New Puppy?

Puppies are so much fun but are a lot of work!

If you are thinking of adding a new fun four legged family member, check out our latest blog about feeding your new puppy below from Reviews.com:

5 Do’s and Don’ts for feeding your new puppy:

1. Don’t: Buy too much food at once. Most expiration dates on dry dog food bags will tell you that the food will stay good for up to a year in the future. This is a little deceiving: It refers to how long the food will last if the bag stays unopened. Once you break that seal, it will only stay fresh for about 4–6 weeks. To avoid having puppy food going bad, only buy as much food as you think your puppy will go through in a month, and seal the bag shut when it’s not feeding time.
2. Don’t: Give your puppy human food. As tempting as it might be, it’s never a good idea to give your puppy people food. For one, normalizing human food increases the likelihood that they’ll get their paws on something toxic at some point in their lives. It also teaches them to that they might get a treat when the human plates come out, so they’ll learn to beg any time someone in the house is eating.
3. Do: Set a regular schedule. Puppies love a good routine. Knowing what to expect will help them transition to their new home, and nothing is more important to this than reliable meals. Try to feed them at the same time every day in the same amounts, and don’t leave food out for more than 10–20 minutes. This will set up good eating habits that will last their whole lives — and help immensely with potty training.
4. Do: Transition foods gradually.
5. Because puppies eat the same diet day after day, it can be a real shock to their systems when their diet is changed without warning. If you want to switch over to a new flavor (or if your pup’s ready to make the jump to adult dog food), do it as gradually as possible. Start by mixing the new food in with the old over the course of a week. If your dog shows adverse reactions like loss of appetite or diarrhea, decrease the ratio of new to old food until they adapt to it.
6. Do: Switch to adult food around one year. When your puppy reaches 90% of their expected adult weight, it’s time to switch to an adult diet. For most breeds, this happens right around their first birthday, although small breeds can hit this mark around 9 months, while it can take as much as two years for “giant” breeds like Saint Bernard’s.

Check out their blog for more new puppy feeding tips!

New Puppy 101 – 5 Tips To Socializing Your New Family Member

New puppy tips.

Congratulations, you’ve brought home your new puppy!  Now it is time to help him learn how to live in his new world and make him comfortable around new things such as the mailman, the vacuum cleaner and the occasional guest.

1. First of all, you want your puppy to meet new people. This means both inside your home and out and about at new places.  When your puppy engages successfully with new people reward him for demonstrating a good behavior.  Initially, it is a good idea to introduce your puppy to new people on his own turf – at home.  When new people come over, suggest they crouch down low and let the puppy approach them on his/her own time.
2. Once your puppy enjoys new adults, introduce him to kids for a short amount of time.  Sometimes children might accidentally play too rough with your pup so make sure you supervise them constantly in the beginning.  As an alternative, if you bring your dog to a park your puppy will likely draw kids to him on his own.
3. Next you will want to socialize your puppy around other dogs.  A great way to do this is to bring your dog to a dog park.  This way you can let your pup decide who to meet and for how long.  It is also helpful to host doggie playdates.  Invite friends to bring their dogs to your garden or backyard for a game of Frisbee or ball chase.
4. If you have other pets, introduce them slowly to the new puppy.  By keeping the new puppy in a kennel, this allows the new pet to visit it through the safety of the bars.  Gradually extend the length of these visits until you allow them to meet face to face.
5. Lastly, you should introduce new experiences to your puppy such as vacuums and other types of loud things around the house.  First let your puppy check out the quieted item, then place your puppy a safe distance away before turning on the object for a second or two.  After you turn it off, stand the object up and call your pup to you.  Reward him with affection.  Lastly, after the noise has been turned on try calling your pup.  After a while loud noises will not bother him.

Putting in extra time when you first get your puppy to socialize him is a labor of love that will pay off later – for both you and your pup.

Your Puppy and House Training

Get Your Puppy House Trained!

