ABCs of an 8-week-old puppy

So, you have a new puppy! It is a wonderful and sometimes challenging time for you and your family. Please contact us if you have additional questions.

Food
Puppies should be receiving three meals per day, until about 16 weeks of age. Large breed puppies should be eating large breed puppy or adult food.

Heartworm Prevention
Your puppy should be on life-long monthly prevention stalting at 6 weeks or age.

Flea Control
It is recommended that you use Revolution or Nexgard for flea prevention. Other brands may not work and might be harmful to other household pets.

Exposure
Please keep your young puppy away from grass, soil and areas where dogs roam. Your pup can interact with healthy, vaccinated dogs in your home. At this age, you can enroll in an indoor Puppy Pre-School or socialization class. After the 12 week vaccine, they can start walks on concrete, but still no high risk environments areas such as parks, beaches or pet stores.

Potty Training
Potty training should start immediately. We recommend crate/confinement training with praise and not punishment. A puppy will need to potty after sleeping, eating, playing and several times in between.

Safe toys
Puppies can become destructive while teething or bored, it is crucial to provide safe things for them to chew on. Kong toys, non-edible Nylabones and Buster cubes are great keep-them-busy toys. Rope and fleece toys should be supervised at all times.

Stool Sample
Please bring in a sample as soon as possible so we can rule out microscopic parasites. This will need to be done before your puppy can start any socialization/training classes. This is very important if young children live in your household.

Handling
We recommend handling exercise from the first day you get your puppy. Puppies that have been handled regularly are more likely to accept basic procedures such as nail clipping, ear cleaning and brushing, and are more likely to become confident adult dogs.