Puppy countdown
By Kim Campbell Thornton
February 21, 2008
Well, I don’t know how thoughtful or entertaining this will be, but it’s what’s on my mind. On Saturday, we’ll be driving up north to pick up our new puppy from the breeder’s home. I feel woefully unprepared, not having had a puppy in eight years. So here’s my checklist of things to do. Feel free to jump in with suggestions.
Take up area rugs. On the other hand, if I do this, Yellow (she is as yet unnamed and still goes by her rickrack color) will be jumping onto and sliding around on wood floors. See if cheap ugly area rug is still in the house somewhere.
Buy collar. Finally remembered to take Twyla’s collar off and measure it so I’ll have some idea of what size to buy. Hers is about 13 inches.
Set up x-pen in office and find tarp to go beneath it. This is the only room that still has carpet. Ratty carpet, but just in case…
Buy small bags of what breeder is feeding (a combination of Science Diet and some toy breed food) and figure out what I want to switch her to. Bella and Twyla eat a commercial raw diet, and I could switch her to the kibble and canned products from that same line until she’s a little older.
Plenty of new toys already, including a stuffed warthog.
Pull out one of the smaller crates and make sure it’s clean. Put big crate back in bedroom so that cavedog Twyla won’t want to take over the puppy’s crate.
Insert eyes in back of head to monitor puppy while working.
Check house for anything that needs to be puppy-proofed.
Sign up for puppy kindergarten.
Re-read puppy training books in spare time.
Lecture Twyla on being nice to the new arrival and not snarling at her. Remind her that I’ve promised she can still be the baby.
Assure Bella that she will still get plenty of treats, especially if she teaches the puppy all her nice behaviors, like sitting at the front door to be leashed.
Schedule vet check.
Relax. The last puppy turned out okay…
Having just survived a litter of 6 and making the bold (questionable!?) choice to keep 2 instead of the planned 1, my puppy rearing teeth are sharp.
Mercury and Gemma are now 11 weeks old and really a pleasure. But you want tips, so here are a few:
(1) Pee pads are a godsend. Many companies now sell cheap disposable pads and you can find them in bulk at pet stores or even Walmart. Buy a package. Sure you could re-use newspapers, but newspaper just isn’t absorbent, I don’t like exposing puppies to the inks (especially when they get wet and soluble), and you have the problem of trapping the liquid against the wood floors instead of the pee pads that have a plastic bottom that keeps the floor dry.
Rite Aid sells washable (very nice quality, survived dozens and dozens of washings) pee pads for human use for about $12. Same waterproof backing, highly absorbent, no plastic or paper waste that can’t be recycled.
Besides being reusable, the cloth pads are also shred proof. And they are easy to transition the dog to outside elimination because they are sturdy enough to last outside.
(2) Giving your puppies their initial vaccine shots is pretty simple. Most ranch and feed stores carry the shots or you can order them online from a catalog like Foster and Smith. Pick up some antibiotics (in the Fish section) while you’re at it. Terrierman.com has some great articles on both topics.
(3) If you’re shopping kibble, check out a sample of Timberwolf Organics. My pups love their fish oil supplements and the Elk and Salmon flavor is aromatic (and I assume flavorful) since all the dogs take to it without the need for me to spice it up with fresh meat.
(4) Yogurt is my puppies’ favorite treat. Mountain High Vanilla (plain appears too tart). I like the benefits to their coat and digestion, they go nuts for the stuff.
(5) Wearing a collar for the first time makes for some great video. I suggest you have a camera ready. The antics are hilarious (just make sure the collar isn’t too loose, as the puppy might get a paw stuck in it while trying to scratch and wiggle out of it).
(6) I found that getting down on the floor and then looking around at puppy eye level was helpful in the puppy-proofing. One thing I found a lot of were dangling cords for phones, computers, gizmos and the like. Since these can be potentially fatal (and are amazingly attractive to tiny teeth) I wanted to do a little more than tighten the slack.
I brought all the power bars up onto the desk tops where possible, so that there was only the one thick cord from the power bad into the socket at ground level. If you really want a nice solution, this link explains a smart way to attach the power bar to the bottom of your desk. Out of sight, out of puppy reach…. excellent. http://tinyurl.com/2c8spe
For all those cords, the hardware store sells black plastic tubing that is O shaped with a slit all along the length. You can feed lose cords into it and use zip ties to keep them all together and feed the cords out at any point. There are also Velcro and cloth tubes that accomplish the same effect. It actually neatens the place up quite a bit.
(7) Put anything that you absolutely can’t have chewed or destroyed away until the puppy has stopped teething, running in the house, and has fine motor control. Your grandma’s rocking chair, the ceramic antique in the corner, the books on the bottom shelf.
(8) Put all the nasty chemicals under the sink and in the laundry room up just in case a door gets left (or forced) open that shouldn’t be. Pick up ant traps, moth balls, or any other poisons used.
Have fun. Congrats on the new puppy.
