NEW PUPPY

What is the best age to "bond" with a puppy?
The 9th. week of the puppies age is the best time to form the puppy human bond. He has had the lessons from his litter mates and his mother and is now ready to form a new relationship with his human companion.

When should training start?
Immediately, of course! By training immediately, I mean "housebreaking" and learning his name. Give your new puppy some quality time with you, concentrate on housebreaking for a week or so, the other training can wait, and give him lots of love. Use his name a lot! Praise him when he perks those ears up and looks at you! But do NOT formally call him to you yet with the word "come"...we don't want to start any bad habits by him not coming to you. Say his name, clap your hands, make funny noises, if he comes, WONDERFUL...praise him, give him a small treat.

Where should he sleep?
This is a matter of choice but remember you are establishing "rules" here, so choose your place well! Crate training a new puppy can be easy if you do it right. Sleeping with you can be wonderful for some people but beware of the danger of him falling off the bed. A puppy could easily break a leg or worse if you allow this. If you choose a "room" for your puppy to sleep in, make sure there are no hidden dangers such as poisonous plants, electrical wires, or anything he can chew which would be a danger to him. Give him a soft blanket, or a dog toy...there is no need for the "ticking clock"! You are going to housebreak your puppy, therefore don't put down newspapers where your puppy sleeps. More on this in "housebreaking."

How soon should I take my puppy to a veterinarian?
As soon as possible after you get him. You want to make sure your puppy is physically well. Most breeders require you to see a vet within a certain amount of time. Most puppies (not all) will have roundworm and your veterinarian can give you medicine which will eliminate this problem. Also puppies need to be checked for other types of worms, hookworm, tapeworm, and whipworm, which if not taken care of, could cost you the puppies life. Heartworm preventive and vaccinations are other things your veterinarian will discuss with you.

What should I feed my puppy?
You should continue feeding your puppy the same food as the breeder did. You can change brands of food choosing a good quality food, but do it gradually. Start out by mixing about 3/4 of the original food with 1/4 of the new food. GRADUALLY increase the proportion of the new food over time. By taking your time to do this, it will cause less stomach upset for the puppy. Put the food down and leave it for 15 minutes. If he hasn't eaten by then, pick it up and wait for his next feeding. He will soon learn to eat when the food is put down. Remember, you are training him and eating on a schedule is part of his training. Everyone has their own choice of foods. I personally feel a dog food which contains human grade products is best. There is a great site on the net for those of you who would like to read about the best foods for puppies and dogs. Linda Arndt is a canine nutritionalist and her site gives a list of "better" foods.

How often should I feed my puppy?
Generally puppies do well on 3 feedings a day, morning, afternoon, and evening. As he gets older, usually around 4 months, he will cut out the afternoon feeding on his own. Continue with the morning and evening feeding. If it's possible to feed your dog twice a day, then keep the morning and evening feeding with the entire days rations cut in half for each meal.

What should I NOT feed my puppy?
Puppies are puppies, dogs are dogs, they eat DOG FOOD! Believe me, they will do very well on DOG FOOD! Today's "better" dog foods provide a healthy, balanced diet for your dog. This means NO people food, as in "table scraps" and NO sweets, as in "chocolate" (which by the way can be toxic to your dog!) Puppies do well with their food soaked in warm water for a few minutes but as they get older, dry food is great for their teeth and gums. As an alternative, you can soak "some" of the food and fill in with dry. For treats, use DOG TREATS which aid in training and also very good for the dogs teeth. Give treats for a reason! Consider it a reward for something he did right, but be careful and don't overdue this. You don't want to create a habit where the dog "expects" a treat everytime he does something right. When you are seriously training, use a special treat that your dog only gets at training time. This can be small bits of cheese, chicken or hot dog...something special. There is a dog food made that looks like a big wrapped sausage and is available at pet stores and PetSmart. This makes an excellent training treat when sliced and then cubed. Remember, you do not need huge chunks of treats for training and something soft is better then waiting for the dog to chew bisquits.

When should he play and when should he rest?
Puppies rest a LOT! They play hard then in a flash they're asleep. Let him be a puppy...let him do what puppies do which is eat, play, and sleep. When he wants to sleep, let him! Remember these 3 words, eat, play and sleep, they are the 3 times you take your puppy out during the housebreaking training...after he eats, after he plays and when he wakes up.

How long before this puppy grows up???
Well I hate to say this, but it depends on the breed you have chosen. I certainly don't mean anything bad in this statement, rather some breeds seem to stay "puppy like" all their lives while others settle down rather quickly. And too, it depends on the breeding. It's always a good idea to see the parents of the puppy, this should give you a pretty good idea of how the little one will turn out. Research your breed well and make sure the qualities in the breed are something you are going to be willing to live with.