Posts Tagged ‘puppies’

Socializing Your Puppy

Socializing your puppy is a critical part of raising a well adjusted dog. Through socialization, puppies can learn to fit into society, learn to live with humans and also with other dogs. This leads to a calm, adaptable dog who isn’t fazed by what they encounter in day to day life.

If dogs are not correctly socialized, they may develop inappropriate behaviors when exposed to new situations or new dogs and people. This can include being overly aggressive or fearful in unfamiliar circumstances.

Socializing starts when a puppy is still with its mother and with the breeder. A puppy first learns canine body language and pack structure from around three to four weeks of age, while playing and interacting with its litter mates. It is important that a breeder handles her puppies and plays with them regularly, to give them positive early experiences with people.

The ideal time to bring your new puppy home is when he is eight weeks old. The period from eight to twelve weeks of age is very important for socialization, as your pup is very open to learning and enjoying new experiences. It is vital to take advantage of this stage of your puppy’s social development.

It’s a good idea to invite friends and families to your house to visit, bringing with them their well behaved dog. You can also introduce your puppy to calm, well-mannered children.

Puppy preschool is also very important for your young dog. It allows puppies to meet and interact with other dogs of a similar age and level of development, as well as learning some basic obedience commands. This improves the communication skills of your puppy, as well as enhances the bond between dog and owner. It also allows your dog to sniff and explore in a safe and supportive environment.

Other options for socializing your dog can include going to dog friendly places such as off-leash parks and beaches. It is vital to make sure that your puppy is up to date on its vaccinations, as there may be an increased risk of disease in these places. Also, you need to remember that the other dogs which are there may not necessarily be under complete control. There may even be under-socialized dogs who may frighten your puppy and set it back in its learning. It may even be better to keep your puppy away from these areas until he is more mature and better able to cope.

It takes a lot of work and effort to socialize a puppy well, but it is an investment in his future, and will help him to fit into his world. Doing a good job will lead to a well adjusted and happy companion who can take anything in his stride.

How to Feed Puppies

We all like to look after our dogs to the best of our ability, and feeding a puppy correctly is important to give it the very best start in life. For optimal growth and health, a balanced diet is necessary. This means the diet includes the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals, in the right proportions.

Puppies need to take in proportionally more calories per pound of body weight than adult dogs do, because they need more energy to grow. Commercial puppy foods take this into account. It is very calorie dense, which means that it includes more calories per bowl, compared to adult dog food. .

Since puppies have little stomachs, they should be fed small meals regularly. This means three small meals a day up to twelve weeks of age, then reducing frequency to two meals a day. You can keep feeding your dog two meals a day throughout adulthood, or further reduce to one meal when he’s around 12 months old and close to fully grown.

You should feed your puppy according to the guidelines on the food packet. Overfeeding puppies can make them overweight. This can predispose to orthopedic problems such as hip dysplasia, and may lead to obesity later in life. It is undoubtedly easier to prevent your dog from getting overweight in the first place than it is to get rid of the excess weight later in life.

It is a good idea to base your puppy’s diet on quality commercial dog food, and then add extra things such as rice, pasta and raw bones. Remember to never feed your dog cooked bones, as these are dangerous and may splinter, damaging the gastrointestinal tract. When choosing a dog food, take a close look at the ingredient list. The top two or three ingredients on the list should be meat or meat protein. Dog foods which may be less expensive are higher in cereal, and therefore not as good for your pet.

Home cooked diets are possible, but it can be very hard to maintain nutritional balance. One of the best examples is calcium. A predominantly meat based diet can contain too little calcium, leading to poor bone density and increased risk of fractures. Conversely, adding too much calcium supplement to a diet can also lead to developmental orthopedic disease. It is very important to get the balance just right.

It is also important to choose a commercial dog food which is appropriate for the breed. For example, giant breed puppy food allows for slow steady growth. This helps to avoid orthopedic problems in your dog such as osteochondrosis dissecans which is often associated with rapid growth in large breeds of dog.

As puppies get older, their growth rate slows, and they can be switched to adult food when they’re close to maturity. This is usually around twelve months for most breeds, and eighteen months for giant breeds.

