You should have acquired a crate before you brought your new Puli puppy home. Both you and your pup will appreciate the many benefits of crate-training.
At our home, Puli babies are introduced to wire crates at an early age. There is always a crate around for the pups, with its door left open. They can walk in and out, curl up on the bedding and accept the crate as part of their everyday surroundings. As it is always there, it holds no terror. We also find it helpful to feed the pups inside the crate at times, so they only associate the crate with pleasure. When they have been playing and need a rest, settling into the crate is a welcome idea. When the pups have retreated to the crate for a nap, we close the crate door and leave them quiet. You are at an advantage for crate-training if your breeder has introduced the pups to a crate.
SIGNS OF A HEALTHY PUPPY
Healthy puppies are robust little fellows who are alert and active, sporting shiny coats and supple skin. They should not appear lethargic, bloated or pot-bellied, nor should they have flaky skin or runny or crusted eyes or noses. Their stools should be firm and well formed, with no evidence of blood or mucus.
COST OF OWNERSHIP
The purchase price of your puppy is merely the first expense in the typical dog budget. Quality dog food, veterinary care (sickness and health maintenance), dog supplies and grooming costs will add up to big bucks every year. Can you adequately afford to support a canine addition to the family?
Don’t bother with a puppy-sized crate. Although your Puli will be a wee fellow when you bring him home, he will grow up in the blink of an eye and your puppy crate will be useless. Purchase a crate that will accommodate an adult Puli. A full-grown Puli can stand between 15 and 18 inches tall at the shoulder, depending on sex, so purchase a crate that will allow an adult to fully stand, lie down and turn around comfortably.
BEDDING AND CRATE PADS
Your puppy will enjoy some type of soft bedding in his “room” (the crate), something he can snuggle into to feel cozy and secure. Old towels or blankets are good choices for a young pup, since he may (and probably will) have a toileting accident or two in the crate or decide to chew on the bedding material. Once he is fully trained and out of the early chewing stage, you can replace the puppy bedding with a permanent crate pad if you prefer. Crate pads and other dog beds run the gamut from inexpensive to high-end doggie-designer styles, but don’t splurge on the good stuff until you are sure that your puppy is reliable and won’t tear it up or make a mess on it.
This adorable Puli puppy is growing fast and will be adult-sized before you know it. Don’t waste your money on puppy-sized food/water dishes or a puppy-sized crate.
A pup and child that grow up together form a special bond of friendship provided that interactions are supervised and both know how to behave around each other.
PUPPY TOYS
Just as infants and older children require objects to stimulate their minds and bodies, puppies need toys to entertain their curious brains, wiggly paws and achy teeth. A fun array of safe doggie toys will help satisfy your puppy’s chewing instincts and distract him from gnawing on the leg of your antique chair or your new leather sofa. Most puppy toys are cute and look as if they would be a lot of fun, but not all are necessarily safe or good for your puppy, so use caution when you go puppy-toy shopping.
Puli puppies are fairly aggressive chewers. Like many other dogs, they love to chew. The best “chewcifiers” are nylon and hard rubber bones which are safe to gnaw on and come in sizes appropriate for all age groups and breeds. Be especially careful of natural bones, which can splinter or develop dangerous sharp edges; pups can easily swallow or choke on those bone splinters. Veterinarians often tell of surgical nightmares involving bits of splintered bone, because in addition to the danger of choking, the sharp pieces can damage the intestinal tract.
Similarly, rawhide chews, while a favorite of most dogs and puppies, can be equally dangerous. Pieces of rawhide are easily swallowed after they get soft and gummy from chewing, and dogs have been known to choke on pieces of ingested rawhide. Rawhide chews should be offered only when you can supervise the puppy.
Soft woolly toys are special puppy favorites. They come in a wide variety of cute shapes and sizes; some look like little stuffed animals. Puppies love to shake them up and toss them about, or simply carry them around. Be careful of fuzzy toys that have button eyes or noses that your pup could chew off and swallow, and make sure that he does not disembowel a squeaky toy to remove the squeaker! Braided rope toys are similar in that they are fun to chew and toss around, but they shred easily and the strings are easy to swallow. The strings are not digestible and, if the puppy doesn’t pass them in his stool, he could end up at the vet’s office. As with rawhides, your puppy should be closely monitored with rope toys.
THE FIRST FAMILY MEETING
Your puppy’s first day at home should be quiet and uneventful. Despite his wagging tail, he is still wondering where his mom and siblings are! Let him make friends with other members of the family on his own terms; don’t overwhelm him. You have a lifetime ahead to get to know each other!
If you believe that your pup has ingested a piece of one of his toys, check his stools for the next couple of days to see if he passes the item when he defecates. At the same time, also watch for signs of intestinal distress. A call to your veterinarian might be in order to get his advice and be on the safe side.
An all-time favorite toy for puppies (young and old!) is the empty gallon milk jug. Hard plastic juice containers—46 ounces or more—are also excellent. Such containers make lots of noise when they are batted about, and puppies go crazy with delight as they play with them. However, they don’t often last very long, so be sure to remove and replace them when they get chewed up.
A word of caution about homemade toys: be careful with your choices of non-traditional play objects. Never use old shoes or socks, since a puppy cannot distinguish between the old ones on which he’s allowed to chew and the new ones in your closet that are strictly off limits. That principle applies to anything that resembles something that you don’t want your puppy to chew.
TOYS ‘R SAFE
The vast array of tantalizing puppy toys is staggering. Stroll through any pet shop or pet-supply outlet and you will see that the choices can be overwhelming. However, not all dog toys are safe or sensible. Most very young puppies enjoy soft woolly toys that they can snuggle with and carry around. (You know they have outgrown them when they shred them up!) Avoid toys that have buttons, tabs or other enhancements that can be chewed off and swallowed. Soft toys that squeak are fun, but make sure your puppy does not disembowel the toy and remove (and swallow) the squeaker. Toys that rattle or make noise can excite a puppy, but they present the same danger as the squeaky kind and so require supervision. Hard rubber toys that bounce can also entertain a pup, but make sure that the toy is too big for your pup to swallow.
NEW RELEASES
Most breeders release their puppies between eight and ten weeks of age. A breeder who allows puppies to leave the litter at five or six weeks of age is likely more concerned with profit than with the puppies’
