THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT TO READ

IT IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT YOUR PUPPY AND WHAT WE HAVE STARTED... 

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Before Bringing Puppy Home

Before Bringing Puppy Home

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The Dog Whisperer - S06E01 - How to Raise the Perfect Dog

This video by Cesar Millan is fabulous, pls watch before getting your puppy

Congratulations!!! Having a new puppy can be one of the happiest times in a human's life. The better prepared you are both with expectations and equipment, the better the experience will be for your whole family. First and foremost, your puppy is a family mamber and should be treated as such. He should always have access to the indoors, especially with extreme heat or cold.

Trainers agree that most pet problems which dog owners experience have to do with the training they receive and the excess freedom the puppies are given in the home. Most of our difficulties have been human error rather than puppy inadequacies. Your puppy comes to you as a sweet, intuitive, intelligent dog and wants to be a pleasing companion. Puppies enjoy training, playtime, and direction and need firm boundries. If you take the time to establish your loving authority early on, you will reap the benefits for years to come. This is especially important with a great dane. Due to their size, it is imperitive that you are the alpha in the relationship. This has nothing to do with youe physical size and everything to do with your presence and calm assertive attitude (Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer is a master at this) By age 5 our boys easily had our 200 lb dane under their complete control.

When working with your puppy it is helpful to make sure you follow thru on each comand. For example, if you ask puppy to sit and he doesnt, gently put his bottom down into a sit position and say "good sit" before going onto something else. You are the boss, and must have the control. All dogs benefit from being taught to sit at your feet every time they come to you, but it is essential with the big dogs. They will learn to slow down and begin to sit before arriving which is wonderful prevention for being plowed down.

It's a good idea to read training books before your new pup comes home. Get library books on your children's individual levels. More importantly, watch as many Cesar Millan shows as possible.

Do role-playing with your children on sit, stay, and come commands, with you being the puppy and your child being the trainer. You will need to teach your children firmness in voice commands. You will be a much happier owner if you have realistic expectations. Dogs are expensive, messy, noisy and require your time and attention...the rewards are worth everything bit!!. Be prepared for the bumps in the road, a sleepless night, a chewed shoe (like my brand new, worn once BCBG flip flops), a pile of poop on the patio. You will be a much happier owner if you have realistic expectations.

Like raising children, there are several philosophies and you will have to find what fits for you. I don't think I ever received as much unsolicited advice as I did when I was pregnant.

Children and puppies are perfect combination. Many experts say that a dog for a child is the most valuable experience that a parent can provide . When it comes to a child who has no siblings, any learning issues or social challenges, this benefit is multiplied. (Asperger's and autism especially benefical for communication challenges and "reading" of emotion) For this reason, raising puppies as therapy dogs or family pets is our greatest joy. God has blessed us blessed beyond words by seeing our puppies change the lives of children and families. (Please email me about discounted prices, payment plans and donations for special needs kids) Years ago, our now 19 yr old, Joe, and I took great pleasure in bringing new born animals to the school distric's "special needs" preschool which our triplets attended. It was a program with a few typical kids and rest with special needs children on a wide spectrm, everything from a slight speech delay to non verbal children in wheel chairs. We saw first hand how nonverbal kids made noises and moved toward speech in their excitement, children with physical limitations pushed through their own limits to interact and behavior issues were tamed with the animals. In the mid 1990's when Joe attended the program his awesome teacher wasn't limited by the existing rules we have now and she had every animal imaginable in that classroom with goats, cows and horses regularly visiting . Can you imagine that today? My goodness the impact those animals had on those sweet little ones' lives. I know that with my own kids I have seen animals positively influence them and grow them as nothing else has. Our human nature tends to show itself in selfish motives. What a blessing to us to see one of our kids share a beloved toy or put their needs last to first serve one of the pets. One example was of pou 5 yr old sitting down to eat a snack and saying "Oh wait, I haven't fed my dog", then getting up to do that first.

Though a young child can help with a puppy, it is unrealistic to expect a child younger than 10 years old to be responsibile forall of a puppies needs. A puppy is a woderful tool for teaching responsibility, the need for discipline in life, and compassion for God's creatures. But there will be times when they don't follow through, and you will need to pick up the slack. Be reasonable about how you expect your children to fit into the life of your new pet.

One way to begin your puppy adventure with your children is with a contract between you and your child . In it you may list each specific responsibility. For example 7:00 a.m. feed puppy 1 cup of dry food in laundry room. Wait while she eats then immidiately put her outside. At 3:30 put leash on puppy and walk her for at least 15 minutes practicing the obedience training skills we are learning. At our house cleaning up dog poop is our discipline for our young boys. If they are not respectful with their words or actions they are assigned piles of poop in increments of 5. I keep a list on the refrigerator. No names mentioned but we'ved had occasions where one boy has done 30 or 35!

