Some more questions!

[Ivory]

I have some more questions about puppies, I'm going to get a new one soon!

1. How old should the puppy be before we start giving it anti-flea/tick medicine such as K9advantix and how old should the puppy be before we start giving it heartworm medicine?

2. How many cups of food do we feed a puppy during each meal? Cups of food for a regular dog?

3. How do we know if it's necessary to soften the puppy food with wateR?

4. how many times per week/month does the puppy need a bath?

5. Are the shots that the breeder gives a one time only deal or do we have to continue with the shots at vet trips?

6. Should we let the new puppy adjust to our house before we take it to the vet or just right away?

Thanks!!!

 

[Spiritus]

1. How old should the puppy be before we start giving it anti-flea/tick medicine such as K9advantix and how old should the puppy be before we start giving it heartworm medicine?

We don't have heartworm here and don't treat for it. I believe a lot of the flea/tick applications are safe for 8 week old puppies. Your vet will know.


2. How many cups of food do we feed a puppy during each meal? Cups of food for a regular dog?

What breed? Size matters when it comes to this.


3. How do we know if it's necessary to soften the puppy food with water?

If the puppy won't eat the hard kibble, then wet it down. Most pups 8 weeks old or more should easily be able to handle dry kibble.


4. how many times per week/month does the puppy need a bath?

Again, depends upon breed. I bath my dogs very rarely, only in preparation for a show, or if they roll in something icky.


5. Are the shots that the breeder gives a one time only deal or do we have to continue with the shots at vet trips?

If your puppy comes from a good breeder, it should only have one vaccination that was given around 8 weeks of age. Your puppy will require two more boosters after that, plus rabies.


6. Should we let the new puppy adjust to our house before we take it to the vet or just right away?

I recommend taking the puppy to the vet right away, and actually insist upon it in my contract. It's a good thing to have the puppy health checked when you get it.

 

[Ivory]

Sorry, golden retriever puppy. Forgot to mention!

 

[Lizmo]

1. How old should the puppy be before we start giving it anti-flea/tick medicine such as K9advantix and how old should the puppy be before we start giving it heartworm medicine?
I have heard you can start giving at 16 weeks.

2. How many cups of food do we feed a puppy during each meal? Cups of food for a regular dog?
What breed of dog are your getting and what food are you feeding?

3. How do we know if it's necessary to soften the puppy food with wateR?
You (hopefully) won't be getting your dog till 8 or so weeks of age, so I don't think it's nessesary to soften the food. But check with your breeder about what she is feeding.

4. how many times per week/month does the puppy need a bath?
If your use a very mild shampoo, you can do it up to every week. But most do it about every 2-4 weeks.

5. Are the shots that the breeder gives a one time only deal or do we have to continue with the shots at vet trips?
You have to continue the shots at the vet till 16 weeks of age, then it's only yearly shots.

6. Should we let the new puppy adjust to our house before we take it to the vet or just right away?
From my understanding this puppy is comming from a breeder, right? If the breeder is a responsible one, there is no need to take the puppy stright to the vet for a check up. But you do need to follow up with the puppy shots. If the puppy is comming from a shelter, yes, most certainly take the pup to the vet.

 

[Rosefern]

1. How old should the puppy be before we start giving it anti-flea/tick medicine such as K9advantix and how old should the puppy be before we start giving it heartworm medicine?

Not sure. Part of it depends on the weight of the puppy...I'd ask the vet.

2. How many cups of food do we feed a puppy during each meal? Cups of food for a regular dog?

Depends on what type of food you're feeding him (he'll require more cups of low-quality food, and fewer cups of high-quality food), and the weight of the puppy/dog. For example, I have a two year old, female, 65lb GR that gets three cups of Canidae each day. My three year old, male, 20lb Sheltie/Chi gets one cup of Canidae a day. Also depends on the breed and the activity level.

3. How do we know if it's necessary to soften the puppy food with wateR?

Usually not neccessary. If he's being picky, it helps to warm the food, to give it a stronger smell...

4. how many times per week/month does the puppy need a bath?

Unless he gets dirty, not very often. My two are bathed twice a year, and if they get too dirty...

5. Are the shots that the breeder gives a one time only deal or do we have to continue with the shots at vet trips?

Depends on the age of the puppy when you get him...he will need shots at regular intervals, though...between every one and three years.

6. Should we let the new puppy adjust to our house before we take it to the vet or just right away?

Right away should be fine. But be careful with him around other dogs until he's had all his shots.

Thanks!!!

You're welcome!!

-Rosefern

 

[Spiritus]

The amount to feed depends upon the food you are feeding. Follow the bag's guidelines. If your pup looses weight, feed more, if it gains, feed less. You don't want an overweight puppy. Excess weight it too hard on growing joints.

Grammy (bubbatd) has Goldens. She'll be able to answer the bathing question. I'm sure she'll post.

 

[Maxy24]

1. I'm not too sure about the flea/tick preventative. I would ask the vet when you see him. As far as heart worm preventative the vet will probably give that on the first or second round of shots before you leave.

2.What kind of dog is he? The bag will usually tell you the general guidelines to go by based on weight. Also feed him two or three times a day (more times if he is a smaller breed) once he is an adult you can cut it to one or two times.

