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You will most likely bring your puppy home at the age of 6/8 weeks. It is important to remember that you are now the mother and litter mates to your puppy and it will rely on you to teach it and act as a companion. It is important to let your puppy feel loved but not to over whelm him, give him space and allow him to explore new surroundings at his own pace. The puppy must be given its own area, i.e a puppy crate or its own bed (which may be chewed so hard plastic is recommended). The puppy should be left here when not supervised and although may cry at first you must leave it here as taking it to bed etc, will make it harder for the pup to be seperated and it will cry even more or become destructive when left.

PUPPY TRAINING

Thee are 2 different methods to puppy training, one is to crate train, everytime you take your puppy out the crate you take it to the garden and when it toilets praise it immensly. You can also teach it a phrase like ' BE QUICK' or whatever and then you will always be able to encourage your dog to toilet in the correct place. Over time your pup will not be want to mess in his cage and so will hold it and if you take it out as soon as you take it out of the cage and praise it for going in the right area it will soon pick up the right habit. However you must keep returning the puppy to the cage when you have finished playing with it or it has fallen asleep as not doing this will increase the chance of accidents. If your pup does have accidents do not tell him off as traditionally taught at least until he will toilet in the right place in front of you. Punishing the dog for toileting will stop him doing it in front of you and so will never do it correctly in front of thus you will not be able to praise him and it will be very difficult for the pup to learn.

Another popular method is to paper train them with newspaper of training pads. You lay them out all over the area which the pup will be in right up to the back door or access to outside. Encourage the dog for going on them and gradually reduce the paper until it is just in front of the door and then put one outside or when you see the pup on the paper by the door take it out. Eventually there should only be paper outside and then none because the pup will be trelling you when in front of the door that it needs to go and you should let it out.

WORMING AND VACCINATIONS

When you get your pup it should have been routinely wormed every 2 weeks from the age of 2 weeks or @ 2, 5 and 8 weeks depending on the type of wormer. I only use wormer supplied from my vet (milbemax, drontal or panacur) as I do not feel commercial wormers are as good. If you have got your pup at 6 weeks you will need to worm them at 8 and 12 weeks age, if you got your pup later they should have done the 8 week treatment. After 12 weeks your pup will require worming every month until 6 months and then routinely every 3-6 months for life.

Vaccinations cover seroius illness and so are compulsory and they will require annual boosters to keep their immunity up to date, your dog or pup should not go out until they have been vaccinated. The first vaccination is due at around 8/9 weeks old and the 2nd at 10/12 weeks depending on your vet's preference. Once the course has been completed your pup will be allowed out 1/2 weeks after. As staed before annual boosters will be required and if they are not kept up it may be necessary to restart the course.

Toys

All puppies will chew especially a staffie as they have more strength in their jaws they seem more destructive, it is to do with teething same as babies everything goes in the mouth but it can also be caused by behavioural problems such as seperation anxeity and boredom. Toys can help alleviate these problems as can crate training them. It is also a good idea to build up your puppies tolerance to being left, i.e leave for 10 mins, then 20, then 30 and so on. The sooner the pup realises that you will return he will be more comfortable with being left. If problems continue it may be necessary to consult a professional canine behaviourist.

What toys to choose? There is a huge range of toys out there, some of which allow you to join in a game, i.e a ball for fetch or a tug toy for pulling or there are toys that a pup can play with alone, and it is these that will help him during seperation. Some of the best toys are the Kong, which you can fill with soft meat and the dog will lick out and chew for hours. There is the Nyla Bone which is nylon boned laced with something tasty and the pup will spend hours licking and chewing these toy is extremely good at keeping your dogs teeth and gums clean and healthy, another brand of this type of toy is the gumabone. There is also many pacifier toys similar to the nylabone which help look after the teeth. The Kong Stuf it ball is a large durable ball which you can fill with biscuits or dry food and the dog will have to move it around to get the treats out provide hours of fun for the dog. Chews such as bones and rawhide may not be suitable for the dog as they can splinter or swell in the dogs stomach causing it to choke.
All fetch toys such as tennis balls and frisbees are a great way of exercising your dog and bonding with it too. They can be used as a traing aid and to lengthen the dogs attention span too. It is better although possibly more expensive to buy such toys from a pet supply range as these will be more durable and therefore not dangerous to the dog.
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Puppy Basic Equiptment

Bowls - 1 water and 1 food - I prefer the stainless steel ones as they cannot be destroyed. A large breed dog such as Rottweiler may need to have their bowl elavated so as not to strain the neck muscles.

Food - I prefer a dry complete food for my dogs, which provide the best nutriments but your pup may be used to something else and this may be fine. Most vets recommed Hill's Science Diet as it was created by vets, my dogs like Nutro. It is important to remember untill adulthood your pups requirements will change according to their weight and age, so always follow the manufactors guidelines and remamber to feed a puppy diet until a year old then switch to adult food. The puppy food has more essential nutriments while they are growing. NB. If you do change your dog's diet do so by mixing with old food gradually over a week until changed, this will hopefully rule out any upset stomachs over the change. Also remember to provide fresh water for your pup always.

Lead and Collar - required for walking you dog it is also essential for the collar to have an identity tag with owners conact details (see also microchipping. At puppy stage a nylon extendable one is recommended as they will outgrow them quickly.

Dog bed and bedding - somewhere for your pup to lay his head down. I suggest at puppy stage the plastic beds as they are more durable, although still can be chewed. Keeping your bedding clean will reduce the risks of flea infestation (see flea treatments)

Crate - A suitable sized puppy crate, bearing in mind when purchasing they expected rate your pup will grow, I like mine to be too big if anything so pup is always comfortable. Again I prefer the metal crates as they cannot be destroyed.

Dog Guard - If you are going to take your dog in the car a dog guard will keep the pup contained in the boot and therefore is safer for all of you, a crate can also be used in the boot. If you car is ot suitable for this you can keep your dog restarined in the car with special harnesses that strap the dog to the seatbelt. It is important for both of you to have your dog restrained whilst driving.

Toys and chews - See above for recommendations.

Flea Treatment- I only recommend Frontline availiable by prescription only (although now think you can get it on line and is cheaper)www.bestpetpharmacy.com This treatment kills any flea that touches your dog within 24hrs, and you should treat your dog with either a spray or pipette on the back of neck, every 1/2 months all year round to ensure your pet is flea free. The dose is differnt for different weight animals so make sure if you buy on line you get the right one. It is also safe for lactating bitches to be frontlined.

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