 Preparing for Your Puppy's Arrival
Almost without exception, I am asked by those who are adopting these puppies about what kind of preparations need to be made before their puppy arrives. This is what I would say -
Pick Up These Items......
1. Pick up the food items that are pictured on the page entitled "Puppy Food..."
2. Select some treat(s). Every puppy loves a treat. I've been asked what kinds of chews, bones, treats, etc. to purchase for the puppy. Almost any puppy likes any treat, from what I've found and what's been told me, too. So I would say, you decide. I do know that pig ears are a favorite especially since puppies like to chew and eat both! We give the little Milkbones, and little bacon-flavored chews, etc, etc, and they love it all.
3. Some toy(s). We've found that the puppies really like some small stuffed toy, like a teddy bear, to sleep against. It's possible they think it's a little companion, I don't know. They also really like toys that have little things dangling from them. For instance, a cloth toy with a thick rope hanging from one end. They'll spend hours chewing and tugging on it. They also like squeaky toys, but I've found them to like the above described types even better.
4. Possibly a bed or crate, unless you would like to use the small pet carrier that your puppy flies to you in for some weeks first. They do like the little carrier they come in typically. Some ask about whether they should get a larger one so the puppy will have room to grow. Some crates offer a divider panel so you can adjust it as your puppy grows to adulthood. It's all in how much money you want to spend. Really the simplest design is adequate. If there is a small soft blanket in their "quarters" they'll think it to be perfect.
5. A collar & leash(size small)
6. Training pads, if you're planning to go that way for housebreaking.
I would also plan to remove breakables and that which you don't want chewed on from ground level. Also be aware that puppies like electric cords.
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Puppy's Food Instructions
NOTE : None of the items we feed our doggies has been on the pet food recall list!
Our puppies get all of their nourishment through nursing for the first 3 1/2 weeks. The mother dog is with them and they nurse for 8 weeks and sometimes even nine. The mother dog will begin to wean them though at about 5-6 weeks of age and so they'll nurse less and less and eat more and more puppychow, etc.
During their 4th week, we give them milk, diluted with a little water 2 to 3 times a day and again Mama is there 24/7 so they eat from her, too. By the 5th week, we begin to add a little bit of the canned dogfood to it so that we're transitioning them over gradually. Through the next 3 weeks, we give them more and more canned dogfood in it and less and less milk until it becomes almost completely canned dogfood. Our mother dogs do well with puppychow during these weeks that they're nursing as it gives them more calcium, etc. Therefore we place a feeder with the dry puppychow with her and the puppies all of the time. They puppies begin to eat on that, too and it's amazing at 5-6 weeks of age how they crunch, crunch, crunch the kibbles up! They still nurse, too, as Mama is always with them. We give them the soft canned dogfood every morning and night. At about 8 weeks of age, right about the time most of you would get your puppy, one just starts to cut the canned food down a little at a time until at about 10 - 11 weeks of age they eat nothing besides the dry puppychow. We just leave a bowl of the dry out at all times and of course fresh water. Though they love milk, they do not in fact need it over 8 weeks of age as there is added calcium in the puppychow. The added calcium is needed while their bones are developing.
If your puppy comes to you and acts less eager to eat the canned dogfood it's possible that your puppy is one of those that preferred the dry puppychow earlier. This is normal and just fine. We see a couple of those in each litter usually, and they start chewing around on it when they're under 4 weeks of age! Then they get to where they like it best. I think they like to chew it up just from what I've observed. This is rare, but we've even had puppies that went directly from the milk to dry puppychow. Those few seemed not to prefer the canned. This is very rare though. Usually the puppies and parent dogs alike LOVE canned wet food. We've been talking about if your puppy would prefer the dry puppychow and not really seem interested in the wet. But then on the other side of the coin, if your puppy should desire the canned dogfood more than the dry puppychow that is not a cause for concern either. Even a week in their age can make a huge difference in how they are eating and what they prefer. It would not hurt them in any way to eat canned food a little longer, even up to another 2 to 3 weeks.
We add milk to the canned food to start with, using the back of a fork to work the milk into it. We feed the canned dogfood twice a day, and usually about 12 hrs. apart....like 8am and then 8pm. They're ready, too, when they see their chow!
If you would want to change their diet that is fine, but it's important to purchase a small bag of this Diamond Puppy Food to mix with whatever brand of dogfood that you're transitioning your puppy to. Any abrupt changes to the puppy's diet will give her diaherra, and I know you don't want that!
