Posts Tagged ‘Dog Advice’
|Thursday, September 24th, 2009
To get your puppy off to a good start, schedule a veterinary check-up within the first 48 hours of bringing it home. You can then get a clean bill of health, a schedule for future vaccinations and spay/neuter surgeries and advice on food, training, parasite preventatives and trainer recommendations.
What to consider before getting a puppy?
* Investigate the breeds and mixes.
* Ensure you are familiar with the breed’s adult size & personality traits.
* Estimate costs of regular veterinary care, flea/tick and heartworm prevention.
* Estimate costs of grooming, food and how it fits into your lifestyle or family life.
How to keep your puppy safe?
* Create a safe environment at your home. A puppy, just like a human baby, finds the tiniest nooks and crannies to get into and they often get into trouble playing with computer cables, electric cords, cleaning products, pantyhose, etc. Hide or contain wires and cables, put baby locks on low cabinets (little paws and noses can pry doors open), pick up stray strings, needles, paperclips, shoelaces, and move valuables, books and breakables to new heights.
* Crate – search for one with enough room for your puppy to turn around, lie down and sleep but not too spacious as this leaves room for it to eliminate in areas where it doesn’t sleep.
* Until your puppy has finished all rounds of immunisation, he should not mix with a lot of strange dogs or be where there is a high volume of other dogs walking, as he needs to be fully protected before venturing in public places.
What are the handy things you need to have to care for a puppy?
* Use non-tipping metal food and water dishes – this helps keep the dishes from sliding.
* Buy some stain and odour neutralizer – your puppy will always be drawn to areas where “accidents” took place, a good neutralizer will eliminate odours from its urine or stool.
* Buy a brush, nail clipper and a comb if your puppy will eventually grow into a dog with a medium to long coat.
* Get an adjustable collar, identification tag and a six-foot nylon or leather leash with a small clip. Try to avoid chain collars or leashes.
How to house-train (potty-train) your puppy?
* House-training a puppy is not difficult if you’re consistent and stick to a schedule. You will probably be feeding three times a day. First thing in the morning, take the puppy out of its crate and quickly take it outside to where you’d like it to eliminate. Be patient, and as soon as your puppy starts to eliminate, CALMLY praise it with “Good dog” (or whatever term you’d like to use). When your puppy has finished all its business, take a few minutes to play or cuddle it. What you want to teach your puppy is the sooner it eliminates, the sooner it gets to play with you. When playtime is over, bring it inside, feed your puppy breakfast and let it have water. In about 15-20 minutes, take it outside again and repeat the routine. Once back inside, if you have time to monitor your puppy, you may let it explore its surroundings. After that, put it back in its crate.
* Never leave your puppy in the crate for more than its limit in controlling its bladder. Usually a puppy can hold it for as many hours as its age in months. For example, a 2-month old puppy can stay in the crate for no more than 2 hours, as long as it has eliminated before being crated. Repeat the feeding, elimination, play routine at lunch and dinner, then no more water or food 2 hours before bedtime. If the weather is very warm, a few ice cubes in your puppy’s water bowl will quench its thirst but not stimulate its bladder like water will. Generally, at 8 weeks to 3 months, your puppy will have developed better bladder and bowel control and is capable of sleeping through the night. But remember to take your puppy out first thing in the morning!
* When your puppy pees on one spot, he tends to go back to exactly the same place over and over because your puppy recognises the smell. Therefore take your puppy to the same spot every time. If your puppy does it in the right spot, lavish him with lots of praises! Use your happy voice, your puppy will soon know he did it right and will want to do it right the next time.
* If your puppy had an accident somewhere inside the house, make sure you clean the floor or the carpet thoroughly to neutralise the smell. A good quality pet odour remover should do the trick.
* Each time you want your puppy to defecate or urinate, teach you puppy a specific word by repeating the same word many times, for example “go poop”, “go potty”. By repeating the same words each time, it will become another command for your puppy and he will be able to do it when you mention the command.
