New Puppies!

8 Week Old Shana Madela!   Welcome home.

We just purchased a new puppy.  Shana Madela will have been our third puppy, and our seventh dog.   One forgets a lot of puppy stuff in between the new family members, and especially if your dogs live happy and long lives.   So I am going to attempt to collect as much puppy information as possible for others right here.      Dobermans grow until at the minimum two years, and are not considered mature until three years of age. Taking your eyes off puppies can be quite a mistake, that may threaten the life of your new family member.   Please be sure to supervise your young and learning puppy, to keep them out of trouble and accidental harm to themselves.

So here is some puppy info links, notes and advice:

1. House Training
2. Crate Training
3. Socialization
4. Feeding/Food/Water
5. Vaccinations - also talk this over with your veterinarian.   You should know the risks ET, and the changing environment of vaccinations.
6. Worms and Parasites - Good to know about, but be sure to consult your vet if you think there is a problem.
7. Teething
8. Stages of puppy hood
9. Leashes/Collars-Leash protocols for young puppies (NOTE:  I use a fifteen foot leash for this)  and slip type training collars can be used ONLY to be sure that the collar will not slip the puppy (as many flat collars can and get loose if your puppy tugs at all on the leash).   Training collars should never be left on your puppy when not out walking (and again, remember only to use so your dog can not slip their collar, do not use for corrections at this time)  Be sure you do not start correcting your puppy to early.   They are still very fragile, and all your work now should make corrections minimal in both frequency and level when they are over six months old and old enough to start more ambitious training.
10. Toy Safety
11. Toxic items you might not think about.
12. House Proofing or knowing what to be especially careful of (please note that puppies should never not be supervised in or outside the house)
13. Multi Dog Issues and Training in a Multi Dog Household
14. Off Leash Preparation-Most effective off leash preparation is done on leash.   Many people start off with their puppy off leash, and then have problems with them staying near them when they reach a more mature age, where adventuring is the norm. (see number 8 article on umbilical cord training)
15. Still Growing Watch Activity
16. Puppy Training-You start with the basics in training a young puppy.   First things to do is house training, crate training, training to accept and not eat the leash/collar, and recognizing their name. Commands are trained differently than you might train an older dog with perhaps no previous training behind them.   Generally, if you do this right and consistently, it will be very easy to carry training forward into adolescence and maturity.     I play a lot of games, do luring, and use food when necessary.   Also a lot of praise and fun.   You can't expect the same performance as you would from a more mature dog.   For instance, you are not going to expect a half an hour place from a very young puppy).  
17. Natural but Annoying-Mouthing, barking, occaisional growling, accidents in the house, eating poop, chewing, and more.   You can find some great tips about these sorts of things in this article.   These are all things that can be worked on (please see a dog trainer if you do not know how), but know the puppy has no idea these are not desirable in a domestic human household.
18. Things to Be On Top of Right Away-Signs of aggression, abnormal growling or barking, health concerns, biting (different than mouthing),any abnormal behaviors, and so on.   Be aware though, some very new owners have a hard time telling play signs from aggression.  It's a good idea to consult with a pet professional or trainer to help you understand the behaviors of puppies and what they may mean.

There is lots to know about taking care of a puppy.   I do hope this helps someone out there who is going to be or is enjoying this adventure soon:)

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