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Puppy Care
Honey from the jar - 1/2 - 1 teaspoon into their mouths, is something I always give my
pups or adults when they appear un-well. Then I think about going to the vet.
It picks their sugar level up quickly and is wonderful.
Mac and Muffet
We would like to congratulate you on the
acquisition of your new Chihuahua puppy. Owning a Chihuahua can be an
extremely rewarding experience, but it also carries with it some responsibility.
We hope there notes will give you some help. If you have
questions concerning any subject related to your puppy’s health, please do not
hesitate to telephone us, or better still your local trusted Vet.
In the notes below we have outlined what works for our dogs.
Vets and other breeders will obviously have different ideas on certain subjects that we
have covered.
It is natural for your new puppy to be a little reserved and nervous when you first
receive him and maybe even for a few days after that. Remember he is a baby
and has now been up-rooted from his environment, siblings, and everything that he has
known until now in his short life. He has travelled by road or possibly by air to be with you,
handled by strangers and subjected to everything strange and foreign.
WOW – sure he’s going to be a bit nervous until he
gets to know you and his new surroundings.
Socialisation.
Keiko
The main socialisation period for dogs is between 4 and 16 weeks of age.
During that time your puppy is very impressionable to social influences. If it
has good experiences with men, women, children, cats, other dogs, etc., it is likely to
accept them throughout life. It the experiences are absent or unpleasant, it
may become apprehensive or adverse to any of them. Therefore, during the
period of socialisation, I encourage you to expose your dog to any many types of social
events and influences as possible. However since the puppy will not have built
up a complete immunity from the vaccination program until approximately 14 weeks of age
you have the dilemma of endeavouring to socialise him on the one hand and try to isolate
him from exposure to potentially harmful diseases on the other. The aim is to
strike a balance and obviously not expose him to the risk of disease but at the same time
ensure that as much socialisation as possible, both with people and other animals takes
place
Playing.
Hogan and Samara
Stimulating play is important during the first week. Stalking and pouncing are
important play behaviour in puppies and are necessary for proper muscular development.
If given sufficient outlet for this behaviour with toys, your puppy will be less likely to
use family members for these activities.
The best toys are lightweight and movable. These include wads of paper and
rubber balls. Any toy that is small enough to be swallowed should be avoided
Vaccinations.
Zella-Zu
These are vital to prevent deadly diseases such as Parvovirus (still seen regularly
throughout Australia), Distemper, Hepatitis and Kennel Cough.
By the time you receive your puppy he will have been
vaccinated with a C3 vaccination and this will reflect on the Vaccination Card, which will
accompany him. The date of the next vaccination, the C5, will be shown on the
card.
He will only have built up immunities 2 weeks after his C5 so be careful where you take
him.
De-Worming, Flea and Tick Recommendations.
Important to Note:
Your puppy has been de-wormed every two weeks since the age of two weeks using drontal
syrup. At six weeks of age they are treated with milbemax, which includes heartworm.
(drontal syrup does not). We will let you know when the last treatment was and when
the next one is due. This treatment must be done on the same date every month.
When the puppy has been vaccinated against Heartworm (annual vaccination) then the worming treatment is only necessary every
three months.
For Flea and tick prevention I use Advantix. I will advise you when the last
treatment wwas done and when the next one is due.
This is a guide of what I do,m please consult with your
vet for his recommendation. Some products do not necessarily work in all areas.
Feeding.
Annastasia and Malibu
Diet type is essential for proper growth and development. Home cooked meals
are the worst kind of diet you could feed your puppy. Achieving a balance of
calcium and phosphorus, as well as other micronutrients can be very difficult.
It would be great if adding extra calcium to these diets would fix the problem, but it
only unbalances other factors in the diet.
Although there are several good products on the market, including the
Hills Science Diet and Royal Cannin, I recommend Masterfoods Dry Kibble products (Optimum
and Advance only – not Pedigree)
Masterfoods Australia manufacture a range of puppy/dog food products. I only
use their products, as they are not manufactured from any genetically modified products.
The same cannot be said for imported foods. Their product range
includes:
1. Pedigree
– My dogs don’t like this, poo a lot and leave most of it. Not
recommended
2. Optimum – I have found this to be very good, my dogs love it, it is high in nutrition so they need less of it and poo less. They are in excellent health and their coats are very good. It is also not as expensive as the Advance food so, I think with Optimum you can strike a happy medium between nutrition and cost. Woolworths normally stock this product but you will find places like Big W much cheaper.
