House Training |
House Training & New Puppy Care Congratulations on the addition of your new puppy to your family. To help you and your new puppy adjust to life together, we have provided some helpful hints and information. Introducing the puppy to its new home: A new puppy is a source of cheer and warmth everywhere. It is well documented that the companionship of a puppy has positive benefits for people. Even older dogs and cats seem to perk up when a pup is introduced into the household. Puppies give unqualified love, affection, and devotion. The following are suggested as “essential” items for the new puppy: Health records, including dates of vaccinations and dewormings High quality food Food and water bowls that can be sanitized easily and the appropriate size for your puppy Shipping crate for a bed Shampoo and proper grooming tools A collar, leash and appropriate chew toys The change of environment can cause many stress- related problems: Coccidiosis (a type of intestinal infection) Tracheobronchitis (a relatively minor upper respiratory problem) Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar from a poor appetite or poor diet) Dehydration (usually from not drinking enough water) The physical problems are often brought on by unavoidable stress, and are similar to problems you might have if you were moving to a new area. Just like you, the puppy may not sleep or eat as regularly as it would in more familiar surroundings.Some puppies ease through the transition to their new homes, while others may have a harder time. If stress-related problems are ignored, secondary problems can become serious, even life-threatening. Call your vet for advice ANYTIME the puppy seems lethargic or loses its appetite. The most important objective is to get the puppy to EAT. Small breeds are more susceptible to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and may need additional feedings in small quantities. Some puppies require privacy, coaxing, or companionship to eat. Every puppy is different. The puppy’s diet should NEVER be changed rapidly. The puppy might not eat the strange new food, or if it does eat, develop diarrhea leading to dehydration and other complications. Diet changes should be made over a 1-2 week period to prevent digestive upsets. WATER IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN FOOD IN THE PUPPY’S EXCITED FIRST FEW HOURS IN ITS NEW HOME. To encourage the pup to drink and reduce the risk of low blood sugar, you might put some honey in its mouth or on a dish. (Too much honey, however, will depress the appetite.) If the puppy does not eat after these methods have been tried, you might try: Warming the food. Many foods are coated with an outside “flavor” layer that enhances its appeal when warmed. Most foods can be warmed in the microwave, oven, or by adding warm water or broth and soaking the food for a few minutes. Rest is very important to the puppy. Puppies generally sleep throughout the day, waking only to play for a short time, eat, and eliminate waste. Do not expect the puppy to run and play all day. A human baby does not play all day either. Treat your puppy just the same as if it was a newborn infant being brought home from the hospital, and you won’t go wrong. Environment: Protect the puppy from temperature variations. Remember that it is 8-10° cooler on the floor than it is at your eye level. Avoid drafty areas. Completely DRY the puppy to prevent chilling after each bath. A bath is OK whenever it is needed, provided the puppy is thoroughly dried to prevent chilling. A blow dryer is preferred to insure complete drying. As a rule, puppies should not be bathed more than once each week, unless needed. The shampoo that is used should be pH balanced to avoid irritation of the pet’s skin. Portable airline shipping crates make excellent beds for puppies, as well as aiding in housetraining. We suggest confinement of the puppy in a crate for the first 6-8 weeks at all times the puppy is not closely supervised to prevent housebreaking accidents. Puppies are “den” animals and like the security of the crate. Puppies are clean animals by nature. They do not want to mess up where they stay. Cage confinement encourages them to hold the eliminations as long as feasible which greatly enhances bladder and rectal tone. Nutrition: Feed high quality puppy foods. Avoid generic or cheap brands!! Cheap brands of dog food substitute low QUALITY protein sources, which often cannot be utilized by the pup. We highly recommend the premium, high quality foods. These foods are much more concentrated that typical grocery store brands. Even though these foods cost a little more than commercial store brands, over a month’s time, it really will not cost you more to feed the pup, since you will be feeding less food if you follow the chart on the package. These foods greatly decrease stool volume, making housetraining easier. Feed puppies 3-4 times daily until 6 months of age. Then feed twice daily until one year of age. Adult dogs can be fed either once or twice daily. Feed the puppy ALL IT WILL EAT IN 15 MINUTES each feeding. Do NOT leave the food out continuously if you are trying to housetrain the pup. Do not overfeed the puppy, if his belly starts to swell, then that enough at that time. We prefer to feed NO table scraps. These often make the dog a “finicky eater” as well as cause vomiting or diarrhea. It is best to avoid milk. It is best to give no milk since high quality commercial puppy food is balanced to contain everything the puppy needs for optimum growth. The only real difference in canned and dry food is the amount of water it contains. Canned food is composed of 80% water. Therefore, we recommend dry food because it is much more economical - the nutritional content is the same. A tablespoon of canned food can be mixed with the dry food to enhance the flavor if you wish. Simply warming dry food in the microwave or by adding hot water enhances the flavor. Dry food is also better for teeth care. Make any changes in brands of food gradually by mixing the old food with the new food to prevent diarrhea and digestive upsets. Vitamin supplementation is recommended to increase the pet’s resistance and improve general body health. Housetraining: Housetraining takes patience and persistence. The secrets of optimum housetraining include feeding high quality food, using a regular feeding schedule, and confining the pet in a crate all the time it is not under your DIRECT supervision for the first few MONTHS as a family member. Using these guidelines a puppy of 6-8 weeks can be housebroken within a couple of weeks. Any mistakes the dog makes after that will be your mistakes, and you should consult your vet for more information. Housebreaking depends upon the instinct of dogs to keep their bed clean. You can make use of this instinct by creating a sort of home “den” for them. Dogs are “den animals”. Their own private place gives them a sense of security. Confinement is NOT cruel unless abused. Do this by constructing or obtaining a box that will have a door or lid on it with adequate ventilation holes. The box should be big enough for the puppy to turn about in and even to lie at full length, but no larger. The lid, or door, is required to keep the puppy from climbing out. Wire type crates with the adjustable divider work the best. A puppy does not want a mess in his bed and then sleep in it! Now he might get caught the first night, but he won’t the second. However, if the box is so large that he can relieve himself in one end and sleep in the other, he will do so. Bedding can be plain newspaper laid out. Remember that on the very first day it is important to start giving the puppy all his naps in the box. Puppies sleep 75% of the time. When the puppy awakens from his nap, you immediately lift him out of the box and carry him outside to a spot that you previously have selected. You must take him to this spot before and after play, always when he awakens from a nap, and always the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. You must never “just put him out”. Instead, you must take him to this spot, urge him to go, and PRAISE him when he does. Within a week, you’ll have him going on command. Points to Remember: A dog can only understand scolding and praise if it occurs within a half second of the event you are trying to control. Catching a puppy “in the act” is the best time to scold or praise. After the event has occurred, it is too late to scold, or praise, because the puppy will associate your feedback with whatever he is doing at the time, not ten minutes before. Rubbing his nose in his mistakes is a worthless technique and only confuses the dog. Dogs need to relieve themselves after eating, sleeping and playing Feed your puppy the same time every day. This will help keep the dog’s digestive system regular, and it will be easier to predict when he needs to go out. Start housetraining on a weekend when everyone will be home and able to help. If a mistake happens, clean it up well and spray an odor neutralizer on the wet spot and rub it in well. Good luck and be patient. You can train a wonderful new friend and companion in a few short weeks!! |