The Supplies You Need

Before you bring your puppy home, be sure you have the following supplies:

1. Premium pet food to get your new puppy off to a good start. Make sure you only use "Large Breed" puppy food for large breeds. Make sure to read our Nutrition & Vaccinations page!

2. Supplements, NuVet Plus (mulitple vitamin) and NuJoint Plus (joint aid). You can visit their web site at: www.nuvet.com/49197 or call 800-474-7044 to learn more about these products, but you will need to use our order code # 49197 when ordering, thank you!

3. Stainless steel, non-tip food and water bowls.

4. Identification tags with your puppy's name, your name, phone number and your veterinarian's name and phone number. A collar and a leather or nylon 6-foot leash that's 1/2 - 3/4 inches wide (consider using a "breakaway" collar with plastic clips that will unsnap in case your puppy gets hung up on something).

5. A home and travel crate that's airline approved and will accommodate your puppy's adult size. This crate will serve as your puppy's new "den" at home, when traveling or riding to the veterinarian's office. His scent in the crate will provide comfort and a sense of security during these stressful times. They make a wire crate with a divider, this type of crate eliminates having to buy 2 different size crates. <If we are shipping the puppy to you, then a small crate will be included in the shipping.>

6. Stain remover for accidental soiling. We highly recommend "Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor Remover". There is nothing that works as well as this product, so do not buy any imitations. 

7. Brushes and combs suited to your puppy's coat; we recommend buying a slicker brush, pin brush and a boar bristle brush.

8. Tearless puppy shampoo, toothbrush and paste.

9. High-quality, safe chew toys to ease teething. 

10. Heartworm, flea, tick and parasite controls. We recommend Revolution it does it all: www.revolutionpet.com

11. Nail clippers & Quick Stop (Quick Stop prevents nails from bleeding if cut too short).

12. Treats. Boiled chicken livers are nutritious, inexpensive, and make a great all natural treat.

13. A pooper scooper to pick up doggie poop and maybe an empty paint can, or small trash can, that you can carry around the yard to put the poop into. They also sell small septic tanks for doggie poop for $30, you can find them in the Foster and Smith catalog 1-800-826-7206 (order a catalog they are free and have lots of neat stuff) or on line at: www.DrsFosterSmith.com. In the catalog you can find puppy gates, exercise pens, chain link portable dog runs, and just about everything you can think of! Another catalog we like to use is www.revivalanimal.com or 1-800-786-4751.

14. Also if you can bring a towel, rag, or a cloth type of dog toy with you when you pick up your puppy, to rub the scent of the other puppies onto it, you can keep this towel, rag, or dog toy, in the crate with your new puppy for added comfort.

Helpful Hints

• Use stainless steel, non-tip food bowls, which won't break or absorb odors.

• Toys with parts that squeak or whistle can be dangerous if swallowed. We highly recommend buying a Kong as one of the toys, a Kong filled with peanut butter can keep your puppy busy for hours.

• For a comfortable collar fit, allow for two-fingers of space between the collar and your dog's neck; consider using an an adjustable collar.

Keep Your Pet's Home Poison Safe

Make Your Pet's Home Poison-Safe       List of Toxic Plants       List of Non-Toxic Plants       Get a Free Poison-Control Magnet       ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

To make your home safe for your new puppy, eliminate potential hazards around the house and pay attention to the following items:

• Keep breakable objects out of reach.

• Deny access to electrical cords by hiding or covering them; make outlets safe with plastic outlet plugs.

• Safely store household chemicals.

• Keep the following house and garden plants out of reach: poinsettias, azaleas, rhododendrons, dumb cane, Japanese yew, oleander and English ivy among others.

• In the garage, be sure engine lubricants and other poisonous chemicals (especially antifreeze) are safely stored.

• If you own a pool or hot tub, check the cover or the surrounding fence to be sure they're in good condition.

