New Puppies

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW PUPPY!

Please read the following information carefully. Following these recommendations will help to insure that your puppy lives a long and healthy life.

DIET

Unfortunately there are many different types and quality of dog food available. Much of it is equivalent to ‘junk food’. We recommend feeding your dog a high quality dog food. Premium brands are the Royal Canin line, Science Diet, Iams, and Eukanuba. The level of quality then drops to the intermediate pet store brands, brand name foods from the grocery store, and lastly, cheap foods. With dog food, “you get what you pay for.” Labeling can be very deceptive. The best way to compare food is to compare price to amount. If it is much cheaper than the quality brands, then the label and advertising are false. At our hospital we sell Royal Canin foods not only because these are premium diets, but also because they have fatty acids (Omega 3 & 6) in the diet to help with the hair coat. Our Doctors feel that this is very important because of all the skin problems and allergies that we see in this area.

One misconception is that the premium diets are too expensive to feed. The cost of feeding a premium diet compared to a cheap diet is very similar. With cheap foods, the pet actually has to eat a larger amount to get the same nutrition available in the more expensive foods. The better quality diets help with muscle and skeletal formation, hair coat quality, and internal growth. An added bonus to the better quality diets is that they also decrease the amount of fecal material produced.

Should you choose to feed a home-made diet, we ask that you let us know the ingredients and proportions to assess whether or not it is properly balanced for your pet. As a growing puppy, it is vital that they receive the proper diet for their young body to development into a healthy companion.

FEEDING

We recommend that puppies be fed set meals 2-3 times daily. When they are adults, we recommend feeding twice daily—it is better for their digestive system. Puppies under 10 pounds and younger than 4-5 months should be fed more often (4-5 times daily). There are 2 reasons why we recommend feeding set meals as opposed to leaving the food down all day: 1) it will help with the house-training, and 2) if the puppy is sick and not eating well, it will be noticed sooner than if the food is left down all day.

PEOPLE FOOD

Diet should be less than 5% people food. Dogs are used to a very bland diet. Definite No-Nos are:

• REAL BONES—not even the beef ones. There is the possibility that any bone could splinter and perforate intestines, or even cause impaction; leading to surgery, hospitalization, or even death. Some people may get away with feeding their dogs bones for years. We liken this to “Russian Roulette”.
• FOODS HIGH IN FAT—like chicken skins or steak trimmings. Fat will upset the pancreas, potentially causing hospitalization or even death. Once the pancreas has had a problem, your pet is likely to have future episodes.
• SPICY FOODS—same potential for pancreatitis.
• DEFINITELY NO BBQ!
• PORK PRODUCTS have been known to cause projectile vomiting, although pig ears are usually OK.
• CHOCOLATE—can cause gastrointestinal upset, cardiac problems and even death.
• GRAPES & RAISINS—can lead to kidney failure.

In summary, ‘if it tastes good, don’t give it to him.’ Fresh vegetables, air-popped popcorn, and crackers are OK (in moderation) and we let our dogs lick the milk out of the empty cereal bowls. As long as it doesn’t cause diarrhea, a small amount of milk is OK.

It is not a particular food type so much as the fact that people tend to give their pets too much food and not in the correct portion for their pet’s size. After all, the majority of us have problems with our own portion control.

ADDING VITAMINS OR FATS

If your pet is on a good, high quality diet, then you do not need to supplement his food. Adding different supplements only serve to unbalance the diet. Your pet definitely does not need to have an egg or bacon grease added to his food. People do this to add fatty acids for a better hair coat. Unfortunately, when doing this, ‘bad’ fats are also being added. The Royal Canin and Nature’s Variety diets have the fatty acids and the correct amount of vitamins already added to them. Fatty acids are available as a supplement, but it is best to have them already in the diet.

HYPOGLYCEMIA

Very small puppies (toys, miniatures, and certain breeds) tend to have problems with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels). This is because they do not have the sugar and energy reserves that adults do. Whenever these puppies do not eat well or expend a lot of energy their blood sugar can suddenly plummet. This will lead to an episode of hypoglycemia. Signs that your puppy is hypoglycemic can range from mild (lethargy and faint muscle trembling) to severe (seizures or coma).

To try to prevent this, we recommend giving your puppy a high calorie vitamin supplement called Nutrical 6-8 times daily or as needed for energy supplementation. Other sugar supplements that can be used are honey or karo syrup; however, these should not be given regularly and are not balanced with the other necessary vitamins and minerals.

If you think that your puppy is having a hypoglycemic episode, you want to give him as much Nutrical as possible (1/4 cup or more) and then rush him to the hospital or the emergency clinic. If the puppy is unable to swallow, only apply the Nutrical to his gums. We do not want him to aspirate (inhale it into his lungs) it.

