PREPARING 7PREP ARING FOR THE PUPPY

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1 PREPARING for the Puppy s Arrival P roper dog care includes puppy-proofing your house, preparing a kennel and/or crate, purchasing the correct equipment and food and providing the proper amounts of nutrition and exercise. Here s a look at each: Puppy-proofing your house Remove any plants from within Pup s reach. Poisonous plants include elephant ear, eucalyptus, dieffenbachia, philodendron, lillies, spider plants, azalea, ivy, amaryllis, pyracantha, oleander, boxwood, plant bulbs, Jerusalem cherry and others. Also remove any electric cords, which puppies love to chew. Absolutely keep your puppy off grass that has been treated with chemicals. Research has shown that exposure to dogs feet of these chemicals, which often is later licked, can lead to cancer. Plastic bags should not be left where puppies can find Puppies are trouble waiting to happen. Above, our little yellow friend chomps on an electric cord. At right, the same villain chews on a common houseplant. These and other safety traps should be removed from the house or safely hidden away before bringing Pup home. PAGE BritishRetrieverTraining.com

2 A well designed kennel with cement runs and a gutter, with apron in front for easy cleaning. them and suffocate. Make sure no antifreeze is available where pups can lick it. It smells good to dogs, but is deadly. Store all bleach, ammonia, disinfectants, oven cleaner, paint, mouse and rat poison and gasoline. Be careful that puppies can t fall into lakes from docks or into swimming pools. Water shyness is a manmade problem. Space heaters and fireplaces can burn unsuspecting puppies. Properly store all personal medications. Keep chocolate away from puppies. It can kill. Limit toys, chewable and non-chewable, in number and kind. Preferably find one the puppy can t ingest, but that satisfies its urge to chew. One way to build a walk-in dog house. Plexiglass doors let light in, while keeping out insects. Housing Most dogs in America are kept indoors. This includes Labs and other sporting breeds. Regardless of where a dog will be kept as an adult, during its early months it should spend as much time inside, with its family, as possible. This allows for more opportunities to humanize and socialize a dog. By socialize we mean giving it the greatest opportunity possible to meet new people, dogs, situations and surroundings and be comfortable in them. A dog that sits in a kennel all day has fewer some would say too few opportunities to benefit in this way. Many of our customers house their dogs both indoors and out outdoors during the day and inside in the evening and at night. This can work fine, provided the dog, in an overall PAGE BritishRetrieverTraining.com

3 sense, is given enough attention and exercise. A dog that is not properly tended to and exercised will develop aberrant behaviors that include barking, excessive jumping and, in some cases aggressiveness. Far better that the dog be given at least a reasonable amount of attention and exercise. That said, if you plan to keep your dog inside, consider two investments: A Large (or extra Large) fiberglass (airline approved) crate for sleeping at night. And a significantly larger wire "apartment where the dog can spend some of its time while it s young and all of its time after it matures (meaning after the pup is housebroken). The latter wire "cages (for lack of a better word) are available at major pet-supply stores. Rule of thumb, oft repeated in these lessons: Whenever a puppy wakes from a nap, ends play time or finishes eating, take him outside to do his business. Outside housing is another matter. Here are tips to consider if building a kennel: Direction: We live in the northern U.S. and always want our kennels facing west or south so falling snow will IN YEARS PAST, MOST people built their own dog houses. But that s no longer the best or even the cheapest way to go. Instead, great dog houses can be purchased from a number of sources insulated models with door entries that protect dogs from the wind, and that sit well up off the ground, quickly melt. That said, whichever direction a kennel is faced, tree or trees should be nearby to provide valuable shade. Pea gravel is an inexpensive material to use for the kennel run floor. But it s difficult to clean. If possible, go with concrete. Runs should be at least 4 feet by 12 feet, and preferably 6 feet by 12 feet. If you re using a dog house, consider locating it outside the kennel run, with a liftoff top. Cleaning is easier, and the dog has more room to roam inside the run itself. If you pour a cement kennel-run floor, slant the floor at least 3 inches from back to front, with a gutter and cement apron along the front of the kennel. The gutter should slant 3-4 inches from end to end and a gutter apron poured to allow water to be dispersed easily and away from the kennel. Consider also building a walk-in kennel house behind the kennel run. Such a house allows the dog owner to safely store food and other supplies, while providing him easy, weather-protected access to the dog s house. In snow country, an overhang over the kennel run reduces the amount of shoveling required in winter. A word about dog houses: Wherever you live, wellbuilt dog houses can mitigate the effects of temperature and weather extremes on dogs. In years past, most people built their own dog houses. But that s no longer the best or even the cheapest way to go. Instead, great dog houses can be purchased from a number of sources insulated models with door entries that protect dogs from the wind, and that sit well up off the ground, reducing the chance they ll become damp or cold. PAGE BritishRetrieverTraining.com

