New Puppy Care:
Learn how to give your puppy a long life with these tips about new puppy care!
Your puppy will be relying on you to give him the best start in life, so he can look forward to many healthy years as your friend and companion. Here we've gathered some essential information for you about the health and wellbeing of your new pup. TIP! The best thing you can do after bringing your new puppy
home (apart from reading the information below!) is get in contact with
your local vet
and make an appointment to take your puppy to them. Your vet
is
best placed to know what sorts of vaccinations (shots) or worming
products your puppy will need in your area and can give you good advice about
new
puppy care. On this page: Dog illnesses and vaccinations Dog tail docking and ear cropping Feeding your puppyDry food (kibble) or canned food? Home-made food? How much and how often should I feed him? Should I give my puppy milk? Should my puppy eat meaty bones? These are just some of the questions you'll want answers for as a newcomer to new puppy care ... more about feeding your puppy Puppy wormsPuppies can become infested with all sorts of nasty dog worms in their intestines. How do I worm my dog? How often? What dog worms do I need to guard against in my area? For answers to these important new puppy care questions, including information about heartworm, please read on ... more about worming Dog illnesses and vaccinationsThere are a whole host of diseases that can afflict dogs, some causing ill health and some causing death. Fortunately, nowadays many of these can be prevented by a series of simple vaccinations or shots. What vaccinations do I need? How often should my dog be vaccinated? For answers to these important new puppy care questions and more, please read on ... more about dog illnesses and vaccinations Dog fleasDog fleas can spread parasites and diseases and can have a very bad effect on general puppy health. You can start flea control on your puppy from a young age ... more about dog fleas and flea treatments Puppy teeth and dental careNow is the ideal time to teach your puppy what it is acceptable to chew (chew toys, bones etc) and what it is not acceptable to chew (shoes, furniture, you etc!). Start good dog dental habits now ... more about puppy teeth and dental care Puppy spaying and neuteringAn important decision you will need to make is whether to get your puppy desexed. This often referred to as spaying (for female dogs) or neutering (for male dogs). Unless you intend to become a registered breeder and have a strong desire to improve and maintain the quality of the breed, you should get your puppy desexed. It avoids many dog health problems and is an important part of new puppy care ... more about puppy spaying and neutering MicrochippingMicrochipping involves placing a microchip under the skin of your dog, usually on the neck. This chip is encoded with a unique number and your contact details are stored against the number in a secure database. You can easily update your details if you change your address or sell your dog. Many vets, animal shelters and council pounds are authorised to operate special microchip scanners. If your dog is lost and is taken to one of these places, they can scan the chip to find the chip's number. The animal records database can then be notified that the dog has been found and the database office will contact you. There have been many happy stories from around the world of people and their pooches being reunited through the microchip - sometimes after many years! Microchipping is often done at the age of eight weeks, when the puppy is ready to go to its new home, or at the time of desexing (around 6 months of age), but it can be done at any age, as long as the puppy is not too small. Microchipping is a simple and fairly inexpensive part of good new puppy care.Some local councils will require you to microchip your dog as a condition of dog ownership and registration.
Microchipping can help your dog BathingSooner or later, your puppy will get dirty, roll in something smelly or just get that doggy smell. Then it's time for a bath! How often should you bath your puppy or adult dog? What products are safe to use on your puppy? ... more about puppy bath time Nail clippingDo your puppy's nails go 'click-click-click' when walking on hard floors? Sounds like they need trimming! A dog's nails need to be trimmed to stop them growing until they curl under and into the dog's feet, and to stop them breaking and becoming painful ... more about dog nails Dog tail docking and ear croppingSome dogs have naturally short tails but many dogs, such as boxers, Dobermans and some spaniels and terriers, have their tails cut off as puppies. Some dogs' ears are also cropped to make them stand up straight. But these practices are illegal in many countries ... more about dog tail docking and ear cropping Dog ear careEstablishing a good dog ear care routine can help prevent many of the common dog ear problems. You'll need to know what to look for and how to keep you puppy's ears in great shape ... more about dog ear care New Puppy Care info at PuppyPrimer.comReturn to the top of New Puppy Care Go back to PuppyPrimer: Buy a Puppy home |