• If you provide your puppy with an outdoor kennel, place it in an area that provides sun and shelter in the pen; be sure the kennel is large enough to comfortably accommodate your puppy's adult size.

The First Days at Home

The ideal time to bring home a new puppy is when the house is quiet. Discourage friends from stopping by and don't allow overnight guests. First establish a daily routine and follow these steps:

Step 1: Before bringing him in the house, take him to the area in your yard that will serve as his "bathroom" and spend a few minutes there. If he goes, praise him. If not, proceed into the house but be sure to take him to this spot each time he needs to use the bathroom.

Step 2: Take him to the room that accommodates your crate�this restricted area will serve as his new "den" for several days. Put bedding and chew toys in the crate, leave the door open and line the area outside of the crate with newspaper, in case of an accident. Let him investigate the crate and the room. If he chews or urinates on his bedding, permanently remove it from the crate.

Step 3: Observe and interact with your puppy while he's acclimating to his new den. This will help forge a sense of pack and establish you as the pack leader.

Special Puppy Concerns

Don't treat a puppy as young as 6 to 12-weeks old like an adult dog. Treat him the same way you would your own infant: with patience, constant supervision and a gentle touch. The way you interact with your puppy at this age is critical to his socialization. Use these tips:

• Don't bring home a puppy while you're on vacation so you can spend a lot of time with him. Instead, acclimate him to your normal, daily routine.

• Supervise your puppy at all times and interact with him regularly.

• Be alert for signs (sniffing and circling) that he has to go to the bathroom, then take him outside immediately.

• A young puppy has no bladder control and will need to urinate immediately after eating, drinking, sleeping or playing. At night, he will need to relieve himself at least every three hours.

• Don't punish an accident. Never push his nose in the waste or scold him. He won't understand, and may learn to go to the bathroom when you're out of sight.

• Praise your puppy every time he goes to the bathroom outside.

• Feed your puppy a formula designed for puppies. Like a baby, he needs nutritious, highly digestible food.

Meeting Resident Pets

Keep resident pets separated from your new puppy for a few days. After your new puppy is used to his new den area, put an expandable pet gate in the doorway or put your puppy in his crate. Give your resident pet access to the area. Let pets smell and touch each other through the crate or pet gate. Do this several times over the next few days. After that, give the resident pet access to the den area with your new puppy out of his crate. Supervise their meeting and go back to through-the-gate/crate meetings if trouble arises.

Children and Pets

Ideally, your kids should help you choose your new puppy. When you bring him home, don't let them play with him constantly. Puppies in particular need a lot of rest just like a growing child. Limit puppy-children play sessions to 15-30 minute periods 2-3 times a day.

• Young children may be tempted to shout at a puppy if they think he's doing something wrong. Be sure they understand that puppies and dogs can be easily upset and startled by loud noises.
• No teasing. Keeping a toy just out of reach will reinforce bad habits such as jumping up and excessive barking.
• Wagging tails and play biting can be too rough for some young children. Supervise interaction and separate them if the play is too rough.
• Teach kids to care for a dog by showing them how to feed and groom him.

Grooming Basics

No matter what your mother said, it's not just what's on the inside that counts--not, at least, when it comes to canine care. Your dog's health and happiness also are dependent upon a well-care-for exterior--coat, ears, mouth and nails.

Show dogs and those with special grooming problems (severely matted hair, hard-to-groom ears and infected gums, to name a few) need the attention and skills of a veterinarian or professional groomer. But you easily can give your dog routine every-day care at home.

Regular brushing helps eliminate tangles and mats and helps your dog get accustomed to being handled. It also gives you the opportunity to check for ticks and fleas, lesions, lumps and changes in his skin and coat. Pet-supply stores and catalogs sell a wide array of brushes for different coats and conditions.

Slicker brushes have a bed of fine, closely spaced wires that usually are hooked or bent; they're good all-purpose brushes for removing mats, loose hair and debris.

