Xen Shih Tzu  

Health- Puppies are just like you and I, in that they need the right amount of nutrition and exercise to help them live a long and healthy life. During the puppy stage it doesn’t have any trouble getting lots of exercise so always make sure the puppy is getting enough rest because just like humans they run out of energy so they need their rest to keep them going. When your puppy becomes an adult it may not be as active so try taking it for a walk or playing a friendly game of fetch. Also always try to make sure to keep fleas off of your pets because fleas can be very irritating and can cause an inflammation to their skin.
We suggest you use Dawn dish detergent. When we wash our puppies we usually lather them for about ten minutes then rinse. The good thing about it is it can be applied as many times as necessary without harming your puppy. While your puppy is in our care, we worm them every two weeks with pyrantel and your puppy will also receive it’s first shot between six and eight weeks. After receiving your puppy you need to take the puppy to your vet to continue the puppies vaccines and worming.

Puppy Feeding Tips- While your puppy is in our care we feed the Pro Plan Puppy for small breeds and we feed Chicken Soup for The Puppy Lovers Soul puppy food. We also make sure that they have plenty of water. If you decide to feed it a different brand of food you need to slowly change it over by mixing it with what it is already eating and what you’re switching it to. Because if you change it right away your puppy will develop an intestinal upset (diarrhea).

Relationship With children- When your child is playing with the puppy they need to be supervised. Your puppy can be very playful and may sometimes play a little rough but it doesn’t realize that it is playing rough because it’s only a puppy. Children can also play a little rough which can scare, or hurt the puppy. So always supervise children when they are playing with a puppy.

Ear Care- It is very important to keep the ears clean and dry. When bathing your puppy you can put cotton swabs in their ears to keep the water out. It is also important to clean you puppies ears often so that infections don’t occur.

Coat Care- Taking care of you dogs coat is easy. You should start grooming and brushing your dog at an early age. This will get him/her used to being groomed and they will be more behaved. You should brush your dog’s hair daily if in long coat or you can choose to clip the dogs coat to make grooming easier.

Nail Care- When trimming your dogs nails you should use special trimmers to trim the nails. You should only cut the hook like end of the nail off. If you cut too much it could hurt the dog and cause the nail to bleed. When this happens the dog may have trouble trusting you to trim the nails, and will hate having it done. So be very careful when cutting the nails so that you do not hurt them.

Bathing - When bathing your puppy, make sure the water is at the right temperature. You should to be careful not to get soap in the eyes and ears, as this can be irritating for your puppy.
When you wash your puppy you want to make sure you use a conditioner with your shampoo so that the skin stays moisturized and the coat does not become dried out. When you dry your dog with a blow dryer set the blower on the lowest coolest setting. This will help to keep their skin from getting really dry, itchy or burnt.

Eye Care- There’s not much required for taking care of your dogs eyes. It is very common for some dogs eyes to tear from dirt and dust. This may cause stains on the hair below their eyes. You can purchase special eye drops for your puppy at your local pet store.

Teeth Care- Teeth care is crucial for all dogs. Dry dog food is the food of choice as table scraps are bad for their teeth and can be rough on a smaller dogs digestive system. Eating scraps can make them vomit, have diarrhea, and they can even choke on them.
They make dental bones for your dog to chew to help prevent tarter build up on their teeth and you can even buy toothpaste and tooth brushes that are specially made for your dog. If the tarter build up on your dogs teeth gets to bad you may want to take it to your vet to have them cleaned.

Vet- Even though we have suggested all sorts of information for taking care of  your puppy, you should always follow  your vets advice.

Caring for a puppy is a big job! But good puppy care is essential to raising a happy dog. The following tips will help you start off on the right foot—and your pet on the right paw!
 

1. Make sure your puppy is up-to-date on all vaccines.
    
2. After vaccines have been administered, monitor your puppies interaction with other pets. Most veterinarians will advise pet parents to avoid public dog parks until your pup is about four months of age. However, socialization is important so make sure you’re familiar with the other pets your four-legged friend plays with.
    
3. Protect your pet from harmful parasites including fleas, ticks and mosquitoes that can cause flea allergy dermatitis and Lyme disease. Your veterinarian will recommend the appropriate preventatives such as Advantage^® flea control for dogs or K9 Advantix^®, flea tick and mosquito control.
    
4. It is important to spay or neuter your pet. Most veterinarians will recommend spaying or neutering your pet within the first year.