NEW PUPPY INFORMATION GREAT DANE.Docx
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*PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS THOROUGHLY!* NEW PUPPY INFORMATION & INSTRUCTIONS You have just purchased a new puppy from Into the Wilderness Great Danes & American Bullies. Your puppy needs to visit the vet within 72 business hours. When you take your puppy to the Vet, keep your puppy in a crate or in our lap. Do not let it play on the floor or furniture and most certainly do not allow it to socialize with other animals that may be in the office at the same time. In addition, it is not a good idea to let people touch your puppy when at the vet. It may seem mean to tell them not to, but they may be there with their dog that is sick. You do not want your puppy to catch what their puppy or dog may have. This is the time to establish an immunization schedule, take the Puppy’s health record with you. This is very important for your puppy’s protection. FEEDING YOUR PUPPY Your puppy is eating from Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice Formula. Leave a bowl of water down 24 hours a day. New food should be mixed with the puppy’s food you received from us. This will prevent your puppy from getting sick. You need to watch and make sure your puppy is eating. Do not just assume he or she is eating. It may be necessary to add baby food (chicken or beef) for added flavor to encourage the puppy to eat better. You can soak the food in some chicken broth to make it soft, and they like that too. It also makes it easier for the tiny puppies to eat the softened food. You can also feed it some canned puppy food; NEVER confine a small puppy for any length of time with no food or water. Puppies also have to eat and drink during the night. Never withhold food from a very tiny puppy in an effort to teach it to eat its new food. This could kill your puppy. DO NOT EVER EVER FEED PUPPY FOOD! You need to make sure your puppy is on a good quality food that is less than 26% protein no more than 1% phosphorus or sodium. Calcium levels should also be low. Making your puppy feel safe Remember when you first bring home your new puppy it will be scared. Our puppies stay with their moms and littermates until they leave for their new homes. When you bring your puppy home, he/she will be lonely and lost at first. It is not recommended to sleep with your puppy. This will ruin their house training or the puppy can be injured by falling off the bed or rolled on by its new owner. Just talk to the puppy and make him/her feel secure. Puppies have no concept of heights. They will walk right off the edge of any furniture if they are left unattended. So please warn children not to play with them on the sofa or the bed. Play with them on the floor for their own safety. Do not let them jump off of any high place such as couches, or beds, or other furniture. If your children hold the puppy, please make sure they are sitting down, puppies can be very wiggly. Also please be aware how tight your child is holding the puppy. Some children have injured small puppies by holding them too tight. Confinement is Essential to training We recommend using an x-pen, which can be bought, at any pet store. If you do not have the room for this then a puppy gate in the doorway to a bathroom will work almost as well. Make sure it is a puppy gate and not a baby gate. Puppy will eat through the baby gate. If the owner allows too much freedom, the puppy will get into bad habits of doing his thing in a well-hidden place. Do not allow this to happen. If you give him too much freedom at first you will end up with a dog that is not house broken. TRAINING YOUR PUPPY It is very essential that YOU become the pack leader of your puppy. Your puppy will be VERY large and could easily have their way with you once full grown. Establishing your position as pack leader at a young age is essential to having a well mannered adult. I suggest puppy training classes and lots of socialization. Overview The Great Dane was originally bred to hunt wild boar, but he probably wouldn't be very good at it today. The ferociousness necessary to track down such a large, wily animal was eventually bred out of the Great Dane. He's now a gentle soul who generally gets along well with other dogs, animals, and humans. However, his size and his power bark will scare the wits out of a burglar. Anyone who owns one of these dogs eventually understands that while you may be used to his awesome size, others usually need a little time to get there. The Great Dane was developed from Mastiff-type dogs, but he's more refined than other descendants of this ancient breed. A Great Dane is sleek and elegant. He has an athletic, muscular body. His massive head — and massive is the right word — is long and narrow. He's got a long, graceful neck. His ears can be cropped or left natural. (Cropped ears are common in the U.S., but in other countries, ear-cropping is banned.) His size can present problems. Eyeballing 1 a dog who weighs what you do makes some folks nervous. His tail can knock over a lot of things, particularly in a small space. And given the opportunity, he's an impressive counter surfer. Luckily, he isn't rambunctious or highly energetic. Size notwithstanding, a Great Dane is a sweet, affectionate companion. He loves to play and is gentle with children. He has a peaceful disposition, although he hasn't lost any of the courageousness that helped him hunt wild boar. Although he isn't particularly vocal (despite his killer power bark), he wouldn't hesitate to defend his family. Even given his inherent gentleness, it's advisable to teach him good manners and attend obedience training classes when he's young. His sheer size alone could make him impossible to control when he's an adult, and — as with any dog — you never know when he might see something he just has to chase. He's eager to please and highly people-oriented, demanding a great deal of attention from those around him. He tends to nudge people with that big old head of his when he wants to be petted. Sometimes you'll meet one with lapdog tendencies who see no reason not to hop onto the sofa and drape themselves on you. Surprisingly, the Great Dane typically doesn't eat as much food as you'd think. And while he needs daily exercise, he doesn't need a huge yard to play in (although he certainly would enjoy one). Because of his beauty and gentle nature, more and more people are discovering the Great Dane. He currently ranks as the 24th most popular dog breed, according to registrations with the American Kennel Club. Just be aware that because of his size, he's got a relatively short life span of around eight years old. That means he takes up a huge space in your heart for a short amount of time Highlights The Great Dane is sweet, eager to please, people-oriented, easy to housetrain, and he responds well to training using positive reinforcement. Like many giant dogs, Great Danes are short-lived. Great Danes require a lot of space. Even though they make great house dogs, they need a lot of room just to move around. There's little that they can't reach (kitchen counters and dinner tables are no problem), and their tails can easily sweep your coffee table clean. Everything costs more when you have a big dog — collars, veterinary care, heartworm prevention, food. In addition, you'll need both a crate and a vehicle that are large enough to hold your Great Dane without crumpling him into a pretzel. And let's face it, you'll scoop up a lot of poop. It takes a while for the bones and joints of large dogs such as Great Danes to stop growing and become stable. Don't allow your Great Dane puppy to jump, and don't take him jogging until he's at least 18 months old; this will reduce stress on the growing bones and joints. The Dane's special giant-breed dietary requirements have to be followed, or else orthopedic issues can develop. Great Danes aren't particularly suited to apartments or small houses, simply because they're so big. They're not jumpers, fortunately, so a six-foot fence will contain them. To get a healthy dog, never buy a puppy from an irresponsible breeder, puppy mill, or pet store. Look for a reputable breeder who tests her breeding dogs to make sure they're free of genetic diseases that they might pass onto the puppies, and that they have sound temperaments. History Drawings of dogs who look like Great Danes have been found on Egyptian artifacts dating back to 3000 B.C. and in Babylonian temples that were built around 2000 B.C. There's evidence that similar dogs originated in Tibet, with written reports of such dogs appearing in Chinese literature in 1121 B.C.