INFORMATION ON WHAT TO KNOW:

You have just purchased a new puppy. Now you have a new "baby" and of course your want that baby to grow up to be a healthy playful little bundle of joy. BUT there are certain things that you need to know and do to make this happen. In the following paragraphs, I have tried to cover the basics of how to care for a new puppy and some information that may save your baby's life in an emergency situation. I will also try to educate you to be observant so you may meet the needs of even the tiniest of our little puppies.

TAKING YOUR PUPPY HOME: One of the biggest mistakes I have observed when some people purchase a new puppy, is they immediately have to take it visiting to show it off. NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! Take your puppy straight home and try your very best to keep it there until it has adjusted to it's new surrounding and it's new "parents". Don't do anything that stresses the puppy out, if your puppy is put into some sort of pen and allowed to "cry itself to sleep", you may awake to a dead puppy.  Usually placing this toy in the bed with your baby at home makes it feel secure enough to sleep without crying. You can also put a plastic bottle of very warm water securely sealed so as not to leak into a soft blanket or towel and allow the new baby to cuddle up to it at night. This simulates the body temperature of another puppy in the bed with your baby so it doesn't feel abandoned. VETS: Since you are required to have the puppy checked out by a Vet within a certain length of time, use some common sense. Keep your puppy in a crate or in your lap when visiting the Vet's office. Do not let it romp on the floor or furniture and most certainly do not allow it to socialize with other animals that also may be in the office at the same time. Where do all people take sick dogs? To the Vet!!! Where is the best place to pick up germs or contract disease? Naturally, it's where everyone takes sick dogs.

TO THE VET !!!!

Now my Vet is my best friend and ally. But then he also knows what is best for my animals. But please note: ALL VETS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL!!!!!!! All of them do not have the welfare of our animals as their number one priority. Remember that the dog is yours and the Vet is supposed to be working for you. You ALWAYS should have the right to say "NO" if you think anything they suggest doing is unreasonable. Some of them are more interested in how high they can run the bill instead of what is the best thing for your animal. Don’t get your puppy multiple shots on any one visit. You little puppy's immune system just can not stand it. Per our guarantee there should be no shots given within 10 days of your last documented one, and remember they need boosters every 2 weeks until around 4 months to be fully vaccinated. Remember that you can always make another trip later. Find out what shots your puppy has been given before you picked it up and what shots will be due to come later. If the Vet you chose says your puppy will have to be started on it's shots all over again even after the breeder has told you they were already given, ---run, don't walk as fast as possible for the door. If in doubt, ask around until you find someone that you feel comfortable with taking on your new baby. You should want to find the best vet for your new one, just like you would for a brand new baby. If you don't already have one, go interview some. See how patient they are, how their staff interacts and about emergency hours and rates.

HEIGHTS:

Puppies have to go potty during the night. So do not put very small puppies in the bed with yourself (unless you are a VERY light sleeper) or with your small children. They will attempt to move as far away from where they have to sleep to relieve themselves and could fall off the bed and break bones. Puppies have no concept of heights. They will walk right off the edge of any furniture if they are left unattended. So please warn children not to play with them on the sofa or the bed. Play with them on the floor for safety.

YOUR PUPPY’S DAILY DIET: 

Your puppy is eating Purina one healthy  puppy food, we also mix a powder that contains a wormer, a stress med, and a probiotic, this stops coccidian and giardia that can pop up with the stress of travel an a new home. It is vitally important that you keep your baby eating only the best, especially during their first year of life. Remember this...Garbage in -Garbage out. Dry food to remain out 24/7 and clean water is to be offered and available at all times. FEEDING: If you were caring for a human baby you would be feeding it every few hours and constantly changing it's diaper and keeping the environment clean; same thing for a new puppy. Depending on the age and size of the puppy, it is wise to keep food and clean water for it 24 hours a day until it shows signs of being capable of going longer lengths of time without being fed. The main subject here is: DON'T change the puppy's diet or eating routine too abruptly. ( pick one of the two foods we use and keep them on it) The smaller the puppy, the more times a day it has to be fed. You have to remember that because of the small stomachs, they have to eat much more often just to sustain themselves. NEVER confine a small puppy for any length of time with no food or water. Puppies have to eat and drink during the nighttime hours just to sustain themselves. If you feel it necessary to confine a small puppy, leave it on the floor beside your bed in some sort of pen with sufficient room to sleep, eat and drink and relieve it self.

HYPOGLYCEMIA:

This is the scientific name for a condition where the sugar level suddenly drops in a small animals system. The first signs of this problem is usually staggering and falling over, as though they are drunk. Or they can be observed lying on their side paddling with their front feet as though they are swimming. If these symptoms are observed, you must act very quickly in order to save your puppy's life. YOU HAVE TO GET THE SUGAR LEVEL UP TO BRING THE PUPPY OUT OF THIS SITUATION. AND IT MUST BE DONE VERY QUICKLY. Usually you do not have time to get them to a Vet before they suffer irreparable damage. Honey is the best remedy for this situation. But if honey is not available, use Karo syrup or anything that is super sweet. If you don't have any of this on hand, then run about an inch of water in a coffee cup and stir in 2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar and stir quickly until it dissolves, then, get some of this mixture into the puppy. At this point, you will find the puppy clinches it mouth shut and will not lap it up on its own. By inserting a finger in the corner of the puppy's mouth you can pry it open far enough to get a fingertip covered with honey into its mouth. Or in the case of the sugar water, an eyedropper, straw, or even dropping it through the opening in the mouth one-drop at a time from a spoon. Once the puppy gets a good taste of the sweet substance, it will usually start licking it's tongue out and will start to recover in a very short time. Please note that if it was necessary to use Karo syrup, this mixture is also a natural laxative. Do not be surprised if diarrhea should follow when relieving itself. If your puppy is experiencing episodes of hypoglycemia, it is usually a sign that it is not taking in enough food or it has an underlying problem that may need medical attention. Sometimes, this problem can be corrected by just stirring in a teaspoon of sugar to the puppy's water daily until the episodes subside.

