The "Need to Know" Page
We understand bringing home puppy is extremely excting, and that you have been working hard to know everything you need to know! Sometimes that's difficult when there is an unlimited amount of information available. We hope giving you some refined, practial information helps you focus on what aligns best with our practices for the smoothest transition home. Happy Reading!
WHAT PUPPIES GO HOME WITH
Each puppy will go home with his/her first vaccination, full de-worming, flea/tick preventative, health record and veterinary folder.
This information is put in your puppy "to-go" bag. Also included in your bag is a litter/mom-scented blanket, a familiar toy, some poop bags, a food scoop, sample TLC biscuits as well as some general welcome puppy information
All of our puppies are sold with a one-year congenital health warranty, that has a 6-month extension if you continue to feed TLC as recommended. This warranty covers life-threatening congenetial defects. We do our best to make great breeding decisions and want to carry that ease of mind forward with a congenital health warranty.
OUR BREEDLINE
We work with 3 vets locally, with our main vet coming to our home to perform on-site vaccinations and health checks on our puppies and Moms. Our breeding team dogs undergo thorough annual health screenings, vaccinations, post partum checks, meet overall well-being markers as well as undergo temperament screening. We take all of these pieces into consideration when pairing our adults, hence guiding our vision of breeding for "Health and Temperament." The additonal layer and uniqueness about us here at Stoney Acre Puppies, is that we have maintained the integrity our Cavalier King Charles breedline over the past 15+ years. So, our Moms are not just any from any breeder in Ontario, they have been hand selected from our own litters of full breed CKC Spaniels whom originated from the US where we found congential defects are much less common than in Europe and Canada. We are very proud of this Legacy.
PET INSURANCE
While a congenital health warranty is an important thing to have, it is not the most practical warranty for day-to-day dog ownership. It's the unexpected parts of life that catch us off guard, the things that happen outside of routine care. Previously, I was not an adovcate of pet insurance, but the service has come along way.
We recommend Trupanion. This is based on referral's from our previous puppy families, for the times a baby tooth needed pulled, or someone ate something they shouldn't have, or puppy hurt themselves. This company seems to cover incidences outside routine care and continues not to use breed biases.
Trupanion
POTTY ROUTINE AND PUPPY SPACES
Although I am a strong believer in crate training, we do not crate our puppies here while in a litter setting. We do closely align our training processes for puppies to have an easier transition into crate training by working on the understanding that we do not mess where we sleep. As children learn from the adults in their lives, our puppies benefit from the adult dogs in their lives. We believe that our puppies have a great deal to learn from Mom, therefore we leave our Mom's alongside their litter up until when our puppies head home. During this time our Mom's not only care for and play with their puppies but they teach them important social skills, as well as give them a great start to potty traiing! Within each of our puppy spaces there is doggy door which we allow puppies to use when they are big enough to go in and outside by themselves. As they start to move around more and become more active they also pay close attention to Mom, and before long they are following her outside to do their business along side her.
With this expereince our puppies have an understanding they are to potty outside. The most drastic change however heading home is that Mom and litter mates are no longer present to cue potty breaks, nor is there a doggy door to simply go through. Once home those are 2 changes in routine puppy needs to be taught. It is therefore our recommendation that you find a way to keep close eyes on your puppy to monitor when they need go outside.
The first suggestion would be to keep puppy in close quarters. They should not have full run of the house at first, it is too much area to process as a no potty zone. Using a gradual release of responisbility, you will, in time give your puppy access to the house once they have predictable potty patterns and are able to communicate they need to go outside (i.e. sitting/scrating at the door). In order to refine the space in your house you can use gates or puppy fences.
I would suggest you set up a puppy play area where puppy has access to a small floor space and an open door to their crate. If you have a naturally small space in your house that is easily gate off then you can simply use this space. If you do not, you can purchase a puppy pen/fence and attach it to both sides of your crate and create a play space in more of open concept area. In this puppy space your pup should have some toys, their food and water dish, and open access into their crate. Remember, you are trying to establish the crate as a no-potty resting/safe zone. That means you may be moving your crate in and out of your room to start, or have a second crate. If you are not wanting to move the crate in and out of the bedroom, you can simply have a bed in the puppy area and move the self soothing toys (heart beat toy, blanket, couple additional preffered toys) between the crate and puppy play area.
