Brittany Puppy Care

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Brittany PupPuppy Proof Your Home

Before bringing your puppy home, you'll need to "puppy proof" your house. Puppies are like babies: they want to explore every corner of your house, and they want to put everything into their mouths.

Poisonous household items

Make sure all poisonous household items are securely stored out of the puppy's reach.

Place all household cleaners, insecticides, fertilizers, mothballs, antifreeze, insect poisons, rat poisons and other items in cabinets or on high shelves. Remember, as your new puppy grows, he will be able to explore higher places and be tempted to jump up on shelves.

Check your plants

Many plants in and around your house can be harmful to your pup. Did you know that the pits of apricots and peaches, as well as spinach and tomato vines, can make your puppy sick and, in large dosages, can even be fatal? Click here to learn about the plants that should be kept away from your furry companion. For a more complete list of plants that are dangerous to dogs, consult your veterinarian.

Take a Puppy's-Eye View

Get down on all fours and look around. Are there any dangling electric cords, loose nails, plastic bags or other tempting objects that will be in puppy's reach? If there are, be sure to put them away immediately.

Keep your toilet lid down

Puppies are often tempted to play in toilet bowl water. This can be a hard habit to break and toilet cleanser may be harmful if swallowed.

Some Additional Tips

 

Sleepy Brittany PuppyThe First Few Days

Feeding: Your puppy has been fed a 1/2 - 3/4 cup mixture of dry Puppy Chow, Pedigree Puppy Meat and goat milk mix twice a day as follows:

Puppy Mix
6:00 AM - Purina One Puppy Chow w/Goat Milk Mix
5:00 PM - Purina One Puppy Chow w/hot water & Pedigree Puppy Meat

If you plan to change to another brand of food, do so after the first couple days and do it by gradually mixing it the new food into the old food. Do this over at least 2 or 3 days until you are feeding all new food. This will help encourage your puppy to keep eating, minimize stress, and prevent stomach upset, such as vomiting or diarrhea.

To help the newcomer learn the ropes, feeding in the kitchen is usually a good idea as the pup will be near family members and kitchen floors are usually fairly easy to clean. There's nothing wrong with feeding your puppy in it's kennel (crate), in a pen or the living room, for that matter, just try and feed your new puppy in the same place and at the same time each day. Feed time for a puppy sholdn't last more than 15 or 20 minutes. After that, remove the food.

Treats & Table Food: It is a really bad idea to feed pups human food, which they will probably prefer over their well-balanced puppy rations. Eating human food can turn them into finicky eaters and then they not be interested in eating their proper fill of puppy food. Another absolute "no-no" is feeding the pup from the table as this will lead to bad habits of begging and pestering people at mealtimes. Start out the way you intend to continue.

Bathing: Your puppy has been getting a bath regularly, 1-2 times p/week, and we use a blow dryer on a low or medium setting. If the blow dryer only has a cool and high setting, be sure to not place the heating element too close or too long in one spot. A puppy's skin is sensitive, just like a baby's, so be careful! We use a blow dryer for a couple reasons, 1) since the blow dryer is kind of loud it helps to acquaint your puppy to different types of loud noises, and 2) the obvious reason - it helps to speed up the drying process.

Kennel: If you didn't purchase a kennel with your puppy, we recommend purchasing a Petmate Kennel Cab Dog Crate (approved for airline travel) or a Petmate Home Wire Training Kennel for your puppy and keeping him in the house. Your puppy is familiar with these kennels already, although he may whine a little his first few nights in his new home. Be sure to confining him for varying periods of time, and at different times of the day, while you're at home. The more random and persistent you are, the less the dog will worry when you do have to leave the house. With this kind of routine, your puppy will learn to rest while crated, and that's exactly the way you want him to feel – at home, relaxed and comfortable in his own little den.

We suggest using a cue word – such as "kennel," as he moves toward the crate, and hand him a treat as soon as he enters. Repeat this several times at random intervals until he goes in when he's told to. At this point, you can shut the door for short periods, without making a big fuss about it. In fact, it's best to ignore your pup while opening or shutting the door.