Comment by Christopher — February 21, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
Thanks, Christopher. All great suggestions. I had the puppy pee pads for Darcy and all she did was eat them, so I’ll try the cloth ones. We also need to make sure Larry Bird doesn’t have free run of the house anymore until Yellow learns he’s off limits.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — February 21, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Well, I’ve got to recommend a bottle of Woolite Oxy carpet cleaner and plenty of paper towels. That Woolite Oxy is great stuff and over the years helped my carpet survive the last years of my Dobe with irritable bowel and an ear hematoma surgery and raising two puppies (and also some of my own blood; you don’t want to know). In addition to getting on the floor to look around for hazards, also spread you the fingers of you hand (slightly) and check low lying spaces. If your hand will fit, the puppy will be able to get into that space. Also check for places were the puppy can get under something and then get back where you can’t reach her. I went from a nearly 14 year old 75 lb Dobe down to a 12 week old, 7 lb Cardigan several years ago. I can still remember that first day I brought her home, and realizing that she could fit into tiny spaces that I hadn’t even thought to block off. Oh, and keep your camera handy at all times, cause they grow up soooo fast (thank doG!).
Comment by Cardimom — February 21, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
Christopher, did you keep the puppy with the black diamond ring?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 21, 2008 @ 3:00 pm
Put child safety lock on any low cabinets that contain chemicals or anything puppy shouldn’t get into. Better safe than sorry.
Comment by 2CatMom — February 21, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
The best puppy teething tip I discovered is for everyone in the house to keep a few large pieces of carrot in their pockets. If puppy starts chewing on something you’d rather not be chewed, just insert piece of carrot into their mouth and exit whatever they were chewing.
Carrots are full of fiber and vitamins that are good for all dogs — their other advantage is that if you forget about them, they dry out and get rubbery, rather than rotten. A rubbery piece of carrot is still a great chew and doesn’t muck up your pocket like more traditional doggie chews.
Watch the tiny spaces — my mother’s Persian kitten LOVED climbing up the back of the desk and sleeping in the top drawer — Mom got quite a turn when she opened the drawer and found Amber sleeping peacefully inside! No one could open the drawers of the desk until we found Amber first — Mom was terrified that we’d whack her as she was climbing behind the desk and we never found out just how she managed to squeeze herself in there. Luckily, Amber grew too big to continue climbing behind the desk, but it was pretty nerve-wracking when she was a baby!
Comment by Dorene — February 21, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
Set up x-pen in office and find tarp to go beneath it
Better than tarp for protecting carpet - put a piece of linoleum under it. Home Depot etc sell ‘cut pieces’ for next to nothing. As a bonus, you can wash and disinfect the lino in case of accidents. I buy a new piece for every litter - I like to put it between older pups and concrete floors for a bit of added warmth.
As for the washable pee pads, this company sells cleaned, sanitized, sterilized used pads, and the proceeds benefit adults with disabilities. They layer nicely over the lino and provide a no slip surface.
For the breeders out there, they also sell used flannel hospital blankets and bath mats - GREAT for lining whelping boxes and as crate bedding.
link — http://www.odcmerchandise.com/
Comment by Carol — February 21, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
You could just switch the new baby to raw right away if that’s what Twyla is eating. That’s what I did with my last 2 pups. They’re healthy at 5 and 9 years old, so I don’t think I damaged them by feeding raw at 8 weeks. :-)
And if you can explain how to install that “eyes in back of head” thing, I could use it! Our rescue Golden is an adult with NO clue about what she should and shouldn’t get into.
Comment by Theresa — February 22, 2008 @ 8:32 am
Carol -
Awesome link. 2 pads for $4 is a savings of at least $20. Wheweeee! I bought 6 of those at full price… could have saved myself $60 on pads alone.
At that price, I think I’ll pick up some more to line the bathroom during dog-wash time, and some for the car (great way to save the carpet on the floor during the slushy months since my car mats are not up to the task).
They’re also the perfect size and thickness to act as protective pads for moving. They fit over the back of the wooden chairs very nicely, and folded between china plates really well too.
Plus they work great in the adult dog’s crate under the water dispenser… their big plush pad stays dry now and the waterproof pad is nice and comfy to lay on unlike the noisy and shredable disposable pads I was using.
Comment by Christopher — February 23, 2008 @ 12:16 am
Christopher —
I use them for EVERYTHING, especially those first few post whelping days when mom is bleeding. I also put them under the water dish on my hardwood floor, in crates for girls in season, in puppy pens, on car seats….
Cheap stuff + good cause = bonus!
Comment by Carol — February 24, 2008 @ 5:56 am
Daisy May (Papillon) was such a terror as a puppy that when I filled out the app. for the rescue we got Jack (Pom) from, I said, “No puppies. We dont want to go through that again for a WHILE!” ;) Daisy still chews everything in sight, probably because she still has a couple of her baby canine teeth, which we will have pulled the next time she’s knocked out for a procedure at the vet’s.
But, seriously, puppies are great…tiny, cute, puppy breath…awwwwwwwwww.
Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — February 24, 2008 @ 2:18 pm