New puppies must be treated as babies. You may have to try different things to get him to eat at first since he may be nervous about his new surroundings. The most important thing is that he must eat and eat enough to keep his system stable while he is getting use to his new home. If your puppy is not eating, for whatever reason, call us immediately!!! You need help!

The puppies diet consist of dry food, however, you may offer him 1 teaspoon of canned food, cottage cheese, or vanilla yogurt, morning and evening, if needed, while he adjust to his new home. If he is eating the dry food, other supplements to encourage eating may not be needed. I sometimes grind up some of the dry food in a blender and offer it in powdered form, instead of the canned food. Food and water should be available at all times so he can eat and drink whenever he wants to whether he is in the crate or out on the floor playing.

After 4 months of age when house training begins he should begin to have 2 or 3 regular feedings a day. By this time he should be eating only dry food. You may stop leaving the food out at all times and begin feeding at regular intervals to make the house training easier. He will always need the water available at all times. If your puppy is extra small or not eating well at this point, you may consider starting the house training routine a little later on or try it without taking away the food.

Extra small puppies or puppies that are ill should be fed premium grade can food with puppy milk formula (Esbilac powder or something similar) and a high calorie canine supplement such as Nutri-cal. This will assure your puppy of being well nourished through the stress period and can make the difference of life or death. Other good supplements to his diet are cottage cheese and yogurt (any flavor without fruit). Mix one small scoop or one teaspoonful of Esbilac powder into the canned food and only enough water to make it mix. Give Nutri-cal in the morning and at bedtime (about 1 cc or ½ inch out of the tube). Call us if you need advice we may be able to help! We use Purina Puppy Chow, dry food made by Purina. The canned food we recommend is (chicken and rice, turkey and rice, or lamb and rice formula). This is what has worked best for the puppies here. We also supplement the very small pups with cottage cheese, vanilla yogurt, canned food, ground up Purina, or Esbilac as we see the need!

Never give a puppy people food (ie..milk, meat from the table, bones, chocolate, onions etc.) It will most likely cause stomach upset or stomach infection which can be deadly. We recommend keeping the puppy on the diet the we send him home with, however, should you at some point need to change the food, follow these instructions. ****Gradually, mix the old food with the new food about half and half for about a week to allow his stomach to adjust to the new food. Then reduce the amount of the old food a little each day until you have him completely on the new food. Should he have stomach problems with the new food, gradually put him back on the old again in the same manner. Abrupt changes in the diet can cause upset stomach and diarrhea. If this happens you will to treat the symptoms.

Avoid Problems Be Aware

Many household plants and yard plants are poisonous to your pet. Become informed of them and keep the puppy safely away from them.

Do not leave him unattended in your home, free to roam around. Electric cords, buttons, paper clips, etc., that he might find and chew on or swallow can cause illness or death.

We do not recommend a rabies shot until the puppy is over 6 months old or weighs over 5 lbs. Many small size puppies have become ill after getting a rabies shot. Some recovered in time, but some died.