Caring For Your Puppy

(Authors: Baulkham Hills Veterinary Hospital)

Feeding

What should I feed my puppy?

The most important thing about feeding your puppy is that they should eat a properly balanced diet that includes all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that they need to grow. The best and easiest way to achieve this is to feed a diet that primarily consists of a good quality, commercially prepared puppy food made especially for growing dogs. We prefer premium grade dry food diets such as those made by Eukanuba (Eukanuba puppy) and Hill’s (Hill’s Science Diet), which are easily digested, provide high quality proteins and the correct balance of all the other nutrients that your puppy needs. There are also other properly balanced growth diets in canned or “sausage” forms as well.

A puppy shouldn’t be fed a diet mainly consisting of raw or cooked meat because the amount of calcium (especially when compared to the amount of phosphorus) is not sufficient to allow normal healthy bone growth and development. Supplementing a mainly meat diet with dairy products such as milk or cheese does not provide enough calcium to correct this imbalance and may make the dog unwell. It is possible to build a diet from natural foods but it does involve a greater amount of work using meat, bones, offal and greens and is difficult to do well. Please ask us if you would like to try to feed a natural diet or are planning to use nutritional supplements.

It is important to make changes to your puppy’s diet slowly. When you first bring your puppy home, ideally, feed the same diet that it was fed before you purchased it, and gradually change to the new diet over a week or so. Tummy upsets can result from rapid changes in diet.

What about bones?

Raw, meaty bones are a good source of calcium for your puppy and are also good for their teeth and gums (especially during teething at 4-6 months of age.) In the long term many dogs’ teeth will benefit from the inclusion of these types of bones as part of the diet (say once or twice a week).

Small cooked bones such as chicken and chop bones should never be fed to a dog because the bone becomes brittle with cooking and may splinter into dangerously sharp fragments.  Small raw bones such as chicken wings or necks, or large bones that are too big to swallow (for example lamb or beef shanks) are the best sorts of bones to give your dog.  The larger bones should be used just for chewing and should be removed once the meat has been chewed off and before the bone itself is ingested.  Bone size and puppy size should be taken into account, as what is appropriate for some puppies may not be suitable for others.

What about milk?

Milk is not part of a puppy’s diet once it has been weaned from its mother and dogs are therefore normally lactose intolerant. Cows milk can often cause diarrhoea and tummy upsets in puppies and should be avoided. Some people use soy based puppy milk products as an alternative - these are quite safe but not necessary for a balanced diet.

How often should I feed my puppy?

Until a puppy is about 3 or 4 months old it is best to feed frequent small meals up to three to five times daily depending on puppy age, size and breed. After this age feeding frequency can be reduced to twice daily until about 12 months of age when once daily (or less!) is appropriate based on weight and activity levels.

Vaccinations

 What vaccinations does my puppy need?

Puppies need to be vaccinated against the potentially life threatening diseases Parvovirus, Distemper and Infectious Hepatitis. In addition, they should be vaccinated against the bacteria and virus that work together to cause Kennel (or canine) cough. We recommend that all puppies be vaccinated with a C5 vaccine to provide optimal protection against these diseases. Some puppies will be temporarily protected with a C3 or C4 vaccine before purchase - this will be upgraded by our vaccination protocol.

When should my puppy be vaccinated?

Puppies should be vaccinated at:

• 6 - 8 weeks of age (“temporary” vaccination with C3 or C4)
• 10 -14 weeks (C5 vaccination)
• 14 -18 weeks (C5 vaccination)
• and then annually for life as recommended by our vaccine manufacturers.

Usually, a puppy will have been given its first vaccination before it has been sold - but you do need to check!  A vaccination certificate completed and signed by a veterinarian should be available for your puppy if it has been vaccinated. If there is any doubt a temporary vaccination should be administered to minimise risks. In addition, “contaminated” areas such as parks should be avoided until your puppy has had the complete vaccination course.

At Baulkham Hills Veterinary Hospital we perform a thorough physical examination and health check with every vaccination consultation. This is an important way for us to detect and alert you to potential problems with your dog throughout its life and to ensure that the vaccination is safe and effective.

Worming

Intestinal worms

Your puppy needs to be wormed against the four common intestinal worms: Hookworm, Roundworm, Tapeworm and Whipworm. Any reputable product described as an “All wormer” (such as Drontal All wormer) should help control all four of these worms. Some heartworm preventatives (such as Sentinel and Interceptor) will also treat for some intestinal worms. Treatment should start when the puppy is 4-6 weeks of age and should then be discussed with us at the time of first examination and vaccination.

Heartworm Prevention

All dogs should receive heartworm prevention throughout their lives. Heartworm is a common disease spread by mosquitoes. It can be fatal in affected dogs and the treatment can be risky and expensive in severe cases and prevention is much better than cure!

There are three reliable and effective methods of heartworm prevention:

• Monthly tablets
• Monthly “spot - on” preparations
• Annual injections

There are also monthly preparations that not only prevent heartworm but also provide intestinal worming and aid in flea control as well. We will discuss the alternatives and what is best for you and your puppy at our initial consultation and examination.

Flea Control

  Fleas are bad! One adult female flea may live for a year in the right circumstances and in that time could lay up to 300 -500 eggs every 3 weeks if conditions are right in the warmer months. As you can imagine, a problem that may start with just one or two fleas can explode into a flea plague very quickly.

Fleas have been causing problems to pets and their owners for a very long time and consequently there have been many flea-killing preparations developed over the years.  Most of these older chemicals are no longer used now for flea control as they can be toxic for people and their pets and because fleas have now developed resistance to them. 