The next option for consideration is tethering. This means that while you are in your house you have puppy on a leash and harness attached to you so they are in close proximity to you. This allows you to keep a close eye on their behaviour in order to watch for any potty needs while moving throughout the house at large.
Creating a controlled space for puppy through a puppy play area or tethering builds routine and successful potty habits. When you are one on one with your puppy, or your puppy is in a controlled evironment you will notice behaviours that signal they need a potty break. This may look:
As puppies transition home they very much cycle in a pattern of sleep, potty, play, eat, potty, sleep. There isn't necesarily a time limit on each of these activities but for the most part, long stretches of sleep in the late morning early afternoon are okay. In the evening however, especially approaching bedtime, you want to make sure your puppy has been well played with and excercised so that they are actually tired when its time to go to bed. You will read more about what to do "just before bed time" when you read our crate training section below. We most specifically aim crate training to night time training. We dont recommend you leaving your puppy in a closed door crate during the day if you are not there to let them out to potty. If you are out of the house, they should be in their puppy play space where they can freely go in and out of their crate to nap. That way, if a potty accident occurs it will be outside the crate, protecting the integrity of the crate as a no-potty zone.
It is helpful to use the same door to go outside and take puppy to the same potty area - this repetition builds routine and expectancy. If puppy pees inside clean it up with odor removing cleaner. If puppy poops inside, take the poop outside to the deisred area. Don't pick the poop up to start as you want the area to become scented (just for the first couple days home).
If you are wondering "Is there a time my puppy be in the house off the leash or out of their dedicated puppy space?" The answer is yes. If you have just had your puppy out for a potty break and are able to give them your full attention you can be in any space of the house with them. Don't lose track of time though, because withing that 30+ mins they will likely want to snack and potty again, try not to miss the cues! Also, remember these are tools and techniques we are using during the intial training stages. When your puppy starts to show they are really getting it you can begin to remove or reduce the use of these tools and techniques.
Patience and extra love go a long way - this is alot of work for both puppy and owner, so take time to celebrate your sucesses!
CRATE PURCHASING AND CRATE TRAINING
When purchasing a crate you want your puppy to be able to stand up, turn around and lay down comfortably but not necessarily walk to the back corner and mess. Buying a crate that will fit your puppy from early on to adulthood is important, however, you don't want a crate that will be larger than needed. I recommend a 30” crate with a divider, that way you can adjust the space as your puppy grows.
Unless you are an experienced dog owner who has a different training method that works for you, crate training is the best way to go.
It is also our recommendation that the crate be used for night time training. By closing the door of the crate you are creating a confined space that puppy will grow to feel relaxed and comfortable. The benefit of this refined space is that puppy does not want to potty where they sleep. Therefore it is important we do our best to support puppy in not messing where they sleep. You are able to do that by contolling when the door is open and closed on the crate. If you leave puppy in the crate during the early stages of potty training and leave the house there is no way for puppy to signal to you they need to go outside. Therefore it is our recommenation that the closed door crate be used for night time sleeping and that during the day you used a puppy play space as mentioned above with an open door to the crate in order to protect the integrity of the crate as a no potty zone.
Once you have left us on the day of puppy pick up, you will head home, take some time to potty and play outside and then make you way into the house. For the sake of introductions, have your crate set up in an area thats easy to play around at home. Lead puppy in the crate with toys and some loose kibble set inside the crate. Its helpful to have a couple crate beds so that you have a replacement if you throw one in the wash. Other than the crate pad we recommend you have a few comforting things inside the crate such as a couple chew toys, heart beat stuffy, and scented blanket. Whatever you put in the crate should remain in there for each bedtime, these will become puppies tools to self-sooth.
Expect a really rough few days, very little sleep, loud noisy whining/barking. The first three nights will be hardest. You need to mentally prep yourself for this in order to stay calm and keep a relaxed energy. If you stress or get worked up puppy senses it and feed off this energy. These 3 days are going to be you setting routine and expectations. The next two weeks will be you building consistency. Pick the same bedtimes and wake up for the daytimes for the couple weeks ahead.
Now, its bed time!
First you have picked up your food and water a minumum of one hour before bed. The past hour you have been keeping puppy awake, using up their energy so they are ready to sleep at bedtime. If you haven't yet, now is the time to place the crate where it will be for night. You need to be able to hear puppy in the night so ideally in your bedroom beside your bed is most ideal. Otherwise, someone has to commit to sleeping on the couch beside puppy for the first couple of weeks. If your wondering if you need to forever have the crate beside where your sleeping, the answer is no. Once puppy shows they can withstand the night without needing to potty you can move the crate to a more common living space or remove the crate altogether.
