New Buyer Info

The puppies will receive their 6 week shot, but depending on when the puppy will be coming to you, he or she might still need his or her 9 week and 12 week shots. You will receive a shot record that will show all of the vaccinations that your puppy has received. We also give an intranasal Bordetella at or after 8 weeks of age. Rabies vaccinations are usually completed around the 15th or 16th week of age, but your vet will recommend when to complete it. You will need to schedule an appointment with your vet to complete these vaccinations. Our vet also recommends completing another 5-way vaccination at 16 weeks of age. Please do not allow your puppy to be on public ground where other dogs have been until they have received all of their vaccinations. Parvo can live in the ground for years where infected dogs have gone potty. Symptoms of Parvo are vomiting, diarrhea, and being lethargic. Parvo is highly contagious and can be fatal. Please also keep your puppy away from other dogs until they are fully vaccinated if the other dogs are not up to date on their shots.

Ask your vet which dewormer they recommend. They should recommend a monthly heartworm preventative that will also take care of worms such as roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms. Ask your vet if they also provide a heartworm preventative that guards against whipworms also.

Flea and tick medicine is also highly recommended, and we suggest using K9 advantix. This is a liquid that goes on the body of the dog and is waterproof. It repels and kills fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. Infected mosquitoes biting your dog causes heartworms, so it's important to use K9 Advantix to repel them. Fleas cause tapeworms when a dog chews at his or her skin where the flea is and ingests the flea. We do not recommend giving any type of flea and tick medicine that the dog will eat by mouth as it could be very harmful to your dog and have major negative side effects.

Litter Box Training: We use Vibrant Life paper pellet cat litter and a cat litter box to train the puppies to use a litter box. You can continue this training at home if you would like, but in order for your puppy to remember to use the litter box, there will need to be a litter box in every room that the puppy is allowed in so that he/she remembers to use it. You will need to place the litter boxes in low traffic areas. If the puppy has an accident, they will go there again if they smell any trace of urine or poop on the floor. We recommend cleaning the area with vinegar or liquid pet odor eliminators. If they poop outside of the litter box, place the poop inside the litter box to help get the smell started. If you would like to train your puppy to go outside to potty, you can place some of the litter outside and take the puppy to it each time to help them transition. Please remember that your puppy should not touch the ground or dirt until he/she has had all of the required vaccinations. We recommend buying a strand of bells to hang from your doorknob and have the puppy ring the bells each time you take him/her outside so that the puppy learns to ring the bell when he/she needs to go potty. You can find the strand of bells on Amazon. The link below tells how often you need to take your puppy outside to potty and gives you specific times to take them.

A great webpage that provides a lot of information for potty training your puppy is at the following link on the AKC website: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-potty-train-a-puppy/ The more consistent you are with potty training, the sooner they will learn.

Here is another great resource from the AKC website that provides information about crate training: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-crate-train-your-dog-in-9-easy-steps/    

Your new puppy will need something to chew on. We do not recommend raw hides as they stay undigested in the stomach for a long time. For teething we recommend ice cubes, frozen gumabones, wet tea towel that is tied in a knot and frozen, carrots, natural smoked bones, real marrow bones, nylabones, big denta kongs, and elk antlers. Just be sure to supervise them at all times when they are chewing on these items.

We also recommend feeding your puppy in his or her crate as this will help the puppy stay focused on the meal and helps them see the crate as a good place that they enjoy being in.

If your puppy has to travel a far distance, we recommend using Greenies Pill Pockets and place a half of a Benadryl tablet in it per 10 lbs and give to your dog to help relieve motion sickness and calm their anxiety. This is recommended by a vet.

The puppy will come with a small bag of food that we have been feeding them, and we would advise you to mix this food with the food you would like to feed them so that their stomachs will not be upset and cause digestive problems. We feed them Purina Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy food, the shredded blend. We do not recommend ever solely feeding a dog grain-free food. According to the following link, the FDA is investigating grain-free dog food because it is possibly causing dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM): https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/fda-grain-free-diet-alert-dcm/

A list of dog food that is not recommended and a list of dog food that is recommended is added below. The list is given from a veterinary clinic. Nutrition plays a huge part in your puppy’s overall health, and it can affect their coats and how much they shed. Shedding is normal for puppies because they will shed their puppy coats, and it can take up to two years for their adult coats to fully grow in.