HIP DYSPLASIA

Hip dysplasia is a common problem in large breed dogs such as Rottweilers and labs. All breeds, however, can be affected. Cause of this disease is multifactorial—genetic (hereditary) and also environmental/nutrition. One way to try to prevent this disease is to make sure that both parent dogs have been OFA certified. This, however, is not a guarantee that your puppy will not have problems. Research has shown that it is the rapidly growing, fat, rolly-polly puppy that is more prone to hip dysplasia later on. You want to keep your puppy a little on the thin side (but no ribs should show!) while growing up. Also feed him a high quality diet and do not add any vitamins or minerals to this.

HEARTWORM PREVENTION

Your puppy will need monthly heartworm preventive on the same day each month beginning as a puppy and for the rest of his life. The heartworm preventive is not like the vaccines where it confers long-term protection. It works only as long as you continue to give it. We require yearly heartworm tests to make sure that if your pet does get heartworms, that it is diagnosed and treated BEFORE the heart and lungs are damaged. We recommend Sentinel. It also provides protection against the three most common intestinal parasites: hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms. Both hookworms and roundworms are transmissible to humans. Since Sentinel is an oral tablet, you do not have to worry about what you bathe your pet in and it is not an insecticide flea preventative that you would apply to their skin topically. The flea preventative in Sentinel is a chitin inhibitor which keeps the flea eggs from hatching out. It controls the flea population in your house. Adult fleas that you see are only 5% of what is in your house. The other 95% are pupae, larvae and eggs. By keeping the eggs from hatching out, the larvae and pupae which lead to the adult flea never come to fruition. Sentinel is convenient and safe for households with children. You simply give it on the same day once a month to prevent heartworm disease, fleas, and intestinal parasites in your pet.

FLEA CONTROL

In general, we do not recommend flea collars or dips. With the use of Sentinel, you should not need any extra flea control. In our experience, flea collars are not effective at killing fleas. Dips are too strong for pets and don’t last long enough to be effective. The only collar we would recommend is the Pre-ventic collar for Tick control. However, in the summer months if you need extra coverage for fleas, there are three other options you may use in conjunction with the Sentinel: Capstar, Advantix, and Comfortis. You must still give your Sentinel once a month because it is your heartworm preventative, your intestinal parasite preventative, and your main flea preventative.

CAPSTAR

Capstar is fast flea relief that starts working within 30 minutes. It is an oral tablet so there is no messy application or odor from a topical fluid. It is safe for puppies at four weeks of age that are two pounds or greater and is also safe for pregnant or nursing dogs. Over 90% of fleas are gone within 4 hours. The effect of the capstar tablet only lasts for 24 hours.

ADVANTIX

This is a liquid insecticide that you apply to the skin over the back once monthly. This will kill 100% of the fleas and ticks on your pet within 24 hours. Plus, it repels mosquitoes before they bite. It is good for outdoor dogs who go on daily walks in the neighborhood, flea allergic dogs, or dogs on large areas of land. This is very safe. You can bathe your dogs when using this product. However, you need to be careful what you use because certain shampoos will strip away the insecticide. Not for use on cats.

COMFORTIS

Is a beef flavored chewable tablet given once a month. It starts killing fleas within 30 minutes and is safe for puppies at 14 weeks of age and older. However, it must be given with food. It lasts a full month and because it is an oral medication you do not have to worry about what you bathe your dog in. Do not give this medication if your pet develops epilepsy (seizures) later on or currently has seizures.

INTESTINAL PARASITES

It is common for up to 70% of puppies to have intestinal worms. Some of these worms can be very dangerous, potentially causing a pet’s death. Other parasites can potentially be transmitted to people. The fecal material should be examined for parasites the first time that your puppy comes in, and again on the last booster visit. Do not just depend on the presence of diarrhea to indicate that there is a problem. We strongly recommend annual intestinal parasite examinations. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) also recommends regular fecal (intestinal) examinations to help prevent zoonotic transmission through either ingestion or direct penetration of the skin.

WELLNESS DIAGNOSTIC TESTING

We recommend annual diagnostic blood work and urinalysis beginning at age one in order to obtain baseline values which can be used for comparison each year of your pet’s life. Wellness diagnostic screenings maximize your ability to discover (and our ability to effectively treat) most health issues before they can become serious health problems. As your pet reaches his senior years (no later than age 7, depending on his breed), these screenings become even more important.