3. Advance – The top of the range and the most expensive.
The dry kibble has been researched and formulated by Vets and animal nutritionists, spending millions of dollars to come up with the right balance of everything that your puppy needs to stay as healthy as possible. If you are using a balanced food, you will not need milk, calcium powder, or other supplements. Poor diet contributes to tendon, ligament and joint problems, poor coat quality, poor immune function, diarrhoea and flatulence. Avoid pet mince, this is full of preservatives, which cause Vitamin B deficiency in dogs, and it can be made from “off” meat and cause tummy upsets.
At about 6 weeks of age your puppy started eating Optimum Puppy Performance (dry kibble mixed with water) and as it got a bit older less and less water was added. When you receive him he is now eating 3 small meals of Optimum Puppy Performance Dry Kibble each day. The quantities that you should feed him are stated on the packet, according to his weight.
I suggest that you keep him on this food until (2 meals a day) until he is 12 months old. After that change him onto Optimum Dry Kibble for Small breeds. Each time you change his diet slowly introduce the new kibble over a 4-day period. (Day 1 – 75% old food and 25% new food; then 50% and 50%, then 75% and 25% and on the 4th day 100% new food). When changing diets you may find a change in stools.
Once a week give him a FRESH (UNCOOKED) chicken neck - we sometimes give (UNCOOKED) marrow bones, which will also help to clean his teeth. Don’t buy it from Woollies or Coles as theirs can sometimes be old and give him salmonella poisoning. Rather get it VERY FRESH from a butcher shop.
NEVER give your dog any cooked or sharp bones – these are their biggest killers! Junk Food is also BAD for them.
Your puppy is a Chihuahua, the smallest breed of dog in the world, so he
won’t eat much. Rather buy small bags of food that will not go off and
keep it in an airtight Tupperware container so weasels, cockroaches, ants and flies
can’t get to it. Don’t overfeed him as he can get overweight and
this can open up a whole new set of health problems.
Some breeders give their dogs a high percentage of raw meat - claiming that that was what
they used to eat in the wild. Yes, when they were wild wolves; but over
thousands of years evolution has changed them, just like humans who also used to eat large
quantities of raw meat and had a life expectancy of only about 25 years. I don't believe that this
is good for them and especially in little Chihuahua puppies it can be quite harmful to
their tender and developing stomaches.
He needs fresh, clean and cool water every. Don’t leave it out in the sun
where it will heat up and don’t leave it where birds can mess in it - bird droppings
can make them sick. If you have rats or mice empty his bowl every evening and
wash it out as they can also bring diseases.
I also like to give them a daily meal of fresh meat and
chopped up raw vegetables. i.e. Red Capsicum, green beens, some grated cheese or
boiled/scrambled egg.
Trimming Nails.
Beijing
Puppies have very sharp toenails. They can be blunted and shortened using an
emery board or a piece of carpenter’s fine sandpaper. They can also be
trimmed with nail scissors or with clippers made for dogs and cats. However if
you remove too much nail, you will cut the quick and cause bleeding and pain.
If the puppy has clear or light coloured it is possible to see the quick as a pink line
runs through the nail. With black nails this is more difficult and therefore
these should be trimmed only about 1 mm a time until the puppy is beginning to resent it
when it is likely you are getting very near to the quick.
If in doubt, please consult your Vet and they will show you
exactly how to trim the nails or they can trim them, normally at a very reasonable rate.
Training.
A new pup
Responsible ownership involves having a
well-trained dog and this training should be commenced as soon as the puppy is
acquired.
Puppies are continuously learning from the moment their eyes are open and responsible
breeders will ensure that elements of training have commenced long before you acquire the
puppy. Remember training is not some formal process but should occur all the
time we are together with a dog.
Thus puppies should be socialised. They should be handled by family members
and strangers as soon as possible and then be introduced to other dogs, preferably to
puppies, as soon as their vaccination program allows.
Basic training of a puppy is not a very difficult task provided that certain simple rules are followed: -
Ø Keep the tasks simple and only go one step at a time.
Ø Treat sounds and words as commands and not sentences.
Ø When trying to program the puppy to respond to your command, avoid distractions and competing activities, for example you will never get a puppy to learn to walk round the garden on a collar and lead if Aunt Emma is playing ball with her mother in another part of the garden.
Ø Be effusive with your praise and don’t be afraid to use food rewards.
Ø Ignore failures and certainly do not punish your puppy, and finally.
Ø Be consistent and this applies to all members of the family.
The End