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Taking Care of Your New Puppy |
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Should I spay or neuter my animal? Free or Low Cost Spay or Neuter in Tennessee Taking Care of your new cat or kitten Taking Care of your new puppy or dog Archived Articles from Citizen Tribune Dog packs prompt discount rate for pet spay/neutering
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Congratulations on your new puppy. It is so important to learn what you can about your new puppy before it has already grown up. Here is a little information for you about your new puppy and taking care of it. 1. The first thing you should do is take your puppy to your local vet. Let him take a look at it, give him the correct shots, and so on. 2. If you cannot get to a
vet right away, inspect your puppy. Know every part of him, so
if there were a change you would know what it was. We will start at
the ears. Take a look at them inside
and make sure they are clear of debris. If you notice back,
coffee-grain looking yuck in his/her ear, then your puppy is most likely
3. The next thing to do is to look at its eyes to make sure they are clear. If they have discharge, then there could be a sign of an eye infection or upper respiratory infection. 4. Next, look at its mouth and notice his baby teeth. The baby teeth will fall out around 4 months of age and start to get new adult teeth in. Right now they are probably very sharp, but once the adult teeth come in, they won't be as sharp. By the age of 6 months, the baby teeth should have all fallen out and be replace with adult teeth. If there are still some baby teeth left behind, your veterinarian will be able to remove these baby teeth. It is very important to remove the baby teeth as it can cause problems later on. Brushing your puppies teeth is also important on keeping them clean. If you start them out young, they don't really mind having their teeth brushed. They have special finger tooth brushed that you can get to use. DO NOT use human toothpaste as it can cause ulcers in the stomach since they tend to swallow it. They have special pet toothpaste with flavors. 5. Next, we move on down to the feet. This is a very important part because if you don't practice this part, you may end up having problems later on. You want your puppy to feel comfortable with you touching his feet and toes. As they get older, and are not familiar with you touching their feet, they tend to not let you touch them. Some dogs will even bit you if you touch them. Massage their feet every day. They do not mind it as puppies. As far as trimming their toenails, you can use just ordinary fingernail clippers. Just take the very tips off. On some puppies, they have clear nails on the end. They are just like out nails. When it starts to get pink, there is a vein that you will nip if you clip it. It is a little painful, but you can apply either corn starch or flour to the tip to stop it from bleeding. Most puppies have 5 toenails. The fifth one is on the inside, lower down. This tends to be forgotten about and can curl around into the skin and cause foot problems. Trip the back nails too. If your puppy has black nails, then just trim the tips off. You should probably trim the nails about every 3-4 weeks. But the most important thing if to keep touching the feet as they will get used to it when they are older. When they get to be about 85 pounds, you definitely don't want to be wrestling with him then just to clip the nails. 6. Bathing is important not just to keep the smell down but also the bacteria in his skin. Dogs can get bacteria infections of their skin and need antibiotics for this. By bathing every other week to at least 1-2 times a month, this will decrease the risk of infection. 7. Feeding is also important on what kind of dog food you choose. The more expensive dog food is much better for them, such as Science Diet, Iams, or Eukanuba. Although these foods may be a little more expensive, they have less fillers in them so they actually tend to eat less of it. On the cheaper dog foods, they add filler to "fill them up" instead of nutrients and dogs will have to eat more of this food to make up the nutrients they are missing. So in the long run, you would be saving money and getting better dog food for them. Diet is a key ingredient to healthy, shiny fur. You can really see a difference. Choosing dry or canned food can be hard. We tend to believe that they really enjoy canned food. Well, they do enjoy it but can have problems with their teeth later on. Canned food tends to stick to their teeth, causing more tarter buildup, which later on, will need to have more dentals done. Dentals are when the dog is actually put under anesthesia and the teeth are cleaned. This can be relatively expensive and sometimes needed once every 2-3 years when they get older. Dry food actually helps scrape the tarter off the teeth, so they can actually go through their life with only 1 maybe 2 dentals versus 7-8 dentals. 8. Next is
Heartworms. Heartworms are actual worms
that get into the blood stream and eventually live in the heart and lungs.
Heartworms are carried by mosquitoes, so 1 mosquito bite that has bitten
another dog that has heartworms can come over and infect your new puppy.
Since all it takes is one bite, your dog is at risk even if he/she lives
indoors. When you let your puppy outside to use the bathroom, it can
get bitten. Heartworms are highly popular in most states but can be
prevented with Heartworm Prevention. This is a 9. Internal Parasites: Internal parasites is another name for worms that can be found in the stool. These are much different than heartworms and can be picked up from other dogs or just the ground. Some parasites, puppies are just born with that the mother has passed on down to them. Their bellies tend to be bloated looking. Most of the common worms and parasites that are found in puppies are Hookworms, Roundworms, Coccidia, and a few others. Some of these parasites can be transmitted to humans, so it is always a good idea to wash your hands after handling puppies. 10. Spaying and Neutering: Spaying and neutering is something that should always be done. Every year, thousands of dogs and cats are put to sleep because no body wants them and there is just no room for them. There are also other reasons to do so. First of all, your puppy doesn't have to have a first litter. Your puppy can get breast cancer and endometriosis if your puppy is not spayed. Every time your puppy goes into heat, the risk of breast cancer goes up. The first time your dog goes into heat, the risk of breast cancer goes up to 8%. The second time your dog goes into heat, the risk goes up to 25%, and so on. It is such a risk that it is best to just get them spayed or neutered. In male dogs, the risk for unneutered males for prostate cancer is high. They also will start to lift their leg on your personal items to mark their territory. If you get them neutered before they raise their leg, then they will never lift their leg when urinating. By this, you don't have to be embarrassed when you take your dog out in public, or to the vet's office. The tendency to roam will decrease which means they will not get into as many dog fights. Also, the general level of aggression is also decreased. This is just the basics and you really need to have your new puppy checked out at the Veterinarian. But if you have any questions about your new puppy, please e-mail me at Jhamdow@yahoo.com and I will try and answer questions that might arise.
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to have ear mites. This is very common if your puppy has been any
where around other dogs. They are microscopic mites that can only be
seen under a microscope. You cannot buy over-the-counter medicine
for this. If you do see mite medicine in the pet store, read it and
it will probably say to prevent ear mites. At this point, your puppy
already has it. So this is something that you would want to see your
vet for.
prescription that has to be from a Veterinarian. It comes in many
different ways. Some in chewable beef tablets once a month, some are
flavored pills in case they are allergic to beef, some is topical, and
another is a 6-month shot. All are very safe and works well if you
stick with it. Every year your dog will be tested just in case a
dose was missed. Heartworms can be treated but it is very costly.
Not only is it costly but it is very hard on your dog, similar to the side
effects that chemo is in humans. Sometimes, they can die during
treatments. Most of the time they tend to do ok. Heartworms is
not something that is found in stool. Heartworms can only be tested
by blood.