Puppy Care - For New Families

Treats, Food and Toys

Kongs (puppy size)
Balls (various sizes)
Interactive Toys
Fetch Toys
Chew Bones
Soft Training Treats
Crunchy Biscuits
Bully Sticks
Starch Bones (Corn or Rice)
Large Container of Peanut Butter (Marked for Dog Only)
Cans of pure pumpkin (not pie mix); couple of tablespoons will help with loose or too firm stools.
Training treat bag for hands free and quick access to treats
Water and food bowls (stainless steel recommended)
A supply of puppy food

Don’ts:
No laser pointers! They can be dangerous to the dogs’ eyes and some dogs can also develop an obsession of chasing lights and shadows.

No rawhide. They both have high choking risk even if you are supervising. They are high in fat and will become slippery – which is almost impossible to reach in and grab to pull out. In addition, they will frequently cause diarrhea.

Don’t over play with balls to avoid an obsession.
Tennis balls outer fuzz can become a problem for some dogs’ teeth – they can wear out the enamel. Either reduce the amount of tennis ball time or select balls that do not have the fuzz.

Recommended Medical and Grooming Supplies

Hydrogen Peroxide or Ipecac Syrup
Pepto Bysmol (Liquid form)
Thermometer
Needle-less Syringe
Ear Cleaner & Cotton Balls
Nail Clipper (Heavy Duty) and Styptic
Slicker Brush
Pin Brush
Comb
Baby Powder, or similar product
Dog Shampoo (Oatmeal is recommended)
Grooming scissors
Toothbrush & Cleaner
Ladle
Strainer
Flash Light
Clorox or Lysol wipes
File Folder
Adjustable height water and food bowls (stainless steel bowls recommended)

Explanation: Hydrogen Peroxide or Ipecac Syrup can be used in the event that your dog has swallowed something dangerous. Be sure to check with a medical professional prior to administering either product to assure that it is the best and safest solution. It is also helpful to have some pepto on hand for those times when the doodle has an upset stomach.

If you suspect that your doodle is sick, having a thermometer on hand will be helpful to determine if he has a fever (A dog's normal body temperature is between 101°F and 102°). Fevers can be a symptom of an infection. Having a needle-less syringe is an excellent way to administer liquid to a dog – your dog supply kit should have several of these on hand. You can obtain these needle-less syringes from your Vet. Doodles will need to have their ears, teeth cleaned and their nails trimmed on a regular basis. It is good to get a puppy comfortable with all these activities starting at an early age. If you trim a nail too close, the styptic will stop the bleeding.

Brushes and combs will be needed to keep their coats health and free of mats and smell. Baby Powder is a useful tool to help you break up any mats on the doodle. Mats are caused by moisture; the powder will absorb moisture and will facilitate breaking up the mats. Although a puppy should not be bathed too often, be sure to use a mild shampoo specifically for dogs – always rinse shampoo completely. Every doodle owner should have a good pair of scissors to do quick trims around the bridge of the nose, between paw pads and to remove tough mats. The ladle is a very useful tool to have on hand in the event you need to provide a urine sample for the vet. The ladle allows you to catch the urine without interrupting the dog too much. Having a strainer is one of the most helpful tools when you are concerned with the doodle digesting something. The strainer allows you to wash away feces to inspect any foreign objects. (Don’t laugh about getting the ladle and strainer – many families have found these items to be so helpful – okay laugh a bit – but get them anyway!)

The flashlight is a multi purpose supply and all dog supply kits should have one. The flashlight can be used at night when the dog goes out to potty – it is important to be able to do a quick check of poo to make sure that everything is okay. Often times the texture of a poo will be one of the first signs that your doodle has a problem. The flashlight is also helpful if you need to inspect skin or paw pads. Having some disinfectant wipes around will be very useful when you need to tend to a muddy paw or you need to clean your hands after or before you tend to your puppy’s needs.

Finally, the file folder is to keep all your puppy’s records in.

Good Hint: Place all supplies in a containers (one for Medical and one for Grooming) with a lid. Mark the containers and make it a habit to return all items to the container. Replenish the supplies as they are used. Keep all items together and in a specific place.