3. I always put water in my dog's food. The only time you will really NEED to is if when he looses his baby teeth he looses almost all of them at once and would have some chewing trouble. Other than that I would say if the dog is a very small breed and he has some trouble chewing the kibbles because they are too big.

4. He should have a bath NO MORE than once a month (unless for some reason he gets absolutely filthy one day, like gets sprayed by a skunk) and you need to use a puppy shampoo for sensitive skin. If you do it much more than that you run the risk of drying out his skin.

5. you will have to continue with one (or two, sorry I forgot ) more round of puppy shots. My vet does the last round then booster shots the next year and then you can go every three years for the rest of his life. Yearly check up (without shots) are still recommended. Some states require rabies shots every year.

6. The sooner the better. if you have other dogs/cats then he should go very soon. If not then I still would take him in a week or so, so that you can take him places and start socializing sooner. Some people do a first visit without any shots but just a vet intro so he does not associate the vet with evil shots right away.

I hope this helps a bit, and congratulations on the new pup!

 

[Ivory]

Ok, thanks for the replies everyone! I am planning on feeding the new puppy (probably getting it at about 7 weeks old) pedigree puppy food... I hope that's not too bad. I tried to find one that was right in the middle.

 

[Maxy24]

OOOOO... no pedigree PLEASE! There are many good foods and pedigree is not to good, sorry . Go to the food section of the forum and check out what we recommend. I fed Pedigree for a while. Max smelled wicked and had dry skin. those are a few side effects of bad food. I noticed such a difference in his poop after we switched, it was amazing! He was not on the new food too long before he died so it was not long enough for coat effects but Pedigree is def. no good. i personally think I will feed my future dogs Canidae.

 

[Ivory]

OOOOO... no pedigree PLEASE! There are many good foods and pedigree is not to good, sorry . Go to the food section of the forum and check out what we recommend. I fed Pedigree for a while. Max smelled wicked and had dry skin. those are a few side effects of bad food. I noticed such a difference in his poop after we switched, it was amazing! He was not on the new food too long before he died so it was not long enough for coat effects but Pedigree is def. no good.

hmmm... what would you recommend? I would like an in-the-middle price range of food, of course not part of the recalls, and a food that ensures a healthy life, a good coat, has to available in petsmart stores, and it must be dry food!

What thread in the food forum says what everyone recommends?

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Lizmo]

Oh, please don't feed pedigree...there are SO many others that are better!

May I see the breeder's website you are getting your pup from?

 

[Maxy24]

Well there are not many good foods at petsmart. I recommend Canidae since it is very well priced and a very good food. check out this store locater for stores near you that sell it. I'm sure you'll find a few (I'm assuming you live in the US, if not please tell us what country) here is the locater http://www.canidae.com/company/storelocator.html
then check out the site.

 

[Ivory]

Oh, please don't feed pedigree...there are SO many others that are better!

May I see the breeder's website you are getting your pup from?

Which brand of food would you recommend?

The breeder does not have a website, I discovered the breeder in a newspaper advertisement... I made a visit to the breeder yesterday, and I liked what I saw. It wasn't stinky, it was surprisingly clean for the amount of dogs, and all of the dogs were healthy, well trained, and active.

 

[Maxy24]

You know what, I'm very glad you came here. There is a lot that we can help you learn. most people don't know much about what makes a good breeder or good nutrition (including me 7 months ago) and we are here to help them learn that stuff. For a breeder to be good they must show their dogs and they should be champions (or for certain breeds work them, like in field trials) this does not mean they are AKC registered, there is a big difference and have OFA and CERF health screenings which is much different from going to the vet and being healthy. Along with the other more obvious stuff like clean living place, healthy looking dogs and well behaved ones. The showing and OFA are the key difference between a good breeder and a bad one. We can help you find a good breeder if you make a new thread in the breeding general or breed section asking for help finding a good, responsible breeder. This means no newspaper advertisements. I recommend going to the golden retriever club of America website and see what breeders they recommend (just google Golden Retriever club of America). Good Luck in your search, we will help you as much as you need, that is what we are here for. Like i said, I am very glad you joined and asked questions.

 

[Ivory]

Wow, thanks for that warm welcome!!!
This breeder's dogs are AFK registered and has shown me certificates for multi-generation OFA

I will continue my search for some puppy food, hopefully I will find a suitable one!

 

[Maxy24]

Oh, sorry then I just have never seen a good breeder in a newspaper add. So yeah keep looking for that dog food .

Is the AFK the same as the AKC?

 

[Maxy24]

Is the AFK the same as the AKC?

I've decided it was a typo

 

[Lizmo]

Which brand of food would you recommend?

For starters...I would recommend you look at Mordy's site...http://www.dogfoodproject.com

Then, after reading a bit on that, there is Innova EVO, Canidae, Eagle Pack, Orijen, Californa Natural, and Solid Gold

 

[Maxy24]

I would recommend you look at Mordy's site...http://www.dogfoodproject.com

Oh, yes that site is wonderful, definitely take the time and read through it when you can. Especially pay attention to ingredients to avoid.

 

[ToscasMom]

(...sneaks up to Spiritus' place while she's busy on this thread...and snatches a Terv and runs....)