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 Your First Two Weeks 

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STRESS

Number one cause of illness and death in newly acquired puppies. 

Congratulations on your purchase of a new puppy. Your first two weeks is the most critical time of your puppy’s life. Puppies stress when moved. Keep in mind that your puppy has left the only home and caretaker it has ever known. You are a stranger to your puppy, and you are taking it to a strange place; This causes tremendous stress on most puppies, some more so than others. Stress produces elevated levels of adrenaline, which affects all your puppies’ systems. During this stress period, puppies get all the exercise they need just in time for potty training. Any more physical activity than this during this first two weeks could be more than your puppy’s system can handle. 

Recommended potty breaks should be about 30 mins. for the first 2 weeks followed with 2 to 3 hours in his create or a confined sleeping place to rest. After the 2 weeks you can extend the play time with the potty break for about 15 mins. more. The older he gets the longer he can stay out to play and potty but still needs 2 to 3 hours a couple times a day in his create for rest. A puppy needs to sleep in his bed, not yours, until he is much older and potty trained. 

New puppies require at least 3 hours of downtime between any activity for resting, eating, and drinking. Puppies need to be confined to a cage or kennel cab and left alone so they can have their down time free of human interference for the first 2-week period. Be sure food and water are available in the cage at all times! Also monitor that they are eating and drinking. A feeding instruction sheet is attached with more detailed information for puppies that are not eating well. Puppies have to eat, if you are having problems with this, please call the one you purchased the puppy from, or your vet, if you need help. 

After the 2-week period of adjustment, add 15 mins. of playtime to your puppy’s routine. If children are involved, make them sit in the floor to play with the puppy. Let the puppy come to them, do not allow the children to chase the puppy or grab at it. That will only frighten the puppy. The next week, add another 15 mins. of playtime and the next week add 30 mins. of playtime and so on until you puppy has built the stamina and strength to keep up with the family’s activities. If, for any reason, you suspect your puppy is having hypoglycemia (low blood sugar caused from the stress of over activity and not taking in enough food for energy ** see hypoglycemia sheet attached, or any other problems, call us. We may be able to help you avoid an expensive vet bill before it is needed. 

This sheet is mainly for small or tiny breeds of puppies, however, even a large breed puppy can overdo his physical limits. A large breed can have more free time for exercise, but they still need several periods of downtime daily for resting and eating during the first two weeks. You should go by the schedule above for the age of your puppy except for the length of playtime advised. He will do well with ½ to 1 hour at a time for play as long as he gets the needed period of downtime to rest, eat, and drink well. Food and water must be kept available to him in his cage as well. 

It is critical that you read all the information we are sending home with you on the care and feeding of your puppy. We have tried to provide the best instructions for the care and wellbeing of your puppy. But, since no two puppies are alike, you may need additional help. Don’t hesitate to call someone if you think you need help. 

Dealing with Stress 

You are the proud owner of a new pet baby, which will need all the tender loving care of any new baby. TLC does not mean constant handling, petting, and playing with. 

Please Read This Guide 

STRESS IS THE MAIL CAUSE OF ILLNESS AND DEATH TO NEWLY ACQUIRED PUPPIES! There are many sources of stress. Simply moving a puppy to a new home, holding him too much, contending with another pet, or being allowed too much playtime are just a few of the many sources of stress. A new puppy is nervous and excited because they are unfamiliar with their surroundings and their new families. This causes a lot of stress. They are like babies who need regular scheduled time for eating, sleeping, drinking, going to potty and playing. 

A CRATE IS THE MOST INPORTANT ITEM TO HAVE FOR A NEW PUPPY. It can be a carrier, a cage, a playpen, or a small, enclosed area in a quiet room of your home. The crate serves two purposes. It will housetrain your pet and it protects its health and wellbeing while it grows. The crate provides a secure, comfortable place where he can rest, eat, drink, and play at his own pace. The crate should be placed in an area where the temperature stays about the same all the time. Avoid areas that are drafty, (cooling vents). Provide a comfortable bed in the crate since puppies sleep approximately 90% of the time. The bed can be something washable at first, a large towel or an old tee shirt that you have worn. Your smell will help him feel at ease. They will always need food and water available to them whether in the crate or out of their crate for their playtime. This allows them to eat rest and drink as they need to so they can grow properly. 

AVOID EXCESSIVE HANDLING. Too much of this can add stress and overtire the puppy. A tired puppy will not eat; he only wants to sleep. Missing a meal can be a life-threatening thing to a young, small puppy. It can lead to a condition called Hypoglycemia. There is more information about this condition in the following literature. Please take the time to read it! A puppy can be played with for about 30 min at a time at first. Taking him out for his potty break should begin the playtime. This schedule for playing can be increased gradually, week by week, as the puppy grows older and becomes stronger. The rest time should remain the same. He needs at least 2 hours or more at a time in his crate, undisturbed, for rest. Giving him the quiet time for rest is a must! The stress of moving a puppy can bring on illness. If you notice any sign of illness, contact your breeder or your vet. Immediately. 

