Information For New Puppy Owners

Training Tips

  1. Train puppies humanely, using positive reinforcement and motivational techniques.
  2. Establish yourself as the puppy's leader, so it learns to live by your rules of conduct.
  3. Be consistent. Calmly enforce the rules you establish for your dog and be certain all members of the family put these rules into practice to avoid confusing your pet.
  4. Dogs connect good and bad behaviors with immediate praise or corrections. When correcting an undesirable behavior, interrupt your puppy "in the act" and direct to a positive activity. After-the-fact corrections are ineffective and will only teach puppies to fear and distrust you.
  5. Until your puppy understands the rules, closely supervise it at all times so you can react to good or bad behavior immediately.
  6. Use rewards and positive reinforcement to shape a puppy's behavior. This encourages upbeat, enthusiastic responses and ensures that your dog will enjoy learning.
  7. Practice training every day, for the life of your dog.
  8. Socialize your puppy so it makes positive associations with different people, dogs, situations, and environments.
  9. Be patient. Training is a process.
  10. Treat your dog with kindness, fairness, and respect to build trust and loyalty. This will enhance the bond you share with your canine companion.

Feeding

We suggest you feed your new puppy 2 to 3 times per day, possibly 4 times for very small breeds. Puppies eat better, grow better, and house train better if they are meal fed. Do not leave food out all the time. Watch your puppy when you feed to make sure he/she eats at each feeding. Failure to do so could result in a temporary, but sometimes fatal, condition called hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a drastic drop in the puppy's blood sugar, which is a direct result of the puppy not eating enough. (This primarily affects smaller breeds). Please be aware hypoglycemia is your responsibility. It is not covered under the Pet Pros guarantee. Click here for some help getting your puppy to eat.

Contact with other dogs or animals

We also suggest that you don't socialize your new puppy with strange dogs for the first few weeks or expose your puppy to areas that other dogs frequent (ie. parks, courtyards, etc.) This is because a young puppy's immune system is still developing and he/she may not be able to fight off diseases that wouldn't bother an older dog. Also the stress of being brought into a new environment can weaken your new puppy's immune system until he/she becomes comfortable in his/her new home.

Common ailments

At Pet Pros we do our best to keep common ailments to a minimum with preventative medications, vaccinations, and disinfection of housing. Being that puppies are babies, and like kids at preschool, if one child has a cold more likely than not some of the other children will get colds. The common term for a puppy cold is kennel cough. The symptoms could be a runny nose, cough, or lack of appetite. Loose stools can also occur within the first few days of bringing your puppy home. Coccidia and Giardia are common reasons for loose stools in puppies. All of the above are usually attributed to stress, and can be very easily treated on your post purchase puppy exam. Click here for some tips on dealing with loose stools.

Registration papers

If your puppy was purchased as a registerable breed, please allow approximately 3 months for Pet Pros to mail you the proper registration application forms. These forms will not be provided unless your payment has been made in full. And, of course, we will not be able to process them if you have not clearly printed your name and address at the bottom of your Guarantee. You can find the status of your registration papers by typing your puppy's store ID number and clicking "Papers Status". Your puppy's store ID number can be found on your Guarantee.

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At Pet Pros, we strive to be the BEST. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call us or our veterinarian at any time. ENJOY YOUR NEW PUPPY!!