Feeding
I feed Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Puppy – Chicken
Meal, Rice & Oatmeal Formula. This product does not contain any fillers
(corn or wheat). This food contains natural ingredients with the essential
vitamins and minerals for superior nutrition. Stay away from foods with
fillers, by-products, additives and fillers.
He will be fed 3 times a day until he is 6 months
old, and then go to 2 meals a day, until he is about one year old, and then
once a day is sufficient. If you want to continue to feed him twice a day,
divide the daily recommended adult portion into the 2 meals.
Clean fresh water should be available at all times
for him, except when he is crated for his sleeping. He knows how much water he
needs to drink at any given time for digestion and thirst.
Bathing
I find the best and
easiest place to bath is in the kitchen sink.
Place a clean wet wash cloth on the bottom of the sink so the pup won't slip.
Buy a dog shampoo from a Pet store. Human shampoo is NOT acceptable or
desirable for bathing puppies or dogs because the Ph (acid/alkaline balance) of
dog skin is different from the human PH level.
Dogs feel heat more strongly than we do, so make the bath water about 100
degrees Fahrenheit. Test it the way you would a baby formula using your wrist
or elbow. If it feels warm, it's too hot!
This is my method for bathing a dog.
Gently immerse a puppy into the sink, keeping his head above the water, but
getting his body wet all over. You will wash his head last.
Pour the shampoo into your cupped hand and drizzle it over the pup's wet coat
and work it in with your fingers and palms. Don't forget to wash the tail!
When you have got the body all soaped up and worked into the coat, drain out
the soapy water and refill the sink with clean water to rinse away the soap. Drain
the sink again and fill the sink and rinse one more time. It is very important
that all the soap is removed from the coat.
Remove the pup from the basin and wrap him well in a towel, leaving the head
exposed.
Gently pour warm water from a cup over his head, from behind the skull, tipping
his nose down so that the water runs down and away from his nose and eyes. Put
a small amount of shampoo onto his skull and work it around his ears and neck
and under his chin, keeping the soap out of his eyes and mouth.
Rinse his head twice with warm water from the cup, again pouring from back to
front, as before. Now with another small towel dry his head and face. Remove
the cotton from the ears.
Cleaning the eyes can be
difficult. You can purchase a special formula specifically for keeping eyes
clean such as Eye Envy. Vaseline works very well in getting off and keeping off
those stains.
The reason we wash the head last is because water on the head results in
automatic shaking of the whole body. Since the pup is secured in a towel
while you wash the head, you avoid having water sprayed all over the house when
the head gets wet.
You can dry the puppy with your hand-held hair dryer set on low, never
medium or hot in an area away from the sink and wet floor.
Keep the air flow about 16-18 inches away from the puppy, remembering his
sensitivity to heat. It is very easy to burn a puppy with a hair dryer so be
careful.
Don't bathe the puppy unless he is dirty or very smelly. Too much bathing strips
the protective oils from the coat. Don't be surprised if you see 'dandruff'
while you dry and brush. Dandruff is a normal reaction to a stressful situation
and means nothing, so don't panic!