Your puppy was bathed just prior to your taking him home. Usually, every 2 weeks is often enough to bathe a puppy. Use a good shampoo for dog or puppy that does not contain flea products. Towel him dry then use a blow dryer on low to complete the drying. Brush him out completely. Before bathing, put one drop of light cooking oil or eye ointment in each eye to keep the shampoo from burning his eyes and causing excessive tearing. Check with your vet for products to use for cleaning the ears. 

No flea collars on puppies. Check with your vet for safe products to use on your puppy. Front line applied to the back is what we use for fleas if you have them. If you do not have fleas on the puppy then don’t use anything. For pet supplies—lambertvetsupply.com –800-344-6337 Revivalaimal.com—800-786-4751, petedge.com—800-738-3343, Chewy.com, dog.com. 

Feeding Your Puppy 

New puppies must be treated as babies. They are usually nervous about their new surroundings and the new family. Putting them into their cage with the food and water and leaving them alone usually works best to get them to eat and drink. 

The most important thing is that they must eat and drink and eat enough to keep his system stable while he is getting used to his new home. Plenty of rest is also a must to conserve your puppy’s energy. IF your puppy is not eating or drinking, whatever the reason, call your vet or your breeder immediately, you need help. 

A sample of the food the puppy is currently eating will be sent home with him so you will know what to purchase for him. We do not recommend changing the food for the first two weeks! IF there is a problem you will know that it is not from a change in the diet. If he/she is not eating it is not because they do not like the food. It is the only food he/she has had prior to leaving us and they have been eating it fine. Keep some food and water available to the puppy at all times till he is adjusted and eating well. Dry food and water must be in the crate with him and if he is playing outside the crate there should be some available there also. They will do most of their eating the first 2 weeks while they are in the crate for the down time that the STRESS sheet tells you about. They will eat better if left alone where they cannot hear or see you to distract them. Do not give puppies bones, table scraps, milk, greasy meats, etc. They will get sick. 

They can have boiled or canned chicken meat, vanilla wafer, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, or the canned puppy food that is send home with the puppy. These can be used as treats in small bites or if needed, to the entice the puppy to eat if he is stressing and not eating. 

Teacup or small size puppies. Tiny sized puppies are more likely to develop hypoglycemia because they cannot eat enough at a time to keep their energy up. They must eat more frequently and have more rest time to conserve the energy levels. The stress from being moved can use up a lot of their energy reserve so it is critical that you restrict their activity during this adjustment time. That means keep them on the schedule that the STRESS sheet recommends for resting and playing for at least the first two weeks. There are some supplements for these puppies that will help you to keep them out of low blood sugar episodes. 1. Adding 1 teaspoon sugar to 16 oz. of water for their drinking water will help. 2. 1 teaspoon of canned food mixed with 1 tablespoon of dry food, add a little warm water, and give this once or twice daily. 4. 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese daily. 5. The canned mix and the cottage cheese can be alternated one in the am and one in the pm. if you choose. Make sure the puppy is eating! 

Tiny dogs are not for children to play with. The puppy will not be able to handle the extra activity and you will probably have problems with them. IF they are dropped, stepped on, squeezed too tightly for too long they can be fatally injured. Children must be always supervised by an adult when interacting with small puppies. The adult should hold the puppy and let the child pet and talk to it. Let the puppy have a chance to grow up before you allow children to carry them around and play with them. 

Puppies over 12 weeks old: Most puppies this age do not still need canned food or supplements, however, depending on the size of the puppy he may still need them. Watch him to see that he is eating and drinking well, that he is going potty and pee at least two or three times a day and that his energy level is staying good. IF all this is ok then he will only need the dry food and water available to him. No supplements or treats will be necessary. If you want to give treats use one of the items listed above. Purchased treats can cause stomach upset and should be 

avoided. A small piece of vanilla wafer, dry toast, cheese, cracker, cookie, or something similar that is not greasy works well for training treats. NO chocolate! 

Very tiny size puppies will however need the supplement even if they are 4 or 5 months old till, they have been at home a month and have gotten adjusted. Dogs under 4 lbs. as adults may need the supplements even as adults. 

Formula for puppies that won’t eat because of low blood sugar or illness. 1 tablespoon strained baby food chicken, 1 tablespoon dry rice baby cereal, 1 inch from a tube of Nutri-cal. Mix this all together, add enough warm water to make a smooth mixture that can easily be syringed into the puppy’s mouth. IF he won’t eat it on his own feed him with the syringe. 3 to 5 cc every 2 to 3 hours till puppy is eating on his own again. Use the sugar in the drinking water or give unflavored Pedialyte for drinking water. 

Some puppies will tend to want to eat feces (poop). No one knows for sure why, but it can be controlled. Watch your puppy closely when it goes potty and as soon as the act is done distract him immediately. 