House-Training: At 8 weeks, your puppy is a little young for house-training, however, it's never to early to start. Because most puppies can't control their urine and feces for extended periods, the most important part of any house-training program is setting up and sticking with a schedule that your puppy can maintain. Feed him at consistent times of the day and watch his natural schedule: Puppies usually need to eliminate shortly after waking up, after eating, and after playing. Young puppies may need to urinate every four hours.

We've had great success using a bell to housebreak our dogs. But whatever method you use, when your pup eliminates in a designated area, praise and reward him immediately and play with him. People usually reward their pup for urinating outside only after they have brought him back indoors: This is a mistake because it rewards the pup for coming inside, not for eliminating outside. Instead, keep a few treats in your pocket and hand them out on the spot.

To discourage repeat visits, accidents must be cleaned up well enough to completely eliminate odor. After blotting and cleaning as best you can with paper towels, soak the stained area with an enzymatic cleaner. Let it remain on the stain 30 minutes or longer, blot up the liquid, and if still necessary, use regular rug cleaner afterwards. To work properly, the enzyme cleaner must be used before using regular rug cleaner.

Developmental Milestones

Puppies first teeth are temporary and are soon replaced by permanent teeth. The front teeth, incisors, are replaced with permanent teeth around 3 to 5 months of age. By 6 months, the permanent canines erupt. Permanent premolars erupt at 4 to 6 months and the molars erupt at 5 to 7 months of age.

Your pups are growing quickly. Be aware that by the time most puppies are 6 to 8 months of age, puberty has set in and unplanned pregnancies are possible, so be ready to take precautions or consider spaying or neutering.

 

Shots, Wormings and the Vet

We routinely provide 2 sets of puppy shots and 2 wormings by the time our puppies are 8 weeks old. We vaccinate with Canine Distemper-Adenovirus Type 2-Parainfluenza-Parvovirus Vaccine Intervet Progard-5 CPV Strain 154 and StrongId T CC-Wormer.

Between six and sixteen weeks of age, puppies lose the disease protection they received from their mothers and become able to form their own immunity to disease. Unfortunately, we never know when this will happen, so there is often a brief period when puppies have lost the disease protection they received from their mothers but have not yet developed strong immunity of their own. Fortunately, new vaccines for distemper and parvovirus are much more effective than what we had even two or three years ago, and eliminate much of this problem. Also, since the new vaccines work better we don't have to give as many, which saves money.

Until your puppy is four or five months old, try to prevent contact with stray dogs or sick dogs. Avoid boarding your puppy or taking her places like highway rest stops where lots of other dogs go to the bathroom.

Within the first couple weeks you have your puppy, we suggest a checkup with your local veterinarian and ask about specific vaccinations needed in your geographic location.

Puppy's Place in the Family

The reason dogs are such good pets and fit so well into human society is that they are social animals by nature. Their greatest psychological need is to be part of a group. Whether it's a family of  just you and puppy, or a boisterous household full of children and pets, in order to be happy your new puppy must feel secure about her place in the group.

If you watch puppies at play, you will see a lot of growling and tussling. There is more to this play fighting than meets the eye. Those little guys are already deciding who is going to be "top dog". Whether you realize it or not, something very much like this play fighting is happening at home between your puppy and the rest of the family.

To be confident and secure what puppies need most is a master they can depend on. For your dog to have a happy life and be a pleasure to own, at least one person in the family must become such a master. Dogs have no mental concept of "friends and equals". Somebody has to be boss. Assertive puppies will grow up trying to be boss, which won't make either one of you happy. A submissive puppy may spend its entire life fretting and worrying, never sure what is expected. Everything usually works out just fine automatically--puppies find their place in the family without much trouble and everyone is happy with the arrangement. If, on the other hand, you have a strongly assertive or unusually submissive pet there are some things you should keep in mind:

Working with an assertive puppy

Assertive puppies tend to immediately investigate new people and objects. They are quick to begin play fighting activities with people. When they want to be petted or fed, they are insistent and demanding. These puppies fall easily into the role of family protector because they think the people belong to them. This is well and good, but because dogs cannot really understand human society, there is soon trouble. They may try to defend you from everyone, and biting the UPS man because he invades your yard is not ok. Biting the children is not ok. The most serious problems happen when grandchildren are involved. Perceived either as an outside threat or a competitor, it is not unusual for grandchildren to be badly injured by big assertive dogs.

