Making Grooming a Positive Experience

It is definitely necessary to begin grooming your puppy as soon as possible. The best time to start being groom professionally is at about 16 weeks of age, after the puppy has had all their shots.

The sooner you familiarize your puppy with being groomed, the happier they will be. Patience is key to years of successful grooming.

You’re going to want to tire your puppy out by playing with them for a few minutes. Next, select a location for grooming. This should be a table with a rubber type (bath mat) for traction. You should use the same place so that your puppy will remember this place is for not play time but "grooming time".  If introduced correctly and consistently, your pet will associate this experience with pleasure and will look forward to this special time between you and him.
At first, puppy grooming is also a behaviour lesson. Conduct frequent short sessions with patience, LOTS of verbal praise and treats.

Be sure to touch and play with your puppy's feet and rub your fingers between its toes daily. This will make nail clipping easier. I promise that your groomer and your vet will love you for this.  Dogs will naturally pull their feet back when being touched. You will notice that many pets are perfect for grooming but freak out when the nail trimming begins.  This can be avoided by your taking the time to help train them to realize it is not a painful process.
Begin by showing your puppy his brush and comb. Let them sniff and play with it a few seconds. Brush/ comb their coat a few times, then reward your puppy with a small treat and praise. Slowly increase the number of brush and comb strokes. After the first week, you should be able to do the brushing AND combing quite easily.

In order to avoid matting, it is important to brush your puppy as often as possible. If your puppy is prone to matting due to its breed, please check out the video below on how to de-mattify your puppy.

This process should help you to communicate to your puppy that grooming is a positive experience.

Best of luck!

Potty Training

House training your puppy requires a lot of patience, attention and consistency on your part. You can house train your puppy to go only where you want.

Buy a Crate with a Divider - Puppies will always try their best to keep their den clean and will avoid peeing or pooping where they have to sleep. The crate is the puppy's den.  It's a safe and comfortable place to sleep and relax. The crate is NOT to be used as a punishment area for making a mistake.  Buy a crate large enough for when your puppy is full grown. Get a crate divider to make the area available to your puppy smaller when young, so there isn't enough room to pee on one side and sleep on the other. As the puppy grows, move the divider to provide more room. This way you don’t have to spend money on a larger crate later on.

Pick Your Spot – Choose a place where you want your puppy to go. I suggest choosing a spot in your backyard that is easy to access and clean. Some owners make a square area that is filled with gravel and take their puppy to that area until it knows to do so on it's own. Others are fine with the whole back yard or select an object to train the dog on like a Pee Post.

The Scent - Puppies like to pee where they or others have peed before. Use this to your advantage. Buy a pheromone product such as the Go Here Aid which contains those scents that dogs like to pee at, and use that on the spot that you have picked for your puppy.

When Your Puppy will Pee - Very early on, when the puppy goes will not be up to you. A puppy's bladder is tiny and until the age of 4-5 months it can't hold much for long. Up until 4-5 months of age, a puppy needs to go to the bathroom about every 2 hours on average. No amount of scolding or information provided here is going to change the size of your puppy's bladder.

To minimize accidents and speed the housetraining process, take your puppy out often and at regular times. Decide when you will feed your puppy each day, play with it, take it out and let it sleep in its crate. Do so at the same time each day so the puppy adapts to the schedule. As your puppy grows, it will be able to go for longer periods without peeing and you can adjust accordingly. Your goal is to condition your puppy to go when you want it to.

  

Attention and Consistency – Early on, watch your puppy every moment that it is out of its crate and provide as few opportunities to make mistakes as possible. If you see any hint that your puppy might need to go, even if it is not on the schedule, quickly take it outside to the spot. When it goes correctly, praise it him, but be sure not to turn potty time into play time.

If you do take your eyes off your puppy and he makes a mistake, DO NOT scold him. It was your mistake! Simply place your puppy in its crate and quietly clean up the mess.

For mistakes you absolutely have to get rid of the odour when cleaning so that your dog can't smell his old bathroom and do it again in that spot. Use Nok Out or vinegar to neutralize any urine or odour on flat surfaces.

Take a look at this video for some additional tips and tricks.

 

Follow these simple steps and I’m sure that you will have a well trained puppy!

Feeding Your Puppy

Not only does your puppy need healthy food, it needs plenty of it. Your puppy will need a balanced diet in order to nurture the growth of bones, teeth, organs and muscle and also to maintain a healthy coat.  Their diet will also ensure that they have enough energy to play throughout the day.

At about 2 1/2 weeks of age, your puppy may begin to eat solid food three or more times a day. Start them on dry puppy food mixed with warm water.  When they reaches seven weeks of age or so, start slowly decreasing the amount of water you add. When they are about 3 months old, you can switch the puppy to twice-a-day feedings of puppy food.  Between 6 and 8 months it recommended that you gradually mix the puppy food into an adult formula over several weeks time.