* Ideally you will have a dog door installed so that your puppy can be trained to go outside when it needs to eliminate. If this is not practical, keep an eye on your puppy, try to observe how your puppy normally acts before he pees, and take him outside as soon as you see the signs. You can also teach your puppy to ask for the door, but that might take some time.
* Establish a routine – for example, after a nap or before play time, take your puppy outside to eliminate.
What are the development stages and behaviours you can expect from a puppy to a dog?
* The Juvenile Stage: 3 to 4 Months
The Juvenile stage typically lasts from 3 to 4 months of age, and it’s during this time your puppy behaves a little more independent – he might start ignoring the commands he’s only recently learned and tries to exert his new-found independence with its “I don’t have to listen to you” attitude!
You will need to apply firm and gentle reinforcement of commands and training at this stage. Your puppy might even start biting you, play biting or even a real attempt to challenge your authority. A sharp “No!” or “No biting!” command, followed by several minutes of ignoring him should take care of this problem.
When you bond with your puppy, avoid games like tug of war or wrestling with him. He may perceive tug of war as a game of dominance – especially if he wins and wrestling is another game that can rapidly get out of control. As your puppy’s strength grows, he will want to play-fight to see who is stronger – even if you win, the message your puppy receives is that it’s alright to fight with you but this is NOT the message you want to send out!
* The Brat Stage: 4 to 6 Months
Your puppy will demonstrate even more independence and wilfulness during the Brat Stage which begins at about 4 months and runs until about 6 months. You may observe a decline in his urge to please you – expect to see more “testing the limits” type behaviours. During this time he’ll be going through a teething cycle and will also be looking for things to chew on to relieve the pain and pressure. Frozen doggie bones can help sooth him during this period.
Your puppy may try to assert his new “dominance” over other family members, especially children. It is common for puppies at this age to ignore commands to return or come to their owners, which can be a dangerous, even fatal, breakdown in your dog’s response to you. If you turn him loose in a public place, and he bolts, the chances of injury or even death can result – so don’t take the chance. Continue his obedience and basic commands training, but make sure to never let him off his leash during this time unless you’re in a confined area.
Your puppy will now begin to go through the hormonal changes brought on by his growing sexual maturity and you may see signs of rebelliousness. (Think adolescent teen-age boy!) If you haven’t already, you should have your puppy neutered (or spayed if you have a female) during this time.
* The Young Adult Stage: 6 to 18 Months
From 6 months to approximately 18 months, the Young Adulthood stage takes place and is usually a stabilising time in your puppy’s life. He’s young, he’s exuberant, he’s bursting with energy and yet he’s learning all the things he needs to become a full-fledged adult dog. Be realistic in your expectations of your dog at this time, just because he’s approaching his full growth and may look like an adult dog, he’s not as seasoned and experienced as you might expect.
Slowly increase the scope of activities and training for your dog. You can start more advanced training during this period, such as herding or agility training. Otherwise, extend his activities to include more people and other animals – allow him to interact with non-threatening or non-aggressive dogs.
Tags: Advice, Care, Crate, Dog, Dog Advice, Dog Care, Puppies, Puppy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Puppies should be eating solid food and should no longer be nursing at around 8 weeks of age. At this tender age, puppies are ready for their new homes and life without their mother.
* Choose food designed specially for Puppies. Puppies over the age of 8 weeks no longer require milk. In fact many puppies develop diarrhoea if you feed them milk.
* Raw meat should not be given to puppies. Dogs are just as susceptible to Salmonella or Campylobacter diarrhoea as you are. If you feed your dog with raw meat and it catches these bugs, you might catch them from your dog too.
* Human foods should be given in moderation. There are no major reasons as to why you cannot feed your puppy or dog food such as breakfast cereals, table scraps and other titbits once in a while but it is best to avoid them for the following reasons:
- If fed in large quantities and regularly it causes an unbalanced diet.
- You will teach your puppy bad eating habits. It will quickly get used to tastier human foods and refuses puppy food.