Note - You will find pictures of the dogfoods mentioned above in our Gallery section in the album entitled "Dogfood We Feed". I have also included a picture of the Diamond Adult Dry Food that we feed to our parent dogs. This is a good choice, though there are many other good choices as well.
Here is where you're likely to find the following dogfoods........
Menards Lumber Yards, Home Depot Lumber Yards, Orschlen's Farm & Home, Tractor Supply Company Stores(TSC), and many pet stores tend to carry Diamond PuppyFood and Diamond Adult Food.
All Walmart Stores should have the Ol'Roy Canned Dogfood that we feed the puppies.
Following Your Puppy's Arrival
I get emails from people all of the time that are all nervous and afraid that "I might not do this puppy deal right!" I would like to urge you not to worry about it. You'll do just fine. It's kind of like what someone said to me when I was expecting our oldest child, "Don't worry, you'll somehow just know how to do as you go along." That is true, and I believe the same to be true with these little sweeties. Together, you and the puppy will learn what works best for you. I know that many read books on how to do everything for their pet, but may I suggest that every puppy is a little different and the main thing they want is your affection and time. If they have that, they'll be so happy. So, just relax and enjoy your new puppy! It's supposed to be a happy time. :o)
Keep in mind that just as you and I get jetlag and get really weary following a trip, the puppies get tired from their trip as well, whether by car or by plane. The following should give you a good idea as to what to expect. Your puppy will be eager to investigate his new "home" and to meet his new family. You'll find him to be very friendly and playful, but because of his big day, it's likely that he'll run around a little while and then just drop wherever he is and sleep for a few minutes. After grabbing a little rest, he'll be up and at it again, but he'll me a little more tired the first 24 hrs. or so. After that he'll require less sleep.
You'll also find that right after coming to you, it's likely that he'll not act interested in food until he has looked around. I would just set it out and water as well, and let him decide. What's typical is for them to ignore it for the first couple of hours or so and then to whoof it down like they're starved! There are more instructions on the page on your "Puppy's Food..." as to what I will be feeding your puppy before he comes to you. This way you'll just know how we've been doing.
Just so you'll know.........
Your puppy will come in good health to you, you can be assured of that. Here's one pesky problem though and I want to make you aware of it so you'll not be taken off guard.
Any change for the puppy causes a loose bowel problem. Sometimes this is only for a couple of times' worth and then other times it will be more like 24 hrs. before it clears up. This is to be expected and that's why it's mentioned here. Though it's frustrating to me as well, it's not uncommon for there to be a tinge of blood or just a drop or two of blood with a bowel movement. I've conversed with the vet about it until I'm sure he doesn't want to talk it with me anymore! I wish there was something that he could give me to give the puppies before they leave here that would keep that from happening, but he said that there's nothing wrong to fix and so he won't do it. In asking him where the blood comes from, he doesn't seem to be clear on that, but just that a little blood can come through when there's a lot going on in the puppy's life. If it's not understood how this works, it could appear that we are irresponsible dog breeders. We simply know nothing else we can do to keep this from happening. If you notice a little blood like I've described and your puppy is running and playing and eating well, I would suggest that you give it even 4-8 hrs. and see if it hasn't already gone away. It's related to their getting overly tired and it settles down when they rest up a bit. But for someone that doesn't know that this can happen, it could cause them to panic thinking that something is seriously wrong. Your puppy will not leave here sick, and trust me, if your puppy is sick, you'll know it. When they're truly sick, they won't play, eat, or even get up and walk around. In a case like that, of course you would want to seek medical help. I don't anticipate that though. If you would like to see more information along this subject line, look towards the lower part of the page entitled "Health Guarantee". There under the caption of things that the "Health Guarantee does not cover", you will find more information yet. Also, in reading that, it should become exceedingly clear why we don't cover it. Despite doing everything right, it's as common as a diaper rash on a human baby! Contact me if you have further questions. Thank you.
Housebreaking Your Puppy
I am asked for this information several times every week so I thought it to be a good idea to place this info on my website. I trust that you find it helpful.
Though there are many books you may read about on how to do this, it really comes down to being consistent. In doing it the same way over and over, your puppy will come to know what to expect and learn much more quickly than if one method is tried and then another.