1. Call the puppy to you very quickly to get petting and get him away from the deed. 

2. Make a loud noise to distract him and take his attention away from the deed quickly. 

3. Pick up the poop and remove it from his area quickly so he can’t go back to it. 

4. You can also give him some crushed pineapple every day to help his digestion and change the smell of the feces to him, so he is not interested. This would be about 1 or 2 tablespoons in a separate dish from his food. Most of the puppies love it and will eat it willingly. You will have to follow this procedure for a few weeks until he has learned. 

 

This can be a learned response not to do it if you get it under control quickly. It can also become a learned habit if you don’t do something to control it. It takes patience and effort, but it is well worth it to have a happy experience with your puppy. 

Potty Training 

Put him on a routine that will work for you. Puppies are pretty flexible but need a regular scheduled routine. His schedule for potty training should look something like this: 

In his crate for about 3-4 hours, take him out where you want him to go and put him down to run around. He will usually go potty in a short time. After he has had plenty of time to check out his area and go potty, take him back inside and let him play around in the house and explore for a little while. Then play with him and then put him back in his crate. His food and water are in the crate for him all the time so he will eat and drink while in the crate. Repeat this same action about every 3-4 hours during the day until your bedtime for him at night. As he gets older, he will be able to go longer in the create without having to use it. He will get used to the regular routine of going out and will begin to learn to wait to get out to go potty. Some will start to whine or bark to let you know they need to go out. A regular routine will get him trained in a very short time. 

He has used potty pads and newspaper here, but that is no guarantee he will use it for you. The whole environment will be different so you can start training him with whatever method you want to use. He will need to get used to you and what you want from him so he will start wanting to please you so give him lots of love and attention so he will feel secure in your care. 

If it is potty pads or the potty patch or something similar, block the area you want him to use so he cannot get off it at first. Put him there and tell him to potty, talk to him and use the same words over and over, he will learn the word and associate it with the action. Give lots of praise when he has done his job. Then take him out and let him play and explore the house for a while then back into his crate for another few hours. It is the same routine whether you take him outside or put him on a pad or whatever. They are very smart and will try to please you. Patience and lots of love and praise for doing good is the key. Rewards for performing for you also will help. The reward can be a special toy to play with only for a short time after potty, lots of loving and praise or it can be a tiny bit of something they really like. 

Enjoy your puppy, he will be your friend for life! 

Hypoglycemia 

Can Kill Toy Breed Puppies and Dogs (Between 6-16 Weeks Old) 

• • This is a central nervous system disorder caused by LOW BLOOD SHUGAR LEVELS. Stress is the leading cause. It can be triggered by exhaustion from too much playing, if a puppy misses a meal, if the puppy becomes chilled or if a puppy is being shipped. 

• • The first signs are sluggish behavior in the puppy followed by muscular weakness, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Tremors in the facial muscles and convulsions follow with the end being coma and probable death. All these symptoms are not always obvious nor does the puppy get all of them. If your dog is listless or won’t wake up, floppy or stiff seeming, start treatment immediately. 

 

Treatment 

• • Begin immediately! You must restore the puppies blood sugar levels! Give the puppy Nutri-cal, Honey, or White Kayro Syrup. Put a dollop of any of these on your finger and put it in the puppy’s mouth (Put your finger in the roof of the puppy’s mouth and drag the substance off of your finger by scraping it across the back of the front teeth. Do this about every 2 mins. until your puppy recovers and starts moving about. It may take a while until your puppy recovers, just continue the sugar treatment. Keep the puppy warm and CALL YOUR VET! 

• • When your puppy begins to recover give the puppy some human baby food – Gerber’s Chicken and Gravy baby food, stage 2 is what we keep on hand – hopefully, your puppy will feed well enough to eat by itself at this point. Your puppy may also exhibit diarrhea due to all the sugar. You will need to add some plain canned pumpkin (Not pumpkin pie filling) to the puppy’s dry food. 

• • Prevent recurring attacks by making sure your puppy always has food and water available. Be sure to give Nutri-cal or honey-daily, the last thing before you or they go to bed. 

 

What to Keep on Hand 

• • Canned Pumpkin 

• • Nutri-cal or Puppy-cal 

• • White Kayro Syrup 

• • Honey 

• • Gerber’s Chicken and Gravy, Stage 2 

 

Extenuating Circumstances 

If death occurs within the warranty period, the breeder must be notified immediately. We reserve the right to request an autopsy to determine the cause of death. **Euthanasia (Putting the dog to sleep) voids the warranty. Warranty does not include Hypoglycemia and conditions that arise from it or injuries from improper care. 

Return of a healthy puppy within the first 7-days of sale, a 50% restocking fee of your purchase price will be applied. After the 7-days, if for any reason you decide you no longer want to puppy, we make take it back, but no refund will be paid. It will be the discretion of the breeder to agree to take it back or not. 

HYPOGLYCEMIA IS COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE 

WE DO NOT GUARANTEE AGAINST THIS CONDITION 

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