During his first few weeks, your puppy should be slightly chubby. If he continues to look chubby between 10 and 13 weeks old, restrict his diet slightly. Monitor his weight and, once he reaches three and a half to four months, restrict his diet – not to make him lean, just to make sure he doesn't get too fat. If you're not sure what his proper weight is, check with your vet.

At the 5 to 6 month period, depending on his breed, your puppy may have a dramatic growth spurt. He may get long, lean and a little thin. By the time he's about one-and-a-half to two years of age, his body will catch up.

Commercial puppy food is best. This kind of a diet provides all the nutrients he needs, especially his energy and protein requirements. A diet labelled for "all life stages" will also provide sufficient nutrients, but because it is closer to a maintenance level, your puppy will have to eat more "All Stages" than puppy formula.

From three weeks of age up to 20 weeks, your puppy's growth rate is astronomical, and his food intake must keep up. During this period, medium-sized dogs, such as pointers and setters, require approximately 3 1/2 lbs. of dry food to put on one pound of body weight. Large breeds require slightly less, smaller breeds a little more. If you are using canned food, use approximately one-third this amount, as these diets are more nutrient-dense.

Note: For puppies of large or giant breeds, look for special foods of lower nutrient density. With these dogs, rapid growth can exacerbate degenerative hip problems or joint disease. Although hip dysplasia is a genetic problem, overfeeding at a young age can contribute to it.

Remember: There are plenty of puppy foods out there. Once you find one your dog likes, stick to it.

Preparing the House

Are you ready to bring home your new puppy? It’s time to start preparing a spot for your puppy. If the puppy you are bringing home will grow larger later on, you may want to buy a crate that has an adjustable wall, so that you don’t have to buy a second one later. Be sure to always have water lying around for the puppy, as they can easily become dehydrated. Also, be sure to start housebreaking your puppy day one by having an exit outside for the puppy in case they need to go.

Here are some easy steps to follow to get your home ready for the new puppy:

1.       Puppy Space. Create an area just for the puppy. This can be in the kitchen, laundry room, etc. You don’t want your puppy to have too much room to explore, and to have a place to feel safe. This also allows you to control where you will be cleaning up after the puppy.

2.       Puppy-Proofing. Be sure your designated area is clean. Remove any wire or other items you don’t want the puppy chewing on, soiling, scratching, or bumping into (they’re still a little clumsy).

3.       Don’t Bite This! Use non-biting fluid on anything the puppy can hurt themselves on, or that you don’t want them to bite. You can easily find this fluid at any pet store.

4.       Chew This! Puppies will chew. It’s in their nature. What’s important is teaching them what they CAN chew. So instead of grabbing your new pair of stilettos, the puppy will grab this toy. I find that squeaky chew toys and rope toys are great for keeping puppies entertained.

5.       Collar and Leash. You need to buy a collar and leash that are the correct size for your puppy. Collars come in various sizes from x-small to x-large. When choosing the collar, make sure it isn’t secured with Velcro. Because snap together collars are stronger, they are best for larger breeds. You will also want a leash that is 2-4 feet long for training. You don’t want to give them too much room or you won’t be able to control them.

6.       Nice and Clean. You need to buy the correct shampoo for your puppy. If you have a white dog, you can buy a shampoo for whitening, if your dog has dry skin, there is one for that too. Be sure to buy a shampoo to suit your puppy’s needs.

7.       Brushes. You’re going to want both a soft brush for shine, and a wired brush to get rid of any knots and mats in the puppy’s fur.

8.       Crates. Be sure to buy a crate to suit your puppy’s growing needs. Crate training is very important to start early, as you want to train your puppy where to eliminate. If you need to leave the dog alone during the day (for work, etc.) and don’t want the house to be a mess, crate training is for you. Wire crates are most often used so the dog can see everything around them and not feel as though they are being punished. The crate should be kept clean. This is the puppy’s home (or den) and should not be occupied by anyone when they want to be alone.

9.       Hungry for Food. There are many brands claiming to be the best for your dog, however don’t be fooled by the packaging. Just because it says chicken, doesn’t mean you know what part of the chicken is used. Talk to your vet or pet food supplier about what they would recommend for your breed. Also, don’t be afraid to check the internet for what people are talking about. Finally, if you have time, you can make your own food. There are many recipes you can find on the Food Network website. This is my dog’s favourite: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-specials/rawwholewildregionalseasonal-dog-food-recipe-recipe/index.html

10.   Bowls. You will want to have at least two bowls that are below the dogs knee level. The puppy needs to be able to easily reach it’s food. One is for food, the other is for water. The bowls do not need to be the same size. If you have a puppy that will grow to be a large dog, you may need to buy a larger bowl later on.

11.   Comfy Cosey. You will need to purchase bedding and some other supplies for your dog to sleep on. Dogs sleep most of the day away need somewhere comfy to sleep.

12.   Stressing. The first day you bring home the puppy, he will be stressed and scared. Put an old t-shirt in the crate to give him something familiar to smell and get comfortable with. This will help you bond better.