Luckily in the past few years there have been new classes of chemicals developed which are much safer for us to use and are more effective at killing fleas. We also have a much better understanding of flea biology and behaviour which allows us to attack fleas in a number of ways both on the dog and in the environment. 

The types of flea control products available to us include:

1. Adulticides (those compounds that kill fleas)

These products include:

• Sprays such as Frontline and Permoxin:
• Spot-ons such as Frontline Topspot, Advantage and Revolution and
• Tablets such as Capstar.

2. Insect Growth Regulators  (IGR’s)

These compounds break the flea’s lifecycle by stopping them breeding. They are generally used as an oral medication and include Program and Sentinel.  Revolution also has some activity as an IGR. It is important to realise that this form of flea control doesn’t actually kill the fleas and the effects are not instant. For this reason, if a few fleas are seen on the animal, it doesn’t mean that the medication is not working effectively as these fleas will not be able to breed (but you will need to use an adulticide).  It is important that all cats and dogs in the household are treated for these products to be effective and they must be used consistently throughout the year.

We would recommend the use of both types of products to help control a flea infestation and an ongoing IGR or adulticide for control. It is also important to realise that fleas only live on the dog for a small part of its life cycle and that the environment that the dog lives in (including the house, kennel and bedding) is a potential hatching ground for new fleas. There are safe and effective products available to help treat the dog’s environment and don’t forget that vacuuming floors and chairs can be a great help.

Effective flea control depends on approaching the whole problem, not just the adult fleas and providing a complete programme that is safe for the dog, its “family” and the environment. We are able to design an individual flea control programme for you and your pets as circumstances dictate. 

Generally speaking, flea collars and flea powders don’t work very well and we don’t recommend their use. Shampoos are often effective at killing fleas but don’t have any residual effect once they’re rinsed off and should be used in conjunction with other products.

What Are My Options?

Desexing

Females: We recommend desexing female dogs before they reach 6 months of age. This is before the first heat cycle starts and will thus avoid an unwanted pregnancy. There are a number of reasons why desexing at this time is desirable, the most important are the prevention of uncontrolled breeding of unwanted puppies (birth control) and the prevention of mammary cancer. It is a fact that the risk of mammary (breast) cancer is very much less likely in a bitch speyed before her first heat than later in her life. There are other diseases that are common in entire female dogs that don’t or rarely occur in desexed ones.  There is no evidence that there is any detrimental effect on a dog’s personality caused by desexing before her first heat. The disadvantages of desexing include weight gain (easily avoided by feeding the correct diet) and the occasional loss of bladder control when older (often treated with hormone replacement or other medication.)

Males: Male dogs should also be desexed at six months of age. As in the female dog, there are many positive reasons why desexing is a good idea including the prevention of prostatic disease, perianal cancers and perineal hernias. There are also considerable behavioural benefits including reduction in aggression, roaming and territory marking. Castration is, however not a cure for all badly behaved male dogs, and you should not expect that we remove bad manners with the testicles!

Both male and female dogs need to be brought to the hospital with an empty stomach on the morning of surgery (or the previous night if more convenient). They are kept overnight in hospital after the operation to ensure their recovery is complete and then are discharged to you. Pain relief is used pre and post operatively to ensure a smooth and comfortable recovery. The stitches need to be removed 10 days later.

Microchips

A microchip is a small glass implant the size of a large grain of rice that is injected between the dog’s shoulder blades. It works a bit like a barcode - when the dog is scanned, the scanner reads a number that corresponds to your details on a central computer. A microchip is a safe and permanent way of identifying your dog and ensuring that if it goes missing, you have the best chance of being reunited. The law (Companion Animals Act) says that all pups should have a microchip placed before being sold or given away.

We can place a microchip at any time, and when placed as an outpatient, the veterinarian may rely on distraction or occasionally need a local anaesthetic for quick placement with minimal discomfort.

Council registration is separate to the placing of the microchip and is required by law in all dogs. Dogs should be registered with your local council at six months of age. It is now significantly cheaper to register desexed dogs than entire ones, which is an incentive for desexing. We also enter the owner details of microchipped dogs in a separate Australia-wide “lost and found” register to aid in the return of your dog if it is lost.  

Identification tags that attach to your dog’s collar are also a good idea. We can order these with our contacts as well as yours at the front counter.

Training

Training your puppy should begin at an early age (as soon as it gets home.) The behaviour of your dog is greatly influenced by both the behaviour of its parents (genetics) and the environment it is raised in. The early socialisation period (from 6 weeks to 6 months) is very important in determining the personality and behaviour of the dog for the rest of its life. Once vaccinated the puppy should start to mix with people and other dogs as well as starting basic training - don’t forget that dogs need to be members of a pack but not the leader. Puppy preschool is a great way to socialise your puppy and can lead on to further obedience training if you wish. We can provide you with advice and information about puppy training and behaviour to help ensure you have a happy and well-adjusted dog as part of your family.

Getting your puppy used to bathing, brushing, taking tablets etc should also start as early as possible - remember to make all these experiences pleasurable with lots of praise for doing the right thing, rather than punishment for getting it wrong. It’s also important to remember, especially if you own a large breed puppy, that something that’s naughty but cute in a 5kg puppy isn’t so cute when the puppy grows into a 50kg adult.

Pet Health Insurance

There are a number of pet health insurance products available and we can provide information about your options. Insurance against unexpected and sometimes major veterinary expenses can be an enormous help in the event of illness or accident. You can gain great peace of mind knowing that your pet is always able to receive the highest level of veterinary care. 

We hope that you enjoy your new puppy, and welcome you both to our hospital.