Alright, now you have just kept puppy active for the past hour, and just before bed make sure you have spent a good 10-15 minutes outside for a thorough potty break. When complete calmly carry puppy inside, sit down beside the crate and put puppy in with their couple chew toys, heart beat stuffy, scented blanket and possibly a few kibbles of food (your discretion), then say “Night night” and close the door. You may choose to move out of site at this time. If/when puppy begins to cry it is not because they need anything (they've went potty, eat, drank, played, etc.) they simply just don't want to be in the crate alone. Remember, they are used to sleeping with siblings and Mom so it will take some time for them to learn to sooth themselves. At this fuss you can shush them. If puppy cries louder, shush at the same volume as he/she does, the same with a whimper. Every sound that comes out of puppy you match with a shush. Make sure you are just shushing, you can even drop a hand beside the crate, but you do not want to stimulate puppy by doing alot of interacting. Puppy will fall asleep, eventually.
When puppy wakes (fist time will likely be between 12-3am) it is strictly business time. Get up immediately, take puppy out of the crate and go directly outside. Carry puppy from crate to same outdoor areas you have been using in the day. You are somewhat ignoring puppy at this point as the sole purpose of your outside visit is to potty, not to play. Only keyword and maintain a calm relaxed energy, i.e. “go pee, go pee.” When puppy does potty do a quick praise after they have done a full elimination with a "good job" and a pet, but again do not overstimulate. Once finished, pick him/her up, walk back to the crate, set directly inside, close the door, and be ready to shush again. Once puppy falls asleep, if he/she wakes in the hours after, do the same thing. When it's morning (6-7 am) wake puppy if he/she isn't the one who woke you, carry directly outside and allow to use the bathroom. Bring inside and give them access to their food and water right away (some techniques to this on the food and feeding page). Repeat.
Rough Timeline for Crate Training Expectations
3 days home puppy will start to understand this is the bed time routine
1 week home you will be gaining some confidence and feeling more knowledgable
2 weeks home make sure puppy isn't playing you with just waking in a repetitive manner, if so start to stretch the windows of sleep time by an hour or so (i.e. shush through one of your wake times)
3-4 weeks home puppy should be sleeping through the night (10:30pm - 6am)
6-8 weeks you can move the crate to common area or remove altogether
VACCINATIONS
In short, your puppy will go home with their first vaccination, full deworming, flea/tick treatment, and health check. All of this is recorded in their vaccination record. You simply need to make an appointment for your second vaccination on the date that is recommend for your puppy (recorded in their vet record). Once that vaccine is compete there will be a third vaccine in 4 weeks from the second. After puppy's 3rd vaccination, they are considered fully vaccinated.
Although we want to keep puppies safe until they are fully vaccinated, we have to mindful that 8-16 weeks is a very impactful window for puppy socialization. I encourage you to navigate the "gray area" of what you should and shouldn't do with what feels comfortable for you. Being around your home, community, other people, pets you know are more than likely safe choices. My biggest recommendation is to stay out of high traffic dog areas such as common potty spots at convient locations, ie. Tim Hortons, Gas stations, etc. until vaccinations are complete.
Detailed Information about vaccinations:
There are two different categories of vaccines; Core and Non-Core.
Core – administered to all healthy dogs.
Non-Core – administered selectively based on geography, lifestyle and exposure risk.
Core Vaccines include:
Distemper Complex – Protects against distemper, adenovirus (hepatitis), leptospirosis, parainfluenza, and parvo. These diseases attack the respiratory system, liver, kidneys, intestines, cause joint pain, and lethargy.
Rabies – Fatal and incurable. Rabies affects the nervous system. This vaccine is required by law.
Non-Core Vaccines include:
Bordetella – More commonly known as kennel cough. Required when boarding dogs in a kennel or daycare.
Lyme – Disease spread by the deer tick. Recommended for dogs who live in or travel to Lyme endemic areas.
At 6-8 weeks of age, your puppy will receive their first dose of the distemper complex, which includes vaccines for distemper, adenovirus (hepatitis), parainfluenza, and parvo.
At 10-12 weeks of age (follow the re-vaccination date on your vet record) your puppy will receive a ‘booster’ (second dose) of the original distemper complex in order to boost their immunity to these dangerous diseases. They may also get leptospirosis at this time.
