ADVICE FOR WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR PUPPY!
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Now you have your puppy at home, what happens next? Firstly start as you mean to go on, don't let your puppy get away with something now, you won't want him to do as an adult. This is especially important if he will be a large dog!
Book an appointment with a vet for his vaccinations and a check up. Your vet is likely to suggest neutering your puppy at about 6 months old, PLEASE wait until your puppy is older. Males should be at least 1 year old and females should have at least one season. There are reasons for this and they are:-
Your puppy is not physically and mentally mature until he/she is at least 9-12 months old.
The growth plates in the bones will not fuse until the dog is fully mature, you could have problems later on if you stop these growing properly.
Neutering a bitch too early can lead to incontinence later in life, some breeds are more prone to this than others.
Neutering a male too early can cause nervous aggressive problems later on, the male is not fully mature or confident as an adult dog until his hormones have arrived. Stopping the hormones too early means your boy will not mentally mature as a dog.
Dogs and bitches neutered too early can stop them physically maturing, therefore looking like a lanky youngster forever.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CUT YOUR DOGS FOOD DOWN BY 1/3 AFTER NEUTERING, AS THE DOGS METABOLISM SLOWS DOWN, THEREFORE HE/SHE IS PRONE TO PUT ON WEIGHT!
Make sure you carry your puppy out to see things, even before he is allowed to walk out. This is very important and is essential for many breeds, or you are likely to have problems later on. Your puppy needs to experience as much as possible between 8 and 16 weeks and they must ALL be good experiences. Any bad experiences will be remembered for LIFE!
Teach your puppy to accept a collar and lead, BEFORE you intend to take him for a walk, practice indoors and in the garden. NEVER drag your puppy around, let learn in his own time.
Teach your puppy to have eyes, ears, mouth and feet touched, right from the start. You are likely to have problems if you don't.
Teach your puppy to be groomed from an early age, even just a gentle brush over is fine to start with.
Begin his training as soon as possible, first teach him his name by crouching down, call your puppy and when he comes reward with a hug and a treat. Do not keep doing this time after time, or your puppy will get bored. Do small training sessions of 5 minutes 2-3 times a day.
If you haven't already bought a book of the breed (you should have!!!!) GO AND BUY ONE NOW!, there is also an excellant book which will help you along the way, it is called "How to have a perfect puppy" written by Gwen Bailey, I would recommend this book to everyone who is thinking of, or who has a puppy.
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Website created by Manda Smith 30.01.04, updated 14 November 2010