What you need to know to care for your new puppy ~

Your puppy's nutritional needs:

Nutrition is the most important thing for caring for your dog. Good food will help your dog live longer, decrease medical problems/vet bills, creates less waste (poop) and reduces the smell of waste.

The food that I feed my dogs/puppies is called Wellness Super 5 mix – Just of Puppy kibble Just for Puppy Recipe for Dogs, we use carefully chosen, authentic ingredients, for the complete health of your developing puppy. This special recipe provides whole-body nutritional support during the important foundation year, with the optimal balance of nutrient-rich whole foods to fulfill the unique health needs of your growing puppy.

  • Natural Source of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) - Promotes Brain Development
  • Promotes Bone & Muscle Development
  • Smaller Kibble Size for Smaller

Visit the Wellness website to read how Wellness is superior to other dog food brands

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  • Strong Teeth & Bones- Puppies need the right mineral balance to ensure bones grow at the proper rate. We guarantee our levels of calcium and phosphorus on every bag.
  • DHA- Supports Healthy Brain Development- We guarantee the level of DHA on every bag. Research suggests this important fatty acid helps support cognitive development, vital to learning and training.
  • Energy for Growth & Play- Carbohydrates provide energy. We use oatmeal, barley and brown rice because they’re easy to digest and full of nutrients.
  • Healthy Muscle Growth- Puppies need increased amounts of protein. We use high-quality sources including deboned chicken and salmon meal.
  • Optimal Nutrient Absorption- We ensure excellent nutrient digestibility through our Digestool® confirmation studies - less nutrients in the stool, means more nutrients stay in the body.
  • Guaranteed Great Taste- With satisfaction guaranteed, we use deboned chicken and whitefish to provide a taste that dogs love.
HEALTH GUARANTEE EXTENSION

As a breeder animal health is my top priority.  That is why I highly recommend NuVet Plus® Immune system builder to all of my customers.  It helps to support the puppy’s still maturing immune system which will helps protect them from a variety of health issues caused by free radicals, including allergies, skin & coat issues, ear infections and more.In fact, I feel it’s so important, that all of my puppies are started on NuVet Plus before they go home.  Also, to encourage my customers to continue giving their new puppy NuVet, I will extend the terms and conditions of my guarantee an additional one year as long as you give your new puppy NuVet Plus® daily, as recommended by the manufacturer, starting as soon as you bring 
your new puppy home.NuVet Plus is not sold in stores.  It must be ordered directly from NuVet using my special order code 83406.  You may order online by going to www.nuvet.com/83406  or you may order by phone at 800-474-7044 using order code 83406 

Crate:

You need a good crate to keep your puppy safe and comfortable. I don't recommend a plastic crates because the air does not flow through them very well and the dogs get hot. You want a nice wire coated crate Size SMALL 24" x 18" x 21" (around that size)

Treats & Chew Toys:

If your puppy does not have good crew toys to chew on you can bet they will decide to chew on your favorite pair of shoes or nice furniture. It’s not their fault…. It’s their nature. This chewing instinct is worse when the puppy is teething. So PLEASE have good chew toys.

Despite what you might read Rawhide and Greenies are not good for small dogs. They can choke and die from the pieces that break off while they are chewing.

A GREAT chew toy/treat is called a Bully Stick. Bully Sticks can be found at any pet store. Keep a good supply of these around. Rope toys and plush toys with squeakers are also good toys. Make sure you have a variety. Remember he/she is a baby and they will get bored with just one toy.

Comb:

I recommend a nice metal comb with fine teeth on one side and wider teeth on the other. Most places know this as a Greyhound Comb. 

Brush:

You will need a nice wire pin brush. 

Shampoo and Conditioner: 

I highly recommend Espana products: http://www.espanaproducts.com/index.htm

SILK All Natural Protein Shampoo
SILK All Natural Protein Conditioner
SILK All Natural Protein Detangler

Remember to always dilute the shampoo and conditioner before using it. After the bath spray with the detangler for extra conditioning.  

What to do with the puppy if you work or have to leave for a few hours

People often ask me "what do I do with the puppy when I go to work or if we have to leave for several hours".
This is a great questions as you don't want to put the puppy in a crate all the time. So what I suggest is to buy an ex-pen. You can connect the 
ex-pen to the sides of a nice wire crate. Put a few piddle pads in there with some toys, a Bully stick and water. Your puppy will have room to move around, play and sleep when they want to.

Here are a few examples:
You can buy ex-pens at almost any pet store. I recommend at least a 30" high ex-pen. If you want a bigger area, you can buy 2 ex-pens and connect them together. In the summer I connect 4 ex-pens together and wrap them around a big shade tree and let the puppies play in there. This keeps them safe and they still get to enjoy the outdoors. Ex-pens are flexible and can be setup anywhere to accommodate your situation. So I highly recommend buy one or two.
When you are not using your ex-pen, it folds flat and you can hang it on a couple nails in your garage.

Don't forget the Piddle Pads

Before your puppy goes home we have already started potty training with Piddle Pads. That way if the puppy has to go and you don't see him/her sniffing and circling (indicating that they need to go outside) they will a least go on the piddle pads.

However, piddle pads are also fun toys for puppies. They can drag them around, rip them up and they make a crinkle noise. That is some fun stuff for puppies to play with. So I also recommend Piddle Pad Holders to keep the pads in one place and keep the puppy from playing with it.