Puppy Health
Our puppy health page has some general information and tips to help answer some of your questions regarding your new puppy. However we are happy to discuss your questions personally to be able to help provide you with a more detailed response so please don’t hesitate to call us.
Useful tips and Information:
Your puppy has been vaccinated at 6 weeks of age with Nobivac DHP vaccination. This is an intermediate vaccination until your pup receives its full booster vaccination at 10 weeks. In this time, try to keep your pup away from unvaccinated dogs and public places (parks etc.) where other dogs frequent because of the chance of contracting one of the deadly canine diseases such as Parvo, Distemper and Hepatitis. So far your pup has been wormed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks for the control of roundworm, hookworm and hydatid tapeworm. We recommend that you do not worm your pup for 2 weeks after delivery, but then at 2 weekly intervals until 12 weeks and then at 3 monthly intervals. Heartworm treatment should start at 3 months or on your vets recommendation.
From an early age your pup has been fed mainly beef, chicken, vegetables and small amounts of dry food which have all been chosen to form a balanced diet and to avoid fussiness. When you get your pup home he or she may be quite nervous being in a new environment and weaned from their litter mates. In this time stress can affect some pups considerably, so do not overfeed trying to make your puppy happy.
For the first few nights we recommend a warm draft free enclosure to avoid stress and we caution you to the use of commercial dog foods as we prefer fresh food as our experience shows that they can cause health problems in your dog with long term use.
We recommend an all-natural diet for your puppy and for all their adult life. We have found our puppies love a variety and we make a special homemade casserole which they enjoy daily. We recommend between 1 cup – 1 and 1/2 cups of casserole for breakfast, followed by a handful of dry puppy food. Then for dinner some fresh raw chicken necks (about 5) or some raw chicken mince (about 1 cup) combined with household leftovers. Feel free to discuss this further with us for more information. We recommend feeding your puppy twice a day until they are about 6 months old and then you can just feed a little extra once daily.
We also encourage you to consider puppy school and training with an accredited trainer so both you and your puppy can learn some basic training to maximise the enjoyment of your new relationship. Your puppy is weaned from their mum at 6 weeks of age and get extra special attention and socialisation with us until they are ready for their new homes after 8 weeks of age.
There are known hereditary problems in all breeds of dogs, the main problems being hip dysplasia and A.C. joint problems. They are usually caused from poor diet, over exercising as a young pup, (i.e. allowing your puppy to jump from vehicles and verandas before he is fully developed) and obesity. If in the event of any hereditary problems developing, we are happy to discuss the situation with you on a personal basis and we ask you to contact us immediately to talk about your puppy. However we won’t be accountable for any veterinary charges you incur regarding hereditary faults or general health matters unless contact and arrangements have been made with us so please call us on our mobile phones immediately prior to any vet consultation if you have any concerns regarding your pet’s health. We strongly recommend pet insurance for you puppy for those unforeseen circumstances.
We strongly support all our clients prior to and after purchasing a puppy and encourage you to call us for advice anytime as owning a puppy is a life long commitment as we want all our puppies to have a wonderful enjoyable life with their new owners.