it back again!
A young, rapidly growing puppy aged about 6 – 12 weeks should be offered 3 – 4 small meals daily. You can give it tinned puppy food or dried puppy biscuits. Biscuits are an economical way to feed the puppy and the food is easy to keep fresh. Biscuits also help to keep the teeth clean. However, a completely dry diet can be boring, so some fresh or canned puppy food will be appreciated too. (Adult dog foods can be used as a short-term measure, but puppy food is much better.) The puppy may also like a little cooked chicken or fish or egg or rice. Feed the puppy as much as it will eat, at each meal. Uneaten food should be put away where it will stay fresh and offered again later. WASH the food bowl daily!
As the puppy gets older, it will probably be happy
with 2 meals a day at 6 months. Some adult dogs over a year will be happy
on just 1 meal a day.
DO NOT feed puppies spicy food or cooked bones at any time. Spicy food
will upset the animal’s digestion and cooked bones may splinter inside
it and make it very sick or even kill it.
Growing puppies love to chew and it is a good idea to give them safe things to chew on while their adult teeth come through. Suitable items include rawhide chews from the pet store or pieces of thick cardboard. This will save them chewing your furniture!
FRESH WATER, IN A CLEAN BOWL, SHOULD ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE. This is most important. Animals, which cannot obtain water when they need it, will rapidly become dehydrated and die.
Once they are weaned, puppies DO NOT NEED MILK. In fact, due to the lactose intolerance that some dogs develop as they grow up, your puppy may have an upset tummy with diarrhoea if you give it cow’s milk. If you really wish to give your puppy milk and it likes it and does not get an upset tummy, then that’s fine. Just remember, it does not NEED it, but it MUST HAVE WATER!
Dogs and puppies are naturally very clean animals. Puppies hate to make a mess anywhere near where they sleep or spend time and from a very early age will try and move away somewhere outside to go to the toilet. Because your puppy is a bit nervous in a strange place it is just possible it may make a mistake at first and go in the wrong place. If it goes in the wrong place, you need to remind it what to do!
Puppies almost always need to go to the toilet after they wake from sleep and first thing in the morning (very early!) and after a meal or a period or exercise. So, watch your puppy at these times! If it wants the toilet it will probably go about sniffing the ground, then it will squat down. If it does not choose a good place, gently lift it up and carry it to where you want it to go. Put it down on the ground and wait with it until it has finished. Then praise it for being good. Pet it, tell it it has done well and maybe offer it a small food treat. It will soon learn to go in the right places. If you keep your puppy in a kennel at first, you will have to take it out at regular intervals, every 2 – 3 hours at first so it has a chance to go to the toilet outside. If it is in a kennel at night, take it to the toilet just before bedtime and get up as early as possible in the morning and let it straight out again.
If the puppy goes to the toilet in the wrong place, DO NOT punish it and do not stick its nose in its mess. This will only frighten and confuse it. Just clean up the mess and watch it more closely next time. Very few puppies and dogs have toilet training problems and even if they do, they will normally learn to be clean if you are just that bit extra patient with them. If the puppy persistently toilets in the wrong place, try putting a little pepper dust down, or a little shiny kitchen foil. Another idea is to put the puppy’s food bowl down where it is toileting. Puppies do not like to mess up their feeding area and this trick may break a bad toilet habit.
Once the puppy can be allowed more freedom, it will probably start to go to the toilet outside without any encouragement from you.
NEVER use Ammonia based cleaners to clean up pet’s wee etc. off furniture or carpets. Ammonia smells like dog wee to your puppy and it will be encouraged to use that place again. If necessary just use a mild household cleaner to clean up after accidents.
Moving to a new home is very unsettling for your puppy. It will need time to adjust to the change. All puppies need time for rest and quiet, just like babies. Allow your new puppy time to sleep. Do not disturb the puppy when it is sleeping. Remember, do you like to be woken abruptly from sleep? No? well, that’s how it will feel to the puppy too, and you cannot blame it if it is cross and nips you.
Puppies love to play. They can be given simple toys like balls of rolled up newspaper and big paper (NOT plastic!) bags to hide in. Have fun and use your imagination! The more time you spend with your puppy early on petting and playing and having fun with it, the faster it will settle in with you.
If your puppy does something wrong, the best way to stop her doing it again is to say a very firm “NO!” and then if necessary gently show her what she should be doing. Always remember to praise and pet your puppy when she is doing things right. She will learn far quicker from praise than punishment. Remember, harsh punishment does not work well. It is more likely to teach your puppy to be afraid of you than to teach it to behave.
Most puppies will keep very clean with very little attention from their owners, however, if your puppy has an unusually fluffy coat, it will need regular brushing and combing to stop it matting. Pay special attention to the areas under the tail and around the ears. Even short coated puppies may well enjoy to be brushed and combed. It gets the dead hair out before it comes off on your chairs! Try a gentle brush and comb from an early age. It will also help your puppy to get used to being handled.
If the puppy becomes dirty it can be bathed. You should use a proper pet shampoo from your veterinarian or pet store. If that is not possible, use a very mild human baby shampoo. Never use strong products on a puppy or dog unless advised to do so by a veterinarian.
Check your puppy daily for any problems such as a dirty bottom or runny eyes or nose. These may be signs of serious ill health. Dirty areas should be cleaned very gently with a damp tissue and the animal taken to a vet for a check up as soon as possible.
Your puppy should be vaccinated for the first time at about 9 and 12 weeks. There are many diseases which could kill your puppy Yearly vaccination will help to prevent them. Check if your puppy has had any vaccinations yet. If not, you will need to take it to a vet soon after you get it. If you have any doubts about your pet’s health, seek the advice of a vet. Most vets will be happy to give some advice over the phone and can decide with you if your puppy needs to be seen immediately or if it is a problem that might clear up without needing veterinary attention.
Fleas can cause many problems in puppies and dogs, such as nasty itchy bald skin, and tapeworms. You can prevent your puppy from getting fleas by using a chemical on its skin regularly. Frontline Spot On is available from good pet stores and vets and is one of the best products to use. Supermarket products are not so good. They are not so strong and do not do the job so well. If in doubt, ask your vet.
Female puppies can come into heat and become pregnant at only 6 months of age! There are far too many unwanted puppies in Trinidad and Tobago and a female puppy should be spayed at 6 months or earlier, so she will not have babies. This is a simple operation that will involve her spending one day at a vets. It is not at all necessary for her to have “just one litter” and if she does have puppies you will have a great deal of trouble finding homes for them.
Male puppies should be castrated usually when they are over about 9 months. This will prevent roaming and getting into fights. Unneutered male dogs who go wandering are often killed and injured on the roads, so it is vital to castrate your male puppy to prevent this. Castrating a male puppy is a very quick, simple operation, and does not affect your pup’s “self image” at all, except to make him a more home – loving and well mannered pet.