PRE-ANESTHETIC BLOOD WORK TESTING

Because of our strong commitment to providing the best medicine that we can for your pet, we require a basic blood work panel before any anesthetic procedure to make sure the liver and kidneys are functioning properly. Pets of any age can have problems with their internal organs. Many young purebred dogs will have congenital liver, kidney, and blood problems that can only be discovered with blood work. A normal physical examination cannot give us complete confidence that the internal organs are working properly. While the anesthetics we use are extremely safe for our pet and therefore minimize risk, if a pet is not completely healthy then potential complications can occur both during and after the anesthetic procedure. Pre-anesthetic blood work can alert us to any hidden problems that your pet may have. It minimizes the risk to your pet and gives both of us peace of mind.

VACCINATIONS

Many pet owners have questions as to why their puppy needs more than one vaccine and when. Your puppy is just like a baby with an immune system that is still growing and is not up to par yet. Each vaccine helps to stimulate the immune system more, but the immune system can only respond so much. Your puppy may be fully protected after one vaccine, or he may not even be fully protected after three vaccines.

The timing of the vaccines is important. Peak immune response is at 3-4 weeks (this is why we space our vaccinations 3-4 weeks apart). Another vaccine at this time builds upon the previous immune system response resulting in stronger immunity. Wait longer to vaccinate and the response will not be as great. That is why the timing of vaccines is so important. Also, it is not the number of vaccines that your puppy gets, but the timing of them. This has to do with interference by maternal antibodies. It is recommended to carry out vaccines through 16-20 weeks of age. After your puppy has been through his puppy series, his immunization schedule will be determined by you and your veterinarian.

VACCINE REACTION

There is a less than 0.05% chance that your puppy may have an allergic reaction to something in the vaccines. One type of reaction is the “flat puppy syndrome”. This is where your puppy collapses, usually within 5-15 minutes of the injection. This type of reaction is considered an emergency however, it rarely occurs. The more common type of reaction (still less than 0.05% of the time) is an allergic reaction where the eyes, lips, nose, and face swell up, or he gets lumps/hives all over his body. This can happen within 15-30 minutes, 2-3 hours, or 6-8 hours later. Treatment for this involves an injection from the veterinarian or the administration of oral benadryl (diphenhydramine.) A third type of reaction is a delayed cellular reaction where the pet gets a lump under the skin where the injection was administered. This will come up 1-3 weeks from the time of vaccination and usually goes away within 1-2 weeks. Because the vaccines given may change each visit during the puppy series, look for these allergic reactions each time your puppy is vaccinated.

HOUSETRAINING

We recommend keeping your puppy in a crate to help with the house-training. The reasoning is that most dogs are less likely to urinate and defecate in their eating and sleeping area. There is a ‘gastro-colic’ reflex where your puppy will need to defecate within 5-15 minutes of eating. Be sure to take your puppy out right after meals. He should be taken out as soon as he wakes up, last thing at night, and every 30 minutes in between that you can. We recommend using a code phrase like “Let’s go potty.” This lets him know that he is out there for a purpose. When you take him outside, do not have any distractions and he needs to know that it is business, not play time.

Praise works best. Dogs have such a short attention span that he could have just peed in the corner, then you call him to you and spank him and he won’t know why you are spanking him. He will associate coming to you with spanking.

A common complaint is that owners will take their pets outside, they won’t do anything, and as soon as they come in they will squat to do their business. Look for this and when he starts to make his move, yell “NO” real loud, run him outside, put him in the correct position, and start praising him. At first this will scare him, but eventually he will get the idea, “good – outside” and “bad – inside”. Stable learning does not start until 8-12 weeks of age, so he will make a few mistakes.

PARVOVIRUS

This is a virus that attacks the intestines, causing vomiting and diarrhea. This disease is the number one killer of puppies. We can usually save 50-70% of puppies with treatment and hospitalization. However, there is no guarantee. If the puppy is less than 15 pounds, their survival rate decreases to 10% or less. Rottweilers and Dobermans have a 30% chance of surviving (this is due to their immune system).

Parvovirus is in the feces. Your puppy can get infected by sniffing infected feces, playing with an infected dog, or you can bring it in on your hands and clothing. As mentioned above, your puppy is considered at high risk for this disease until he has gone through the complete vaccination series. Even at that point, because of individual immune responses, we cannot guarantee that he is 100% protected.

The virus can stay in the environment for up to 6-12 months. The feces may no longer even be there. That is why we also recommend that you keep your puppy under STRICT ISOLATION. Place him under “House Arrest”—let him be in the house and back yard only. Do not take him out in the front yard, for walks around the block, to the park, or to pet stores. You do not know when a sick dog has come by.