Reading/Reference Guide:
Caring For Your Dog - The Complete Canine Home Reference - Author: Bruce Fogle, DVM (Book)

Other Recommended Equipment and Supplies

Crate
Puppy Exercise Pen and/or Baby Gates
Collar with ID and Contact Number
Leash (4 or 6 feet long)
Long Line Leash (10 – 20 feet long)
Paper Towels – Several rolls
Cleaner – urine neutralizing (Natures Miracle or Simple Solution)
Plastic bags (grocery store bags work fine)

Standard Doodle usually will need an extra large – most owners and doodles prefer the wire crates. Be sure to select one of strong metal and the door(s) should have two latches – not just one in the center. Baby gates and exercise pens are wonderful to use to control the areas your puppy can go inside and outside. Keeping their areas small to start with will benefit the puppy in training. Be sure that the Collar has your dogs name and a contact number directly on the collar – have it sewn on or use a permanent marker – ID tags can often break off. You will most likely utilize three different sizes of collars as the doodle matures. Collars that have a quick attach/release work best because you will need to be able to put on and remove easily (doodle should not have a collar on while inside their crate).

There are many options on leashes – word to the wise, avoid getting a leather leash until the pup matures. Leather is wonderful to chew on so wait on them until after you have taught the pup to not mouth or bite the leash. Leashes with traffic handles are also great to assist in keeping your dog close – but they are often more helpful after the puppy has grown up a bit. Long line leashes are useful when you want to allow the puppy to do a bit of running and you don’t have a place he can run freely. The long line is also a great tool when you are teaching your doodle to “come”.
Paper towels, cleaner and plastic bags will help you clean up accidents. You can never have too many of these three things and you will find that have several different locations with these cleaning items will be a great benefit. Even consider keeping them in your car in the event you have your dog out and about and he needs to go potty.

Rules of the House

Discussing the “rules of the house” with all family members should be done prior to bringing home the puppy. Make sure that everyone is consistent with the training and procedures. If the rules change daily or each family member has a different set of rules, the dogs ability to do what is “right” will become almost impossible.

Determine where will the puppy sleep
Decide who, when and where the puppy will be fed
Identify where the puppy’s potty spot be
Establish where the puppy will stay during the day
Determine the “off limits” area of the house for the puppy
Select who will provide the formal training
Have a clear understanding on how to correct the puppy
Work with the children NOW about proper handling and playing with a puppy
Don’t allow children to play inside crate – ever
Get to know what foods are toxic to dogs
Start getting in the habit of picking up clothes, shoes, toys or valuable items and put away
Tidbit: One of the primary items that a dog will chew up and swallow is: underwear.

Prepare the House

Outside
If you have a fence – walk it and check to make sure that it does not have any gaps or holes where a puppy could crawl under
Secure all doors and gates – locks preferable
Identify your puppy’s potty spot and the door you will use to take the puppy out to potty
If you have high decks – make sure the puppy can not fall from the deck
Block stairs so puppy will not be able to run up and down them until he is fully developed
Do a plant check (see the Toxic plant listing)
If you have decorative rocks – either remove or cover or never allow doodle around them unsupervised
Check yard for cat “litter boxes” – make note of those areas and do not permit your doodle to go into those areas to eat “snacks”
Have a bucket or water container for your puppy to get a drink. Refresh water often
Make sure that lawn care products are not toxic to the puppy
Make sure that cars do not have antifreeze leaking
Check garage for toxic products and move out of harms way
Check all the cars for items that could be chewed on or swallowed

Good Hint: Most yards in the United States have yew bushes, they are as common as maple trees. They are toxic! Many dogs will not mouth them when older because they taste awful (which is why we rarely hear about them being toxic), but to a puppy the desire to play is much greater and can ingest. Either remove or mark the plants with a red marking tape to remind you to keep the pup away from them.

Inside
Remove items from end tables, coffee tables and eye level display shelves
Store remote controls in drawers or keep up high away from the puppy
Move litter box and cat food to an area where the puppy cannot get into it
Make power cords inaccessible
Block off stairs and rooms you don’t want the puppy free access to
Clear off counter tops in kitchen
Secure all cleaning products away from the puppy
Remove area rugs (will become a potty spot target)
Move irreplaceable furniture into another room for while
Remove decorative rocks from plant pots
Move coin storage to an inaccessible area
Removed decorative pillows (will get mistaken for a toy)
Make sure that plug in air fresheners are not accessible
Check your bathrooms secure trash away, close lid to toilet consider moving toilet paper up out of reach

Good Hint: Get a laundry hamper for toys. It has a lid and airflow holes, which permits the air to travel around the toys and avoids musty smells.

