Puppy Care Basics
Before You Bring Your New Puppy Home:
- Choose a veterinarian and make an appointment for the first puppy checkup. This appointment needs to be within 2 business days of when your puppy arrives home. Calling in advance is a good idea to make sure you can get an appointment scheduled at the right time. When you see the vet, make sure to have a complete health exam done, and keep the record of this on file in order to validate our 2-year health guarantee.
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Purchase the necessary supplies:
- Puppy food: our puppies are fed Life's Abundance and that is what we recommend you continue feeding your dog for their entire life.
- Food and water bowls: stainless steel is the most durable, choose the kind that does not tip over if possible.
- Crate: make sure it is the correct size for your puppy or buy one that can be adjusted as he grows. Puppy should be able to stand up and turn around, but there should not be any extra room in the crate so that he will be less likely to have accidents.
- Odor and stain remover
- Collar, leash, and name tag
- Puppy shampoo
- Brush or comb
- Nail trimmers
- Toys: 3-4 toys are enough to begin with, buy a variety of types including soft and hard chew toys. We do not recommend giving your puppy rawhide chews, but if you do, please supervise them to prevent choking on small pieces.
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Puppy proof your house and yard.
- Puppies are just like babies in that they are curious and will get into anything and put it in their mouths! We suggest that you confine your puppy to 1-2 rooms in your house for the first few weeks, and only allow him to explore when you can directly supervise him. Even so, puppies have a way of getting into mischief the moment your back is turned, so it is also important to put potentially dangerous and valuable things out of their reach. This includes electric cords, cleaning supplies, shoes, etc. Puppies may also jump up to see what is on the counter, table, etc and while you are training your puppy not to do that, you will also need to keep things out of reach that he might be able to paw down and chew on.
- Puppies are notorious escape artists, and Springers are no exception to this rule. Make sure that fences are secure and even then, keep a close eye on your puppy and if necessary, help him learn not to dig under by supervising closely and using positive reinforcement techniques.
- Register your puppy in a Puppy Kindergarten or Puppy Obedience class. After your puppy has had at least his second set of vaccines (between 9-12 weeks old), he will be ready to meet other people and dogs - the more the better under supervision! We strongly recommend puppy obedience classes, they are excellent experience for young puppies and new puppy owners to help them become well socialized and begin their training. Call your local pet store for information on classes in your area.
Feeding Your Puppy
- Our puppies are fed Life's Abundance. We recommend you continue with that type of food for the entire life of your dog. If you do choose to switch brands, you should do so gradually over the period of a week or so, mixing them together and reducing the amount of the old food a little more each day.
- Your puppy will need to be fed 3 or 4 times a day. We do not recommend leaving food out for your puppy to eat anytime he wants. This will encourage pickiness and could also lead to overeating later on. Another benefit of scheduled feedings is that you can then control your puppy's toilet habits better and make housetraining easier.
- At feeding time, offer your puppy a bowl of dry puppy food. Moistening the food is not necessary except for possibly his first day home when he may be nervous and not want to eat much. Allow him to eat as much as he wants for about 20-30 minutes, and then take away anything that was not finished. Use the serving sizes on the puppy food bag as a guideline, but remember that puppies go through growth spurts and will eat more on some days and less on other days.
- Make sure your puppy has fresh water available to him at all times.
- When your puppy reaches about 4 months of age you can decrease his feedings to 2 times per day.
Puppy Health Care
- Before you bring your new puppy home, he will have had several deworming treatments and at least one set of vaccines. It is extremely important that you follow up with your veterinarian to finish the series of treatments, in order to protect your puppy from potentially serious and even deadly diseases.
- The products we use are designed to protect against the following:
- Roundworm, hookworm, whipworm, and tapeworm
- Canine Distemper, Adenovirus Type 2, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus
- Your puppy's first vaccination will be given at about 6 weeks old. This does NOT mean that he is immediately protected against these diseases! He needs to be kept away from other dogs at least until the 2nd set of vaccinations is given at about 9-10 weeks of age. In some cases it takes 4 vaccines to provide full protection.
- It is also important for you to discuss treatments with your veterinarian for flea, tick, and heartworm prevention.
Spaying/Neutering Your Puppy
- Our puppies are sold under a limited registration AKC certificate. This means that they are not allowed to be used for breeding. We strongly recommend spaying or neutering your puppy at the appropriate age to prevent health problems of the reproductive system. Usually this procedure will also have the effect of calming down overactive young adult (or "teenage") dogs.
- Check with your veterinarian to find out his recommended spay/neuter schedule. It may usually be anywhere between 4-6 months of age.
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