We recommend that when you start looking for your new pet and are choosing a veterinarian, ask family or friends if they can recommend someone and if not, check your local yellow pages and even if a friend has recommended someone. Make a special trip and appointment to meet this new doctor for your new baby; reason being is that you always want to make sure that this is the person that you want caring for your new friend! 

     Make sure that he/she is personable, friendly and doesn't mind answering any of your questions. Also make sure that they are attentive to any symptoms that you speak of that you tell them... if not, By all means, Please choose another veterinarian!! CHOOSE A VETERINARIAN AS YOU WOULD CHOOSE A DOCTOR FOR YOURSELF

     Your new baby is just like a human child, they are sensitive to heat and cold; they will also sleep a lot, however, when they awaken they should be refreshed and ready to play! If not, watch them and if they act sluggish, a trip to your doctor may be necessary.

      Your new puppy will have a sensitive stomach as well, Never feed table scraps! The diet your puppy was on when you received her/him you should only gradually change; by offering a small dish of the new meal beside the old or combining the 2 portions together. Until after a week or so the old food has been given up.

       Toys can also create a hazard to your new puppy, just like a small child you want to choose toys that are not easily chewed to shreds or that have small bits and pieces that can be swallowed. If you purchase a ball for your new pup, make sure that it is hard and not to squishy as these can become ingested and create quite a problem in the intestinal tract, not excluding surgery.

     Puppy proofing your home is similar to child proofing your home, know that electrical outlets, extension cords, household cleaners & chemicals, shoes with detachable pieces or anything that plugs in can be a hazard to your new puppy, Poisons  from pest control companies are extremely toxic to your pet and if they say to stay out of the home for 2 to 4 hours...then stay out! An hour even 30 minutes can be fatal to your pet!.

         Certain things that individuals should know when you are enjoying a snack...such as grapes, apples, chocolate, avocados, onions: do not share these things with your pet, apple seeds are toxic as well as chocolate. Grapes cause stomach upset and diarrhea and onions are also toxic. If you have that "guilty" feeling while you are having a snack (i.e. someone is staring or watching) then by all means give him one of his/her cookies or a doggie treat!! That way you don't feel bad when you are feeding your face and he doesn't get anything, but not too many treats as they are usually fattening .

     Garlic, is a good source of nutrition for your pet, it promotes good digestion and heart health  the downside is that bad breath comes along with it.  A tablespoon of veggie oil / olive oil in your dogs food, 1/4 teaspoon in puppies food  can help in  constipation and a teaspoon of olive oil rubbed between the palms of your hands after a good bath promotes healthy skin and prevents dry skin;vitamiin "e " oil is also good for the skin. There are a lot of nutritional things that you can do that are natural for your pet, without having to run to the doctor every few minutes when you think something is wrong ; But, you should always pay attention to your new friend because they can't tell you when they feel bad, even though a "tail wags" doesn't mean that they are feeling well . An indication may be to put your hand over the end of their nose, not blocking air passage but just to feel and see how wet or warm and dry it may be, if warm and dry your pup/dog may not be feeling well. Eating grass while outside is an indication that they are also not feeling well, as ingesting grass makes them vomit, thus you can sense they are upset to the stomach.

    Children and your new puppy. When purchasing a puppy, Please ! ! make sure that you watch your human child and /or know that they are well behaved ! A puppy has sensitive bones and can easily be hurt tragically by a child thinking that the pup is invincible ; But, being drug around by 1 leg or 1 ear or by the tail can cause terrible pain and or worse. I mean, think about it...you wouldn't want to be done that way, would you? It may be cute when 1 year old human baby picks the pup up and totes it around so that you can laugh and get pictures but what about the puppy? Children also tend to leave puppies sitting by themselves on couches, chairs, beds, or other high off the ground objects. Well, the puppy isn't going to sit there very long and the next thing you know he/she has jumped off a chair etc. and has broken a leg or even worse i.e. his/her neck or back ! Be careful with your child, if old enough, sit them down and explain to them that puppies belong walking , or playing on the floor or outside or sitting beside them  and explain to the child that they are " NOT " TOYS!

            Clothing for your pet.  If you have or feel the need to dress your puppy /dog in fashionable doggie attire, please do not forget that they are already wearing a fur coat and what you put on them can increase their temperature! A heavy coat in winter may be sufficient but a leather jacket in the summer months can be fatal to your pet! Do Not leave your pet in the car in the summer months if its to hot for you to sit in the car without a/c and the windows up, what about them? Use good common sense with your pet !

        Bathing your puppy  is simple, you want to use a low detergent puppy shampoo, but one that is not full of flea /tick remedies these are hard on a puppies skin, a shampoo such as Johnson &  Johnson "No More Tears" is good but it does burn the eyes a little , baby eyes are sensitive, so be careful. We also do not recommend any bleaching or whiting agent on the use of any puppy /dog, we raise Maltese and they are sometimes discolored by tear stains and unfortunate enough, some people use bleach or bleach containing chemicals on their faces. We recommend that you wipe your dogs /puppies face on a daily basis to inhibit this from occurring,you can aslo feed  them a small portion of cooked cows liver ; again...you wouldn't want your face washed with bleach or bleach containing chemicals, would you? Blow drying is always essential if you have a  young puppy, as you don't want them to get chilled and catch cold. And, it's easier to manage their coat from tangles if they are also blow dried.

      There are so many things that you can learn . You can learn from your new puppy just as if you were learning as a first time parent of a child. A puppy isn't much different, and it doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to eventually figure it out. We enjoy raising our Yorkies and Maltese, granted that it has its  moments, but is truly rewarding. we can be in a bad mood and all we have to do is step 1 foot in the kennel and "poof" there are all of our "friends" and "family" ! ! And, they always can put a smile on your face! Our puppies and their parents mean the world to us, each individual in our kennel has their own demeanor, personality. But, each and every one of our breeders & pups, know who they are and know that they are very much loved. We hope that you have learned a little from Puppies 101. We obviously can't put everything on here that we do know however if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail us and we can get back with you  as soon as possible.

 

     Thank You , for taking time to read this information....

 Bonnie J. & Jami P. 

 Morning Star Kennel ~ The Elite Petite

   

    

 

©2007 Morning Star Kennel