Your new puppy is coming home!

Congratulations on your new best friend! May he or she bring you many years of love and companionship! Here are few care tips for your new puppy!

I believe the best food for my dogs and puppies is a RAW diet. But since I can no longer get it in the quantities I need at a reasonable price I have had to find a new way to feed my bunch. So far I have found Taste of the Wild to be a decent form of kibble. I add about a tablespoon or so of canned Taste of the Wild wet food to the dry kibble and add some hot tap water to it as well. Stir it all together and they devour it. We send each puppy home with a container of food which will at least last you a number of days. Our puppies are fed 2 times per day (breakfast and dinner). Depending on the age in which you bring your puppy home this amount could be different. A puppy going home at 8 weeks of age will eat up to 1/3 cup in the morning and 1/3 cup in the evening. Most of our adults eat 2/3 cup once a day.

Your new puppy is trained to use washable pee pads. We do not start outdoor potty training until puppies are fully vaccinated (13 week minimum) due to puppies not having a full immunity until fully vaccinated. We use a big washable pad for the entire whelping pen, but Momma does a great job training her puppies to use the pee pad in the back of the pen. This helps to give them a sense of "where" to pee. It is 100% your choice as to whether you let your puppy outside prior to being fully vaccinated or not. Although we do STRONGLY suggest you NOT allow your puppy onto public grass/concrete/etc. until fully vaccinated as you have no idea what animals have traveled through.

Young puppies are notorious for worms and parasites; we deworm all puppies at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks with Panacur (Febendazole). **Some puppies will not get their 8 week old deworming depending on what their fecal shows when they go to the vet for their check-up at about 7 to 8 weeks of age. Beyond these dewormings we recommend having a fecal ran prior to deworming! We also use Kochi Free which is an all-natural supplement that helps boost the immune system, and prevent Coccidia and Giardia.

Your puppy will leave here up to date on all vaccinations; if your puppy is picked up at 8 weeks of age, he or she will have received his or her NeoPar Vaccine at 5-6 weeks, and a 5 way vaccine at 7-8 weeks. Your puppy will need at least TWO more vaccines spaced out roughly 3 weeks apart (10-11 and 13-14 weeks). Please verify with your vet that the Leptospirosis vaccine is NOT being administered. If this disease is common in your area please do research before administering as fatal reactions can occur, and do all precautionary measures before administering (Benadryl, steroid, stay at/near the vet for a minimum of 1 hr, early morning/lunch appointment, etc). Rabies shot should be given no earlier than 16 weeks of age UNLESS required by state or county laws. As for adult rabies vaccines, follow your state or county laws, but we do a 1 year rabies vaccine, then each one after is 3 years apart. As for annual vaccinations (Parvo, etc), we do NOT do them every year anymore; it has been proven through numerous studies that most vaccines protect for a minimum of 7 years (excluding Bordetella and Leptospirosis vaccines) so we do the puppy vaccines as stated above, then we do a TITER test at 5 years old to see how high the antibody levels are. If they are low, we revaccinate. If they are not, we retest as needed. Please check state or county laws as some areas where Parvo, etc. are prevalent they may REQUIRE yearly vaccinations.

Please be careful as to where you take your puppy up until the time he or she is fully vaccinated (16 weeks old). Places such as Pet Stores, Dog Parks, Rest Stops, etc. can have very serious illnesses lingering around, such as parvo. If your puppy needs a potty break on the way home we recommend a “potty pad” or find an untraveled location if you must (however, untraveled locations do have strays that come through so please take that into consideration). We have provided you with puppy pads and wipes for easy clean up! Just place a puppy pad in the floor board of your vehicle and the puppy should go potty pretty quickly.

Dachshunds can be very stubborn and mischievous, that’s for sure! We highly recommend crate training your puppy. Your puppy will not “feel like he or she is in jail”. It will help prevent your baby from getting into things he or she should not. Crate training will also greatly assist in potty training; use a crate that is just large enough to get up and move around in to prevent your puppy from finding a place to potty in it. Do NOT use the crate as form of punishment; the crate should be your puppy’s “safe place” where he or she feels comfortable.

Country Creek Dachshunds

Smithville, Tennessee

Lori Martinson

931-545-4009

Breeder of AKC Registered Miniature Dachshunds 931-545-4009