First Few Days Help

Ticking Clock or; Snuggle Puppy (heated and with a beating heart sound) or; Radio
Old T-shirts (dirty) from your family to place in the crate with the puppy for the first few nights, so he will feel he is sleeping with his new pack.

My Raw Diet Puppy Food Recipe

Satin Balls for Puppies --
1lb Ground Turkey 1 lb 80% hamburger 8 oz cottage cheese ½ cup non-flavored yogurt
1 cup Total cereal
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 Tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons unsulphered molasses 1 teaspoon baby vitamin drops
Pinch of salt
Mix well in large bowl and freeze in balls or loaves. Thaw out just enough for a meal or to supplement current diet.

Satin Balls - The Original Recipe – for weight gain or supplementation
The following recipe was sent to Wellpet by Diana Carreon, R.N.,C. It quickly became one of the most requested posts on Wellpet.
Ingredients
10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
1 lg. box of Total cereal
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
10 raw eggs AND shells
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt
A Tablespoon of baby vitamin drops
Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.
Thaw as needed and feed raw!

Uses: "I take a frozen pack on the road with me, kept on ice, and never have had any trouble with it spoiling, even in the heat of Texas summers..."
" All my dogs go crazy over this stuff...but you have to be careful, it will put weight on the dogs pretty fast if you feed enough....I feed a pack a day...half in am , half in pm."
" The dogs stop all the itching and chewing at their coats/skin, their eyes get this bright look and the energy level goes out the roof (not that Belgians need any more energy)."

Comments
Per the information received after having the Satin Balls recipe checked by several vets/labs:
Satin Balls is a total canine diet. It can be feed by itself or as a supplement, for however long you wish. My dogs have been on Satin Balls for over a year; the only time that I have fed it alone is when I had a sick dog needing to be built up or an underweight dog that I plan on showing.

The only problem with feeding it by itself is figuring out the amount. It will put weight on a dog in a few days...that's why it is so great to feed just before a show. If you have a dog that is in good weight, but you just want to build coat/endurance, you would have to figure out how much to feed (cal per kg), or you would end up with a fat dog in a very short time. At one point, I let Satin eat as much as she wanted, just to see how much she would consume. I never got to that point! After a pound pack, she was still looking for more, so I stopped. I have been told a dog will stop eating when full on it, and that you can then gauge the amount needed to maintain weight!

I just find that per the pocketbook and ease, my dogs do very well on it as a supplement. I give about a 1/4 pound each night to maintain beautiful coats, energy level, and a full appetite...no picky eaters here.

Just don't try to hide it in the kibble...they will make a mess throwing out the kibble, digging for the Satin Balls! My dogs have never gotten sick on Satin balls...not even when I am at a show and feed only that. I feed less kibble, so I save money there. There is also less stool to pick up as the dogs are able to digest all of the Satin Balls.

I now use the Knox Joint Gelatin instead of the plain Knox unflavored gelatin. Since this is high in Vitamin C and protein, and is good for the joints, it would be good for the dogs. They don't seem to mind the added flavor.

I am also adding Flaxseed oil. They probably don't need the added oil, but so far I have not seen it hurt anything.

Fix some up and let your dogs enjoy. They will love you forever and forever!

Satin Balls Half Recipe -- recommended amount to mix up
5 lbs cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1/2 large box Total cereal (about 6 cups cereal)
1/2 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 7.5 cups oats)
5 raw eggs
1/2 of 15oz jar wheat germ (about 2 cups)
5 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
5/8 cup vegetable oil (this is pretty close to 2/3 cup)
5/8 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

The half recipe, using hamburger that is 20% fat calories, has 12,400 calories. The last batch I made ended up making 22 patties, so each has about 560 calories. I have big dogs (Danes) so if your dog is smaller you might want to make your Satin Balls or patties smaller.
I find that making the half recipe is so much easier that it is worth doing even though you have half-boxes of things around for awhile and have to mix it up twice as often. The disadvantage of the full recipe is the need of a really BIG container and it is very hard work to mix it all up.

For more great information on Holistic care for your dog:
http://www.holisticdog.org/index.shtm

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