- It will cause serious behavioural problems by elevating the puppy’s status in the household through the feeding of human foods. You should always start your puppy on less palatable puppy/dog food, not human foods. Dogs have a pack instinct, with a dominant leader in a strict hierarchy. You must train your puppy to know you are superior to him to overcome dominance and aggression issues in the future.
* Additional vitamin supplements and minerals should only be prescribed to your puppy following advice from your veterinarian to treat a specific condition. There is a high risk of skeletal damage when adding supplements that are unnecessary for a normal healthy puppy.
* It is important to measure the total amount of food given daily to suit your puppy’s nutritional needs. Dietary requirements are not fixed. Factors such as age, activity, the type of breed and health of a puppy play significant roles in determining the amount to be fed. But generally for a 10-week old puppy, it should be fed 4 times a day.
* If you change the type of food your puppy has been fed with, do it slowly over 3 or 4 days. Feed your puppy a proprietary puppy food designed to supply all the essential nutrients that a growing puppy needs. Check the package label to ensure it provides a complete and balanced ration, and that the Association of American Feed Control Officials (or the appropriate food control body) has approved the food. Their official stamp of approval ensures that the food has been tested and found satisfactory for feeding puppies that are growing rapidly.
* Your puppy can be fed both dry and wet food. Dry food is generally cheaper but is less palatable than wet food. Try mixing in a little chicken or beef stock over the dry food with a little warm water – this will make the food more appetising and softer for your puppy.
* Try not to make food readily available to your puppy (i.e. dry food always available in its food dish) as this encourages your puppy to over-feed and become overweight which puts undue stress on their soft growing bones and joints at a most vulnerable time. Not only it makes house-breaking much more difficult as there are no predictable regular feeding times, it also makes it harder for you to spot any problems with your puppy’s feeding behaviour. By 12 weeks of age, feeding can be reduced to 3 times a day, and by 16 weeks to twice daily. Try and keep to a regular schedule, as puppies are creatures of habit. An easy schedule consists of waking up around 7 a.m., with a quick trip outside to empty his bladder, followed by breakfast. After 5 minutes of feeding, take another trip outside to a designated potty area as your puppy will need to both pass faeces and urine, and when it’s successful, reward your puppy with praises.
* Nap time is next, followed by play time (you can include obedience training such as sitting and staying). At around noon to 1pm is lunch time, with the next meal at between 5 to 6pm and possibly a small snack or treat at bedtime. At 10 weeks old, your puppy is too young to go without food from 5pm to 6 or 8am the next morning.
* Be consistent about where you feed your puppy and keep to a time schedule for feeding. If your puppy gulps his meal down very quickly and then looks for more, the amount may need to be increased. If there is still food left in the bowl after 15 minutes, pick it up and feed a little less next time. Look at the size of your puppy. Viewed directly from above, she should appear to have the indication of a waist. If the puppy looks round with no waist, then she may be a little too fat.
* Treats may be used as a reward for good behaviour when training a puppy, but don’t over do them. Treats should be small and used sparingly; otherwise they could cause an imbalance in the diet. Words of praise work very well for housebreaking, reserving treats for when training the puppy to come when called and other basic training. At this age puppies get more than enough exercise running around the house and yard and do not need to be taken for walks. In fact, excess exercise may be detrimental to their development and predisposing your puppy to various joint problems later.
* Never feed your puppy scraps from the table at meal times, as this will lead to begging and pestering people at meal times. This may be cute in a puppy, but irritating in an adult dog, and once the habit has been formed it is very difficult to break.
* Do not feed raw meat to your puppy, as it may be contaminated with a variety of bacteria that can cause life threatening vomiting and diarrhoea. Many people do not feed any sort of human food table scraps as they think it leads to fussy feeding, but a few cooked steak remnants added to the regular meal does no harm, especially for Labradors, which normally do not develop any hang ups over feeding. Greed is more of a problem than finicky feeding.
Tags: Advice, Care, Crate, Dog, Dog Advice, Dog Care, Feed, feeding
Posted in feeding | No Comments »
