BRINGING YOUR PUPPY HOME

 

Written by Beth Downey

Amity Hall Boxers

www.amityhallboxers.com

 

Q:  I’m bringing home a new puppy soon.  Is there anything I need to do to get ready?

 

A:  Yes! A puppy means a big change in your life and you are in fact bringing home a new baby so it is very important that you are prepared for the new arrival.  Taking time now to plan and get things in order will help to ensure you a well adjusted happy boxer from puppyhood into those wonderful gray faced years.

 

ARTICLE CONTENTS:

            Start out with the right attitude

What you’ll need

Puppy-proof your home

Everybody needs their own place

Training your puppy

Feeding your puppy

 

Start out with the right attitude 

 

The first few weeks of your puppy’s new life with you will be busy and demanding.  There may be times when you wonder if getting a puppy was such a good idea.  Things will go better if you have patience and keep your sense of humor.  Remember that puppyhood only happens once.  The extra effort you put into it now will pay off in the future. 

 

What you will need

 

Get the supplies and equipment you’ll need.  Here’s a list.

 

Stainless Steel Bowls- You will want a 1 quart bowl for your puppy’s food when they are small but you will need a 2 quart bowl for feeding your adult boxer.  You will also need a 2 or 3 quart wide based, non-tip stainless steel bowl for water.  You can also use the “crock” type bowls.  I do not recommend using plastic bowls because they are porous and harbor bacteria which can cause your dog to break out with an irritating acne type rash on their chin and face.  DO NOT use the type of water dish that rests in a loop and hooks to the side of your dog’s crate.  The puppy’s head can get stuck in the loop if the dish is knocked out and can result in strangulation of your puppy.  If you put water in your puppy’s crate, buy a bowl for the crate that is one complete attachable unit instead or use a stainless steel 1 or 2 quart bucket that you can clip the handle to the inside of the crate.  

 

Zoom Groom Brush (Pink) - This rubber brush works best for short coated breeds like the boxer.  Be sure to get the PINK Zoom Groom which is the right style for short coats.  The purple is designed for long coated breeds.  This brush is great for removing excess hair and it gives your dog a wonderful massage as you groom!

 

Nail CareI recommend using a cordless grinder instead of the traditional nail cutters.  You can find a grinder at your local hardware store, WalMart or in most dog supply catalogs.  Dremel is the brand I recommend.  If you decide to go with the traditional nail cutters instead, I personally prefer using the “plier” style cutters instead of the guillotine cutters.

 

Crate - I recommend using a wire crate.  An adult Boxer will need a crate that is at least 36” X 24” X 28”.  However, I strongly recommend going a size higher, especially for a male boxer and suggest you buy the next size up which measures 42” X 28” X 32”.  This crate will allow your boxer plenty of room where he or she can be comfortable and not cramped, especially a male boxer who will probably be too big for the smaller size mentioned.   You can purchase dividers for the large wire crates, if you wish or some crates such as the Midwest Life Stages or the Midwest i-crate will come with a divider. 

 

Crate Bedding - For bedding I recommend imitation sheepskin for puppies or adults, although for adults it is best to use  double sided imitation lambskin because it will offer more padding.  Old blankets are also very useful to use as bedding once your puppy is no longer having “accidents” in his crate.   I would strongly suggest the imitation sheepskin for puppies since this material is designed to wick the moisture form the surface if it is urinated on.  This gives your puppy a dry place to sleep even if he has an accident in his crate.  I line newspaper on the bottom of the crate and place the imitation lambskin on top.  The newspaper also helps to absorb any moisture.  You can choose to lay newspaper across the bottom of the crate and then place the lambskin across just half of this space.  Your puppy can choose to relieve himself if he needs to until you get home and he will hopefully leave his bedding unsoiled.

 

Leash and Collar -  You won’t want to put out a large investment on puppy’s first collar.  Buy an adjustable collar (10” – 14” size) for an 8 week old puppy.  You can adjust the size as the puppy grows until the puppy grows out of it and needs a larger collar at which time you can buy an adjustable 12” – 22” collar.   I recommend you continue with using the flat adjustable nylon or cotton collars that are adjustable and have a snap closure.  The adjustable collar allows you to adjust the collar size as your boxer grows.  The type of leash you purchase is totally up to the individual but I suggest it be 6’ long.  However, this will be a large to medium sized dog and you won’t want a thin lead that will hurt your hand if the dog should pull.   Do not use a choke or prong collar – for walking use a Greyhound (aka martingale) nylon collar (see next item below).  Lupine is an excellent brand for both types of collars and they offer a lifetime guarantee on their collars and leashes.

 

DO NOT leave a collar on your dog when he is in his crate!!  A collar can get caught on the crate and your dog could choke to death!  This has happened in more cases than you would imagine!

