If you are lucky, then your puppy will have been part paper-trained by the time you get him, but you will still have to continue the good work when you get him home. After all, he’ll be in a new, strange house and probably a little scared at his first time away from his mum and litter, surrounded by new smells and new people.
The first thing to do is to make sure Read the rest of this entry »
Well, so far I have sold one puppy… and I wonder if the credit crunch is having a serious effect on people’s dosh. I was also a little lazy when writing the newspaper ad, so today I’ve changed it a bit. It now reads:
“Shih Tzu Puppies - Home reared fluffy pups, strong and healthy, six boys. KC registered, all pedigree papers, wormed, flea’d, paper trained, mum can be seen. Good with children and other pets. {town} {telephone number}.”
Let’s hope this does a little better.
Before you buy a dog, consider if you can afford it. I’m not just talking about the purchase price, because obviously if you want a pedigree dog, they are expensive. I’m talking about the cost of keeping a dog.
When you first get a dog, you should get him or her vet checked. The first innoculations should also be discussed then. These will set you back around £50 - £60.
Then you’ll need to buy the basics. Even if you don’t go mad on toys and treats, the dog will need somewhere to sleep and a couple of toys, plus you need to buy bowls for him to eat and drink from and a lead for walking.
I highly recommend buying a good pet insurance policy to insure your dog too. I once had a dog who broke her leg and the operation cost me £300. Luckily, it healed well. However, even though I then insured her, she’ll never be covered for any more problems with that leg.
Consider all the factors when buying a dog. They’re expensive and a huge responsibility. If you do find you have an unwanted dog, or cannot keep him, then do the right thing and rehome them properly. Don’t abandon them or turn them to the RSPCA. You bought the dog, do the right thing by him.
Not the greatest subject and possibly a little bit morbid so I apologise now, but this is actually a factor you should take into account when you take a dog on.
In general, smaller dog breeds seem to live longer on average than bigger dogs as you can see from the list below (list courtesy of Pets.ca website)
Average Dogs Life Expectancy (years)
Afghan Hound (12.0)
Airedale Terrier (11.2) Read the rest of this entry »
When Bailey had her last litter, I talked to my vet about giving the puppies their injections and was advised not to do so. This quite surprised me considering he was turning away quite a bit of business!
Puppies need two injections, which need to be done two weeks apart. If they’re left more than two weeks before they get their second injection then the first one is wasted and has to be done again.
An injection is quite a traumatic experience for a little puppy so my vets reasoning was that the first injection cannot be given before the age of six weeks and ideally a little older. A responsible dog breeder will not let the puppies leave before eight weeks old so really the breeder would only give the first injection.
When the puppy leaves at eight weeks old to go to his/her new home, this is also traumatic for them. They’ve left the comfort of the only home they’ve known all their little life, their brothers and sisters and their mothers and now they have to get used to a new home, sleeping alone and possibly new animals in the home too. My vet firmly believes that this is enough to any puppy to cope with at such a young age so they shouldn’t have any injections for the first week in a new home so there’s no point giving the first injection as it would be wasted.
Secondly, the new owners really should take their puppy to their vet for a health check - even if the breeder has already had it done. If the puppy had already had his injections then some might not bother so this is also a way to make sure that the puppy has at least two visits to the vet in the first month at his new home. That’s not a bad thing!
To be honest, when the new owners took their puppies, I thought one or two might question this logic, thinking I was just trying to get out of the cost of injections but most seemed quite happy with the arrangement. Of course I would have happily given my vets number for confirmation but most seemed fine with it.
So, rightly or wrongly, my opinion is that no, your new puppy shouldn’t already have his injections before he comes to you.