Night time- With our first human baby we were up all night, as we grew older, more experienced and much more exhausted, the younger ones learned to be more self-soothing. The same has been true with our puppies. We found that 2 pups are much happier than one, especially at night. If 2 puppies does not fit for your family, an older dog is a wonderful companion providing you are 100% sure that they are safe to be left alone. Cut off all food 4- 5 hours and water 1-2 hours before bedtime. Take puppy to potty. Crates--- it should be big enought to turn around and lie down but that's about it. We like the metal ones that have a moveable interior fence piece you can make space bigger as puppy grows. Put him in crate with a piece of clothing that I give you that smells like us with a hug and a promise to return, no toys food or water. (2 puppies are always happier) For 1 puppy alone, expect whining for a good bit, but do not cave in and let your puppy sleep with you unless you plan to when he's grown. We put puppy in another room for crate training, some people prefer puppy right by them, either is fine. At 7-8 weeks she should be ok for 5-6 hours. We have the latest to-go-to-bed family member put puppy in crate at 12, earliest riser take him out at 5-6 to potty, no playing or chatting, just "Good potty" and back into crate till 6:30-7. Every 3-4 days we increase the time by 20 minutes until the night matches yours. In the morning check the crate with your hand to see if its wet, if yes, just change the bedding without mentioning it and wash in vinegar. If puppy doesnt potty you can continue to add the 20 min every 3-4 days. If he potties, slow down. Our puppies trian quickly, especially the doodles. We are big on doggie doors, they can easily be installed in a wall. There is also a remvable one that fits in the arcaidia door. With a dog door, simply put the crate against it and practice from the outside several times so that he knows how to get in and out. The outside space can be made safer and smaller with an accordian style fence or puppy pen if needed (sometimes called x pens or plat pens) see below

The daytime "play pen" should be different than the sleeping crate. It should be big, at least 4'x4' with newspaper for potty, a blanket to sleep on, toys and food and water. We put a shower curtain from the dollar store down first, then newspaper and sm blanket.. This is a place where puppy is safe and can be left for 5-6 hours when needed. An outdoor space is ok when the weather is nice providing there is no unfenced pool or dangerous things. We have a basement so we put a small fence around the crawl out fire escape so little legs don't get caught. A dog door is the very best option.

Potty training takes time, some vetranarians say 6 months to really be completely potty trained. Be realistic about it and remember most accidents are from human error. You can start potty training at 6-8 weeks. Beginning with one spot you'd like to use for potty, take puppy there and say "Go potty." Wait up to 10 min., some pups will potty 2-3 times in a row. After each you say "Good potty." If no potty then hold (preferred) or put in play pen. After 15 min, try again, continue pattern until puppy potties. Once he does, he may have freedom of a room you are in or kitchen space for an hour and a half. If its first thing in the morning oe he stops to potty while you are walking outside, carry him out to potty then he can walk back in with you. You'll learn his rhythm. Every 4 weeks you can increase size of space but don't give free rein of house until completely trained (6 mo. to 1 yr) If you have an open floor plan the puppy playpens work well for creating safe play areas. You can get both crate and play pen or x pen which is a metal type fencing, at ryanspet.com (800)525-7387 and they deliver or Petsmart etc. From Ryan's for example but buy anywhere, im a bargain shopper-- 30" high with a gate opening is convenient and high enough to keep puppy in. (usually) In rare cases you'll need to put something over thew top. From web site the pen is called "Midwest Step-Thru Exercise Pen with Door 24" X 30" M55230DR $44.59, . Your puppy will sleep a great deal in the beginning, no matter how long it's been, always take him outside upon awakening. After a nap and potty, this is a great time for cuddling and training, it wont be long until it's naptime again. Kepping puppy awake at night 3 hours before you go you go to bed will help him be tired when he goes in the crate. If you follow a routine, most people say our puppies are trained in 2 weeks with supervision. One big question is "Why does my puppy potty 5 min after I bring him in?" I can't tell you why, but they dont poop and pee at same time. They sometimes do it in 2 or three different places and then poop 10 min later. Be sure to give 10-15 min to get the job done. They are distracted by kids and other pets, maybe even you in the beginning.

If there are rooms that you don't ever want your furry friend in, start from the beginning that way. Once your dog is 100% trained and your ready to let him sleep in a bedroom, most trainers suggest that your dog should sleep on a dog bed beside your bed, but not on the bed. This prevents them from thinking that they are on your level of authority in the pack of your family. We are BIG FANS of Cesar Millan,the dog whisperer. He can be seen on National Geografic channel for free or he has a lot of dvds available. We recommend 30 shows as you will see over 50 behavior problems and how to effectively deal with them.

******WE CANT STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT TRAINING IS, ESPECIALLY WITH A LARGE BREED DOG LIKE A DANE.****** As Cesar says "Discipline, Exercize and Affection. A dog with boundaries and limitations is a happy dog, as he knows what is expected. The walk is critical for training and alpha position in the pack. We use to think that since we had acreage for our dogs to run on, we didn't need to walk them. They got plenty of exercize but were lacking the mental, emotional things that happen with "The walk" Watch Cesar for more on that.

