Are you ready for your puppy to come home? :-)
We're sure you may have some questions, but don't know where to start, so we've gathered some of the questions frequently asked by previous families to help you prepare to bring your puppy home with you. :-)
1. What kind of food do you recommend?
All our dogs and puppies are currently eating Victor Hi-Pro Plus. We also have these available here if you'd like to purchase a big when you pick up your puppy (it'll be a 40 lb bag of dog food for $50).
Every once in a while, we rotate the food with Purina Pro Plan Savor, or Blue Wilderness, so they don't get tired of the same food all the time.
Remember to always slowly mix the new food, even if it's the same brand/type, since each batch of food can slightly vary in ingredients. Puppy's stomaches are very sensitive, and this will help minimize upset stomach or loose stool.
2. Any treats you do/don’t recommend?
That's a hard one. We don't recommend bones or deer antlers because it can chip or break their teeth. Our dogs love to chew on bully sticks and we buy a whole bunch of it. It is a fantastic treat for crate training. They will eat this for hours. They LOVE hot dogs, but it may have too much sodium for them. We would recommend trying different treats until you find one that he really likes. You can even just use their food pebbles as treats to start off with. These Train Me treats are great. We use it when we train the puppies and as well as our bigger dogs. When they are small, you can break it up into halves or 1/4.
3. What size crate should we start with?
We recommend getting the large crate with divider 42"L x 28.5"W x 32"H; with the divider, you can slowly increase the space without having to buy a larger crate as your baby grows.
4. What size collar will I need in the beginning?
By 7-8 weeks, your puppy will most likely fit into an x-small 8.5"-12" collar (keep the tag and receipt just in case). Don't forget a leash. We like to Kong's Reflective Bungee Leash, which helps with control and training. If you'll be walking/running at night, we also have these harness and vest available for $55 each.
5. What kind of brush should we use for grooming?
We just use a regular dog comb, but this double-sided dog comb may be easier to hold. When they are shedding, we use the deshedding rake daily. We do not recommend the FURminator deshedding edge tool because that tends to cut their hair and ruins their coat. If you want the best tool, we highly recommend getting this double-coated comb. It is the same type of comb we use for our show dogs. It produces the best result with minimal effort.
6. What shampoo do we use?
We use Alpha White Shampoo Concentrate , a whitening shampoo, for our show dogs, and Grimeinator Shampoo Concentrate, a deep cleaning shampoo, for the rest of our dogs. These shampoos are very concentrated, so it will last quite awhile when used as directed.