Lastly, at 14-16 weeks of age, your puppy will receive their last ‘booster’ of the original distemper complex, and will now get the rabies vaccine. During this visit, you may also opt to get your puppy the Bordetella and Lyme vaccines as well, based on the puppy’s lifestyle and exposure risk. This decision will be based on a discussion with your veterinarian.
RELATIONSHIP EXPECTATIONS
The intial transition home can appear to be seamless for our puppies as they quickly adjust to their new homes and families. However, we can still relate that this is indeed the biggest transition of their lives. Seperating from Mom, siblings, our property, people and other dogs is an adjustment, for sure. We empathize with our puppies during this transition and make some very specific choices around when we vaccinate, bathe our puppies, how we feed our puppies and also make the recommenations to you about how to support your puppy home.
We ask you take time as a family and make some decisions together so that you are all on the same page in regards to interacting with your puppy. Take time to understand puppy development stages as well as puppy teething and training.
I am linking some helpful resources here:
Puppy Development
Puppy Teething
Puppy Teething and Jumping
Puppy Training - Zak George
DENTAL CARE
Teeth Brushing: Brushing your puppy's teeth between the ages of eight and sixteen weeks is important and it will make the job easier when he/she is an adult. I suggest starting with a Puppy Finger Toothbrush and brushing 2-3 times a week. You can transition to an actual handheld toothbrush of your choice when you feel you are ready. If you haven’t done so by 16 weeks then go ahead and make the transition at that time. There are plenty of dental treats available to compliment a dental routine for dogs (please read the age and frequency on the bag before giving).
GROOMING
In terms of going to the groomer, it really is an owners choice around the frequency. My suggestion would be to locate a groomer in your area that you feel comfortable with and discuss a plan with them. Knowing your breed type they should be able to establish a comfortable routine. You can have your dog’s nail trimming incorporated into these visits.
They need to be groomed regularly to prevent knots and tangles. A daily brush is a great way to make sure their skin and coat stays in tip-top condition, as well as providing an opportunity to bond with your dog. A simple 2-Sided Brush (a pin and bristle brush) is works well for this breed. The metal side can be used for getting out minor tangles, while the soft side will smooth and style the coat to keep it soft and shiny while removing loose debris. If your not into daily brushing, 2-3 times a week to keep their coat soft and free of tangles is also sufficient.
The coat of this breed can be quite high maintenance, and they will benefit from professional grooming every 6 weeks or so, depending on how long their coat is.
Inbetween professional grooming there are certainly some maintenance care pieces you can do yourself! These are: Trimming Puppy’s Eyes, Trimming Puppy’s Bottom, Trimming Puppy’s Nails, and Cleaning Ears.
BATHING
The longer your pup's coat is and the more dusty or muddy your surroundings, the more often you need to bathe him. If you keep your dog in a short cut, you only need to bathe him every 4-6 weeks. If his hair is long and your yard muddy you can bathe him as often as every 2 weeks.
Over-bathing can cause puppy to have dry skin. In terms of a bathing routine the longer you can go the better. Some families are more comfortable with every 2-3 weeks while others are okay with every 4-6 weeks.
Obviously, if the puppy gets into something and needs a bath, don’t hesitate to put them in the tub.
We use Mane ‘n Tail and Body Shampoo, you can buy the conditioner if you wish but I think the shampoo is sufficient. There are alot of great washes out there to explore!
COLLAR, HARNESS, LEASHES & WALKING
Your puppy has not been introduced to walking on a leash yet. While collars are very cute, and can display some very fancy name tags, they should not be used for walking at a young age. We recommend getting a harness as puppy gets used to walking on a leash. We recommend xs to start, generally collars that are between 6-12" and xs harnesses that are 10-16" fit well for our puppies going home. Remember, this is new for them so the less fabric the better to start.
To start time in the yard is sufficient for excercise, 15-30 min spurts 3+ times a day. We generally aim to have at least a hour of excercise a day.
There is no harm in going for a walk in harness and leash, just read your puppy, if they start to become tired you can easily pick them up and carry them for the duration of your walk! By the time puppies are 10-12 weeks they up for longer walks, 15 mins +.
Remember, this is a very companion based breed, so if there is a day of bad weather, you dont need to trudge your dog through a down pour, they will be happy with quick potty breaks and some additional inside play.