The training techniques used to establish your teacher-learner relationship are especially important. Remember that your dog will be much happier in the long run if he earns praise and pleasure by obeying you, not by demanding it.

It is especially important for you to be master. Do not allow your dog to nip or bite at you in a friendly way. Do not stimulate your puppy by waving your arms and acting excited or by playing tug of war. Do not become what your puppy perceives to be an equal and competitive playmate.

Working with a submissive puppy

Submissive puppies tend to "shy away" from new people or things, either by lying down or actually running away. It is normal for most puppies to be slightly submissive. They wish for nothing more than to please you and this makes them easy to train.

Teach shy puppies things they can do that will earn your calm, reassuring praise. Try to provide a peaceful environment and a dependable schedule that includes exercise, a daily obedience session, and reliable feeding times.

Submissive Urination: Most puppies and young dogs have a tendency to urinate in response to new situations, when meeting a stranger, or even when their owners come home and greet them excitedly. This is a sign that your puppy is uncertain about what is expected. Never scold when this happens. Puppy is already trying hard to please. Calmly reassure, ignoring the urination. Clean up later, in private.

Fear Biting: If puppies don't know what is expected of them, particularly if they are beginning to believe that people are supposed to do what dogs tell them to do, they may react inappropriately to strangers. The puppy is afraid, but psychologically unable to be completely submissive. They usually show signs of fear and try to run away from a threatening situation, but when escape is prevented, they bite. It happens when children insist on petting a frightened dog, and happens at the veterinarian's office. These puppies need the firm leadership and reassurance best achieved through obedience training.

Destructive Chewing: It is natural for puppies to chew--that's one of the ways they explore and learn. Try to keep valuable objects that are chewable safely out of reach and provide a satisfactory alternative like a Nylabone chew toy. Destructive chewing is merely a way to work off excitement and relieve frustration, not an insidious plan to get even with you. Help encourage your puppy to be calm. Be easygoing. Don't encourage tug of war or play that involves chewing and biting.

When you leave home for the day, don't make it into a big deal for the dog. By showing lots of emotion of any sort (threats or cheerfulness, it doesn't matter) you build up emotional stress. This is often vented in destructive chewing. Your last three or four minutes at home should be spent calmly reading or sitting. Then get up and leave, ignoring your puppy completely--don't even say goodbye. Arrive home the same way. Ignore your puppy at first and avoid the area where things are most likely to have been chewed. If things are a mess when you get home, don't let puppy know you care. Behave calmly. Clean up later when your puppy can't watch. Do not build up more stress by scolding--that just makes things worse. Again, work on teaching simple obedience and building the teacher-learner relationship. Puppies need a calm, dependable master.

Chew Treats, Bones and Toys

Don't give your puppy anything small enough to swallow that can't be digested, or things that can be chewed into large indigestible chunks and swallowed.

Chicken bones, rib bones, and pork bones are the most likely to cause trouble. Old gooey rawhide chews or bones from the butcher that have been around for a few days get rotten and stinky and cause diarrhea. If you give things like this (not really a good idea), use good sense. Bones should be too large to swallow and solid enough that they won't be broken up into smaller chunks. Hooves, pig's ears, and miscellaneous semi-digestible treats probably aren't a good idea either, but if you use them be sure they are too large to be swallowed whole, or small enough to go all the way through.

Instead, we suggest using flavored Nylabone or Nylafloss chew toys. If your puppy first learns to prefer bones and rawhide, he probably won't think chew toys are all that great, so use them from the beginning. Nylafloss looks like a big thick chunk of nylon rope. Puppies like it because they can really sink their teeth into the rope, and it helps keep the teeth clean.

 

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