Puppies are now preparing to go home in this coming week.  I know everyone is getting excited to finally meet their puppy and start this new venture with their baby.  This is such an exciting time to for a person and family to bring home a long awaited puppy.  Many of these babies will be going to families who have been planning and preparing for this little puppy for quite some time so the anticipation is  very high.  In this coming week these little ones will go to see the vet for their first vet check up to be assured they are ready healthy and happy.  Below I have outlined a few helpful tips for when your puppy comes home.

Feeding: We give our puppies free access to water all the time.  Your puppy is eating ¼-½  cup dry dog food three times a day. Puppies use the bathroom right after they eat and drink (and play and sleep) so having a feeding schedule will help get a routine set. We recommend that you start with three times a day and then move to twice a day as your puppy gets older. Take water up a couple of hours before bedtime.

Training: Your puppy is using a dog door to go outside to potty. While this is a great start to potty training your puppy still needs to learn that she HAS to go out to go potty. You will have to spend some time together to figure out how your puppy 'asks' to go out. Some sit by the door. Some scratch or whine at the door. Some will come get you. Some ring a bell. Once you have communication going it will be easier for you to pick up on your puppy’s cues and vice versa. While you are working on figuring out cues remember that puppies need to potty every couple of hours--especially after eating, sleeping and playing. They will usually sniff the ground and turn in a circle before they use the bathroom. Choose a potty area outside and take your puppy there every time they use the bathroom. It can be helpful to take them on a leash and keep them near you until they have finished. Once they have used the bathroom (give food treats liberally--braunschweiger is great for this!) take the leash off and let them run around and play. We love clicker training for young puppies.  Using a clicker and treats is not bribing.  It's simply operant conditioning.  Puppies will do what works-- if sitting politely makes good things happen then your puppy will sit. We have lots of information about clicker training here..  We love BaxterandBella..com training website.  they use a marker work (yes) instead of a clicker.  Both work well for training and are interchangeable.  

Sleeping: Your puppy has been sleeping in a crate but he/she hasn't slept ALONE in a crate. Sleeping without litter-mates is an adjustment--puppies have an instinct to cry when left alone as a protection mechanism. However, at 7-9 weeks your puppy can learn to sleep in a crate comfortably. There are a few things that can make that first adjustment a little easier. 1. Take up food and water a couple of hours before bedtime. 2. Choose a late bedtime. 3. Take your puppy potty just before you go to bed. 4. Hold, pet, soothe your puppy with you until she is dozing off to sleep. Once she is sleepy put her in her crate with her blanket from her litter and shut the door. If she whines or cries give her a few minutes to settle down on her own. If she continues to cry you can open the door and put your hand inside with her until she settles down. Sometimes it can help to put the crate next to you in your room for the first few nights. It's okay if your puppy cries a bit. It's not going to hurt him/her! If your puppy wakes up in the middle of the night and cries then take him out to your designated potty spot quickly and without making too much fuss. Puppies will often potty as soon as their feet hit the floor so it helps to pick them up and carry them to the potty spot. Remember that this is just potty time not play time. You can give a small treat and then right back to the crate. Follow the same procedure as at bedtime. An 8 week old puppy should be able to go 3-6 hours in a crate without needing to go out. Some can go all night.

Grooming: Puppies only need to be washed about every 6-8 weeks. Dogs have a carefully balanced skin and hair system. Over-washing can strip natural oils from the skin and cause an overproduction of oil which can make them smell bad! Dirty feet and coats can be rinsed off but they don't need to have shampoo every time. All goldendoodles need to be groomed regularly. A good groomer will start slowly with a puppy and include a more thorough cut as the puppy gets more comfortable with the grooming table. Use a slicker brush to detangle hair every couple of days. If your puppy won’t stop biting the brush give him a bully stick while you work. Make sure to trim hair out of your puppy's eyes. Vision neuro-pathways are still developing so your puppy needs to be able to see clearly to fully develop his full visual fields. Using a pair of blunt tip hair cutting scissors you can also trim the hair around your puppy's bottom to keep it from getting matted/packed. Not all doodles have hair in their ears but many do. The hair will need to be plucked out to prevent ear infections. It's not as bad as it sounds! Most dogs don't seem to mind at all. We usually let the groomer do this but you can give it a go yourself if you feel ambitious! Tiny puppies can have toenails trimmed with a regular nail cutter but as the nails harden you will need a round nail cutter so you don't smash the nail flat. Lay the cutter flat along the pad of your puppy's foot and then tilt it up just slightly so you can trim the edge of the nail without worrying about getting the quick. We also use a nail dermal tool on their toenails that we love.