Each puppy will go home with his/her first vaccination, full de-worming, flea/tick preventative, health record and veterinary folder.
This information is put in your puppy "to-go" bag. Also included in your bag is a litter/mom-scented blanket, a familiar toy, some poop bags, a food scoop, sample TLC biscuits as well as some general welcome puppy information
All of our puppies are sold with a one-year congenital health warranty, that has a 6-month extension if you continue to feed TLC as recommended. This warranty covers life-threatening congenetial defects. We do our best to make great breeding decisions and want to carry that ease of mind forward with a congenital health warranty.
OUR BREEDLINE
We work with 3 vets locally, with our main vet coming to our home to perform on-site vaccinations and health checks on our puppies and Moms. Our breeding team dogs undergo thorough annual health screenings, vaccinations, post partum checks, meet overall well-being markers as well as undergo temperament screening. We take all of these pieces into consideration when pairing our adults, hence guiding our vision of breeding for "Health and Temperament." The additonal layer and uniqueness about us here at Stoney Acre Puppies, is that we have maintained the integrity our Cavalier King Charles breedline over the past 15+ years. So, our Moms are not just any from any breeder in Ontario, they have been hand selected from our own litters of full breed CKC Spaniels whom originated from the US where we found congential defects are much less common than in Europe and Canada. We are very proud of this Legacy.
PET INSURANCE
While a congenital health warranty is an important thing to have, it is not the most practical warranty for day-to-day dog ownership. It's the unexpected parts of life that catch us off guard, the things that happen outside of routine care. Previously, I was not an adovcate of pet insurance, but the service has come along way.
We recommend Trupanion. This is based on referral's from our previous puppy families, for the times a baby tooth needed pulled, or someone ate something they shouldn't have, or puppy hurt themselves. This company seems to cover incidences outside routine care and continues not to use breed biases.
Trupanion
POTTY ROUTINE AND PUPPY SPACES
Although I am a strong believer in crate training, we do not crate our puppies here while in a litter setting. We do closely align our training processes for puppies to have an easier transition into crate training by working on the understanding that we do not mess where we sleep. As children learn from the adults in their lives, our puppies benefit from the adult dogs in their lives. We believe that our puppies have a great deal to learn from Mom, therefore we leave our Mom's alongside their litter up until when our puppies head home. During this time our Mom's not only care for and play with their puppies but they teach them important social skills, as well as give them a great start to potty traiing! Within each of our puppy spaces there is doggy door which we allow puppies to use when they are big enough to go in and outside by themselves. As they start to move around more and become more active they also pay close attention to Mom, and before long they are following her outside to do their business along side her.
With this expereince our puppies have an understanding they are to potty outside. The most drastic change however heading home is that Mom and litter mates are no longer present to cue potty breaks, nor is there a doggy door to simply go through. Once home those are 2 changes in routine puppy needs to be taught. It is therefore our recommendation that you find a way to keep close eyes on your puppy to monitor when they need go outside.
The first suggestion would be to keep puppy in close quarters. They should not have full run of the house at first, it is too much area to process as a no potty zone. Using a gradual release of responisbility, you will, in time give your puppy access to the house once they have predictable potty patterns and are able to communicate they need to go outside (i.e. sitting/scrating at the door). In order to refine the space in your house you can use gates or puppy fences.
I would suggest you set up a puppy play area where puppy has access to a small floor space and an open door to their crate. If you have a naturally small space in your house that is easily gate off then you can simply use this space. If you do not, you can purchase a puppy pen/fence and attach it to both sides of your crate and create a play space in more of open concept area. In this puppy space your pup should have some toys, their food and water dish, and open access into their crate. Remember, you are trying to establish the crate as a no-potty resting/safe zone. That means you may be moving your crate in and out of your room to start, or have a second crate. If you are not wanting to move the crate in and out of the bedroom, you can simply have a bed in the puppy area and move the self soothing toys (heart beat toy, blanket, couple additional preffered toys) between the crate and puppy play area.
The next option for consideration is tethering. This means that while you are in your house you have puppy on a leash and harness attached to you so they are in close proximity to you. This allows you to keep a close eye on their behaviour in order to watch for any potty needs while moving throughout the house at large.
