New Puppy Care Instructions
Protect Your Puppy!
We strongly recommend that you keep your puppy away from parks, common pet areas, and strange dogs until two weeks after it has received all of its vaccines. (Generally 18-20 weeks of age). Infectious diseases can be serious in young puppies, and anything that can decrease that risk is worthwhile.
Vaccination
Vaccination is the best thing that can be done to protect your puppy against infectious diseases. Puppies need several sets of vaccines to make sure that they are protected. Each puppy's immune system is different, and will respond to vaccines at different times. Because this is unpredictable, we generally recommend vaccinating at 6,9,12, and 16 weeks of age. The diseases that we vaccinate against include Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Coronavirus, Bordatella, and Rabies. It is also recommended that your puppy be vaccinated against Lymes Disease if you will be traveling to areas that have ticks.
Testing for Parasites
It is imperative that your puppy be tested for worms and parasites, particularly if coming from a shelter or pet store. Parasites are common in puppies and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and anemia. Another reason to test for parasites is because some are contagious to humans, especially little children. Most parasites are not detected by the naked eye. We diagnose them by performing a fecal test in which we look for eggs or the parasites themselves under a microscope. If parasites are found, your puppy will be treated with appropriate medications.
Spaying and Neutering
Unless you are specifically planning on breeding your new dog, we strongly recommend that your puppy be spayed or neutered. The best time to do this is between 5 and 6 months of age. In general, dogs (and cats) live longer and healthier lives if this is done. Spaying your female puppy decreases her risk for cancer, life threatening uterine infections, and unwanted puppies. It also eliminates the heat cycle during which most females will bleed. Neutering male dogs decreases their risk for prostate diseases, testicular cancer, and rectal tumors. It also helps stop unwanted male behaviors such as humping and urine marking. Intact male dogs are also more likely to wander away from home.
Feeding
Feed your new dog puppy food until it is about 1 year of age. If your dog will be over 50 pounds as an adult, it should be fed large breed puppy food. Most commercially sold puppy foods are fine. Our personal recommendations include Eukanuba, Science Diet, or Iams.