 

Additional Collar and Lead - The best collar to walk an adult boxer on is a 1” flat martingale collar.  These collars are also known as Greyhound collars.  This type of collar will give you extra control of your dog when walking without causing the damage and discomfort to your dog’s trachea that a choke collar can.  An additional leash that you may like to have for an older puppy or adult boxer is a Flexi-Lead.  This is a retractable leash and is wonderful to use when taking your boxer on walks in areas that are not overly crowded with other dogs and people.  It comes in lengths up to 26 ft long.  Be sure you use the size designed for dogs up to 110 lbs for your boxer.

 

Toys- Safe toys such as Kong toys, latex squeak toys (do not buy vinyl), rope toys, stuffed dog toys, Jolly Balls and really, any balls!  Boxers LOVE balls!!  Just watch balls with an outer covering (such as tennis balls) as some boxers like to remove the covering and the pieces can be ingested.  Always make sure the ball is too big for you boxer to swallow so he doesn’t choke on it.  For more toy suggestions, read the article “ALL ABOUT TOYS” which is also posted on my website.

 

Shampoo - There are a variety of different shampoos on the market for dogs.      I recommend the Bio-groom line of shampoos (which can be purchased from most catalogs) and the Pure-Pet line which is available at most pet stores and again in catalogs.

 

Food - I strongly urge you to purchase a food that uses natural preservatives and contains natural, healthy ingredients.  What you feed your dog is extremely important to his growth and health.  The kibble foods I recommend are Canidae, Innova, Innova EVO, Wysong, California Natural, or Solid Gold to name a few.  One or more of these foods can be found at PetSmarts and PetCos and others can only be found at smaller pet supply stores.  Feed your puppy adult dog food or puppy food specifically made for large breeds.  I DO NOT advocate feeding puppies the regular puppy formula foods as they can over accelerate bone growth in a boxer puppy which can cause painful and sometimes irreversible damage.  The large breed puppy foods are specially formulated for large breed dogs and will not accelerate growth and incur the bone problems that large breed puppies can be faced with.

 

Chews- Your puppy will want to chew, chew, chew!  You will need to provide your puppy with something to satisfy this urge and I recommend using Gumabones while they are young and teething.  Once they are older you will need to switch to Nylabones which are harder and will last longer.  The Galileo bone is also a favorite of my dogs as well as the Hercules bone.  Another great chew item that I always have available to my dogs are all natural shank and knuckle bones.  You can buy these in any pet store and the smaller shank bones can be purchased with filling which occupies hours of a dog’s time!  You can buy them empty and fill them yourself with peanut butter or Cheese Whiz.  You can also freeze the bone with the filling inserted and it will take your boxer busy for hours as he works through it.  If the shank bone starts to wear thin or splinter on the ends, it is time to throw it out. 

 

Always have a chew item in your dog’s crate with them.  This will give them something to do to keep busy in their crate and helps to prevent boredom.  I DO NOT recommend giving your puppy pig ears, hooves, or ESPECIALLY raw hide!  Pig ears are not healthy for your dog, hooves can splinter, and I know first hand of boxers that have choked to death on rawhide. 

 

ID TagHave an ID Tag with your phone number and a secondary phone number to wear on your dog’s collar in case your boxer gets lost.   I strongly recommend you also have your boxer tattooed and microchipped.  Home Again is my recommended brand of microchip and chip registry.

 

Bitter Apple Spray This is a safe spray-on product you can use to discourage chewing on inappropriate objects.

 

Gate - A wire, wooden, or plastic “baby gate” for blocking doorways.

 

      I suggest you purchase your supplies from the following suppliers who will more than likely be less expensive than local pet stores:

 

JB Wholesale  (800)526-0388 or online at www.jbpet.com 

Drs. Foster & Smith   (800)826-7206 or online at www.DrsFosterSmith.com

 

Puppy-proof your home.

 

Raising a puppy is a lot like raising a toddler - they get into everything!  Puppy proof your home as you would for children.  Puppies need to learn what is Okay and what is not Okay.  Some of what they can get into can be hazardous to their health or to your possessions.  You can make life safer for the puppy and your furniture by getting rid of hazards and temptations ahead of time.

 

To a puppy, the world is brand new and fascinating!  He’s seeing it all for the very first time and absolutely everything must be thoroughly investigated.  Puppies do most of their investigating with their mouths—“Look at this! What is this? Something to eat! Something to play with?  Murphy’s Law says that a puppy will be most attracted to the things he should least have – electrical cords, the fringe on your expensive oriental rug, your brand new running shoes, etc.  I suggest that you cover/hide electric cords, put up smaller items and spray everything else that your pup shouldn’t chew with Bitter Apple. 

