When is the best age for a puppy to leave its mom and go to a new home?

This is an area of hot debate amongst behaviorists, veterinarians, and breeders. The optimum socialization time
for puppies is from 7 to 12 weeks. Puppies need to be exposed at this time to as much of life as possible. Many
breeders prefer to keep puppies longer to see which are show candidates and which are not as well as to allow a
long period of pup-pup socialization and pup-mom socialization. Older puppies can certainly be good candidates
for going into a new home. So, your answer is that a well socialized pup by the breeder can go to a new home
anytime after seven weeks. Prior to seven weeks the puppy is really too young to go to a new home -- it is not
mentally ready.

What should I feed my puppy?

This again is an area of hot debate. Many people feel that puppies should be kept on puppy food (or large breed
puppy food if they are a large breed) until they are 12 to 18 months. Others feel that they should be switched to
adult dog food at four months of age. And still others feel that puppies should never be fed puppy food and be on
adult food all their life. So, what should you do? I don't have any real answers for you. I am in the camp of feeding
puppy food until 12 to 18 months. Puppies have higher energy demands as well as nutrient demand than adults.
Nevertheless, I do respect the arguments presented by the other camps. They make some good points. Every
puppy is an individual and needs to have its diet adjusted accordingly. Pick a food feed it, if puppy seems to be
doing well on it leave them on it. If not, change and try something else.

When should a female puppy be spayed?

Most veterinarians recommend spaying and neutering prior to the first heat (ie around 6 to 7 months maybe as
long as 8 or 9 months for large dogs). There is a push among shelters and some breeders to spay and neuter as
early as 8 weeks (prior to going to their new home) to avoid the oops breedings and overpopulation.
Spaying/neutering this early has not been shown yet to be a bad thing but I (along with most of the veterinary
community) don't think it is the ideal time. If a bitch puppy has a persistent vaginitis (which is not uncommon)
or chronic, recurring urinary tract infections it is recommended that she be allowed thru her first heat to allow
hormone-induced changed to occur in the vagina and the urinary tract. For some reason, these changes seem to
clear up the Urinary tract infections and/or the vaginitis. If a bitch puppy has the problems and is NOT allowed
to got thru her first heat then she will most likely be battling these problems the rest of her life. Spaying prior
to the first heat reduces the risk of mammary cancer to virtually 0%. Each of the first three heats increases
her chances of mammary cancer 33% of the maximum probability. So spaying after three heats is equivalent in
terms of mammary cancer risk to not spaying at all (or course it still eliminates the risk of uterine or ovarian
cancer). There is a movement that some veterinarians have followed that insists that a dog or bitch be allowed to
fully mature prior to spaying or neutering. Their argument is that animal spayed/neutered prior to maturation
are perpetual puppies mentally and physically are not fully developed. I think the mental thing is more a
function of individual animal and breed predisposition (ie, my 10 year old Lab was not spayed until she was 8 yrs
old and she is as much of a puppy as my 3 month old) than of spay/neuter timing. About physical development, I
think that affects males more so than females. The risk to a female of waiting to spay IMO far outweigh the
slight alteration in appearance gained by waiting to spay. For males, I can agree more with their premise. Most
neutered males of any species are taller and rangier with less muscle mass than intact males. So, to wait to
neuter a male until he is fully developed physically is not a big deal to me. Aside for dogs with retained testicles
there is really no added benefit other than reducing the development of sexual behavior in males from neutering
at 3 years as opposed to 5 months. For dog aggressive breeds, however, like Akitas I would strongly recommend
early neutering to avoid sexual motivted aggression. For a non-aggressive breed like the retrievers though I
don't think it is such a big deal.

When do you recommend beginning to train a puppy?

Puppies can begin training (and do) from the moment they are born. Training is not just something that is done
10 minutes a day when sit, stay, down, etc are taught. Training is done all the time that the puppy interacts with
people and other animals learning how to and how not to behave. As soon as a puppy is old enough to move in a
coordinated fashion (around 4 to 5 weeks), they can start learning sit and down. It should be done in a totally fun
and relaxed way -- NO PUNISHMENT!!! As the puppy ages (probably around 3 to 4 months) regular obedience
sessions (5 to 10 mintues at a time) can be begun. Obedience classes are great idea to allow the puppy to
socialize and to learn to behave around other people and dogs. Most training facilities offer classes for puppies
as young as 8 weeks.

Why does my puppy need more than one vaccine?

Vaccines are given to produce immunity against diseases. Immunity in puppies comes from two sources -- that
which the mother gives the puppy and that which the puppy makes for himself. The mother gives immunity to the
puppy in the form of maternal antibodies which are proteins that bind to foreign substances and mark them for
destruction by the puppy's white blood cells. These proteins are given to the puppy during the first hours of life.
Initially the puppy has enough maternal antibodies to protect it from disease and, thus, does not need to make its
own antibodies. Antibodies being proteins, however, degrade over time. As the maternal anitbodies degrade, the
puppy has less and less protection against diseases, but the maternal antibodies must drop below a certain level
before the puppy will make its own antibodies. So, in order for a vaccine to produce effective immunity it must be
given after the puppy's maternal antibodies have been reduced sufficiently to allow the puppy to make its own
antibodies. But while the maternal anitbodies are being redcued the puppy is at increased risk of disease.

For maximum health and protection of the puppy, vaccines must be given during the window in which maternal
anitbodies are low enough to allow the puppy to make its own antibodies but still high enough to protect puppy
from disease. Unfortunately, the time during the puppy's life when this window occurs varies with the mother's
level of antibodies, the amount of antibodies that the puppy actually got, and the puppy's rate of metabolizing the
antibodies. There is no way to know an exact time when the vaccines should be given. Thus, to insure the health
of the puppy, vaccines are given at regular intervals so that the puppy is vaccinated at the proper time. These
repeated shots are essential to make sure the puppy develops full immunity and is not at risk for these often
fatal diseases.

What is puppy pyoderma?

Staph bacteria normally live on the skin of dogs. The immune system of the dog normally keep the bacteria
under control. As puppies mature, they go through two phases in which their immune system functions
suboptimally. The first stage is as the puppies immune system first begins to really work. For the first few
weeks of life, the primary immunity of a puppy comes from antibodies passed to the puppy from the mom. As
these maternal antibodies wane, the puppies immune system must begin to function. There is a time lag between
the waning of maternal anitbodies and optimal functioning of the puppy's immune system. The other time in the
puppy's life is as it enters "puberty." The hormones released during this process often have the effect of
suppressing the immune system temporarily. In both of these cases, the normal bacteria are able to gain the
upper hand over the immune system, replicate out of control, and cause a very supericial skin infection. These
pyodermas are characterized by small red bumps that usually progress to little pus-filled bumps. Often these
areas are itchy and sometimes hair loss my accompany the infection. Thus, this can sometimes look like
mange. It is recommended to take any puppy with itchy red bumps and hair loss to the vet for a diagnosis. Puppy
Pyoderma is easily treated with antibiotic shampoos, often antibiotics, and time for the puppy's immune system
to get back to working optimally.

I have researched and answered these questions to the best of my ability. But I am human and make mistakes. If
there is any part of my answer that you feel is incorrect, please let me know. The last thing I want is to
disseminate false or incorrect information.

This article has been reproduced here with the

permission and courtesy Rachel Peeples, DVM

rpeeples@planters.net <mailto:rpeeples@planters.net>

BACK

HOME