All about Puppies

So, you’ve got a puppy. A couple of kilograms of love, energy, enthusiasm and fur! There are few things that compare to the sight of your puppy running to greet you, his/her face alive with joy and excitement, tail wagging, bounding along on those little legs. But with custodianship of your pup come a lot of responsibilities – the responsibility to safeguard his/her health, to ensure that your pup’s behaviour – as he/she grows older - is acceptable to the people around you, and to keep him/her safe from unexpected dangers (e.g. cars, strange dogs, etc). So how can you meet these responsibilities?

Diet

Growing pups need a tremendous amount of calcium, protein and vitamins to meet their growth requirements. Failing to meet these requirements can result in stunted, unhealthy pups with soft, fragile bones. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who think that mince and milk is all their puppy needs. In fact, it has been estimated that a 3-5 month old Labrador pup – to meet his calcium requirements – needs to eat 97kgs of mince or drink 20 litres of milk, every day!! Obviously, this is just not possible. The West Toowoomba Vet Surgery recommends feeding high quality commercial puppy foods to young dogs till they are 8-12 months old. Premium brands, such as Advance®, Eukanuba® and Hills®, consistently give us healthier pups than those fed on cheaper brands or homemade diets. There are different puppy foods available for different sized dogs – call into the Surgery and our trained staff will discuss with you the best diet for your pup. What else can you feed your puppy? We strongly advocate feeding raw, soft bones 2-3 times each week. Not only are these entertaining for your pup, they also clean their teeth and massage their gums. Don’t feed the shaft of the so-called ‘marrow’ or ‘meat’ bones – this hard, dense bone can break teeth. For young puppies, raw chicken wings, drumsticks and neck bones are ideal. Make sure you keep these frozen till ready to feed, as Salmonella (food poisoning) can occur if poor hygiene is practised.

Don’t feed your puppy onions or large amounts of chocolate (these are poisonous to dogs), stone fruit or corn on the cob (these can lodge in the intestinal tract, requiring surgical removal) or excessive amounts of fatty foods. 

Vaccinations

Puppies are vaccinated at 6-8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks, and then annually after that. Your puppy should be vaccinated by a veterinarian, not the breeder, and there should be a vaccination certificate with your pup. (Only a vet can properly check the pup over to ensure it is healthy before administering a vaccination – a key requirement to ensure the vaccine does work.). Vaccines can be divided into ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ vaccines. Core vaccines are distemper, hepatitis, and parvovirus; non-core vaccines are parainfluenza and Bordetella (Kennel Cough), leptospirosis and coronavirus. When you bring your pup to the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery we will tailor a vaccination programme to suit your pup’s requirements. 

Worming

Puppies, because they are young, have a relatively poorly-developed immune system and are therefore both more likely to pick up intestinal parasites and then to suffer severely from their effects. Every vet has seen puppies, wormed with cheap supermarket or pet shop worm tablets, with severe diarrhoea and anaemia from heavy worm burdens – and many of these puppies have died. At the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery, we rely on Drontal All-Wormer® tablets and chewables to keep puppies free of worms.  We recommend worming every week till the puppy is 6 weeks old, then every 2 weeks till 3 months old, then monthly till 6 months and after that, every 3 months. It is important that your pup receives the correct dose of the worm medication – and that requires you know your pup’s weight. Why don’t you bring your pup down to the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery, where our friendly staff will weigh your pup and dispense the correct dose of Drontal® - you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that our prices are cheaper than most pet shops!

Flea Control

Fleas are a common parasite of puppies. At the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery we have seen puppies, covered with so many of these blood-sucking parasites, so anaemic that they needed a blood transfusion to survive. Don’t let this happen to your puppy! Effective flea control is readily available at the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery. Flea collars, powders and shampoos just don’t work well enough, and so we do not recommend them at all. Advocate, Advantage and Frontline are effective and safe – our staff will advise you on the best way to use them. Again, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that our prices are cheaper than the pet shops – and you will get expert advice on their use from our trained staff!

Heartworm

Heartworm is a worm that lives in your dog’s heart, eventually causing heart failure and death. It is spread by mosquitoes. Worm tablets for intestinal worms do not prevent or treat this parasite. Fortunately it is easy to prevent, with options including daily tablets, monthly tablets or ‘spot-on’ applications, or annual injections. At the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery we can tailor a preventative program for your pup that will not only keep your pup safe from this parasite, but will suit your budget and lifestyle. Call in and discuss this with our friendly professional staff.    

Puppy Pre-School

The West Toowoomba Vet Surgery has been offering Puppy Pre-School for more than 15 years, longer than any other practice in Toowoomba or district. Follow this link to learn more.

Desexing

Every week between 10-20 dogs and puppies are destroyed in Toowoomba by the City Council and the RSPCA. You can do your bit to prevent this horror by having your pup desexed before it breeds. For more information, follow this link.

More information?

Do you have specific questions about your pup’s health and well-being? Try looking in our Pet Library here. If you still can’t get the answers you need, please call us at the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery!