Maintaining your puppy

From puppy vaccinations to grooming and treatments, here's all you'll need to know about puppy care.
Vaccinations
Before vaccinating your puppy, two things need to be done to ensure your puppy's medical visit goes smoothly:

1) Carry out a complete medical examination.

2) Deworming, eight days before the vaccination is given.

It is mandatory to vaccinate your puppy at the right time. You have to wait till your puppy is at least 2 months old for him to be vaccinated. If the vaccine were given any time before, it would be of no use, as the maternal antibodies will neutralize the vaccine.

The best age for the first vaccination is when your puppy is eight weeks old. Since it is the first time, two injections need to be given, with a gap of 3 or 5 weeks apart.

The next round of shots begins only a year after the first vaccination. These are known as Booster shots and they need to be renewed regularly according to the vaccine used, the puppy's age and the current law.

Hygiene

Eyes

Clean your puppy's eyes and ears regularly. Use puppy-cleaning products such as an ocular solution for eyes and lotion meant for cleaning ears. Follow the instructions of the cleaning procedure carefully for best results.

Teeth

Protect your puppy's teeth from the formation of dental plaque, by brushing his teeth regularly. This will help prevent gum inflammation and foul breath. A natural remedy is kibble, when your puppy crunches on kibble it has a natural brushing effect.

Coat

Brushing your puppy's coat regularly will get rid of any unwanted parasites. Use shampoos adapted to your puppy's skin only. Human shampoo must not be used on puppies as it causes the skin to itch. Special puppy shampoos are now available in the market. These shampoos have a low acid content and do not cause your puppy's skin to itch. When you use soap, made for humans, on puppies you remove a protective oily layer, which protects your puppy from the cold and rain.

Bathing

How often you bathe your pup depends entirely on his lifestyle. Active puppies need to bathe more often to remove dirt, ticks and fleas since they are exposed to pest more than other pups that stay indoors. Use anti瑃ick and anti琭lea shampoos to remove ticks and fleas.

Treatments

Measure can be taken to prevent transmission of internal and external parasites. While internal parasites are those which are found in soil and meat, can be transmitted from the mother to the puppy by simple contact between two pups, external parasites such as ticks and fleas are found outdoors and capable of transmitting diseases from one puppy to another.

De瑆orming

Deworming should be done every 6 months for a puppy. Monthly de瑆orming until the age of 6 months should be done. Ask your vet for the best advice on the latest products and treatments available for puppy care. For more information, visit Royal Canin.