4 Equipment In addition to a crate and wire apartment, purchase: Non-tippable stainless steel food and water dishes. A British style lead with a slip collar. Chew and play toys. Food and Nutrition People are funny. Some will spend any amount of money if they feel a purchase is warranted. Others won t free up their pocketbooks even for a relative s funeral. Consider dog food. In America and many other parts of the world, better foods are available for dogs today than at any time in history. Generally called "premium foods, these include Science Diet, Eukanuba, some brands of Purina and others. Each offers a complete diet in a dry food. Benefits include healthier dogs and more complete digestion, resulting in fewer stools. These premium foods are priced at premium prices, however leading some dog owners to look for cheaper brands. Perhaps some less expensive foods are good enough to provide the dog most of what he needs. But many foods are just that: cheap and not worth PAGE BritishRetrieverTraining.com All the proper stuff: Stainless steel, non-tippable bowls, a (too big) collar with brass name identification, a rubber toy, a British style slip lead and a fiberglass kennel. purchasing at any price. What to do? Our recommendation is to feed a premium food, preferably one formulated "for large breeds. An interesting study at Iowa State University some years ago demonstrated clearly that dogs that are overfed during their first years have a much higher incidence of hip dysplasia than dogs that are fed properly. Such overfeeding can occur in a variety of ways. One happens, simply, when a dog owner allows a dog to eat too much. As a result, the dog grows too fast, straining its muscles and bones. Another, more innocent way to jeopardize a dog s health occurs when a food simply contains too much protein, and too many calories. As a result, growth occurs too quickly. Thus our recommendation of premium foods formulated especially for large breeds. These feeds encourage more gradual growth rates in Labs and other big dogs, reducing the chance hip dysplasia and other maladies will manifest themselves. And remember:

5 Regular walks provide dogs an opportunity to exercise, keeping them physically and mentally healthy. Regularly run your fingers alongside your dog s ribs. If you can t feel them easily, your dog s too fat and his health is in jeopardy. Exercise When I was a kid in North Dakota, my Dad would come home from work, change clothes and we d "take the dog for a run. This meant throwing him into the trunk of our car, driving into the countryside and letting him run while we eased Dad s car down a gravel road. I can still remember watching out the window while our dogs romped through ditches and into adjacent wetlands and sloughs. (A word of caution here: Don t put a dog in a trunk. Cars are built much more tightly today than they were back then. You can kill a dog by making him ride in a trunk.) Today, most people have fewer opportunities to exercise their dogs. As urbanization has spread across the American landscape, people are often reduced to walking their dogs in parks and keeping them on leashes to boot. That s not enough exercise for a retriever. Far better to find a place where at least a couple of times a day your dog can romp and play and/or be trained. But be careful: Until a dog is at least a year and preferably older he shouldn t be allowed to run great distances, particularly in straight lines. Far better to have your dog exercise himself on grass, moving multiple directions, than running alongside you as you take your morning jog. How important is exercise to your dog s overall health and well-being? Critical. Not just to his physical health, but to his attitude. Put it this way: A dog that gets too little exercise will be a problem in many ways. PAGE BritishRetrieverTraining.com