Once you have chosen your puppy you need to buy some basic equipment before you pick it up:
•
A Soft Broad Nylon or Leather Collar like an
Ancol Nylon Puppy Collar.
•
Food and Water Bowls. We suggest depending on the size of your dog the
Armitage Non-Slip Bowl, the
Armitage Double Bowl or preferably a
Non Slip Stainless Steel Bowl. Stainless steel bowls last a lot longer and are more hygienic.
•
A Puppy Brush and Comb. We suggest a
Mikki Puppy Grooming Kit as this contains all the tools required to maintain a good healthy skin and coat for your puppy’s delicate skin.
•
A Dog Bed, preferably one that will be a suitable size when your dog is fully grown. A good long lasting Bed is the
Perla Plastic Bed, then line it with
Vetbed which is a warm, washable and durable liner sold by the meter that can be cut to shape.
•
A Selection of Toys suitable for a puppy. The
Kong Puppy range is good as they can offer toys for teething, playing, boredom, and much more. Each toy has its own use and numerous toys will keep the puppy interested.
• Food that the puppy has been fed on by the breeder. Either
A Complete Dry Food or a
Mixer.• Puppy training pads like
Johnson’s Training Pads are good to help toilet train your puppy without making a mess.
•
Johnson’s Anti-Chew Spray to prevent your puppy chewing your furniture or valuables.
• You may also want to reward your dog occassionally with a
Dog Treat .
When you arrive home with your new puppy it will be very nervous and scared as it’s probably the first time it has been removed from its mother and it is in new surroundings. During these first few days you have to donate lots of time to help the puppy acclimatise and settle into it’s new home. Teach it
Where It Can Sleep,
Where It Will Eat and where it should go to the toilet. During these first few days it’s essential to let your puppy know what it can and cannot do, show it that you are the dominant member of the pack by being firm when required and rewarding when the puppy does what is required. The sooner you lay down the ground rules the sooner and more likely you will have an obedient well trained dog. This is also the best time to get your puppy used to being on a lead,
Groomed, being checked over by you and the vet, socialising and used to roads and other people. This must only be done once your puppy has completed its course of inoculations.
Also during this time you should try and introduce your dog to a
Well Balanced Diet, if not already on one. Dogs are carnivores that have the ability to digest some corn, rice and vegetables - therefore it is essential that your dog doesn’t eat the same foods as you but has
A Complete Dog Diet that is made up of good quality ingredients.
The best diets on the market are called ‘Super Premium’ Diets and are made from human grade ingredients that do not contain additives or colourants. They are normally more expensive to buy initially but you feed a lot less of it, making it cheaper in the long run, and it is more efficient, therefore creating less waste from your puppy.
The diets are balanced for the size and age of your puppy and tests have shown that feeding these foods makes the first vet visit for a major problem to be on average two years later than if you were feeding a lower grade food to your dog!
It also has been proven that your dog will live on average 18 months longer when fed a ‘Super Premium’ food than a ‘Premium’ diet. The ‘Super Premium’ diets are
Pro Plan,
Hills Science Plan,
Royal Canin and
Eukanuba.
If your puppy is not already on a ‘Super Premium’ diet and you want to change it over onto one remember that your puppy’s digestive system is very delicate and the new food needs to be introduced over a period of a least 4 days, but preferably 1 week. Please note it is not a necessity to feed a ‘Super Premium’ food, but if you are going to do it at any point during your dog’s life then do it during the first 2 years as this lays the foundation to a healthy skeleton and digestive system.
Also if feeding a complete dry food always have a bowl of water available for your puppy/ dog to drink.
By the time your puppy is six months old and has been with you for at least 3 months it should be trained and used to it's new life with you.
Some breeds of dogs are easier to train and some mature sooner than other breeds so this isn’t a set time but you should see an improvement during this period. Reasons for no improvement can be you are not showing the dog who is the boss and that you are the pack leader; you are not spending enough quality time with the dog; its bored or not exercised enough; or its just a breed that takes a lot longer than other breeds. All of these problems can be resolved with a little time and patience.