 

Preventing destructive and dangerous chewing is easier than trying to correct the puppy every second.  Look around your home.  What objects could be put up out of the way of a curious puppy?  Bitter Apple spray can be applied to furniture legs, woodwork and other immovable items.  Are there rooms your puppy should be restricted from entering until he’s better trained and more reliable?  Install a baby gate or keep doors to those rooms closed.

 

Take a walk around your yard looking for potential escape routes.  Puppies can get through smaller places than an adult dog.  Check latches on your gates and ensure they are secure and consider putting a lock on your gate.  Check your yard for dangerous items such as poisonous plants, hornet’s nests, mushrooms, etc.  Make a resolution right now that your puppy will never be allowed to run off lead without close supervision. After getting used to playing in the freedom of his safe fenced yard, he won’t ever know enough to look both ways before crossing the street to chase a squirrel.  Keep him safe by keeping him on a leash!

 

Regarding Children. Remember that your puppy needs to be protected from young children, and your children need to be protected from your puppy’s sharp teeth.  Your puppy will have needle sharp milk teeth until they fall out around 5 months of age.  Also, until your puppy learns manners, they can be rough with small kids and love to grab their clothes and pull.   Children don’t know their own strength around children and can hurt a puppy unintentionally.   ALWAYS supervise children around puppies and be gentle and consistent in teaching your puppy good play manners.  (Also see “Training your puppy” below)

 

Everybody needs their own place.

 

Decide where to put the crate, and have it set up and ready for his arrival.  Where to keep the crate will depend on what’s most convenient for you as well as the puppy’s response.  Many puppies don’t like to be isolated in one part of the house while the family is in another, but some puppies won’t settle down in their crates if there’s too much activity going on around them.  You might have to experiment with different locations until you learn what works best for both of you.

 

Training your puppy

 

Join a puppy kindergarten class with your boxer pup.  Most classes allow puppies starting at 2 to 3 months of age.  When your puppy is 6 months old, attend an obedience class with him.  It is recommended you attend AT LEAST 2 or more 8 week sessions.  Your 6 month old puppy will learn very differently than your one year old puppy.  Choose an obedience class that does NOT use a choke chain.  Choose instead a class that teaches using food and praise rewards instead and your boxer will learn much faster and enjoy doing it!

 

Puppies play very rough and love to use their teeth!  Young puppies have needle sharp milk teeth so if your puppy gets carried away, give him a firm but gentle reminder to play nice.  You can also react to him by emitting a sharp yelp like a puppy who hurts and then stop the play for a short moment.  The puppy will eventually get the idea that, if he gets too rough, the fun stops.

 

Never strike your puppy.  Dogs of any age will learn much faster if you simply use a stern voice or a simple AH-AH works extremely well.  All of my dogs know if they hear me say AH-AH, they need to stop whatever they are doing because it is unacceptable.

 

As you raise and train your puppy, it is very important that you be firm but gentle in your corrections and even more importantly, you HAVE to be consistent!!  If you are not consistent, your puppy will have a hard time understanding what you expect of him.

 

Feeding your puppy

 

I suggest you feed your puppy on a raised feeder when he is tall enough to reach it.  This is believed to reduce the risk of bloat (a dangerous and many times fatal occurrence known to affect boxers).

 

Feed your puppy 3 times a day until he is close to 4 months old and then twice a day for the rest of his life.  A twice a day minimum is healthier and also believed to reduce the risk of bloat.

 

NEVER free feed!  Your puppy needs to have a stable routine in eating habits.  Free feeding also can result in your dog being overweight.

 

I recommend a raw diet and will be happy to answer any questions you may have if you are interested in feeding raw.  If you choose to feed a kibble food, only feed a high quality food that uses natural ingredients and natural preservatives.  The kibble foods I recommend are Innova, Solid Gold, California Natural, or Wysong.  If you decide to feed a puppy food initially (which isn’t really necessary if you feed a high quality food), only feed it until your puppy is 8 months old and then switch to adult food.   After this age, puppy food can cause problems with accelerated bone growth.

 

If you choose to feed Red Barn, feed as instructed by weight on the label and add or reduce as needed to gauge weight fluctuations.   You can also add yogurt or cottage cheese to the Red Barn.  Red Barn is not available in stores.  Contact me to assist you in finding a distributor or go to Red Barn’s website.

 

If you decide to feed a kibble food, soak your puppy’s food completely in warm water.  I recommend adding yogurt or cottage cheese to the food also.  After 6 months of age, you don’t need to soak the food completely but I do add warm water until it is like a broth consistency.  The water in the food will cause your dog to lap as he eats and as a result, he will eat slower and inhale less air while eating which is also thought to reduce the risk bloat.

 

 

Recommended reading or books if you are interested:

 

      Mother Knows Best - by Carol Lea Benjamin

      Raising a Puppy You Can Live With - by Rutherford and Neil

      The Boxer: Family Favorite - by Stephanie Abraham

 

 

Enjoy sharing your life with a Boxer!