GENERAL PUPPY CARE

Your new puppy will receive a physical exam making sure all systems are healthy/normal when you first visit the doctor. Each visit will include this complete assessment of eyes, ears, teeth/bite, skin, heart, lungs, conformation and reproductive tract.

We discuss nutrition. Puppies must eat appropriate, good quality, easy to find puppy food. Feeding from the table at this age does not meet their nutritional needs, and may cause vomiting or diarrhea resulting in hospitalization! We think puppies look better and feel better if they receive vitamins initially.

We recommend Proplan food made by Purina. This is a premium quality food that is readily available and it is specially formulated for small medium or large breed growth & development.

VACCINATIONS

Of course all puppies must be vaccinated against Rabies virus by 4 months of age as required by law but we cannot do this before 12 weeks of age. We work together to determine what other diseases we need to immunize for. We always give a series of vaccines called DA2PP-C every 3 weeks until age 16 weeks. (Some puppies respond later than others with established immunity.) This is a CORE vaccine that protects against Distemper, Parvo Virus, Hepatitis, Para influenza and Corona Virus. We give a Leptospirosis vaccine usually at the time of the last two puppy shots. We administer protection against Kennel Cough or Bordetella Bronchiseptica if the puppy will be boarding, spending time at the groomers or co-mingling with other dogs in classes or dog shows. Giardia Vaccine is for the pet that will be swimming or drinking stagnant water. It is not the number of vaccines that is critical it is the timing!

INTERNAL PARASITES

We check for intestinal parasites by evaluating for the presence of microscopic worm eggs in the feces. All puppies get worms from their mother and must be dewormed multiple times to reduce the risk of transmission to their owners and contamination of their environment. Doing this at least twice assures us we have treated for worms successfully. There are other intestinal parasites puppies easily acquire from the environment. Puppies will get heartworms from mosquitoes if not given a prescribed montly preventitive.

EXTERNAL PARASITES

It is a lucky dog that escapes the need for protection from fleas and ticks, or even mosquitoes and biting flies. For this reason we usually recommend the use of a monthly topical product that is safe, easy to apply, and water resistant. We currently use Advantix because of its comprehensive coverage and effectiveness. Bathing does kill fleas but will not prevent re-infestation. Shampooing will reduce the effectiveness of topical products but Allergroom Shampoo will minimize this problem. It is labelled for use with Adrantix and FrontLine. We are watching for flea resistancy to these products.

Feel free to ask a doctor or staff member about any of our recommendations

It is impossible to include the answers to all your questions in a simple brochure. If a friend or relative gives you advice about any of these issues and it seems in conflict with our ideas, please allow us a chance to go into more detail about our experiences.