Collar and leash: Start with an extra small collar for mini doodles and a small for standards. You will have to replace this collar as your puppy grows so don't put a ton of money into this first collar. We don't like retractable leashes. We've seen them cause too many injuries to hands and legs! We prefer a six foot flat woven leash but we also have a few dollar store leashes around the house and in the car just in case. When you are working on distance recall you might want a longer (20 foot+) lead but we often just use a rope in those cases. If you are having trouble with pulling on the leash try a gentle leader collar. It won't hurt your puppy and will keep both of you safe while you walk.

Exercise: Puppy joints and bones are still developing until 18-24 months. It's good to avoid excessive jumping and stair climbing until after two years of age. Puppies and dogs need plenty of exercise for both mental and physical health. Running around in a backyard is great but a walk is even more important for leadership and health. Please avoid walking in areas that are heavily populated with other dogs until after 13 weeks weeks when all shots are given. After 13 weeks, 1/2 mile to a mile every day is great for puppies. As adults, small dogs can run as far as big dogs without any trouble. We have had some of our mini doodles run with their people to train for marathons.

Toys: Puppies are going to be getting an entire new set of teeth and that involves CHEWING! It is helpful to have a stash of acceptable chew items all over the house. When you see your puppy chewing something that isn't meant to be chewed (i.e. your favorite shoes or your daughter's barbie...we speak from experience here...) stop the puppy and give him something that is acceptable to chew. We like Kong toys (stuff them with sticky food mixed with dry food to keep a puppy busy), bully sticks, nylon ropes and any other teeth friendly toys! Some of our doodles LOVE balls and keep one (or two!) in their mouth at all times. Just make sure it is big enough that your puppy can't choke on it

Shots and Vet check: Your puppy will have a check with our vet at 6 weeks of age. You need to take your puppy to your vet within three business days of receiving your puppy so we can make sure that we can all agree on the health of the puppy. Your puppy’s eight week shots will be due at that first vet visit. Colostrum from mom's milk provides immunity (to all diseases for which mom has been vaccinated) for anywhere from 5-12 weeks. Vaccines can't work with the puppy's own immune response system until the immunity from mom's milk wears off. There is no way to tell when the passive immunity from mom's colostrum ends and when the active immunity from vaccines can start. That's why it's important to follow your vet's preferred vaccination schedule! We have seen puppies get parvo--it's heartbreaking and expensive. There is only one vaccine (Neopar)  that is able to stimulate your puppy’s immune system in the presence of mom’s antibodies.  Neopar offers some early protection against parvo.  We give Neopar at 5 weeks but your puppy won’t have full protection against parvo.  It is important to get the full puppy vaccines done at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age.  It’s also important that the final set of shots is not given before 15 weeks of age to have full protection against parvo and other illnesses. 

Your puppy will have multiple doses of dewormer to make sure there are no worms or parasites when your puppy goes home. Parasites are common in the dog world and we recommend giving a three day dose of Safeguard dewormer yearly as a precaution.  

Spay/Neuter: We have spent years of work learning about genetics and thousands of dollars testing parents to make sure that all dogs we breed have the very best chance to be healthy, happy dogs. We think all puppies deserve the same intense planning! It's really important to us that none of our puppies reproduce. We do occasionally sell breeding rights to respected breeders that we have worked with but we want to make sure that all of our dogs are protected against unwanted pregnancy by being spayed and/or neutered! We prefer to do this procedure before our dogs hit puberty. Most of our families are not prepared to live with a sexually mature dog.  Especially with males, neutering before puberty can help alleviate marking or other unwanted behaviors. We recommend that you spay/neuter around 6-9 months of age or as recommended by your vet. Many vets prefer to wait until a year of age to help with developing bones and joints.  We are fine with that as long as you understand the importance and difficulty of protecting against unplanned breeding or of having a female in heat (bleeding) in your home.  Males can be fertile as early as 4-6 months.  

Dew Claws: We don't remove dew claws anymore. Removing the dew claw (with the bone it attaches to) can also cause arthritis in older dogs. If you want your dew claws removed you can have it done during spay/neuter.