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Invite
people over to visit with your pup, keeping a close eye
on your puppy for signs of nervousness. Remember to comfort the
pup as it is very easy to cross the line during socialization
and it could have negative effects on your pup by making him/her
weary of newcomers. |
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Take
your pup with you when possible.
If you’re going for a drive take your pup along, this
will get him/her used to vehicles and new places, which will
make vet trips much easier when the animal is older. There is a
line that you can cross with vehicles too, it’s best not to
leave your pup alone for more than a couple minutes (if
necessary) in a vehicle, and never leave an animal in a vehicle
when it is extremely hot or cold. If you’re going shopping,
leave your pup at home. |
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| We
Recommend Crate
training
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Crate training makes potty
training easier, vehicle transport safer, it is a secure place
for your animal while you are away or sleeping at night, and
should surgery of some sort become necessary where the animal
needs to be confined for a period of time, your animal will be
accustomed to the crate.
Just
seeing if you are paying attention-> |
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| Trips to the
veterinarian |
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Taking your puppy to the vet is a necessity.
Start early and take them in for simple weight checks, and
treats. |
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If you
do not maintain your animals socialization thru out it’s
lifetime
(this process does not end when the animal becomes an adult) it
is very possible you’ll end up with an animal that might be
shy/nervous of strangers and afraid to leave it’s familiar
environment.
This will make it difficult (if not impossible) for your animal
to receive proper medical care or for you to take even short
vacations |
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| See Ash's
page - you never know when your dog will have an emergency. |
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| Do you have other
animals? |
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Canines
are pack animals and therefore it is suggested (actually, it’s
almost a must) that your new pup have a companion animal. This
does not have to be another dog of the same breed, but his/her
companion should be comparable to yours (i.e., size, endurance,
etc...) A companion
will keep your dog from howling out of loneliness while you are
gone during the day and will ease up on the destructiveness
caused by boredom, plus provide him/her with constant
companionship |
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©
Sue Cranston |
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I also personally believe that puppies need
adult canine interaction.
They learn so much from them that we can't teach. |
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©
Sue Cranston |
Even if introduced from a young age, there is no
guarantee that your dog
will get along with other pets when grown.. |
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| Do you have small
children? |
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Canines
with children are a concern, especially a large canine. Not many responsible breeders will sell
these dogs to someone who
has young children,
at least not without A LOT of screening.
Children and canines should ALWAYS be supervised when
together, NEVER leave them unattended.
Although you may trust your animal, something as simple as a
wagging tail on a large canine can cause injury to a child. |
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Children
start off rather rough on animals, they need to be taught how to
behave, and IMO the animals should learn to tolerate them. |
This little boy was badly bitten by a dog. When
he asked to pet the puppy, we used the opportunity to talk with
him about how to prevent bites. |
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| What do you enjoy
doing? |
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If you want your dog to be a companion animal,
your puppy will need to be exposed to things you enjoy doing.
Like the boating picture on the left.
Now take a minute to think about what you would like to be able to do with
your puppy, and plan on doing some foundation work that will enable these hopes to become a reality. |
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Do you like to take long walks? |

©
Juan |
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| Do you enjoy target shooting? |
Riding 4-Wheelers? |
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If you enjoy places with food, or
having your dog in the kitchen
with you, then they need to get use
to not eating everything in sight.
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©
S.Cranston |
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