Preparing for Puppy
Before Puppy Comes Home
When preparing for puppy, it is very important to have a plan in place. How will you train puppy? How will you socialize puppy? What do you need for puppy's care? Every puppy and family situation is different and may need to be customized to fit specific needs. However, here are some essentials that we believe can help make your puppy's transition home easier - feel free to browse and choose what works best for you and your pup. Please discuss these topics with your veterinarian. This is not an exhaustive resource for puppy raising and is not meant to be taken as professional training or veterinary advice.
​
​
Books
Online Classes and Communities
-
Puppy Culture: Puppy rearing for the first 12 weeks of life - option to buy DVDs or purchase streaming on demand. Other educational materials such as books and pamphlets on a variety of topics available, as well. There are also many free Youtube videos to browse demonstrating this technique by breeders or new puppy owners. We use this program to the best of our ability with our puppies. Should you continue with clicker training, you will need a clicker and your choice of healthy treats. You may also consider using a treat bag.
​
-
MadCap University: From the creator of Puppy Culture. They are currently offering a FREE 4-week puppy course. To claim: Create and verify your account. Go to “shop” and add the free course in your shopping cart, add your contact information and confirm. It will not take payment information - so no worries about being charged! This course will expire at some point and they will likely then offer a more "produced" version that will cost a small fee.
​
-
Positive Reinforcement Breeder Support Group: "PRBSG is a general topic support and educational group for breeders, trainers, and owners who are dedicated to training, managing, and living with their dogs in a force free manner."
​
-
DIY Doodle Grooming: "This group is for doodle owners who want to learn to groom their furry friend at home."
-
​We groom our doodles at home using these clippers, this blade for their body, this blade (included with most clipper kits) for sanitary areas and paws, and this slicker brush for coat maintenance.
-
The best way to maintain a tangle-free coat is to bathe and blow dry weekly. Use a high velocity blow dryer (like this one) to blow out knots, and then line brush and comb (like this video demonstrates) any mats that did not come out with the blow dryer. Using a professional quality shampoo and conditioner (like this set) also helps keep the coat in top shape, especially with frequent bathing.
-
​
-
Raising Dogs Naturally: "Together we can share opinions, knowledge, links and experiences to help each other make healthy and informed choices about our beloved pooches."
Crates, X-pens, and Beds
If you or a family member will be home with your puppy the majority of the day, we highly recommend crate training right away. However, when puppy will be left home for a few hours, we suggest that puppy is housed in an x-pen with a bed/crate, space to play, food/water, and a place to potty (we use a 24"x24" rabbit tray and these pellets) until their bladder matures.
We anticipate that our puppies will grow into a 30" crate. For this reason, it is best to find a crate with a divider like the one pictured above.
The x-pen above is compatible with the MidWest wire crate to maximize space if you choose a puppy pen setup, but there are many other great options. Please keep safety in mind for this style of set up. You will always want to remove your puppy's harness or collar when unsupervised and be sure to see if puppy will try to climb out of the x-pen before leaving them alone.
Toys and Chews
Smart Pet Love products like the Snuggle Puppy and Puppy Teething Aid are some of our favorite products. We have also used the Calmeroo, which we also really like. The Snuggle Puppy and Calmeroo are heartbeat comfort toys that help your puppy adjust to being in a crate away from his litter-mates and mom. The Puppy Teething Aid can be filled with water and frozen to help your puppy through the teething phase. All of our puppy packs include a Calmeroo and teether.
​
Chew toys are great for distraction/prevention of unwanted behaviors, downtime, and to make crate training a positive experience. Rubber, stuff-able chew toys can be filled with safe treats for puppy (like xylitol-free peanut butter, or homemade fillings) - they can also be frozen to help relieve teething pains. Enrichment and chew toys help puppy expend energy and reward them for appropriate discovery behaviors. You can read more about them at this awesome dog breeder's website. They even have a detailed page on how to stuff kong toys.
Food
We feed our puppies Fromm Gold puppy food and Tractor Supply Co. 4health puppy formula (lamb). If you decide on a different food than what your breeder choses, be sure to make the change gradually, over several meals. Our puppies eat 3 meals a day at the time they go home and we follow the directions as to the amount per day on the back of the food package. To find Fromm retailers click here.
Flea Preventative and Medications
For flea management we like to use Wondercide products. They have a spray that you can use directly on your dogs, as well as a yard spray. This product is NOT a treatment for an ongoing serious infestation.
"Paxxin and Vibactra Plus are being used by some veterinarians to help heal canine parvo.
We STRONGLY recommend using the natural antibiotic Vibactra Plus in conjunction with Paxxin to prevent secondary infections the parvo virus can cause. The herbs in Vibactra Plus are known to kill viruses, bacteria, fungi, and single celled organisms which no traditional antibiotic can do. Vibactra Plus covers are larger spectrum of pathogens giving a greater chance of puppy recovery.
Paxxin & Vibactra Plus can also be used to prevent parvo by dosing puppies who have been exposed to parvo. If given immediately after exposure to parvo, it helps prevent 90% of puppies from coming down with parvo virus."
​
Holistic Health Topics
We believe that puppies and dogs thrive when cared for in a holistic manner. We highly recommend our puppy families consider natural immunity or veterinary nosodes instead of vaccination when/if compatible with their future lifestyle and environment. If the risks of disease are too high for puppy's circumstances, we ask our puppy families to follow Dr. Dodd's vaccination schedule.
​
Exposing puppy to a variety of people, sounds, and environments right away is very important to have a well-socialized pet. The critical socialization period for a puppy ends at 16 weeks. Care must be taken, however, not to let puppy on the ground or other germy areas of public places until they have had some type of immunizing (natural exposure method, nosodes, or vaccines). If you choose to vaccinate, you must wait until 2 weeks after the second or third series of vaccinations (whichever your veterinarian recommends).
Young puppies are susceptible to contagious illnesses, such as the devastating parvovirus, as antibodies against disease given through their mother’s milk wane and they are in the process of creating their own. Unless being carried in some manner and protected from ground germs, please refrain from exposing your young puppy to pet stores, dog parks, dog daycare/kennels, public sidewalks/streets/trails, animals that have unknown health status or have been recently vaccinated, etc. When visiting your veterinarian, do not let puppy walk on the floor. Keep puppy in your arms or in a carrier/kennel when not on the exam table.
​
We also believe in delayed spay/neuter or sterilization techniques that do not compromise adult hormones. This allows for proper physical development and lowers the risk of certain diseases.
​
Holistic resources we recommend:
-
Healthy Pets - Dr. Karen Becker
Socialization
We cannot stress enough how critical socialization is for young puppies. As stated above, the critical period for puppies ends at roughly 16 weeks. Some say it actually ends closer to 12 weeks. It is IMPERATIVE if you have a puppy to expose them to other animals, people, sights, sounds, and experiences. Please research how to avoid reinforcing fear responses and how to facilitate POSITIVE experiences with things that are new and unexpected. Socializing your puppy properly will help curb behavioral issues, such as aggression.