my first puppy

Question
hello

I am soon going to be buying a 12 week old maltese puppy.COuld you please tell me when and how often she will need her injections and what are the best flea /ticks and worm treatments. I really dont want her to catch anything. and how much food and what food will be best to feed this breed?

any other information will be great.

many thanks

Answer
Your breeder will be helping you with a lot of this information. By the time you get this puppy, it should already have a couple vaccines on board, and will only need one or two more depending on the protocol being used. A rabies vaccine will be needed at around 6 months. After that, a distemper, etc. booster will be given after a year, and then every three years after that.

Sentinal is a tablet is used to prevent heartworm, control fleas and eliminate roundworm, hookworm and whipworm in dogs. Frontline does fleas and ticks and is a liquid that is applied between the shoulder blades. Talk to your veterinarian about which product (there are also others) would be the best for your puppy. Take a stool sample in for examination when you take your puppy in for a wellness check after you bring it home. If it doesn't have worms, there is no point in worming it. Depending on where you live, it will probably need to be put on heartworm meds in a couple months. Your veterinarian will fill you in on all this.

Your breeder will tell you how much to feed and what the puppy is being fed. You want to keep her on the same food for awhile, and you can change it later if you wish. I highly recommend Eagle, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, or Flint River Ranch. The first ingredient should be a meat, or preferably a meat meal, and there should be a minimum of grains and NO by-products in the food. If you do choose to change foods later, do it gradually to avoid intestinal upsets.

Ask your breeder to show you how to brush out your puppy as you will need to do that several times a week to prevent matting as her hair grows.

Get the great little paperback, "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford and Neil.