It is very important to choose the right dog food for your puppy, as the effects of poor nutrition can last a lifetime. Make sure that the food is both of high quality, nutritionally balanced and appropriate for the breed.

Caring for Newborn Puppies

Once your puppies have been born, the real work begins – making sure they receive the proper care from their mother, and keeping them warm and well-fed in order to maintain their growth and development.

The first thing new puppies need is a warm environment. Their first few weeks should be spent in a confined area that stays around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If the area around the whelping box isn’t warm enough, you can place a heating pad or hot water bottle in one corner, to allow the pups to find a temperature they prefer. Alternatively, move the pups and their mom to a warmer part of your home.

The puppies are completely helpless when they are born. They are blind and deaf, their bodies cannot regulate their own temperature, and they need to be stimulated to learn how to urinate and defecate on their own. Their body temperature will gradually increase over the first three weeks of life to a normal adult temperature of 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

It’s so important that the babies get the first milk, or colostrum, from their mother. This milk contains antibodies that can only be absorbed during their first twenty-four hours of life, and they help to protect the newborns from disease during their first few weeks. If your pups are tiny or weak, they may need your help to latch on to the nipple.

The mom will do her best to keep them clean in the beginning, but as the pups grow, you’ll need to change the newspapers in the whelping box more regularly.

The pups need to be monitored closely and weighed regularly to ensure they are getting enough nutrition. In some cases, the mother may need to receive medication from a veterinarian to increase their milk production, or you may need to supplement their diet with formula. After four weeks, they will be ready to start nibbling on soft food like puppy porridge or mince.

The puppies will need to be wormed every two weeks for the first twelve weeks of life, and these babies will also need their first vaccinations when they are between six and eight weeks old. This protects them from viral diseases like Hepatitis, Parvovirus, and Distemper. Your veterinarian can recommend a vaccination program for your pups, depending on where you live and the disease risk in your area.

After three or four weeks, the puppies can be handled gently by people to get them used to human contact. At around five weeks of age their teeth will start coming through the gums, and at this point, their mom will start to wean them. Most pups will still nurse from mom until they are seven and eight weeks old. It is important to keep litter mates and the mother together until then, so the puppies learn how to communicate and interact with other dogs. Pups who are taken from their litter mates too early may develop antisocial behaviors because they haven’t had this opportunity to learn dog body language.

Sometimes humans are required to act as surrogate mothers for newborn puppies, so it helps to understand their needs and what the mother does to help them grow and thrive. If the bitch neglects or abandons a puppy, you are its only hope for survival. You’ll need to not only feed them regularly with formula and keep them warm, but you’ll need to gently wipe their bottom with a moist cotton ball to stimulate them to go to the toilet. Raising orphan puppies is a lot of work, and very tiring but it’s so worthwhile.

How Do Puppies Learn?

Most dog owners would agree that training a puppy can be both difficult and time consuming, yet highly rewarding. It is, undoubtedly, a vital part of owning a dog. By finding out how puppies learn, this makes it easier for an owner to train and teach their puppy in the most effective and time efficient way.

So how do puppies learn? Puppies, like children, learn from the results of their behavior. So, if they do something and are rewarded for it, by, for example, a treat or a pat, they notice this and are much more likely to do it again.

On the other hand, if a puppy is actually punished for bad behavior, it may not realize that you want the bad behavior to stop. As an example, if you are angry at your puppy for going to the toilet on the carpet and punish it, it may begin to associate the punishment with actually going to the toilet in front of you. If this happens, your puppy may continue to go to the toilet on the carpet, just not when you are there, or they may do it in a place which you may not initially notice.

This being the case, it is far more effective to train your puppy by using a reward-based system when they do something right, rather than punishing them when the opposite is true.

Puppies can also learn and pick things up without you being aware of it. For example, if your puppy whines and you pay it attention, it will learn that whining produces a good outcome, like a cuddle or a treat. It is paramount that you do not inadvertently rewarding behaviors that are not desirable, or your puppy will continually persist with them.