Creating a controlled space for puppy through a puppy play area or tethering builds routine and successful potty habits. When you are one on one with your puppy, or your puppy is in a controlled evironment you will notice behaviours that signal they need a potty break. This may look:
- puppy circling or searching side to side and starting to arch their body as they are searching for a place to potty (if this is happening they are in the motion of going, swoop them up in your hands and take them right outside)
- 20 to 30 minutes after puppy eats
- anytime puppy wakes up from a nap
- pacing around the door that you use to go in and outside
As puppies transition home they very much cycle in a pattern of sleep, potty, play, eat, potty, sleep. There isn't necesarily a time limit on each of these activities but for the most part, long stretches of sleep in the late morning early afternoon are okay. In the evening however, especially approaching bedtime, you want to make sure your puppy has been well played with and excercised so that they are actually tired when its time to go to bed. You will read more about what to do "just before bed time" when you read our crate training section below. We most specifically aim crate training to night time training. We dont recommend you leaving your puppy in a closed door crate during the day if you are not there to let them out to potty. If you are out of the house, they should be in their puppy play space where they can freely go in and out of their crate to nap. That way, if a potty accident occurs it will be outside the crate, protecting the integrity of the crate as a no-potty zone.
It is helpful to use the same door to go outside and take puppy to the same potty area - this repetition builds routine and expectancy. If puppy pees inside clean it up with odor removing cleaner. If puppy poops inside, take the poop outside to the deisred area. Don't pick the poop up to start as you want the area to become scented (just for the first couple days home).
If you are wondering "Is there a time my puppy be in the house off the leash or out of their dedicated puppy space?" The answer is yes. If you have just had your puppy out for a potty break and are able to give them your full attention you can be in any space of the house with them. Don't lose track of time though, because withing that 30+ mins they will likely want to snack and potty again, try not to miss the cues! Also, remember these are tools and techniques we are using during the intial training stages. When your puppy starts to show they are really getting it you can begin to remove or reduce the use of these tools and techniques.
Patience and extra love go a long way - this is alot of work for both puppy and owner, so take time to celebrate your sucesses!
CRATE PURCHASING AND CRATE TRAINING
When purchasing a crate you want your puppy to be able to stand up, turn around and lay down comfortably but not necessarily walk to the back corner and mess. Buying a crate that will fit your puppy from early on to adulthood is important, however, you don't want a crate that will be larger than needed. I recommend a 30” crate with a divider, that way you can adjust the space as your puppy grows.
Unless you are an experienced dog owner who has a different training method that works for you, crate training is the best way to go.
It is also our recommendation that the crate be used for night time training. By closing the door of the crate you are creating a confined space that puppy will grow to feel relaxed and comfortable. The benefit of this refined space is that puppy does not want to potty where they sleep. Therefore it is important we do our best to support puppy in not messing where they sleep. You are able to do that by contolling when the door is open and closed on the crate. If you leave puppy in the crate during the early stages of potty training and leave the house there is no way for puppy to signal to you they need to go outside. Therefore it is our recommenation that the closed door crate be used for night time sleeping and that during the day you used a puppy play space as mentioned above with an open door to the crate in order to protect the integrity of the crate as a no potty zone.
Once you have left us on the day of puppy pick up, you will head home, take some time to potty and play outside and then make you way into the house. For the sake of introductions, have your crate set up in an area thats easy to play around at home. Lead puppy in the crate with toys and some loose kibble set inside the crate. Its helpful to have a couple crate beds so that you have a replacement if you throw one in the wash. Other than the crate pad we recommend you have a few comforting things inside the crate such as a couple chew toys, heart beat stuffy, and scented blanket. Whatever you put in the crate should remain in there for each bedtime, these will become puppies tools to self-sooth.
Expect a really rough few days, very little sleep, loud noisy whining/barking. The first three nights will be hardest. You need to mentally prep yourself for this in order to stay calm and keep a relaxed energy. If you stress or get worked up puppy senses it and feed off this energy. These 3 days are going to be you setting routine and expectations. The next two weeks will be you building consistency. Pick the same bedtimes and wake up for the daytimes for the couple weeks ahead.
Now, its bed time!
First you have picked up your food and water a minumum of one hour before bed. The past hour you have been keeping puppy awake, using up their energy so they are ready to sleep at bedtime. If you haven't yet, now is the time to place the crate where it will be for night. You need to be able to hear puppy in the night so ideally in your bedroom beside your bed is most ideal. Otherwise, someone has to commit to sleeping on the couch beside puppy for the first couple of weeks. If your wondering if you need to forever have the crate beside where your sleeping, the answer is no. Once puppy shows they can withstand the night without needing to potty you can move the crate to a more common living space or remove the crate altogether.