If you just got a puppy, it is now time to learn how to potty train him.  If you have accidents, you do not want your puppy to go back to that spot to urinate again.  Use Clear the Air’s Carpet and Furniture Odor Eliminator to completely eliminate the odors.

We found this article from ASPCA’s website and thought there was a lot of valuable information on potty-training your puppy.

Puppies need to be house trained in order to understand that it’s not okay to eliminate in your house. House training is a simple process, but one that must be carried out positively (without punishment that scares the puppy) and consistently, following two main guidelines: 1) prevent indoor accidents through confinement and close supervision, and 2) take the puppy outside on a frequent and regular schedule and reward him for eliminating where you want him to go. House soiling can occur in any location in the home but sometimes pet parents will notice that their puppy soils more in certain locations, such as infrequently used rooms or on a specific kind of surface. Very young pups (under 12 weeks old) don’t have complete bladder control and might not be able to hold it very long. Older puppies who have had accidents might not have been house trained completely.

Why Puppies You Thought Were Housetrained Might Have Accidents

Too Young to Be Fully House Trained – Some puppies, especially those under 12 weeks of age, haven’t developed bladder or bowel control yet.

Incomplete House Training – Many puppies simply haven’t learned where to eliminate—or they haven’t learned a way to tell their people when they need to go out. Some puppies house soil only under specific conditions. For example, your puppy may soil when he’s home alone for long periods of time, first thing in the morning, sometime during the night, only when you’re not watching or only in infrequently used rooms. Other puppies may urinate or defecate whenever they feel the need to go.

Breakdown in House Training – Sometimes puppies who seem to be house trained at one point regress and start soiling in the house again.

Other Reasons Your Puppy Might House Soil

Urine Marking – If your puppy is over three months of age and urinates small amounts on vertical surfaces, he may be urine marking. Young dogs engaging in this behavior often raise their hind legs when urinating.

Separation Anxiety – If your puppy only soils when he’s left alone in your home, even for short periods of time, he may have separation anxiety. If this is the case, you may notice that he appears nervous or upset right before you leave him by himself or after you’ve left (if you can observe him while he’s alone).

Submissive/Excitement Urination – Your puppy may have a submissive/excitement urination problem if he only urinates during greetings, play, physical contact, scolding or punishment. If this is the case, you may notice your puppy displaying submissive postures during interactions. He may cringe or cower, roll over on his belly, tuck or lower his tail, duck his head, avert his eyes, flatten his ears or all of the above.

Medical Causes for House Soiling – It’s always a good idea to visit your puppy’s veterinarian to rule out medical causes for house soiling. Some common medical reasons for inappropriate urination and defecation follow.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) – Puppies with urinary tract infections usually urinate frequently and in small amounts. They may also lick their genital areas more than usual.

Gastrointestinal Upset – If your puppy was house trained but now defecates loose stools or diarrhea in your house, he may have gastrointestinal upset for some reason.

Change in Diet – If you’ve recently changed the amount or type of food you give your puppy, he may develop a house soiling problem. Often, after a diet change, a puppy will defecate loose stools or diarrhea. He may also need to eliminate more frequently or on a different schedule than before the diet change.

Miscellaneous Medical Causes – Other medical causes include abnormalities of the genitalia that cause incontinence (loss of bladder control), various diseases that cause frequent elimination and medications that cause frequent elimination.

How to House Train Your Puppy

House training is accomplished by rewarding your puppy for eliminating where you want him to go (outside) AND by preventing him from urinating or defecating in unacceptable places (inside the house). You should keep crating and confinement to a minimum, but some amount of restriction is usually necessary for your puppy to learn to “hold it.”

How Long It Will Take

Some puppies learn where and where not to eliminate at a very young age, while others take longer to understand. Most puppies can be reasonably house trained by four to six months of age. However, some puppies are not 100% reliable until they are eight to twelve months of age. Some puppies seem to catch on early but then regress. This is normal. Keep in mind that it may take a while for your puppy to develop bowel and bladder control. He may be mentally capable of learning to eliminate outdoors instead of inside, but he may not yet be physically capable of controlling his body.