Your puppy will be trained faster if everyone in your home uses the same terminology during training. Keep it simple - use commands which are easily understood by a dog's ear. Say, "No bark!", when he obeys, "Good, No bark." "Sit, Good sit", "Stay, good stay" we use " tsht" like Cesar Milan. It is useful in a multitude of situations and should get puppy's attention right away along with a touch to get their attention.

Feeding: We hope you will feed your puppy with excellent health as your goal. At 7-8 weeks, your puppy will need to eat three times a day on a regular time schedule or free feed up until 5 hours before bed which is what we do. If you find that continual feeding is causing your doodle to become overweight or the danes sometimes have trouble keeping weight on, scheduled feedings help regulate that. When you feed at specified times it helps keep their weight more stable and it solidifies your role as the alpha, provider of the meal and helps potty training. You may let him free feed while he's young and then later move him to designated feeding times, consult your vet

I'm not sure how much your puppy will eat as he has been eating with siblings. Give the amount the vet suggests, give him 20-30 min. then pick it up if you are feeding on a schedule. Start with a cup or so. Most grocery store brands of kibble contain a high percentage of fillers which are least healthy for dogs. Dr Richard Soltero, a fabulous vet whom we see in Scottsdale, AZ. has written a book about feeding whole natural foods to yourself as well as your pet called It's like A Miracle, titled after the response he's gotten from the diet. While it's not feasable for us to feed all whole fresh foods to our dogs, we suppliment with plain yogurt, raw eggs, veggies, some meat. (Only our adults) All kibble is not created equally, costco brand dog and puppy food is rated #7 against the other foods and we have been pleased with it for a long time Most grocery store brands of kibble contain a high percentage of fillers which are least healthy for dogs. Fish oils have been known to be beneficial to prevent scratching in dogs who experience dry skin due to environment, weather or allergies.

Great dane puppies have very sensitive tummies. Any stress, a treat found on the floor or food will cause loose stools.

Do NOT give puppy ANY treats until several weeks after he goes home because you wont know what causes changes in stools or other things that come up if you have added a new variable. Also, puppy is thrilled with your kind words, love and a hug.

BITING, teething, nibbling on your hands and chasing your pant legs. All of this is typical puppy behavior but needs direction. Puppy should not use you as a chew toy. Please watch this Cesar Milan show for excellent direction on dealing with this. I am not sure exactly where you can purchase this video but here is the title

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan: Focus: Fears & Phobias DVD

Dr. Soltero specializes in large breed dogs and he and the other vets in his office have been very wise about everything we've asked them about. (480)984-1770, Scottsdale, AZ. Riggs road vets, Dr. Druegger and Dr. Stickland have done ultrasounds, surgeries and well care for our animals(480)821-1126 Chandler, AZ , we are very happy with them.

If you have an older dog you are bringing puppy home to, respect the older dog's level of tolerance. At first it may be 20 min that the older dog is content with the puppy. Give them time several times a day to be together supervised until you are 100% sure they are safe together and both are happy. It may take a bit tof time, but they will likely become great friends. Two dogs tend to exercise more and be generally happier. Be sure to let the other dog know that you are the alpha and will not allow him to decide what puppy does, you will.

Training is advised, there are several options for that. The most important part is for you to be consistant and practice daily. Eileen of Angel Dogs has a wonderful program for obedience training and is Delta certified so if you want to, your dog can be trained as a therapy dog through her program.

(480) 332-8211

References. We have been so thankful to have found such wonderful families for our puppies. When we first started breeding, we wondered what we would do if a family came for one of our beloved puppies and we didn't think they were going to take good care of our little one. After sleeping with mama and pups the first few nights, holding, feeding and cleaning them for 7-9 weeks, it was a little scarey. What a relief it was to find every family to be delightful, capable and loving of their new family pet. On the web site you can see some pictures and testimonials as well as email us for a list of email addresses and phone numbers. We've had 100% happy puppy families since we started and plan to keep it that way.

PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL ABOUT PARVO. ARIZONA HAS A BIG PROBLEM WITH IT AS OUR WEATHER WE DOESN'T EVER FREEZE. DON'T TAKE YOUR PUPPY ANYWHERE PUBLIC UNTIL AFTER THE 3RD OR 4TH SHOT (PETSMART, PARKS ETC) EVEN HOLD HIM AT THE VET'S OFFICE, MANY SICK ANIMALS HAVE BEEN THERE. WE HAVE NEVER EVER HAD PARVO ON OUR FARM AND WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. PLEASE DO NOT VISIT US AFTER LOOKING AT OTHER PUPPIES, PET STORES OR ANY SHELTERS. WE HAVE NEVER HAD PARVO AND WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. THANK YOU!!!

This is a wonderful resource for feeding, training and loving your great dane. 

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