Pin brushes have a bed of widely spaced tines that look like straight pins. The tines sometimes are tipped with plastic. Pin brushes are also good for removing tangles but can be uncomfortable for grooming shorthaired dogs.

Bristle brushes and metal combs are used in the final grooming step for longhaired dogs, leaving their hair sleek, smooth and shiny. A bristle brush may be the only brush you'll need for a shorthaired dog.

Begin the brushing process with a slicker or pin brush to remove dead hair, debris and tangles. For breeds with long and very thick coats, you should groom with both brushes, using the slicker brush first.

For tough tangles, gently comb or brush small sections at a time, giving yourself and your dog a break every few minutes. Be careful not to tug at or tear the hair.

After the coat is smooth, give your dog a final brushing with a bristle brush (for shorthaired dogs) or a comb (for longhaired dogs). Give plenty of praise during the brushing process and reward your dog with a treat when you're finished.

Bath time is much easier after a thorough brushing. Place your dog in a tub or a basin with a nonskid surface. Hold your dog's collar firmly, then slowly pour several pitchers of lukewarm water over his body, being careful to leave the head dry.

Soap your dog's body with a dog shampoo, then massage the soap into a lather, talking to your dog and praising him as you work. When his body is lathered, move to his head, being careful to keep shampoo out of his eyes, ears and mouth.

Rinse and dry your dog's head, then rinse his body. When the water runs clear, rinse one more time.

Thoroughly dry your dog with towels. If your dog has healthy skin, you can dry him further with a hair dryer set on low or warm temperature.

Bathe smaller dogs such as poodles and schnauzers every two or three weeks, except in the winter when once a month probably will do. Larger pets need bathing several times a year. Of course, always wash a pet when it is dirty or smells, regardless of when it was last bathed.

Proper foot care will keep your doggie dancing and help prevent unnecessary pain and infection later on. Most dogs don't like to have their feet handled, so go slowly--one paw at a time--and make foot handling a part of playtime.

Remove mats of hair from between the toes and pads of dogs with hairy feet; if ignored, the mats can become as hard as rocks. Then, using scissors, trim the hair between the pads and between the toes so it is level with the dog's foot.

Regular exercise on a hard surface may keep a dog's nails worn down. However, most domestic dogs will need to have their nails clipped every few weeks. If your dog has dewclaws (the smaller claw on the back of each leg, higher than the paws), those always will need clipping. If the nails or dewclaws are allowed to grow, they may curl inward into the skin and cause a painful infection.

Use nail clippers designed specifically for dogs. One type, known as the guillotine style, has a round opening for the dog's nail and a blade that slides across to clip the nail. Another type works like a pair of scissors. This type puts less pressure on the nail and is more comfortable for the dog. Make sure the blades are sharp.

Trim only the "hook" end of the nail. Clipping a nail to short can be painful and may cause bleeding. Frequent trimming of a small amount of nail always is better than waiting until the nail is long. Never trim into the quick -- the live portion of the nail.

Ear care generally is the easiest grooming task. Unless your dog has ear problems or spends time hunting and swimming, ear cleaning needs to be done only every few weeks--at bath time is best.

Clean the outermost area of your dog's ears with a cotton ball or cotton swab dampened with water or baby oil. To clean further inside the ears and soften and remove wax, use an ear-cleaning solution.

Warm the bottle of solution between your palms, then squirt the prescribed amount into your dog's ear canal. Gently massage the base of his ear. Remove any dirt or wax with a dry cotton ball.

Fencing Options

Keeping your puppy safe in your yard requires good fencing. There are several options to choose from, and the one you should pick will depend on your puppy's personality, your property and your budget. Here are some of the options you should consider:

• Privacy fencing. Privacy fences have no openings and provide excellent containment; six-foot-tall panels cost about $4 to $6 per foot.
• Chain link. Inexpensive chain link works well and is durable; 6-foot-tall, 50-foot rolls cost about $60 each.
• Underground fencing. These electronic systems cannot be seen, jumped over or dug under. Wire is buried, configured and connected to a transmitter. (The cost runs anywhere from $99 to $1,500.) The dog wears a special collar that emits warning tones and issues a mild shock as he nears the buried wire.
• Kennels. A covered kennel run, especially one with a concrete floor, will keep your puppy from digging, climbing or jumping out. Ask your veterinarian or breeder to recommend an appropriate size. (Expect to spend more than $100 for a small, high-quality kennel.)

