Health Care for New Puppies
The advice below is only a guideline. When in doubt you should always consult and follow your local veterinarian’s advice or breeder. Local environment and your puppy’s individual requirements may differ from the schedule I have advised.
8 weeks
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Feed puppy 3-4 times a day small amounts. Do not change your puppy’s diet suddenly. A complete puppy food is recommended until 12 months of age.
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Enroll your puppy in a socialization course. Local obedience clubs or your veterinarian clinic should be able to help.
12 weeks
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Vaccination should be administered. Ask your vet about the most suitable vaccination type for your puppy’s future needs.
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Worm you puppy again.
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Reduce meals to 3 times a day.
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Victorian councils require dogs to be registered by this age.
16 weeks
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Booster vaccination is due.
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Worm you puppy again.
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Flea treatment can be used.
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Puppy can now be enrolled at local dog obedience club.
5 months to 8 months
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Start to reduce meals to twice a day.
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9 months to 12 + months
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Reduce meals to once a day
Other important information
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Plenty of water (non tip bowl).
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Plenty of exercise.
House training
House training seems to be one of the most difficult tasks most people face when getting a new puppy. In reality, with some patience, it is fairly easy to prevent those nasty accidents and teach your puppy to go to the toilet where you want it to go.
All puppies around 3 to 4 weeks of age start to leave the nest area to go to the toilet. You can use this natural instinct to encourage your pup to leave it’s nest i.e. the house
If you follow the steps listed below consistently you can train your puppy in a short period of time.
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Pick a toilet area convenient for you and your puppy. Near the backdoor is the most common. Remember you must have some light in the area as you will need to see what your puppy is doing.
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Establish a routine. If you let puppy out at 7am on a weekday you must let them out at the same time on weekends.
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Do not use products such as spray ’n’ wipe or disinfectant to clean up. They contain ammonia. Ammonia is a byproduct of urine. Dogs like to urinate where other dogs have been. By using anything that contains ammonia you are ensuring you dog used the same spot over and over again. By using Bio-Zet or similar products you are able to remove all traces of the scent.
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Watch you puppy. As you get used to you pup’s body language you should be able see behavior which indicates his desire to go to the toilet. Usual signs include sniffing the floor, circling or high levels of fidgeting. They may stand near the door they may disappear into another room.
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Be realistic. Could you hang on for 8 – 10 hours? Most puppies need to go every 2-3 hours. If you have to lock them in the laundry put some paper down this will make cleaning up easy.
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If you can get your pup to go to the toilet for 5 days without any accidents at all you are fairly close to having you dog totally house training.
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