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PUPPIES |
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DOG BREEDS AND MONGRELS |
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The puppys first
time at home Nothing is as exciting as the day on which to bring home a new little puppy. But you have to remember that the puppy has just left its mother, its siblings, and come to a new and alien place, with unfamiliar smells, sounds and conditions. It may well be somewhat depressed by the situation, but most puppies do the move without great problems. However, we must ensure that the puppy can have a little peace for the first few days. It is a very bad idea to buy a puppy in for example the holiday season. There is too much turmoil, and the puppy will be afraid and uncertain. If the puppy is a gift, give a gift card instead, and fetch the puppy later. Furthermore, puppies or other animals should never be given as a gift without the recipient being is informed in advance and agree. When you fetch the puppy it is a good idea if you ask for an old blanket or a towel from its old home, possibly from the dog basket. Then you have something with the familiar smells that can reassures the puppy in the new surroundings. Some things should be ready before the puppy comes. It must have a place to sleep and a place to eat. A place to sleep The puppy must have a place to sleep and relax. You can buy a dog basket or make one of a cardboard box. You have to remember that all puppies chew on things, and it will also chew its basket, so in the beginning, it is not a good idea to buy an expensive and elegant basket. Baskets made of wattle is not so good for puppies, they are chewed completely in pieces, and the puppy can get small chunks of tree in the stomach. Baskets made of strong plastic are okay. Otherwise, a cardboard box, where you have cut sides away, is a good start, as it can be easily replaced. If you ad the blanket or towel that you obtained from the breeder your puppy will immediately feel at home. A place to eat The puppy should have a fixed place where its food and water bowl stands. The bowls should be made in a material that doesn't bread and something that can be easily cleaned, like steel. There mustl always be fresh water available for puppies. It is not a good idea always to have food available to the puppy. It should have fixed dining times, where it is given a fixed portion of food, and then the bowl should be taken away as soon as the puppy has eaten. When the puppy is eating or sleeping, it should not be disturbed. Like small children, puppies sleep a lot. It is important that it is allowed to sleep in peace. If you have children in the house, they must learn that a puppy / dog, sleeping or eating should not be disturbed. Puppies are fed 3-4 times a day until they are around 6 months. From 6 to about 12 months twice a day. From it is 1 year old the dog should be fed once a day, preferably in the evening. Housebreaking your dog How do you housebreak you puppy? The answer to this question is very simple: with lots of patience and plenty of towel! Like small children puppies do not have full control of their bladder. It will take some time for the puppy to learn to go outside. However, there are certain times when puppy surely is ready to go out, and this may be useful to take advantage of. When it has slept, and when it has eaten, you should take it out. With 99% certainty it needs to go out at this time, and if it starts to go around i circles searching, it is usually a sign that it needs to relieve itself. Put the puppy on the grass and let it walk around and sniff. Stand near it and watch it. If it relieves itself you should praised with a light and happy voice. There should be not doubt that it is the best little dog in the world! Do not pay attention to what the neighbors think even if you look a little crazy, the important thing is for your puppy to understand the message. In the old days, if the puppy had an "accident" in the house it was common to put its nose down to it and scold it. However, this is cruel and doesn't help at all. A dog can only understand what is happening at the moment. If you've been gone, and get home to find a small lake in the house there's no point in blaming the dog. It cannot understand that the lake on the floor is connected to something the dog did. However, if you catch it in the act, stop it with a "no" and quickly rush it outside and wait for it to finish. Remeber to give praise if successful. It usually takes between one to two months to housebreak a puppy. In that time, you must have patience, as there will be accidents. You sometimes hear people say, "Well, it can understand what I mean, because I can see that it looks guilty." This is quite simply nonsense. The dog looks scared or guilty because it can hear that you are angry, but it does not understand why. To a human it may look like bad conscience, but this is simply not a concept that exists in the dogs world. It just reacts to the anger in its masters voice. Equipment for the puppy Besides a dog basket and bowls for food and water, there are a few other things you should acquire for the puppy. A collar. This should be of adequate size. It may be too tight, you should be able to put a couple of fingers in. Early on, the puppy will dislike the collara on and do all sorts of trickery to get it off. But it will quickly get used to it. Don't put the collar on and of all the time, in the beginning it is best to leave it on to let the puppy get used to it quicker. Other equipment for puppies are toys. It would very much like to have something to play with, and not least to chew on. This does not have to be toys that cost a fortune, much of it you can easily make yourself. |
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