Did
you know that plastic bowls can turn yellow and chocolate Labs
nose’s pink, it is called a "Dudley Nose".
Some Labs are born with a pink nose but others have dark nose’s
and the plastic will turn them pink. Yellow Labs are also prone
to having a Dudley Nose in the wintertime this is not caused by
plastic but genetics and will turn back dark in the warmer months.
INDOOR OR OUTDOOR KENNELS
OUTDOOR KENNEL
Next you will need to decide where we are going to stay when we
come home with you, will we be outside or inside. If outside you
will need to make sure we have a safe place to stay, for instance
a hand built lot or chain link kennel. We will also need a good
doghouse with bedding and it’s a good idea to put down gravel in
the front of my area. Gravel drains well and will keep pup up off
the ground when it’s muddy and it will help keep your feet clean
when you come in to feed and give us water. Make sure we have plenty
of water that can be reached and not turn over, a 5-gal bucket
is not a good choice to begin with we can get in it and drowned.
Yes, a puppy can drowned in a bucket of water if they get in and
can’t get out.
INDOOR
KENNEL
My
pet, Lynne, and many other hunters will raise their new pup in
the house,
a wonderful and necessary addition to your home is
a kennel/crate, we need our own space and a kennel is a great way
to start. We have one in both of the vehicles I ride in and one
in the house, this keeps me safe on the road and at home. Some
people think kennels are cruel but they are just the opposite.
All canines have an ancestry of wolves, our great grandma and grandpa
4 begillion years ago were wolves. We are still pack animals and
love a dark den like place to go to sleep and get a little quiet
time, a kennel is all those things and more. My pet uses Petmate
Products, they have a full line of kennels in every size, shape
and color. Petmate manufactures a full line of pet care products
for all your animals, they have kennels that fold up, airline kennels
and even a "soft kennel" that goes up in a matter of
seconds and has it’s own carrying case! They also produce kennel
covers so their wire kennels look nice in your home, my kennel
cover in the house is blue and tan and fits nicely over my Deluxe
Edition Wire kennel, it makes my home very cozy. For more information
on Petmate Products go to www.petmate.com.
A kennel can be a very useful training tool, you can think of
it as a playpen for pups. 
If you are diligent you can house break
us for the most part in about 2-3 weeks and if you need to keep
us safe during the day while you are out, in the kennel we go.
You don’t have to worry about what we are tearing up or getting
into while you are out. You know that we are safe and that everything
will be where you left it when you get home. One thing to remember
a kennel should never ever be used as punishment, it will make
us afraid of our new home and it can cause problems in the long
run. If I don’t like my kennel how am I going to safely ride in
the truck or go stay with grandma when Lynne is our of town? Where
will I spend the night, locked up in the bathroom to eat a hole
in the cabinets and drink all the cleaner that is under it? Then
you will have a huge vet bill and cabinets to replace and in your
eyes it will all be my fault when in reality it’s yours for causing
me to be afraid of my kennel.
You need to
decide where you want the kennel when we come home and keep it
there, mine is in the living room. My pet slept on
the couch the first few weeks so when I needed to go "potty" during
the night she would take me out. This way I was taught to not use
my kennel as the potty and I have never had an accident in it.
I could hold my bladder all night by the time I was 10 weeks old
(from 10:00pm-6:30am) so when my pet started sleeping in her bed
again I was still in my place and I never knew she was gone.
When I came home from the breeder (Stacey West, owner of Fowl
Creek Kennels) I was already used to a kennel, riding in a dog
trailer and being handled a lot. Some of us don’t have the same
upbringing. Be patient with us the first few weeks, the kennel
will be a new experience for us so we may cry a little the first
night or two. Remember if you come get us every time we cry we
are training you to do this and we will never do anything but cry
every time you put us in it. If you will leave us alone and let
us cry it out we will learn that this is where you want us to be
and that it is really cool. By all means put us in a blanket or
a rug, my pet prefers something she can wash while I am still small.
You need to remember that we are babies and we can’t hold our bladders
all night to begin with so something you can wash often is better
than a bed you will have to throw away. A nice warm water bottle
wrapped in a towel feels like our littermate and a ticking clock
on or by our kennel at night is soothing as well. You can also
put in a few hard rubber or nylabone type toys in with us, that
way I can chew on something if I get bored and you don’t have to
worry about me swallowing it. Don’t forget the kennel cover for
pups kennel in your house, it feels like a den and I even go in
mine during the day and have a nap, my pet leaves the door open
when she is home. Petmate makes some great mats for our kennels
I have a big one that has sheepskin on one side and the cover is
removable for washing. We keep my mat in the den where pet works,
she has taught me that this is my place to sleep in the den and
will put the mat in my kennel when I get older and stop trying
to chew it.