Alright, now you have just kept puppy active for the past hour, and just before bed make sure you have spent a good 10-15 minutes outside for a thorough potty break. When complete calmly carry puppy inside, sit down beside the crate and put puppy in with their couple chew toys, heart beat stuffy, scented blanket and possibly a few kibbles of food (your discretion), then say “Night night” and close the door. You may choose to move out of site at this time. If/when puppy begins to cry it is not because they need anything (they've went potty, eat, drank, played, etc.) they simply just don't want to be in the crate alone. Remember, they are used to sleeping with siblings and Mom so it will take some time for them to learn to sooth themselves. At this fuss you can shush them. If puppy cries louder, shush at the same volume as he/she does, the same with a whimper. Every sound that comes out of puppy you match with a shush. Make sure you are just shushing, you can even drop a hand beside the crate, but you do not want to stimulate puppy by doing alot of interacting. Puppy will fall asleep, eventually.
When puppy wakes (fist time will likely be between 12-3am) it is strictly business time. Get up immediately, take puppy out of the crate and go directly outside. Carry puppy from crate to same outdoor areas you have been using in the day. You are somewhat ignoring puppy at this point as the sole purpose of your outside visit is to potty, not to play. Only keyword and maintain a calm relaxed energy, i.e. “go pee, go pee.” When puppy does potty do a quick praise after they have done a full elimination with a "good job" and a pet, but again do not overstimulate. Once finished, pick him/her up, walk back to the crate, set directly inside, close the door, and be ready to shush again. Once puppy falls asleep, if he/she wakes in the hours after, do the same thing. When it's morning (6-7 am) wake puppy if he/she isn't the one who woke you, carry directly outside and allow to use the bathroom. Bring inside and give them access to their food and water right away (some techniques to this on the food and feeding page). Repeat.
Rough Timeline for Crate Training Expectations
3 days home puppy will start to understand this is the bed time routine
1 week home you will be gaining some confidence and feeling more knowledgable
2 weeks home make sure puppy isn't playing you with just waking in a repetitive manner, if so start to stretch the windows of sleep time by an hour or so (i.e. shush through one of your wake times)
3-4 weeks home puppy should be sleeping through the night (10:30pm - 6am)
6-8 weeks you can move the crate to common area or remove altogether
VACCINATIONS
In short, your puppy will go home with their first vaccination, full deworming, flea/tick treatment, and health check. All of this is recorded in their vaccination record. You simply need to make an appointment for your second vaccination on the date that is recommend for your puppy (recorded in their vet record). Once that vaccine is compete there will be a third vaccine in 4 weeks from the second. After puppy's 3rd vaccination, they are considered fully vaccinated.
Although we want to keep puppies safe until they are fully vaccinated, we have to mindful that 8-16 weeks is a very impactful window for puppy socialization. I encourage you to navigate the "gray area" of what you should and shouldn't do with what feels comfortable for you. Being around your home, community, other people, pets you know are more than likely safe choices. My biggest recommendation is to stay out of high traffic dog areas such as common potty spots at convient locations, ie. Tim Hortons, Gas stations, etc. until vaccinations are complete.
Detailed Information about vaccinations:
There are two different categories of vaccines; Core and Non-Core.
Core – administered to all healthy dogs.
Non-Core – administered selectively based on geography, lifestyle and exposure risk.
Core Vaccines include:
Distemper Complex – Protects against distemper, adenovirus (hepatitis), leptospirosis, parainfluenza, and parvo. These diseases attack the respiratory system, liver, kidneys, intestines, cause joint pain, and lethargy.
Rabies – Fatal and incurable. Rabies affects the nervous system. This vaccine is required by law.
Non-Core Vaccines include:
Bordetella – More commonly known as kennel cough. Required when boarding dogs in a kennel or daycare.
Lyme – Disease spread by the deer tick. Recommended for dogs who live in or travel to Lyme endemic areas.
At 6-8 weeks of age, your puppy will receive their first dose of the distemper complex, which includes vaccines for distemper, adenovirus (hepatitis), parainfluenza, and parvo.
At 10-12 weeks of age (follow the re-vaccination date on your vet record) your puppy will receive a ‘booster’ (second dose) of the original distemper complex in order to boost their immunity to these dangerous diseases. They may also get leptospirosis at this time.
