Puppy Care

FOOD

Your baby is fed Science Diet/Hills Puppy Small Bites. By the time you pick them up they are eating solid food. Eight week old pups are growing so rapidly that I feed them four times a day.Start with a 1/3 cup if they devour it quickly give them more until you get a feel for how much they eat.However most of their life to date has been liquid or softened food. If your pup doesn't want to eat you might try soaking it to soften it. That could be comforting when your pup is stressed. They should be fed puppy chow until they are a year old. You may choose to change their food to another brand. That is fine but do it gradually.

Changing food all at once can create diarrhea. My litters eat family style, so I do not know how much each eats. They should eat what they want in ten minutes. About 12 weeks you can go to three times a day. I feed them three times a day until they are about six months. By six months or so their growth will start slowing down and that is when I feed them less often. Keep feeding them the same gross amount when you go to twice daily.

 

POTTY TRAINING

Everyone has opinions about potty training. Once my babies are legal in the grass I take them outside about every 1.5-2 hours. You will find out shortly how often they need to go. For sure take them out after a nap. That means immediately after they wake. During the night I take them out a couple of times. It's only for a bit. If you crate train they don't like to pee where they sleep so they seem to try to hold it longerin the crate. Some train easily and some are more challenging.I have had both. God gives us the challenge to learn patience.What can I say. It's a journey.

 

CRATE TRAINING

I can't stress enough, how much I believe in crate training. Your pup needs a place of its own. Think of it like giving them their own bedroom. It keeps them safe when you can't watch their every move.They all chew for a period of time. Some are intense chewers and some are light chewers. Without a crate, you will lose shoes, furniture legs, glasses or anything that has your scent or a good mouth feel.It just is a fact of puppy life. A crate is a good place for them to calm down when they get over excited or scared. If you have a puppy that has stranger danger feelings, I crate them until they can see the new person is not so scary. Then you can introduce them.I have heard horror stories of dead pups or flooded kitchens because a pup was left unsupervised. Please crate train your babies.

 

VACCINATIONS

I give your puppy its first shot at seven weeks. Second shots are due at 10 weeks and third at 13 weeks.I give mine their rabies shots at 17 weeks. I wait until the 17 weeks for the rabies to keep from overloading a pup with too many vaccines at one time.

 

TRAINING

Training is a gift to you and your pup. Not only does it help give them good manners it develops a stronger bond between you and the pup. Group classes are the best. Distractions are constant in a group so it helps your puppy to develop focus and discipline. Professional training also helps train you. Most of us have a lot to learn to improve our training skills. Good trainers will mold the techniques to best fit how your dog learns.Different dogs respond differently.