What You Can Expect

Your Puppy:

• Is 8 weeks or older before leaving
• Is vet checked
• Has had the first vaccination
• Has been dewormed
• Has been treated for parasites
• Is happy and healthy, and
• Is potty trained

Your puppy's first day with his new family is a very stressful day for him. The puppy may not eat or drink. This is normal, but please make best efforts to get him to take a drink of water. Bottle water is best for the puppy.

It is very important that the puppy not be stressed when you get him home. We ask that you comfort him as much as possible so that he feels safe and secure.

It is best for the puppy to remain at the home until he has adjusted and settled into his new home before going out in public. It is best to have his vaccinations completed.

Give the puppy a few days to adjust and bond with you before starting into the training and discipline.

Diet

I recommend that you keep the puppy on the same diet for the first few months. If you decide to change their diet, do so gradually so you do not upset their tummy.

I also recommend that you not introduce treats before 4-6 weeks. The puppy's digestion is just developing and is not ready for the ingredients found in treats. If you need to use something for training just use the kibble, but more importantly use your VOICE as the reward. The puppy will respond more to your voice in the beginning stages.

Rawhides are not ideal. Other types of chews should be given once they are a bit older and you should supervise them when they are given the chews.

Crate Sizes

My recommendation for crates are as listed. Please feel free to ask me what is best for your puppy. I will most likely tell you which one you need.

For smaller dogs (10 - 15 lbs) the use of the 24" x 18" x 21" size wire crate is best.

For medium sized dogs (15 - 30 lbs) the 30" x 21" x 24" is best. I find the wire crates to be much more effective in the transition period.

If you have purchased your puppy from me, and we have discussed crates, remember to give the puppy the full crate, no divider needed. As our puppies will respect the whole crate as they come from a much bigger space. So the crate would seem quite small to them and they will not mess in the crate.

IMPORTANT: Please purchase new crates. If from a family member be sure to sanitize throughly.

Just remember make the crate a happy, comfortable place for the puppy. This will be his/her safe place where they will want to be. Toys and treats also help with the crate training.

Also we need to have a confined space for the puppy. I highly recommend buying a new metal puppy play pen. Please note when buying used you can put your puppy at risk as you don't know the history of the animals that used the pen. I stress the importance of buying your supplies new and not take any chances with used items. Thank you for putting your puppy first.

Puppy Classes

We recommend that first time owners take a “Puppy Class”. The classes are highly beneficial and will teach you a lot about your puppy and what kind of behaviour you can expect. Please check pet stores and vets for local class schedules.

With respect to training, be consistent in what you do and the puppy will learn much faster. They learn through consistency and reward. My saying is “reward the good and ignore the bad”.

The most important thing is to make the puppy feel secure and safe and everything else will fall into place. A happy puppy is everything.

Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have any questions or concerns regarding your puppy.

Parasites in your Puppy

Please be advised that all parasites mentioned above are treatable. This is not life threatening to your puppy, but does need to be treated. We treat all our adult dogs as well as our puppies for parasites. Prevention is key in controlling parasites.

We strongly recommend that customers take a stool sample to their veterinarian when the puppy is due for their second vaccination. Continued treatment is recommended. Please ask your veterinarian for details on products such as Revolution.

Grooming

All poodle cross puppies/dogs will require grooming, as the hair will continue to grow.

How often will depend on the length of hair you like and are able to manage. An average period between grooms is any where from 6-10 weeks.

It is very important to find a groomer that you like and trust.

It's ideal for the puppies to see a groomer for the first puppy trim by the age of 12-16 weeks. Your puppy is not protected until after all vaccinations are completed. I suggest you find a private or mobile groomer who will come to your home for the first groom. Plan ahead as most good groomers will be booked in advanced. You'll want to introduce the puppy to the groomer as soon as possible. So I suggest short frequent visits for the first few months. This way when it is time for a full trim or shave down the puppy has already established a relationship with the groomer. This will be less stressful on the puppy and easier for the groomer. Please do not over bathe. Too many baths will dry out their skin.

Puppies will need:

• To have the eye area kept clean and short, as not to poke his/her eyes. Hair in the eyes will irritate the eyes and will cause them to water.
• Also the bum area should be kept trimmed to keep the area clean.
• The toe nails should be trimmed often so that the nails don't get too long and hurt the puppy/dogs feet. Long nails are very painful to walk on. So please remember to trim toe nails. We often forget because most times we cannot see them under the furry feet.
• Ears must be cleaned and excess hair removed from the canal.

The above can be done as maintenance grooms, please see your groomer for puppy grooms, they are usually less expensive than full grooms.

Your puppy's health is the most important thing, so regular grooming is very important to their health. Dogs that have been neglected will end up with matted hair. Mats are very painful to the dog. The mats tighten over time and actually pull away from the skin causing the dog to bleed and have big sores. If you choose to groom yourself, that is ok, but please make sure to brush and comb the dog a few times a week to avoid mats.

Your groomer will be happy to show you how to properly brush and comb your dog. They can also recommend the proper type of tools to use depending on the type of coat your dog has.

Please do your part in keeping your pets happy and healthy.

Be a responsible pet owner

Finally, please be responsible pet owners and have your pets spayed/neutered. This is very important in helping control the population of unwanted pets.

Please speak with your veterinarian to arrange the procedure. All pets should be spayed/neutered between 6 to 12 months of age depending on breed.