HOUSE BREAKING
Now for potty
training, some of us catch on quicker than others, again the
kennel will help you with this. One thing that will help
is by feeding us separate meals, like my pet advised. If you "free
feed" us, leave food down 24/7 you will never know when we
ate or how much. Usually we will need to go to potty anywhere from
20 minutes to an hour after we eat. The quality food you feed us
will also make a difference, if you feed a poor quality food we
will have to go often and our stool will be loose. This can be
corrected with a high quality food, we will usually have a bowel
movement after each meal and the stool will be solid. Let me tell
you if your pet has to clean up an accident in the house they don’t
get as upset if your stool if firm but try to remember to tell
them when you need to go out.
You will need
to take your puppy out every one to two hours while you are at
home. Take them to the same place in your yard every
time and tell the to "Potty" or use a word of your choosing.
If pup don’t potty bring them back in after about 5 minutes and
sit with them on your lap for another 5-10 minutes then try again.
The reason for siting them on your lap is more than likely they
will not use you for the potty. Make sure that when you take them
out to potty you do not use this as a play session. Pups learn
quick and if you are playing with them every time you take them
to potty they will ask you to go every few minutes so they can
play. This is not fun when you ask your "pet" to go out
at 2am and all you wanted to do was play. Our owners don’t understand
this behavior and don’t like it, they don’t understand that they
are the ones that taught us this behavior.
Also, make sure you really praise us for going to potty where
we are suppose to, you can even give us a treat when we get it
right. Treats are a great way to let us know we have done exactly
what you wanted. Just remember to be patient, we are babies and
sometimes accidents happen. If we really get to playing hard with
you in the house we forget to ask to go out, try to remember to
take us out after we have been playing hard for several minutes.
If we have an accident in the house, scold us and take us out if
you catch us in the act, we need to know that this is not acceptable.
If you don’t catch us and find it later don’t drag us to it and
stick our noses in it, we won’t understand and it will cause a
terrible infection in our nose. Just clean it up and try to figure
out why this happened, maybe you didn’t watch us closely enough
or gave us to large an area to play in.
Some pups
will bark or whine when they need to go out, I don’t, I just
go sit by the door and patiently wait. My pet tells me that
I should say something but I think the silent starring approach
is better. I have a few 4-legged friends that ring a bell that
hangs on the door. Every time their pet takes them out they ring
the bell and say "potty". My canine friends catch on
to this very quick and learn to ring the bell with either their
nose or their paw. I still like the silent approach better it keeps
my pets on their toes.
VETERANIRIAN CARE
Vet care is probably the most important part of having a healthy
pup from the beginning. Your owner should have an appointment for
you within a week of bringing you home. Make sure you get the vaccination
records from you breeder on what shots and worming pep had already
had. We will have regular puppy visits until we are around 4 months
old. Each puppy visit will consist of the following:
A Physical Exam
Being weighed
Temperature taken
DHL-P shot (Distemper/hep/lepto/parvo/ (and my vet adds corona)
Eye, ear, mouth exam
Stool Test (for worms)
When your puppy is 4 months old they will receive their rabies
vaccination and Bordatella, commonly called kennel cough. If you
are going to kennel your pup or have it around dogs Bordatella
is highly recommended. With proper Vet care you and your pup will
be off to a good start and will have a happy long life together.
The Vet’s office can be a very scary place for any dog especially
pup, so here are a few tips that can make each visit a good experience.
Take time every day to look in pup’s ears, mouth and at their
eyes. Rub their feet and toes, their tummies and tails, this will
get them use to being handled and it won’t be strange to them when
they have this done by the Vet. It is also a good idea to stop
by your Vet’s office for a social visit every now and again. Take
pup in and let them give her/him a treat and pet them, the people
at the front desk are usually very happy to do this and the Vet
will come out also if they are not to busy. This makes for a good
experience for both pup and the Vet, only stay for a few minutes
and be on your way. Pup will learn that this is a great place to
go and that everyone there loves them.
Some owners only ride their pups/dogs in the car when they are
going to the Vets office, they never get to go on a joy ride or
a trip to the field. This sometimes causes us to relate the car
with the Vet and all of us don’t like the Vet, they give us shots.
This is one of the reasons dogs get car sick, you would get sick
to if every time you were put in the car you ended up at the Vet’s
office. If you will take us for short rides to get us use to the
car/truck we will learn to like if quickly. Make sure you get us
out and give us the opportunity to potty and do some snooping when
we get there. This will teach us that when we get in the car/truck
we get to go to new places and you play with us when we get there.
One word of warning, please don’t take us with you if you are going
shopping and you will be leaving us in the car. It gets hot in
a hurry even with the windows cracked. Think of it this way, could
you stand to sit in a parked car with a fur coat on for 30 minutes
or an hour??? If not don’t take us, leave us at home in our kennel
we will be much happier and safer there.
I hope I have
answered some of the questions eveyone has about their new pup.
I will be bringing you information on early training,
introduction to water and retrieving fun in the up coming additions
and some cute pictures of me and some of my friends as well. I
hope you have enjoyed this addition of "The Nightly New",
until next time.
Until next time, keep your nose in the wind,