Lastly, at 14-16 weeks of age, your puppy will receive their last ‘booster’ of the original distemper complex, and will now get the rabies vaccine. During this visit, you may also opt to get your puppy the Bordetella and Lyme vaccines as well, based on the puppy’s lifestyle and exposure risk. This decision will be based on a discussion with your veterinarian.
RELATIONSHIP EXPECTATIONS
The intial transition home can appear to be seamless for our puppies as they quickly adjust to their new homes and families. However, we can still relate that this is indeed the biggest transition of their lives. Seperating from Mom, siblings, our property, people and other dogs is an adjustment, for sure. We empathize with our puppies during this transition and make some very specific choices around when we vaccinate, bathe our puppies, how we feed our puppies and also make the recommenations to you about how to support your puppy home.
We ask you take time as a family and make some decisions together so that you are all on the same page in regards to interacting with your puppy. Take time to understand puppy development stages as well as puppy teething and training.
I am linking some helpful resources here:
Puppy Development
Puppy Teething
Puppy Teething and Jumping
Puppy Training - Zak George
DENTAL CARE
Teeth Brushing: Brushing your puppy's teeth between the ages of eight and sixteen weeks is important and it will make the job easier when he/she is an adult. I suggest starting with a Puppy Finger Toothbrush and brushing 2-3 times a week. You can transition to an actual handheld toothbrush of your choice when you feel you are ready. If you haven’t done so by 16 weeks then go ahead and make the transition at that time. There are plenty of dental treats available to compliment a dental routine for dogs (please read the age and frequency on the bag before giving).
GROOMING
In terms of going to the groomer, it really is an owners choice around the frequency. My suggestion would be to locate a groomer in your area that you feel comfortable with and discuss a plan with them. Knowing your breed type they should be able to establish a comfortable routine. You can have your dog’s nail trimming incorporated into these visits.
They need to be groomed regularly to prevent knots and tangles. A daily brush is a great way to make sure their skin and coat stays in tip-top condition, as well as providing an opportunity to bond with your dog. A simple 2-Sided Brush (a pin and bristle brush) is works well for this breed. The metal side can be used for getting out minor tangles, while the soft side will smooth and style the coat to keep it soft and shiny while removing loose debris. If your not into daily brushing, 2-3 times a week to keep their coat soft and free of tangles is also sufficient.
The coat of this breed can be quite high maintenance, and they will benefit from professional grooming every 6 weeks or so, depending on how long their coat is.
Inbetween professional grooming there are certainly some maintenance care pieces you can do yourself! These are: Trimming Puppy’s Eyes, Trimming Puppy’s Bottom, Trimming Puppy’s Nails, and Cleaning Ears.
BATHING
The longer your pup's coat is and the more dusty or muddy your surroundings, the more often you need to bathe him. If you keep your dog in a short cut, you only need to bathe him every 4-6 weeks. If his hair is long and your yard muddy you can bathe him as often as every 2 weeks.
Over-bathing can cause puppy to have dry skin. In terms of a bathing routine the longer you can go the better. Some families are more comfortable with every 2-3 weeks while others are okay with every 4-6 weeks.
Obviously, if the puppy gets into something and needs a bath, don’t hesitate to put them in the tub.
We use Mane ‘n Tail and Body Shampoo, you can buy the conditioner if you wish but I think the shampoo is sufficient. There are alot of great washes out there to explore!
COLLAR, HARNESS, LEASHES & WALKING
Your puppy has not been introduced to walking on a leash yet. While collars are very cute, and can display some very fancy name tags, they should not be used for walking at a young age. We recommend getting a harness as puppy gets used to walking on a leash. We recommend xs to start, generally collars that are between 6-12" and xs harnesses that are 10-16" fit well for our puppies going home. Remember, this is new for them so the less fabric the better to start.
To start time in the yard is sufficient for excercise, 15-30 min spurts 3+ times a day. We generally aim to have at least a hour of excercise a day.
There is no harm in going for a walk in harness and leash, just read your puppy, if they start to become tired you can easily pick them up and carry them for the duration of your walk! By the time puppies are 10-12 weeks they up for longer walks, 15 mins +.
Remember, this is a very companion based breed, so if there is a day of bad weather, you dont need to trudge your dog through a down pour, they will be happy with quick potty breaks and some additional inside play.