This is what we've found to work and what others have told us has worked for their puppies. Since a puppy has to go both numbers right after eating a meal, this is a great time to work on this. It's preferrable to immediately place your puppy after he has eaten, on the area you want him to get used to going on. It may be outside on the grass or on a training pad or on newspapers. Almost immediately "it" will happen and after this has happened 3 or 4 times, the puppy begins to put it together in his mind. "Hmmm...this is where I was when I did this last time....this must be where I need to do this." With some dogs a day or so and they'll have the hang of it and others it takes longer.
I'm asked a lot as to how quickly one can expect to have this taught to their puppy. It really depends on the puppy and also the age has a lot to do with it. We've found that in starting with a 8 wk. old puppy, it will most likely be a couple of weeks before he will understand completely. But then there are rare cases where the puppy seems to know how it's done almost without being taught. Usually, when we have a 12 wk. old puppy go out, the people will tell us that literally in 12-24 hrs. they seem to understand the method. Obviously, the difference in maturity at these ages is quite substantial.
You'll learn that when your puppy starts running excitedly and whimpering, he is probably trying to tell you to let him out, or to help him get to where he needs to be. We see them doing this even at 6 and 7 weeks while they're still here, but that's not a guarantee that all puppies will do it at that young of an age.
Until you have the puppy trained pretty well, you may desire to leave your puppy in his crate if you have to leave the house. We've found that even very young puppies try not to have to "go" in their kennel as they hate the smell. If you are going to be gone for some hrs. and don't want to keep him in such a small space, an option is to section off a small area like 6'x6' with boxes, or something like that. A child's playpen is an excellent choice, too. You can place the puppy's kennel in there with the door open and newspapers on the floor outside the kennel. This will help to minimize the mess. I trust this has been helpful.
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Please Read Before Placing Deposit!!
On the Practical Side - These are REAL Puppies!!
We've been put in an uncomfortable position more than once because those that took a puppy decided that they were not as ready to take on a puppy as they had thought themselves to be. It makes it very awkward for us and hard for us to know what our obligations are when certain complaints come in. For instance, it would be common for a puppy to cry the first night that he is away from his littermates and his mama, especially if he is expected to stay in a crate by himself. I can understand that not everyone would feel like they could just let the puppy climb into bed with them as the puppy desires. But though we do not want the puppy to ever whine for you, this is real life! Also, a complaint that is very common is a loose stool problem. The problem is that almost anything can cause that, clear down to something as simple as the change in their drinking water from our house to yours. We understand that things like this are frustrating, but we can not control every possible irritation that could come up. We've even taken puppies back and that is hard especially if the puppy is then older and it's harder to find another home for him. Though beagles are easily trained with housebreaking, etc, and they adjust to their new homes very quickly, we want you to realize that there are likely to be small things like this that would require you to have a little patience. One would not expect to have a human baby and be guaranteed no challenges whatsoever in the adjustments to having a baby, etc, etc. Even with the best of care, a baby could have colic and cry during the night hours, even with mommy by his side. One can not be guaranteed that their human baby will never have an ear infection, and always be the happy, smiling baby, who has never known a diaper rash or the discomfort of teething. And then what if we find it frustrating with some of the details in the "package deal", can we just send the baby back? Or who would we blame for the fact that a baby may be a fussy baby? Though we feel it's much simpler to care for a puppy, still there will be some adjustments for anyone that would take on a puppy. There will be some surprises, some unanticipated messes and inconveniences, guaranteed! We don't find them to be many, nor serious, but for someone that can not stop for a moment to tend such a situation and that has no patience or understanding in dealing with such cases that will arise, we would like to say this in the kindest way possible. Please....if you want the puppy only to make you happy and you can not give any time or effort to the puppy, please don't adopt one of our puppies. It's just a huge frustration to you, to the poor little puppy and to us as well. We want everyone to be perfectly happy with any puppy that goes out from us, but we realize that we can't control everything about the sweet little dears and if they're lonely that first night, they're going to cry! It's just the way it is. If at this point you can't readjust anything about your lifestyle, then maybe it would be better to adopt at a later time. We just ask that you seriously consider if you want a sweet little puppy and are willing for minor adjustments. If not, we would so appreciate your realizing that. As it is, we have an ongoing waiting list for our puppies as we never have enough puppies to fill all of the requests for those that are ready to adopt puppies. So for those that will find the experience to be frustrating or worse yet, even angering, please don't put yourself or the puppy in an undesirable position. We appreciate your understanding in what we've had to say here. Thank you.
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