CARING FOR YOUR NEW PUPPY 

Vaccinations

Vaccinations are very important to prevent the potentially fatal diseases of Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvovirus, and the serious & highly contagious respiratory infection known as Canine Cough (or Kennel Cough).

Puppies are routinely vaccinated at 6-8 weeks of age, 12 weeks of age and 16 weeks of age, then annually to maintain protection.

 Parasite control

Intestinal worms

Dogs commonly become infested with worms, and in puppies this can be very serious and in some cases fatal. Some intestinal worms in dogs can also infest humans, so a good intestinal parasite control program is essential to not only your pups health but also to yours and your family’s.

Puppies should be wormed with an allwormer tablet or syrup fortnightly until they are 12 weeks old, then monthly until 6 months of age, then every 3 months for life. Alternatively there are monthly preparations that control worms as well as fleas and heartworm.

Heartworm

Heartworm is a potentially deadly parasite that lives in the heart, and over time causes damage to the heart muscle, arteries and lungs leading to heart failure. The heartworm larvae are transmitted from dog to dog by mosquitoes, so your dog doesn’t have to have contact with other dogs to contract this parasite. Many areas of Melbourne are now experiencing cases of heartworm, and areas to our north pose a high risk to your dog as well. Heartworm can be prevented by either an injection once a year, or by giving your dog a monthly treatment of ‘Advocate’ or ‘Sentinel’. 

Fleas

Fleas are the most common external parasite of dogs, and can occur on even the cleanest and healthiest of animals. Flea bites can cause great irritation to dogs, leading them to bite and scratch and damage their skin. Fleas can also transmit a form of tapeworm to humans. Adult fleas live both on the animal and in their environment. They lay large numbers of eggs which can survive in places like carpet, furniture, dog beds and garden beds for a long time. Flea shampoos and collars only deal with a small percentage of the adult population of fleas, and the hatching of eggs in the environment leads to reinfestation of pets. Luckily there are several excellent products available now to prevent fleas. These not only control the adult fleas, but also the eggs in the environment. Advantage, Frontline Plus, Advocate and Sentinel are some of the highly effective flea control products available at our practice.

Desexing

If you are not planning on breeding with your puppy, then we recommend desexing him/her at 4-6 months of age. Desexing not only prevents unwanted puppies, but it also reduces undesirable behaviours like wandering and marking. It also has proven health benefits- desexed male dogs have a reduced risk of prostate disease, and desexed female dogs have a reduced risk of breast cancer and cannot contract the potentially fatal uterine infection known as pyometra.

The desexing procedure is a day surgery, and involves a general anaesthetic and removal of the uterus and ovaries or testicles.

 Microchipping & council registration

Each year many dogs go missing and are unable to be reunited with their owners as they are not properly identified. Microchipping is a form of permanent identification that is safe and well tolerated by dogs and cats. A small microchip which is about the size of a grain of rice is inserted with a needle under the skin between his/her shoulder blades. It does not require an anaesthetic and can be done during a routine consultation. The chip contains a number which corresponds to your details at a central database, so it is important to always remember to update your details with them if you move house or change phone numbers.

Government legislation now states that all dogs being registered with local councils must also be microchipped. Puppies need to be registered with the local council by 3 months of age. We recommend if your puppy is not already microchipped that it be arranged as soon as possible. We also recommend that you arrange a tag for your puppy’s collar which states his/her name, your contact phone number, and our clinic number in case of emergency.

 Feeding

Puppies require a special diet which differs from that of adult dogs in that it is high in calcium, protein and energy. In order to maintain healthy growth & bone development it is very important that your puppy is fed a diet specifically designed for growing dogs. Depending on the size of your dog, they may need a growth style diet until anywhere from 9-18 months of age. We recommend either Royal Canin, Advance or Hills Science puppy foods- these brands provide the very best available nutrition for your puppy, and have foods for different sized puppies which have differing requirements. Puppies also need to be fed smaller meals more often. Up to 3 months of age, feed 3-4 meals a day. From 3-6 months of age, feed 2-3 meals a day. From 6 months of age feed 2 meals a day.

 Dental care

Cleaning of teeth and gums is a very important part of your pups health care. The most convenient way to achieve this is by providing large raw meaty bones for your pup to chew, at least once a week. Denta-bones and specifically designed dental chew toys such as dental Kongs are also useful.

Dental disease is painful, leading to loss of teeth and potentially to other serious illnessness like infected heart valves and kidney and liver disease. If your puppy is not keen to chew bones or dental chews, then it is important to start a dental care program early in order to prevent dental disease developing. Daily brushing of your pups teeth & gums is essential if he/she is not chewing bones. Our staff can guide you on which products to purchase as dogs require a low fluoride toothpaste designed for their needs, there are easy to apply dental gels, and there is a choice of brush types as well.

Grooming

Dogs do not need to be bathed very often and overbathing can strip the coat of its natural oils. We recommend using a mild dog shampoo such as ‘Aloveen’ or ‘Natural’ shampoos, no more than once a week. Dog skin is different to human skin, so avoid using human shampoos for your dog as they can dry and irritate the skin. 

Long haired breeds of dogs also require regular grooming with dog brushes and combs- we encourage you to start this very early so your pup learns to tolerate it well.

Some dogs need their nails to be trimmed on a regular basis, so it is important to get your puppy used to having his/her feet touched. If your puppy doesn’t like having its feet touched then do it more until he/she gains trust that you are not going to hurt them. Please feel free to talk to our staff about methods to gain your pups trust in touching its feet. Our staff can also guide you in how to trim your pups nails, or we can trim them for you.

 Socialisation and Training

Early puppyhood is a critical time for socialization, and pups need to be exposed to a range of different situations to help them to cope later in life.  Meeting new people and other animals in the first few months of life is important, and by exposing your pup to these things in a controlled environment you can minimize the health risk to them while maximizing the benefit. Puppy class is the ideal situation as health risks are minimized and staff will give advice on toilet training, learning to come, sit, stay and drop and other basic training. Brief training sessions at home, of 5-10 mins twice a day is a good habit to start early and will keep your pups attention and gain the best results.  Positive reinforcement of good behaviour in the form of praise or food rewards achieves much better results than punishing undesirable behaviours.

 Toilet training

Puppies have limited bladder control and need training to achieve good habits. Dogs generally need to go to the toilet just after waking and after meals, and young pups can need to go as often as every half an hour! Generally pups become restless when they need to go, and will often sniff around and/or circle. Careful observation of your pup will allow you to see these early signs and take him/her outside immediately without any fuss. When your puppy goes to the toilet outside make sure you give him/her lots of praise or a food reward. If your pup has an accident in the house it is best not to punish them for it, but to clean it up without any fuss or attention to the puppy, using a non-ammonia based product like Bio-Zet laundry detergent. If you punish your puppy for having accidents in the house it is more likely to result in them hiding the next time they need to go to the toilet, making toilet training even more difficult.

Toilet training takes consistency, persistence and patience and results will be directly related to the effort that you put in in the early weeks.

 Pet insurance

There are a number of companies offering insurance for your pet to help cover the costs of health care and/or emergency treatment. We recommend that you consider insuring your puppy, as unforeseen circumstances can sometimes lead to large vet bills with little or no notice.