Food can be used as a very effective tool in teaching and training your puppy. A special treat, such as diced chicken or hot dog, can be used to great effect. When your puppy does something right, say, for example, “yes” and give them the treat. In this way, they will come to view the word “yes” as a marker, or indication, that they have done the right thing and may be rewarded for that.

Take sitting as an example. Teaching your puppy to sit is not very difficult. Take the treat and hold it in front of their nose to get their attention. Then, move it slightly back and above their head. At this point, your puppy will look up and follow the treat, and as this happens, their bottom should hit the ground. When it does, say “yes” and give them the treat. By doing this, they will quickly learn that they earn a treat each time they sit on the ground.

There are lots of advice books and information available which claim to help with the training of puppies. Make sure that you follow a method which employs a reward, rather than punishment, scheme. This makes it very easy and enjoyable for you puppy to learn.

Caring for a Mother Dog After Whelping

After a mother dog (bitch) successfully whelps her puppies, there are specific things you as an owner want to look for to make sure both the newborns and their mother are doing well. Here are some tips on what to expect and what you should do to care for the new family.

Within twenty-four hours of birth, have the pups and mother checked by a veterinarian. The doctor will check for signs of congenital defects in the pups, such as cleft palates or limb deformities. He will also make sure the bitch’s mammary glands are producing enough milk for her babies.

He may administer an injection of oxytocin to start the uterus contracting and shrinking back to pre-pregnancy size. This will also reduce any bleeding from where the placentas were attached, and help expel any remaining material from the uterus. Mom may continue to have some discharge for up to eight weeks after birthing babies, but as long as it doesn’t smell or look foul, there is no cause for alarm.

Keep an eye on the new mother to make sure that she is caring for all her puppies and knows what to do with them. In some cases, bitches that give birth for the first time become aggressive or confused over their role, and she may lie on her puppies, accidentally crushing them.
New mothers will also need good nutrition to feed her pups, so small, frequent meals are a great idea. Her milk production will reach its peak at around three weeks after birth. She will be especially hungry at this time, so feed her puppy food for a few weeks. It has more energy per ounce than regular adult dog food so she can get plenty of nutrients without over filling her stomach. You will also need to weight the newborn puppies regularly to confirm they are growing and getting enough milk.

Watch for any signs of mastitis. Red, swollen, or painful mammary glands are the classic signs, but mom may also be very lethargic, feverish and off her food. Another potentially dangerous condition is metritis, an infection and inflammation of the uterus usually caused by a long or especially difficult labor.

If the mother starts to pant, tremble, or have seizures, she may be suffering from a calcium deficiency called eclampsia, which is a serious condition that needs immediate attention and treatment. It’s more common in smaller breeds of dogs, and tends to occur when pups are two to five weeks of age. This is when they’re growing fast, and drinking lots of milk. Mom puts lots of calcium into her milk, which leaves her deficient.

A vet must treat eclampsia quickly because it can be fatal. Treatment is intravenous calcium supplement, and mom may also need sedation to stop the seizures. If your bitch develops eclampsia it’s usually a good idea to wean the pups and hand raise them.

In the majority of cases, moms and pups do just fine and don’t need human intervention. Even so, be sure to keep a good eye on them so if a problem develops, you can get on top of it straight away. This will ensure the best outcome for mom and babies.

Whelping: Everything You Need to Know

The whelping process will be easier for both you and your bitch if you know what to expect and plan ahead for any potential problems. Your bitch will indicate to you that she’s approaching labor. The more obvious signs of laboring behavior are restlessness, panting or shivering, and preparing a nesting area.

It’s a good idea to provide a proper whelping box to keep mom and her babies warm and clean. A sturdy cardboard box lined with clean newspaper is an inexpensive solution, and is easy to dispose of after the pups are weaned. When your bitch starts to shred the newspaper and arrange her nesting area, delivery is only a few days away. It is a good idea to have supplies such as tissues, paper towels, clean towels and garbage bags set out ahead of time to prepare for whelping.

Just before whelping, your bitch may lose her appetite and become very clingy. Her temperature will drop in that last day before birth, from a normal rectal temperature of between 101 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit to around 98.5 degrees. She may also begin to leak milk from her nipples.