Hip Dysplasia: Please do not allow your puppy to jump off of high surfaces because their joints are still developing! According to instituteofcaninebiology.org, genetics counts for only 15-40% of the quality of hips in dogs. "This means that some fraction of the variation in the quality of the hips is the result of non-genetic, or 'environmental' influences. This is one reason why decades of strong selection has resulted in only modest reductions in hip dysplasia in some breeds." Environments play a huge role in the quality of your dog's hips. Stairs and slippery surfaces should be avoided with puppies that are three months or younger. Proper nutrition and the right amount of exercise also play roles in the quality of your dog's hips. These webpages provide more information about hip dysplasia: https://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/the-10-most-important-things-to-know-about-canine-hip-dysplasia and https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/hip-dysplasia-in-dogs/

Please read the following webpage about Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD): https://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/resources/ivdd-in-dogs/  Most smaller breed dogs are more prone to this disease, so please take steps to help prevent your dog from developing it by providing steps and ramps for him or her to use when getting on and off furniture and beds once they are older than three months. Proper weight management and using a harness can also help prevent it.

Please read the following webpage about poisonous plants that are toxic to dogs: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/protect-your-pooch-from-poisonous-plants/

The following webpage provides a list of foods that are not safe to feed your dog: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets

INTERNAL PARASITES: We spare no expense in keeping parasites at bay. However, some are incredibly hard to manage. Parasites are a common problem in any dog’s life. All puppies are born with round worms. They can pass through the mother’s milk even if the mother has been dewormed prior to having the puppies. Worms are not hard to keep controlled because they respond well to medication, and we prevent the puppies from getting worms again by keeping them off of the ground. We deworm our puppies weekly beginning at two weeks of age to eradicate the worms passed to them from their mother. Other parasites are hard to keep controlled because puppies can easily reinfect themselves. Because puppies are so young and have immature immune systems, parasites can affect them worse than adult dogs. Two common bacterial parasites that live in a dog’s intestinal tract are coccidia and giardia. They are not worms. They can come from various places such as the ground, water, feces, food, other animals, etc. They live in all of our environments and are always there to deal with. Adult dogs do not tend to be affected by them, however. We give specific medicine to the puppies to prevent coccidia so we rarely have a problem with it arising. Giardia is a different story. It affects half of all puppies. These are parasites that stick to fur and have a very hard shell, so it is hard to kill them. The hard shell helps them to survive outside of the body. They can live in water or on a surface. Sanitation is very important to keep coccidia and giardia at bay, and we do our best to keep the puppies as clean as possible and disinfect their living areas. However, puppies can eat poop or step in some poop and reinfect themselves when they lick their feet. During the stress of traveling and going to new homes, these parasites can resurface and cause loose and fatty stool. They can also cause the puppies to lose their appetite and get dehydrated. We give the puppies medicine to prevent giardia from arising, but it does not always keep the puppies from having it. Giardia can sometimes be seen in fecals but not always. The giardia antigen snap test is very sensitive and vets commonly use it to see if a puppy has giardia. However, some puppies will always show a positive and will always carry giardia even after a twenty day treatment. The treatment for giardia is oral dewormer for ten days and sometimes a vet will give an antibiotic in addition to the dewormer for ten days. The puppy is then retested after another ten days have passed. Even if the puppy is clear of giardia but has dead giardia DNA in their intestinal tract, the snap test can still test positive. When you take your puppy to the vet, your vet might want to complete this snap test. If the results come back later as positive, the vet will want to treat it. We can provide the medication for you by sending you a ten day supply and also a home test kit to recheck the puppy after 10 days if you would like us to instead of having to pay your vet to do so. If you are not seeing any problems with your new puppy’s stool, I would not recommend completing the twenty day treatment over and over if you keep getting positives. Taking an antibiotic that treats giardia over a long period of time can cause seizures. Probiotics are great to give puppies while they are on antibiotics. Please remember that we do our best to keep all parasites under control and follow a strict medicine schedule, but parasites are very common and should not be something to cause too much concern as long as you are providing the right treatment and prevention. They do not cause death unless the puppies are not given the correct medication and care. Parvo does cause quick death, and lives in the dirt for years which is why we ask our new buyers to please keep your new puppy off of the ground until he or she has received at least three of his or her 5 way parvo vaccinations. 

See the New Puppy Checklist below for help in knowing what items you need to purchase for your new puppy.