Puppy Care Tips
Please do not take your new puppy out to any public places until the puppy has received all of the vaccinations required by your vet, which is usually 12-14 weeks old. This means do not allow puppy to come in contact with any other animals/people you do not know or play in grass at a public place. If it is your own backyard, that is fine. Puppies are highly acceptable to a lot of germs, just like a new baby. Sometimes strangers want to have the puppy lick their fingers or put them in their mouths, etc. This is not safe for your new baby.
Keep your puppy on the same food that you were given at the time of puppies arrival or pickup. This will ensure that they do not have any stomach upsets. If for some reason you do have to switch foods, please gradually switch over to the new food by mixing half and half for a few days before putting on the new food 100%. If you do not, the puppy may show signs of diarrhea or soft stools. Do not become alarmed by this, it will usually clear up in a few days and be firm again.
Sometimes after your new puppy arrives, you may notice a small amount of blood in the stool. This is common and is caused by stress of going to a new home. If it continues after 2-3 days of arrival or develops into a runny diarrhea with blood in it, consult your vet for some medications. This sometimes develops into Coccidia, which are small protozoans (one celled organisms) that live in the intestinal tract and doesn’t present a problem until the puppy becomes stressed and then it becomes an issue. Medications such as Albon, can easily take care of this problem and should clear up in about a week. Your puppy was giving prevention treatment for Coccidia and Giardia (another intestinal parasite) before sending to you to help avoid any issues, however, sometimes they can still occur. This prevention is also on the puppy food sample we sent you. That is why we ask that you feed that bag to the puppy first. We also give the puppies a one time treatment to kill any Giardia in their system, as a precautionary, the day before they leave here. For this reason, your puppy will arrive Giardia free. Our Vet recommends that you do not have your Vet do a snap Giardia test on the puppies, because they will sometimes give a false positive. It is recommended that you wait at least 30 days before doing any testing to get an accurate result. There is no need to overmedicate the puppies to treat something that they do not have.
When housebreaking your puppy, keep the puppy on a regular feeding schedule and take food away between meals. Take puppy out to eliminate first thing in the morning and then once every 30 minutes to an hour. Also always take the puppy outside after meals and when he wakes up from a nap. If you are not at home with the puppy during the day, provide the puppy with pads for him/her to eliminate on. Reward puppy for a good job with soft chewable treats.
Another issue a lot of people have is play biting. This link is most helpful: https://www.purina.com//articles/dog/puppy/behavior/how-to-stop-puppy-biting
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia, or also known as low blood sugar, is a disorder that occurs mainly in small breed puppies between 6-12 weeks of age. It is often precipitated by stress and can occur without warning. It might appear after the puppy misses a meal, chills, becomes exhausted from playing or has a digestive upset. These upsets place an additional strain on it’s energy reserves and brings on the symptoms.
Hypoglycemia is a real threat to these tiny puppies. Watch for your puppy to become tired or droopy. The first signs are those of listlessness and depression. They are followed by muscular weakness, tremors, and later convulsions, coma or even death. The puppy may appear weak, wobbly, and jerky or the puppy may be found laying still on it’s side.
If your puppy has any symptoms of hypoglycemia, you must act fast! If the puppy is awake, give it Nutri-Cal, honey or Karo Syrup my mouth. You can put a little bit on your finger and give to them. You should see signs of improvements within 30 minutes. If no response, then call your vet at once.
To prevent Hypoglycemia from happening, do not allow the puppy to overtire. Supervise closely with children to make sure that the puppy gets enough rest. Keep puppy warm, don’t allow to become chilled. Your tiny puppy is a house dog and should not be living outdoors. We recommend that you carry the puppy to their food dish for the first few days after arriving to their new home to make sure that they know where it is. We also recommend that you have 15 minutes of play time and then allow the puppy to rest and make sure that they eat and drink on a regular basis thru out the day.
Make sure the puppy eats at least every 4 hrs, more often if they puppy is very small. Keep water available at all times. You can give ½ tsp of honey or Nutri-cal morning and night for the first couple of days to prevent the low blood sugar, just as a precautionary measure.