The birthing process has three distinct stages. During the first stage, regular uterine contractions begin, and become more frequent as her delivery gets closer. Your dog may vomit and she may begin to discharge clear, mucoid fluid from her vagina.

The second stage begins when the bitch’s abdomen starts contracting hard, and pushing the puppies out. She will either lie down or squat to deliver her pups. Normal deliveries usually begin within ten to sixty minutes of the onset of hard contractions.

The puppies may be born in their amniotic sac, and your bitch will immediately begin to break the bag, clean her babies and chew through the umbilical cord. If she doesn’t, you will need to step in to make sure the puppies are freed from the sac and breathing properly. Once the babies are dried off, the cord can be carefully tied off and snipped so the mother can continue to care for her new babies.

The final stage of whelping involves delivery of the placenta, or afterbirth, for each puppy. The placenta may or may not still be attached to the pup. The bitch may attempt to eat her placenta, which sounds gross but is quite normal behavior. If she doesn’t want to eat it, that’s fine too, there’s no specific nutritional value in it.

Newborns may attempt to suckle their mother during her delivery. This is a good thing, because it stimulates the production of oxytocin. This hormone helps the uterus to contract, and speeds up delivery of any remaining pups. Keep a close watch on your bitch, so she doesn’t accidentally lie on her newborns as she delivers the remainder of her litter.

This is what happens in a normal delivery. If complications arise, don’t hesitate to call your veterinarian. If your bitch has a fresh bloody discharge from the vagina, a rise in rectal temperature beyond 102 degrees, or hard contractions that don’t produce a puppy for more than thirty minutes, contact your veterinarian immediately.

If your bitch becomes depressed or exhausts herself to the point where she stops delivering, she may need a cesarean section to deliver her litter.

The birthing process can be long and arduous for both dog and owner. By being prepared for any eventuality before your bitch gives birth will help make the process as stress free as possible.

House Training Your Puppy

House training your puppy can be one of the most important, and potentially stressful and time-consuming, aspects of having a new puppy in the house. It is very important to start as soon as you introduce your puppy to the house, and be sure to remain consistent and vigilant.

Before you even bring your puppy into the home, it has already started learning that there are some places he shouldn’t eliminate. When puppies are with their mothers, they quickly learn to go to the toilet away from the main sleeping area.

Investing in a crate is usually the easiest way to house train a young puppy. Contrary to what some people may think, crate training is actually not cruel to the animal. The crate becomes your puppy’s den, and he can use it when he needs some time away from potentially stressful family activities. It’s a good idea to feed your puppy in the crate, and make it comfortable so that he is happy to go into it.

When your puppy is comfortable in the crate, you can gradually start to shut door, then to leave the puppy alone in it for a little while. Allow your puppy to sleep in the crate, and, again, it will not go to the toilet in the sleeping area. Remember, routine and consistency makes house training easier and faster.

Do not give your dog anything to eat after dinnertime. Also, remember to also take him outside to go just before you go to bed at night. In the early stages of house training, you will need to get up during the night to take your puppy outside to go to the toilet, as he can’t hold on for very long. As soon as you get up in the morning, again take him outside to go to the toilet.

Also, make sure you take him to the same part of your yard each time. The smell there will encourage him to go to the toilet in that area. You may need to wait for a while he sniffs around, but do be patient, and remember to praise him when he does eventually go.

If your puppy does have an accident inside the house, use an enzyme-based cleaner to remove all of the traces. If you do not do this, the smell will persist there and he may be encouraged to go to the toilet there again in the future.

If your puppy does make a mistake, do not yell, get angry, or even worse, rub his nose in it. Doing this can lead to fear and toileting problems, such as hiding to go to toilet because they’re scared of your reaction. It can also damage your relationship with your dog. It is better to keep an eye on your puppy at all times, and give him every opportunity to do the right thing.

As with children, gentle persistence and consistency will lead to them eventually becoming house trained. If you do it correctly, it will be as stress free as possible, for both you and your pup.