YOGURT:

The miracle drug for puppies, plain yogurt can literally save your puppy's life. We recommend to everyone that takes a new puppy home to make sure you have a supply of plain yogurt on hand for several days. (We use a proboitic called health gard, it is a liquid we just add to their water, we take it ourselves) This should be fed to your puppy a couple of times a day along with its normal diet. Please check the label and make sure it has the acidophilus culture and not the aspartame. Stress occurs when you take a new puppy out of its natural environment. This means that when you purchase a puppy and take it home, you are creating a stressful situation for this puppy. Stress kills off the good bacteria in the G. I. tract. When anything occurs out of the ordinary, it is stressful. Worming, shots, shipping, riding---all create stress for small animals. Plain yogurt culture puts the good bacteria back into the system so you will have a healthy puppy. So feed them all they want for the first couple of days until they adjust to the new environment. Yogurt can be force fed with a syringe in situations where your puppy has stopped eating and shows signs of being hypoglycemic. All our puppies get healthgard a liquid probiotic in their daily water.  Ask me where to get it, it’s great stuff for puppies and humans!

COCCIDIA:

This is an "opportunist protozoon" that lives in the bowels of all dogs. Did you understand that? ALL DOGS carry coccidia. But something has got to weaken the immune system of an animal for the protozoa to have an opportunity to take hold and start multiplying. That "something" is usually stress of one kind or another. A loose, stinky stool that can even have streaks of bloody mucus in it usually accompanies coccidia. Some Vets will explain coccidia to their clients by saying the animal is loaded with parasites. This is sometimes interpreted by that client that the animal has worms. Coccidia are not exactly a parasite but can be just as hard to get rid of. A daily supply of yogurt prevents coccidia from getting a foothold as it keeps a good balance of bacteria in the G. I. tract. So long as the good bacteria exist in an ample supply in the gut, coccidia can not grow. Coccidia are shed in the stool like a virus. If the animal is not shedding it when a stool sample is taken, the animal can be misdiagnosed as being free of the protozoa. If your puppy is put on antibiotics of any sort feed yogurt to replenish the good bacteria that are killed off by the antibiotic. It will in no way affect the antibiotic from completing its job but may save your animal from secondary infections caused by an imbalance of good bacteria. When coccidia does exist in the G. I. tract of your puppy, it can easily spread up through the system and into the lungs and if unchecked, it can cause pneumonia and eventually death. The first signs of coccidia is usually a lack of eating properly accompanied by a loose stinky stool and sometimes escalating into bouts of hypoglycemia. Coccidia can be transmitted to humans if hands are not washed and contaminated utensils are handled improperly. Coccidia should never be allowed to progress to a point that the puppy's life is threatened. If your puppy shows signs of this disease, immediately seek professional advice and treatment.

HOUSE TRAINING:

Sometimes I think too much emphasis is placed on training a puppy not to urinate on the floor instead of making sure it gets proper nutrition. It is possible to train your puppy and feed it properly at the same time. Never withhold food from a very tiny puppy in an effort to teach it not to evacuate in the house. Feeding is and always should be your first priority in trying to raise a healthy puppy. Some people tell you to put your puppy on a "feeding schedule" in order to house train it. All dogs have regular bowel movements. If they eat, they will have to go within an hour afterward. But this should only apply to a puppy that is old enough and large enough to eat enough at one sitting to sustain it for several hours. This does not apply to the tiniest or the teacups that have to eat several times a day just to sustain themselves. It is best to paper train these little ones at an early age and teaches them to go out later when they are much older. Your puppy has been started on training before weaning, and has continued to do a great job after loosing mom. REMEMBER  out the same door to the same spot everytime as this is what he is use too!

HAIR LOSS OR THINNING:

Little Dogs, when between 8 and 12 weeks of age, you may notice a sudden thinning splotchy pattern in the coat. Some of us breeders call this the "hen pecked look" because the coat looks just like a chicken has pulled out tufts of hair. This has very often been misdiagnosed as mange of one kind or another. Please note that this is a very normal condition that usually only last a couple of weeks to a month and will completely clear itself up with time. The changing of the coat causes it. Smooth coats looked like they have bare places and some long coats will shed off their coats until they are nearly slick. It will grow back and is perfectly normal. You should only be alarmed if the shedding is also accompanied with some sort of rash or what appear to be pimples on the skin. This is usually a sign of démodé tic mange mites or some sort of allergy. 

TEETHING AND ITS EFFECTS ON PUPPIES:

Puppies usually have a full set of baby teeth by the time they are 6 weeks old. But some of them lack jaw muscles strong enough to crush dry kibble in order to get enough nutrition. You should watch your puppy for signs of hunger and make sure it is getting enough to eat even if you have to feed it "soft" food for a couple of weeks. When puppies get about 12 weeks old, they usually start to cut their permanent teeth. This is a process that sometimes goes on for 3 to 6 months. It can affect different puppies in different ways.