Tips for Housetraining Puppies

Housetraining

As with most things in life, there are hard ways and there are easy ways to get things done. Rubbing a puppy's nose in a mess is an inappropriate way to housetrain. Using ample amounts of supervision and positive reinforcement is the easy way.

Starting Off On the Right Track

The first course of action in housetraining is to promote the desired behavior. You need to:

By occasionally giving a food reward immediately after your dog finishes, you can encourage him to eliminate in the desired area. The odor left from previous visits to that area will quickly mark it as the place for the pup to do his business.

Timing Is Important!

A six- to eight-week old puppy should be taken outdoors every one to three hours. Older puppies can generally wait longer between outings. Most puppies should be taken out:

• After waking in the morning
• After naps
• After meals
• After playing or training
• After being left alone
• Immediately before being put to bed

Eliminating On Command

To avoid spending a lot of time waiting for your puppy to get the job done, you may want to teach him to eliminate on command. Each time he is in the act of eliminating, simply repeat a unique command, such as "hurry up" or "potty", in an upbeat tone of voice. After a few weeks of training, you will notice that when you say the command your puppy will begin pre-elimination sniffing, circling, and then eliminate shortly after you give the command. Be sure to praise him for his accomplishments.

Feeding Schedules

Feed as follows, dividing the suggested amounts over several feedings:

6-12 weeks old 3-4 times/day

3-6 months old 2-3 times/day

More than six months old 1-2 times/day

Weight -Suggested amount for entire day

10-15 lbs. - 0.6 to 1.0 Cups

20-30 lbs. - 1.0 to 1.5 Cups

40-50 lbs. - 2.0 to 2.2 Cups

60-70 lbs. - 2.5 to 3.2 Cups

80-90 lbs. - 3.5 to 4.2 Cups

100 lbs. - 4.0 to 5.0 Cups

Most puppies will eliminate within an hour after eating. Once you take control of your puppy's feeding schedule, you will have some control over when he needs to eliminate.

• Schedule your puppy's dinner times so that you will be available to let him out after eating.
• Avoid giving your puppy a large meal just prior to confining him or he may have to eliminate when you are not around to take him out. Schedule feeding two to three times daily on a consistent schedule.
• Have food available for only 30 to 40 minutes, then remove it.
• The last feeding of the day should be completed several hours before he is confined for the night. By controlling the feeding schedule, exercise sessions, confinement periods, and trips outdoors to the elimination area, your puppy will quickly develop a reliable schedule for eliminating.

Expect Some Mistakes

Left on his own, the untrained puppy is very likely to make a mistake. Close supervision is a very important part of training. Do not consider your puppy housetrained until he has gone at least four consecutive weeks without eliminating in the house. For older dogs, this period should be even longer. Until then:

• Your puppy should constantly be within eyesight.
• Baby gates can be helpful to control movement throughout the house and to aid supervision.
• Keep them in the crate when unsupervised.

When you are away from home, sleeping, or if you are just too busy to closely monitor your pet's activities, confine him to a small, safe area in the home.

Nervous Wetting

If your puppy squats and urinates when he greets you, he may have a problem called submissive urination. Dogs and puppies that urinate during greetings are very sensitive and should never be scolded when they do this, since punishment inevitably makes the problem worse.

Most young puppies will grow out of this behavior if you are calm, quiet, and avoid reaching toward the head during greetings. Another helpful approach is to calmly ask your dog to sit for a very tasty treat each time someone greets him.

