V9G 1E3, Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
Feeding your new puppy
Feeding your new puppy when you first bring him home
So you're bringing your new schipperke puppy home. How exciting!
I'm sure you're so excited to give your puppy everything it could want in life. Your goal is to bond with a healthy, happy puppy.
This is wonderful but you need to take some very careful precautions for the first month.
If your puppy is just 8 weeks old there are some strict guidelines for the first month.
If you got your puppy from a reputable breeder, your puppy would have been checked healthy by a veterinarian before you bring your puppy home.
Your puppy should not have diarrhea and be doing well on the foods that the breeder had your puppy on.
I'm going to discuss water first.
I highly recommend that if your puppy is coming from a different area, that you only feed your puppy bottled water for the first week. Or water that you got from the breeder.
Switching to chlorinated water or switching from soft water too hard water or switching to waters with high mineral content could cause severe diarrhea when the puppy is stressed going into a new environment.
If you start the puppy for the first week on water from the breeder or bottled water, should the puppy get sick or develop loose stools, you will know that the water is not the cause.
After about a week, start by adding some of your tap water to bottled or breeder water and watch the puppies stools for diarrhea. If there is no diarrhea or negative reaction, gradually increase the amount of your tap water in the puppies water dish over the next week or two.
Feeding your puppy.
Food
The puppies main food for the first month should be the same brand as the breeder had the puppy on.
Again, you do not want to switch brands in case it causes upset tummy or bowel, you need to know that if the puppy is sick it's not from a change of food or a change of water.
Puppies need to chew.
Again, be very careful and watch your puppies stool for upset tummy when giving a new treat.
What not to give your puppy.
Do not buy your puppy , under any circumstance ever, Greenies, or any artificial chewing treats or sticks.
The only thing I recommend for puppies when they go home is 'soup bones' bought from the grocery store. The dried bones from the pet store smell rancid and often cause diarrhea to young puppies.
Not all dogs like them but antlers also tend to not upset the puppy stomach and are a great chew for teething.
Oftentimes the dehydrated chicken strips or duck strips you buy from the store cause upset stomach because they have a lot of preservatives in them. If you make your own dehydrated beef strips, or chicken strips, it should be okay for your puppy.
I'm going to say this.
If "you" won't eat it, don't give it to your puppy.,with the exception of kibble and canned food .
Some puppies also like to chew on fresh carrots. I like to blanch the whole carrot for about 5 minutes just to soften it a bit for the puppy.
Treats
So you're going to need to have some treats to feed your puppy because you're going to want to teach the puppy to sit and you want to offer rewards for good behavior such as potty outside.
For the first month, I only recommend you buy a chicken strip or a piece of real meat, chicken , beef, pork. Cook the meat and cut it into thin little strips, Freeze the strips in small packages to be taken out daily for treats.
Again, if you wouldn't eat it, don't feed it to your puppy.
Only add one new food every few days.
If you're going to add a treat your puppy has never had , do it slowly .Do not introduce any other new food that day or for the next few days. If your puppy gets an upset bowel or stomach that day or the next day, you will know the reason why.
I hope this guideline helps. Once you know whether your schipperke puppy has a sensitive stomach and bowel or a rock solid stomach and bowel you can more freely add new food.