Puppy Care

Points to remember:
Try to bring a puppy home only after it is eight weeks old. By then it must have had its Primary Vaccination against Parvo and other diseases. Insist on the immunisation record given by the Vet to the breeder. If it is a dog with a Pedigree insist on the certificate and its transfer to your name.Remember to ask questions about the feeding schedule.

Feeding Schedule
Readymade dry food of high quality is available in India and if you can afford it, that is the food of choice. Not only does it contain the right proportions of protein, fat and carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, but it is also very convenient - no cooking is required. On the other hand you may require commercial preparations of baby food, as advised by the breeder. Remember to give the right supplements of Calcium and Vitamins if you are not giving dry food.

House Training
When you being a new puppy home, most often it will not already be housebroken. As with children, the only thing you need to house break your puppy is patience, and a lot of it. As soon as the puppy has been fed, he should be taken out - puppies often relieve themselves right after they eat, and so taking them our right after eating reinforces the idea that they should only relieve themselves outside.

An alternative method you might want to try is placing old sheets of newspaper on the floor. Understand though, that this method takes plenty of time and patience, so don't give up. Every time the puppy relieves itself in the house, cover the mess with newspaper, and allow the puppy to investigate
it (for investigate it they will, if there is even an iota of puppy-ish-ness in them). Also, leave newspaper lying on the floor so that once the puppy recognizes the smell, it will use only the newspaper. To help it get the idea, place the puppy on the newspaper after it has eaten (and remember the magic word - patience, because puppies like to run about after they eat).

Children and puppies should always be supervized. Never leave them alone with each other. Children can be unknowingly cruel to dogs (pulling whiskers, tail, etc.) and puppies can unwittingly retaliate by biting, which you certainly don't want.

Whatever behaviour you eventually want from your puppy, you must enforce from the start. If you dont want the grown up dog to be allowed in the bedroom, or sit on your living room couches, don't let them do so as puppies. On thier first few nights in your house, puppies will be upset, and miss their littermates etc. Make sure they have a nice warm and safe place to sleep in. If you want, you can sleep near that area for the first night. If you don't want them to beg from the dining room table - don't feed them
while you eat at the table.

Above all, care for your puppy's health. Contact a local vet, and by all means, establish a good relationship. Your dog does not need to be ill to see the vet. The vet should see the dog while he is in good health, so he has something to compare the not well dog against, when you bring him in at
other times. Make sure you are up to date on the puppy's shots. They can be expensive, but then, you decided to pay for them the day you decided to get the puppy. And as any dog lover will tell you - puppies are worth every penny you sepnd on them, and then some more