A guide to help prepare you for your new fur baby

Food: We suggest feeding your baby 3 times per day (1 cup each). All babies are different (you may need to add a 4th meal if they become underweight, or even feed less if they are growing to quickly). Our babies are all eating Purina Pro Plan Puppy Lamb & Rice. Please keep your baby on this food. It is important to really watch what your baby is eating at this age.  For the first month, please only feed your baby his or her food (you can even give your baby a piece of their food as a treat). After about a month you can gradually begin adding our recomended treats to their diet as long as their bellies are ready. Do not change your babies food, I can not stress this enough.

Why is it that your fur babies belly will get off track easy?

At their age their digestive system is "new" making it sensitive.  They start life 100% on moms milk for about 4 weeks, they are then introduced to a soggy gruel mixture,  & then to 100% dry food. This is a lot of change for a baby in just 8 weeks. You are then taking this baby to a completely new environment when you take your baby home. New environment, new stress, no other puppy siblings, new house cleaners being used, new family, new water, new dirt & grass, new treats, almost everything new other than the food. The main thing to remember is to be patient with your baby. Make sure all products that you use around the house, in the yard, and on your baby are nontoxic. Flea & tick products are a big one. These toxic products are bad and will cause health issues and loose stool.  Also, for the first few weeks try to make the transition as easy and calm as possible. I know you want to show your baby off and do exciting things with them, but remember that you need to gradually let your baby adjust to all of these huge changes. If your baby has mild loose stool but is acting normal, start adding Diatomaceous Earth to their food. If it worsens or doesnt progresss within 1 day, go to our "learning center" tab, & click on the "upset stomach" tab to the left.

Diatomaceous Earth (please only buy this specific food grade brand). If your babies belly is ever mildly off track, I recommend adding this all natural product to help get them back on track. You will add about a teaspoon to their food for about 5-7 days straight. You may be wondering... Yessss it is the same product that we use on our dogs to keep fleas & ticks away. You can read all about it on chewy.com, just click the link below. 

Things to bring with you at pick up: Your puppy will stay in the car the entire ride, you will not let your puppy out. Please bring a pee pad for the ride. If your puppy has to go to the bathroom during the ride, let them go, then throw the pee pad away. For a safe trip please bring a crate. You can also bring water for your puppy, and offer your baby water every few hours during your trip. If your trip is longer than 6 hours you can offer some food at that 6 hour mark (I will be giving you a small bag of food). A leash and collar is not necessary as you will not be letting your baby out during your drive. Your baby is not fully protected from viruses at this age. 

Vaccinations: I will be giving your puppy his or her first set of vaccinations at 7 weeks. You will need to schedule an appointment with your Vet for your puppies next set of vaccinations (this needs to be done between 10-12 weeks of age).  You need to keep your puppy away from any public areas until they have all 3 sets of vaccinations. At your first Vet appointment, your Veterinarian will get any future appointments set up for you. 

Collars:

 A 6-9 inch collar will be great for an 8 week old puppy, but your puppy will grow out of this fast. 

Deworming: Your puppy is dewormed at 2 1/2, 5, & 7 weeks. Your puppy may need dewormed again at his or her 1st Vet appointment if needed. 

Training:

It is important to start command training, obediance training, & socializing your baby right away (but be patient). Some buyers make the mistake of waiting until they are older to start, & they find themselves wanting me to fix a problem that they let happen for so long.. Remember, they are babies, they must be taught. Like a human baby, if you let them think something is okay, they will do it. How can you blame them?  Be patient, have fun with your baby, & remember that training your baby takes time. Just like a human baby,  your fur baby will make mistakes and this is okay! 

The future health of your baby is now in your hands, you need to take this serious.  There are so many aweful products out there, that will indeed cause small & serious health problems such as the big one...cancer. Also please learn about the consequences of dog obesity in our learning center, you can alo find tons of information on AKC's website. If you choose to ignore these things, you can expect problems! This breaks my heart, especially when buyers ignore the precautions and then demand an answer to why. The answers are out there for us, do your research before using any product on or around your baby.

Dangerous foods & household products:

Potty training tips: 

Non toxic flea & tick products: Please use ONLY non toxic products on your baby! We recommend 3 products, ShengKou natural flea and tick collar from Amazon, Diatomaceaous earth, & Vet's Best flea & tick spray. Many pesticides allowed for use on our pets are linked to very serious health issues, such as cancer,  neurological issues, diarrhea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disorders, and organ failure. Do your research! The link for the ShengKou Collar will take you to the cat collar as they are currently out of stock of the large dog collar. Once the large dog collar is in stock I will edit the link. 

Slow eater bowl:  Eating too quickly can lead to indigestion, vomiting, bloat, and overeating. At this age they tend to love eating their food as fast as they can (especially if there is another dog around).  Try to feed them away from other dogs while training them to eat slower for the 1st few weeks. While they are eating, sit with them, pet them, talk to them, tell them "easy". Have some extra food in your hand and offer it to them to try to get them to walk away from their food dish here & there. This slow eater bowl will also definitely help!

42 inch dog crate with divider panel

Kuranda dog bed XL: (for puppies that chew)

XL PupShow Orthopedic Cuddler Bed: Our dogs absolutely love these beds. You can search "donut beds" on Amazon as well & find similiar beds much cheaper. I am not sure about the quality as I have not ordered them.  Make sure your puppy can be trusted with things like this that they can chew. It only takes 1 second for a puppy to chew and swallow something... We have had this happen many times, please be careful with everything that your baby is around. 

Life's Abundance fish oil supplement:  Supports healthy skin, coat, heart, brain eyes and joints. Follow feeding instructions on their website.

Life's Abundance shampoo & ear cleaner:  safe, convenient & soothing.

Life's Abundance BioWash floor cleaner: This cleaner is non-toxic, fully biodegradable, has a neutral pH and contains no harmful phosphates. Unlike other serious cleansers, this emits no noxious odors.

Life's Abundance dog treats: Life’s Abundance offers a whole range of healthy dog treats

Kong toys: Kong toys that can't be chewed are the best! We fill them with peanut butter. 

Using plastic balls, frisbees, squeaky toys, and such are fine for play time with you, but put them away and out of reach when you are not with your dog. A dog can rip and chew a piece off such toys in a heartbeat. 

TropiClean Conditioners for Pets - Made in USA - Moisturizes - Conditions - Soap Free - Paraben Free - Dye Free - Naturally Derived Ingredients. We love this stuff,  the shampoo is great too!

Deer/ elk antlers: Both are the best for dogs to chew!! You want to make sure to get ones that are big enough for your dog or puppy so that they can't swallow it.

Most of our pairing produce 100% ICH clear puppies.  We do have 1 or two pairings that do not, they will produce some puppies that are clear, and some that are not. You can read about this in our Leaning Center as it is very common in the Golden Retriever world. You will (should) find this on ALL Golden Retriever breeders website. You will see in all of our dogs descriptions if they are ICH clear or a carrier. ICH is merely cosmetic "dandruff". If your puppy has parents that are not ICH clear and they develop dandruff, I suggest using any Tropiclean shampoo such as the shed control shampoo, & pair this with the Tropiclean Oatmeal treatment. The goal is to keep the dogs skin moisturized which can be done so easily just like you would for a human. This treatment is ultra conditioning. It is also great to give your baby a fish oil supplement which we highly recommend above for all babies. A dog slicker brush can be used for grooming to really get any of that unwanted dandruff.