We suggest the following protocol when taking your puppy home to ensure a smooth transition. Stress, lack of sleep, new people etc. can compromise your pup’s immune system, and unfortunately, puppy parasites can flourish. While ALL puppies are treated on a deworming schedule, pups can leave me “clean” only to be home for a week or two and have a parasite.
Please know that nearly all dogs / puppies have parasites. When you deworm and / or medicate you can kill all live/active parasites; however, parasites and protozoa have a plan for survival in place. They lay dormant eggs in the tissues of the host. The ONLY way these eggs can be “activated” is through stress, a compromised immune system, pregnancy (hence the puppy parasites – they are passed from mama to baby) and sickness / disease. Our job is to treat live parasites and then keep pups healthy and happy to ensure their body is not a place where dormant eggs can be activated. Unfortunately, a puppy is a preferred host since they are 80% water upon birth, grow at an incredibly fast rate and naturally have a compromised immune system.
After a lot of thought and experience, I recommend you try the following protocol to minimize the activation of dormant parasites:
Keep the house completely calm and stress-free for three days to a week (no new visitors, limited commotion, minimal handling, etc.). Treat them like a newborn baby coming home. When you come home or have visitors stop by, please keep all shoes at the door. Parvo can be brought inside on shoes.
2. Do not wake the “sleeping baby”. Puppies sleep an incredible amount of time. Do not worry. As long as your pup wakes up with puppy energy, silliness, eats well, drinks well then all is good!
3. Mushy poop is common with stress, please feed only boiled hamburger (or boiled chicken) and white rice. You can also add in a little canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, which has other ingredients), for the first three days if your pup develops loose stools. A nice bland diet is imperative during a tough transition. If after three days, stools are firm, then SLOWLY add in dog food to the bland diet, increasing the dog food ratio over the next 5 days. You can make large batches of the boiled hamburger / chicken and rice at a time, and put the mixture in the refrigerator, or even freeze prior to the puppy coming home.
4. Do not feed ANY treats (including bones, etc.). Just the bland diet. You don’t want to cause an upset tummy due to food or treats. Upset tummies create a nice environment for parasites.
5. When your puppy has transitioned back to just dog kibble, add a good probiotic to their food. I recommend Purina Forti Flora.
6. This puppy was raised on well water. They will need to be given bottled water to drink the 1st three days and then transitioned to city water.
When to worry:
Poop contains mucus or blood. If this happens, feed a bland diet for 24 hours and if the condition remains after this time period, a fecal test might be in order. Contact your vet.
Puppy is lethargic, does not play with some vigor and or refuses to eat. Contact your vet.
Puppy cannot poop and vomits. This can indicate he or she ate something and has a blockage. This is an emergency. Seek immediate veterinary care.
Liquid poop. Be careful. A puppy can dehydrate quickly, so if poop does not improve quickly, then a visit to the veterinarian will be needed.
We hope this makes the transition for your puppy easier and healthier. Thank you for ensuring their safety and well-being!
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The Role of “Puppy Puppy Puppy” Recall
We imprint all of our puppies to the recall of “puppy puppy puppy”. In effect, this is actually their “name” and not their assigned “litter name” that we may have referred to throughout our correspondence. This is a lifesaving tool we are giving you, so what can you do to ensure your puppy continues to have this vital recall?
Practice twice a week with a high value treat that they never get otherwise (cheese, chicken, hot dog, etc.). Wait for them to be distracted by something (focus is not on you) and then call, “Puppy puppy puppy!” As soon as your pup gets to you, have the biggest “puppy party” and give them the treat. That is it!
Do not ever use “puppy puppy puppy” as a punishment (to put them in their kennel, call them from inside, etc.). It has to be 100% positive EVERY single time!
No not overuse this command. Your dog will learn very quickly to ignore you if this command is overused – twice a week and no more (unless your dog is in a life-threatening situation).
How long should you keep reinforcing this command? We recommend doing this for the rest of your dog’s life.
When can you use this command? If your dog bolts out of the door, won’t recall when off leash, and /or could be in danger, etc.
To Consider:
If your dog bolts out into traffic, assess the situation quickly. Calling them might be fatal because you may be asking them to run back into traffic.
If you encounter an aggressive dog, this recall could be great, or it could trigger the aggressive dog to chase (a long down stay might be best in this situation). Again, assess and use your best judgement.
Step it up and practice this command with a long drag line (20 plus feet) and take them out in a high distraction area. When they are not focused on you, call the “puppy puppy puppy”. If they don’t come? Reel them in and keep calling them. Remember to only be positive and happy (even if you are frustrated you had to reel them in!). Give them lots of praise and a treat when they reach you. Coming to you should always be positive and safe!
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The Role of “THE TREAT” Game
Puppies are notorious for picking up everything and anything. Acknowledging that while dogst explore the world through their mouth and nose, this can also be dangerous when they start gulping items or get a hold of something poisonous. Let’s teach our puppy a fun game that could save their life! It is called the treat game.
Week 1: Once a day (if possible) wait for your pup to be interested in something else. Walk up to them and put the tasty treat at their nose and say, “treat”. Give the pup the treat and praise. That’s it!
2. Week 2: Start calling “treat” and have the puppy come to you! No barriers involved. Be in sight. When the puppy comes to you, give them the treat and praise! That’s it!
3. Week 3: Call treat and go to the frisge. Barriers and distractions play a role now.
Challenge the pup and wait until they are playing with a toy! Reward with a tasty treat! That’s it!
Week 4: You only need to do this a few times a week. Wait for the pup to be really interested in something else (another dog, toy, bone, food, children, etc.). Give a high value treat from the fridge and praise them. That’s it!
The Why?
Now, anytime the puppy has something in their mouth they should not, or that you need to get from them, simply call, “treat” and go to the fridge. They will drop the item when you say treat or when they get to you. Do not put any focus on it! Put your foot over it and wait for the pup to toddle off. Then pick it up. Do not ever chase a puppy with something in their mouth. You are only adding value to it. Just call “treat” and walk to the fridge. No panic or stress! You have done your work in ensuring you don’t have a resource guarder or gulper in your house!