Direct Him Away from Problem Areas

Urine and fecal odor should be thoroughly removed to keep your dog from returning to areas of the home where he made a mess.

• Be sure to use a good commercial product manufactured specifically to clean up doggy odors. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for usage.
• If a carpeted area has been soaked with urine, be sure to saturate it with the clean up product and not merely spray the surface.
• Rooms in the home where your dog has had frequent mistakes should be closed off for several months. He should only be allowed to enter when accompanied by a family member.

Don't Make Things Worse

It is a rare dog or puppy that can be housetrained without making an occasional mess, so you need to be ready to handle the inevitable problems.

• Do not rely on harsh punishment to correct mistakes. This approach usually does not work, and may actually delay training.
• An appropriate correction consists of simply providing a moderate, startling distraction. You should only do this when you see your dog in the act of eliminating in the wrong place.
• A sharp noise, such as a loud "No" or a quick stomp on the floor, is all that is usually needed to stop the behavior. Just do not be too loud or your pet may learn to avoid eliminating in front of you, even outdoors.

Practice Patience

Do not continue to scold or correct your dog after he has stopped soiling. When he stops, quickly take him outdoors so that he will finish in the appropriate area and be praised.
Never rub your dog's nose in a mess. There is absolutely no way this will help training, and may actually make him afraid of you.

Success!

The basic principles of housetraining are pretty simple, but a fair amount of patience is required. The most challenging part is always keeping an eye on your active dog or puppy. If you maintain control, take your dog outdoors frequently, and consistently praise the desirable behavior, soon you should have a house trained canine companion.

Crate Training

Training a puppy to be comfortable in a crate is a popular way to provide safe confinement during housetraining. The majority of puppies will rapidly accept crate confinement when you make the introduction fun. Since it is important to associate favorable things with the area where your puppy is confined, it is a good idea to play with him there, or simply spend some time reading or watching television nearby as he relaxes with a favorite chew toy. If he is only in the area when you leave, it becomes a social isolation area that he eventually may resist entering.

A good time to start crate training is at dinner time. Feed your puppy his dinner, one piece at a time, by tossing pieces of kibble into the crate for him to chase and eat. This way, you can make a game out of training.

When you pick up his toys, store them in the crate so he will enter on his own to play. You may even want to occasionally hide a biscuit in the crate as a nice surprise. You should not use the crate for periods that exceed the length of time the pet can actually control the urge to urinate or defecate. If you are gone for long periods each day, you will need to provide a larger confinement area. You may want to consider using an exercise pen or small room.

Provide an area large enough so that if your puppy has to eliminate when you are gone, he can do it in a space that is separate from his sleeping area. A 15 to 30 square foot area is adequate for most puppies. If he chooses a specific place to eliminate, cover it with paper or wee wee pads to make clean up easier.

KENNEL DURATION GUIDELINES

Puppy's Age - Provide A break For Your Puppy After:

8-10 Weeks - Approx. 30-60 minutes

11-14 Weeks - Approx. 1-3 hours

15-16 Weeks - Approx. 3-4 hours

17 + Weeks -  Approx. 4+ (6 hours maximum)

For more really great information we have provided these links below:

Podcasts you can listen to: http://www.leerburg.com/podcasts/puppygroundwork.mp3

http://smarterpodcasts.com/gooddog/gooddog.html

Housetraining, getting bathroom behaviors under control; http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#house

Crate Training, a "cage" or a "wolf's den"?; http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#crate

Commands, words & signals we use to communicate with dogs; http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#com

Equipment Used, collars, leashes, etc..; http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#equip

Tricks, from simple to advanced;               http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#trick

Play, advice on how to and how not to;           http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-SpecTrain.htm#play

How to stop puppy biting;      http://www.lucythewonderdog.com/biting.htm

Angel days and devil days teaching bite inhibition to puppies; http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bite2.html

How to Stop Your Puppy From Biting;  http://www.ehow.com/how_18746_stop-puppy-biting.html

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