thereby ensuring that you can afford to pay the veterinary fees. The cost of pet insurance varies and you will have to shop around to find the best deal for you, but paying the annual premium may save you a lot of money in the long run if your pet dog ever has an accident or a serious illness.
Learning to groom your own dog could end up saving you a lot of money. (© John Daniels)
A fact of life is that the bigger the dog, the more he eats. A large dog can cost a lot to feed properly, although there are often cheaper alternatives to expensive dog foods. Another important element is professional grooming, unless you are prepared to learn how to do it yourself. Breeds such as Old English Sheepdogs and Poodles can cost a lot of money per year to keep in trim.
Don’t Forget
• Discuss a ‘buy back’ agreement with the breeder. Most reputable breeders will agree to have the puppy back if, for any reason, he is not suitable or your home conditions change so much that you cannot look after him.
• Do not forget to get a signed and dated receipt when you hand over the money. You should also enquire about insurance; some insurance companies working in conjunction with breeders will offer four to six weeks’ free cover. This is useful as it encompasses the most vulnerable time in a puppy’s life.
• The breeder should give you five or six days’ free supply of the puppy’s normal food. Keeping to the same food will help to prevent stomach upsets and enable you to change the diet slowly, if required.
Every puppy is born perfect; it takes human beings to introduce imperfections. Like children, the initial stage of a puppy’s life is the formative part. With puppies the first year is of ultimate importance but what constitutes a perfect puppy varies considerably. While some people are very tolerant of lively, active puppies, others like them to be calm and laid back. However, whatever is wanted, a puppy must always be treated with affection and firm kindness – smacking and harsh treatment of any description are always counter-productive.
The perfect puppy should arrive in your house when he is between eight and nine weeks of age, although some unscrupulous breeders, puppy farmers and dealers often try to sell them at six weeks. However, the extra two weeks are of great importance to the young puppy because it is during this time that he will learn from his mother about his own identity in dog terms and also how he should behave with his own species. He also acquires just a little more strength and maturity, which will allow him to settle into a new environment with minimal stress for both dog and owner. Ideally, you should try to get a puppy from a breeder who allows the bitch to have her puppies in the house. In this way, they will be socialized from the moment they open their eyes and they will not be disturbed by the presence of people or any loud household noises, such as the vacuum cleaner, television and washing machine. An added advantage is that the litter is almost certain to have been trained to defecate on newspaper, which is of great help with later house-training.
Bringing Your Puppy Home
Having made the decision to get a puppy, it can be great fun planning for his arrival. With the help of your children and other family members, you can decide on what sort of things your new puppy will need. The dog magazines are full of advertisements for suitable accessories. You may be lucky enough to have a really good pet shop close by, where the added advantage is that a knowledgeable assistant will be able to point you in the right direction.
Your puppy will most certainly need just a few basic items of equipment, including a soft puppy collar, a lead, feeding and water bowls, some bedding and possibly a bed, and also some strong toys, including an artificial bone and hide chews to chew on.
Specialist grooming tools can be bought at a specialist pet store or at one of the Championship Shows. There are always a large number of traders selling items solely for dogs. Crufts, which is held annually in March at the NEC in Birmingham, has the biggest selection in the world.
One of the fastest and most effective ways to housebreak your puppy is to crate-train him – puppies have a natural tendency not to soil their den or sleeping area. (© John Daniels)
Collecting your puppy
At least two people should collect your new puppy and ideally he should travel home in the car on someone’s lap. He may never have been in a car before and will be separated from his family and litter-mates for the first time ever, so he will need lots of reassurance and comforting. Be sure to take a supply of tissues and a towel with you as he may be travel sick. Put a bottle of water and a bowl in the car in case he needs a drink. Don’t let him out of the car at lay-bys to go to the toilet as these can be a source of serious infection.
Settling him in
The first important thing to impress on everybody is that the puppy should not be taken into a public place before having his course of vaccinations for fear of infection (see here). Secondly, give him his name and only use it with pleasant connotations. Your puppy should be given a place that he can call his own – a warm, draught-free corner of the kitchen is ideal. You can invest in a hard, unchewable plastic bed lined with some soft bedding or machine-washable, fleecy, man-made fabric but this is not strictly necessary at this stage.
When puppies are very young, they often have a great liking for cardboard boxes, so turn a box upside-down, cut an entry hole in it and put in an old sweater. Your puppy will love it because he feels safe inside. He can also chew the box and it can be renewed at no expense. When he gets older, you can buy a proper chew-proof dog bed of adequate size.
Whenever he goes into his box, leave him in peace. Instruct the children that his bed is his private sanctuary and he must be allowed to sleep without being disturbed. Like a child, a puppy needs rest. It is during these periods that his body and bones develop. Whenever you put the puppy in his box, give him the command ‘In your bed’ and he will soon understand what you mean.
Many people find that a puppy playpen is a very good idea. The puppy’s box can be placed inside, together with his toys. The floor can be covered with newspapers. A playpen will keep your puppy safe and out of the way of the children and family while still allowing him to be with you all and observe what is going on around him. He can rest or sleep, and the playpen can be moved from room to room if wished.
For the first day or two, do not hassle the little dog; let him investigate his new home in his own time. Comfort and reassure him because he will feel lonely. Don’t leave him alone in the house but stay with him, talk to him and play gently with him. This is an important socialization period and what you do now will set the pattern for the future, too. Don’t give him any sweets and ‘treats’ or he will suffer an upset stomach. Leave plenty of fresh water down and give him the food that he is used to eating.
Did you know?
In 1853, Jenny Lind, a Bull Terrier bitch, killed 500 rats in one and a half hours. Another mighty hunter was the so-called Red River Killer of Australia, a dingo cross weighing 53 kg (112 lb) and measuring 2 m (6 ft) long, which killed more than 1,000 sheep and 940 cattle over a period of ten years before it was eventually destroyed.
Feeding Your Puppy
The breeder should give you a diet sheet, together with a small supply of the food on which your puppy