How Often Your Puppy Needs to Go Out

All puppies are different, but a puppy can usually only hold his waste for the same number of hours as his age in months. (In other words, a four-month-old pup should not be left alone for more than four consecutive hours without an opportunity to go outside.) He can last longer at night, however, since he’s inactive (just like we can). By the time your pup is about four months old, he should be able to make it through the night without going outside.

House Training Steps

1. Keep your puppy on a consistent daily feeding schedule and remove food between meals.
2. Take the puppy outside on a consistent schedule. Puppies should be taken out every hour, as well as shortly after meals, play and naps. All puppies should go out first thing in the morning, last thing at night and before being confined or left alone.
3. In between these outings, know where your puppy is at all times. You need to watch for early signs that he needs to eliminate so that you can anticipate and prevent accidents from happening. These signs include pacing, whining, circling, sniffing or leaving the room. If you see any of these, take your puppy outside as quickly as possible. Not all puppies learn to let their caretakers know that they need to go outside by barking or scratching at the door. Some will pace a bit and then just eliminate inside. So watch your puppy carefully.
4. If you can’t watch your puppy, he must be confined to a crate or a small room with the door closed or blocked with a baby gate. Alternatively, you can tether him to you by a leash that does not give him much leeway around you (about a six-foot leash). Gradually, over days or weeks, give your puppy more freedom, starting with freedom a small area, like the kitchen, and gradually increasing it to larger areas, or multiple rooms, in your home. If he eliminates outside, give him some free time in the house (about 15 to 20 minutes to start), and then put him back in his crate or small room. If all goes well, gradually increase the amount of time he can spend out of confinement.
5. Accompany your puppy outside and reward him whenever he eliminates outdoors with praise, treats, play or a walk. It’s best to take your puppy to the same place each time because the smells often prompt puppies to eliminate. Some puppies will eliminate early on in a walk. Others need to move about and play for a bit first.
6. If you catch your puppy in the act of eliminating inside, clap sharply twice, just enough to startle but not scare him. (If your puppy seems upset or scared by your clapping, clap a little softer the next time you catch him in the act.) When startled, the puppy should stop in mid-stream. Immediately run with him outside, encouraging him to come with you the whole way. (If necessary, take your puppy gently by the collar to run him outside.) Allow your pup to finish eliminating outside, and then reward him with happy praise and a small treat. If he has nothing to eliminate when he gets outside, don’t worry. Just try to be more watchful of him in the house in the future. If your puppy has an accident but you don’t catch him in the act and only find the accident afterward, do nothing to your pup. He cannot connect any punishment with something he did hours or even minutes ago.

What NOT to Do

• Do not rub your puppy’s nose in his waste.
• Do not scold your dog for eliminating indoors. Instead, if you catch him in the act, make a noise to startle him and stop him from urinating or defecating. Then immediately show your dog where you want him to go by running with him outside, waiting until he goes, and then praising and rewarding him.
• Do not physically punish your puppy for accidents (hitting with newspaper, spanking, etc.). Realize that if your puppy has accidents in the house, you failed to adequately supervise him, you did not take him outside frequently enough, or you ignored or were unaware of his signals that he needed to go outside.
• Do not confine your puppy to a small area for hours each day, without doing anything else to correct the problem.
• Do not crate your puppy if he’s soiling in the crate.
• If your puppy enjoys being outside, don’t bring him inside right after he eliminates or he may learn to “hold it” so that he can stay outside longer.

For any accidents your puppy makes in the house, make sure to clean the area and sprinkle Clear the Air’s Carpet and Furniture Odor Eliminator over the soiled area.  Let sit for 24-48 hours and vacuum it up.  The odor should be completely eliminated and your pet will no longer associate that area with eliminating.