Your puppy can be around adult dogs as long as you know that they are current on their DHPP, Parvo, Corona and Rabies vaccinations. If you are not sure, don’t chance it. Definitely no stray dogs. Do not let him around other puppies, not even his own littermates even if the other pet is going through their own vaccination series. He could play with a puppy that is incubating the disease (not showing any illness) and both puppies can come down with parvo.

We recommend that your puppy stays isolated until he is 4-6 months old. I know that this sounds strict, but you do not want to take any chances with your puppy. If you see any vomiting or diarrhea, bring your puppy to our hospital right away. It is better to be safe than sorry.

EMERGENCY HOSPITAL

Familiarize yourself with the location of the nearest emergency hospital. There is one on Edgebrook exit off of 45. The phone number is (713) 941-8460. Another emergency clinic is located in League City off of Highway 45 at the Calder Road exit. Their phone number is (281) 332-1678. Both of them are in small shopping strip centers. They are basically open when we are closed. We recommend taping the maps inside one of your kitchen cabinet doors so it will be handy at all times and you won’t have to search for it should you need to call one of them.

SOCIALIZATION

Your puppy will do a lot better if he is socialized at an early age to other dogs, cats, children, and people. However, remember that he is only to be around adult dogs (not puppies) who are current on vaccinations. We recommend you wait to send him for any formal obedience training until he has completed of his vaccine series.

MISCELLANEOUS

Get your puppy used to you looking in his mouth and ears and also handling his feet. Spread out his toes and play with his paws every time he is in your lap or at least twice a day. This will make it easy to do nail trims. We also recommend laying your puppy on his back in your lap. This is a position that shows your dominance over him. He may not like this at first, but keep doing it until you are both comfortable with it. Again, this will help when he needs to be medicated later on. Learn how to check his gum color so that you know what his normal gum color should look like. That way, when he does get sick, you will know what to compare it to. We recommend that you start brushing his teeth. Begin by just using your finger and gently running it around the inside of his teeth. Praise him and give lots of attention while doing this. When his teeth are in (around 6 months), then you can use the finger brush with DOGGIE toothpaste (human toothpaste is toxic to dogs) to brush the outside of the teeth once a day. This can become a treat and bonding time with your puppy. Brushing your pet’s teeth is vital part of their health just like brushing your own teeth. Tartar (plaque) will build up on their teeth just like your own, so brushing is imperative for healthy teeth and gums. Anything less than once every other day will not reduce the plaque buildup. It’s better to brush every day. Not only is this the best preventative, but it keeps your puppy on an expected schedule.

You should bathe your puppy no more than once a week. Bathing more often will remove needed oils and harm the skin, making it more susceptible to infection. The shampoo loves to stay on hair, so make sure that you double and triple rinse more than you think you need to. Soap that stays on the skin will cause flaking and itching. Make sure that the shampoo you use says OK for use on puppies. Do not use human shampoo. Human skin and dog skin have different pH levels. Using something other than one labeled safe for puppies can be potentially harmful to the pet’s skin.

We recommend that your puppy only have 2-3 chew toys to play with. Any more than that and he may not be able to differentiate between what is his and yours. Do not give him any old shoes or articles of clothing to chew on. Otherwise, you cannot rightly be upset when he chews up your expensive pair of dress shoes. We do not recommend anything hard for the puppies to chew on until they have their permanent teeth in place. A hard chew bone could easily displace teeth while they are forming. Make sure that the toys you buy do not have any strings or buttons that could come off and potentially be swallowed. We do not recommend Chew Hooves.

Puppies will go through a chewing stage while they are teething. When they chew on something inappropriate, tell them “No”, and hand them an appropriate chew toy. Then play with them and praise them for chewing on it. Eventually most dogs will learn what is not acceptable to chew on and what is.

SPAY/NEUTER

If you are not planning on breeding your pet, then the best time to spay/neuter is at 6 months of age. This is recommended for a number of health reasons. There is a very high correlation between the incidence of breast cancer and the number of heat cycles that female dogs have. If a dog is spayed before she goes through her first heat cycle, then she has less than 5% chance of getting breast cancer. The risk goes up to 25% chance by the time of her second heat cycle.

Recently, it has been speculated that large breed dogs who are spayed/neutered at an early age may have an increased incidence of cruciate ligament (CCL) injuries later on. This has not been proven to be true because CCL injuries are so common in large breed dogs. Because of the high risk of breast cancer, we still recommend that females be spayed at 6 months of age and that males be neutered between 6 months and 2 years of age.

Males are at risk for prostate cancer and other related tumors after about 5 years of age. Please talk to the veterinarian should you have more questions about this. We also have a handout that goes over details of the operation and also the specific health benefits.