Just got a puppy! Need some help! =)

[lilgurl]

Hey Everyone,

I just bought a puppy Maltese/Shih Tzu and need some help from experienced dog owners. I won't be getting her until Sunday so I got time still.

With so many different brands of dog food and shampoo out there. What is a good brand to buy?

Right now she's being fed Solid Gold food but I heard it's like feeding them mcdonalds. Also heard that California Natural is a pretty good brand too.

Other then Tisol and Petsmart are there any other little stores in downtown, kits etc. you would recommend? In terms of accessories such as dog beds, collars etc. for the puppy.

Thanks in advance!

[lowda9]

With dog food, the price will reflect if it is quality. You can buy a giant bag at costco for $5 or a bag thats half the size of costcos for $40 at a pet store. My mom spoiled our dog when we 1st got her around 10 years ago and fed her raw meat that you could get at the pet stores as well as the organic natural foods. Now I think she just get her the giant bags at costco lol.

[BlackZRoadster]

Feeding raw is the best diet. However it is messy and time consuming to get ready and prepare for your dog.
I would recommend freeze dried food or dehydrated food. I am feeding Ziwipeak for my 2 bichons. It cost about $150 including tax for a 11 lb bag. It will last them about 5 weeks. So for your dog's size it will probably last you 3 months.

Shampoo i wouldnt worry too much about. Just dont bathe it too much when its a puppy. Once it starts getting older you can do it once a month. Again spend more money on food and less on shampoo.

Make sure you buy toys that are from pet-stores, if you give them human toys, there might be toxic materials that they will eventually chew off and eat.

Cut down on those big brand treats such as t-bonez, milk bones, etc... very unhealthy for your dog. Feed them natural treats, and again spend more money on quality. Make sure you supervise them when they eat treats or chews.

Good luck

[racerman88]

we went with Orijen ourselves.

[Lil Bastrd]

Originally Posted by lowda9

With dog food, the price will reflect if it is quality. You can buy a giant bag at costco for $5 or a bag thats half the size of costcos for $40 at a pet store. My mom spoiled our dog when we 1st got her around 10 years ago and fed her raw meat that you could get at the pet stores as well as the organic natural foods. Now I think she just get her the giant bags at costco lol.

Price does not reflect quality. That is not the way to buy food. Read the ingredients and learn what things are. Take chicken meal it's better then chicken. chicken meal means chicken that has been cooked partially before being weighed so there is less water weight. Thus there is actually more chicken and after cooking it doesn't move down the ingredient list as far. Ingredients list are done with the most weight first (this is calculated before cooking).

Shampoos I would suggest nothing with perfumes. Mane and tail works great. If you like a nice scent I'd suggest Tropiclean as it's not a perfume that gives the smell. As was said before don't bath more then once a month at most or more if possible.

[Selanne_200]

From what I did with my research when I was looking for dog food, always read the ingredients label. As the previous poster pointed out, ingredients are listed in order of their composition in the food with the highest one first. I would suggest that you read the label and avoid any food that contains wheat, rice, and especially corn! Corn is cheap and It is often used as a filler in the lower quality food. Also, find out where the protein is coming from so for example chicken>chicken meal>chicken-by-products. Dogs don't need a lot of carbs so there shouldn't be too many items with starch in it, and the better form of carbs should come in the form of russett potatoe or sweet potatoes.
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[BlackZRoadster]

Originally Posted by Lil Bastrd

Price does not reflect quality. That is not the way to buy food. Read the ingredients and learn what things are. Take chicken meal it's better then chicken. chicken meal means chicken that has been cooked partially before being weighed so there is less water weight. Thus there is actually more chicken and after cooking it doesn't move down the ingredient list as far. Ingredients list are done with the most weight first (this is calculated before cooking).

Shampoos I would suggest nothing with perfumes. Mane and tail works great. If you like a nice scent I'd suggest Tropiclean as it's not a perfume that gives the smell. As was said before don't bath more then once a month at most or more if possible.

Prices DO reflect quality in most cases. I buy 11lb bag of dog food for $150, all the primary ingrediants are organic venison, salmon, mussels, and free from grains. It is raw dehydrated.

Please show me a dog food thats cheap and has the same quality in a raw dehydrated form.

You pay for what you get! Pet food companies arent going to charge you a low price and give you the best food.

[lilgurl]

thanks for all the info!

i did some research and Acana came out as one of the top dog foods. Is anyone using this brand? Good? Bad?

[cranker625]

+1 for Orijen, Acana, Ziwipeak, and Zukes!

All these brands are better than the iams, purina, and other big brand crap.

The best brands are also coincidentally the less marketed brands. If you haven't seen its commercial on prime time TV, chances are its actually pretty decent. They are usually from Canada, or Australia. Those Aussies sure know how to make good dog food for some reason.

One thing to watch out for like BlackZRoadster mentioned is to make sure you feed all protein, zero grains. Dogs should not have grains, especially puppies, period.

Zukes is also a good brand for treats, much better than the milk-bones stuff.

Petsmart is ok, their stuff is not that much cheaper compared to some other places, but do go on sale sometimes. I find that Tisol is still the best though, knowledgeable staff that is not just trying to sell you. Stuff there doesn't go on sale that often, but their selection of high quality dried food and frozen food is much larger.

Just my 2 cents.

[boatcaptain]

here is a pic of my maltese n shih tzu whn he was a baby!




take some pics once u get him/her, time pass by really quick

[racerman88]

I love the pic in the bucket seat

[lilgurl]

Originally Posted by boatcaptain

here is a pic of my maltese n shih tzu whn he was a baby!




take some pics once u get him/her, time pass by really quick

Your dog looks like my dog! I'll upload pics once i figure out how to do that haha

[fliptuner]

My 11 week old Rottie is on Blue Wilderness Puppy (grain free, gluten free, high protein, plus added vitamins and antioxidants). We chose this based on advice from some vets and reading the ingredients. I bought it in Calgary and could only find a Petsmart (here I would've gone straight to Tisol). Good thing is, if we decide we don't like it, we can return the unused portion and get something else.

[lilgurl]

at night and during the day time, I put my puppy in her cage in the kitchen so she understands she needs independence and she goes crazy when she's in there. She barks all night long and I'm pretty sure she barks in the day time too. At night she's getting a little bit better. Barks herself to sleep then wakes up and barks again.

Last night when I put her in there, I think she barked so much she lost her voice and her bark sounds weird now. Is this damaging? How long till she knows she's not going to get any attention from barking?

[lilgurl]

Oh yea another question is what is the best Vet in Vancouver? I heard the Granville Island one is pretty good, but expensive? And another one around Willingdon Area is pretty good too? Any advice?

[threezero]

Originally Posted by lilgurl

at night and during the day time, I put my puppy in her cage in the kitchen so she understands she needs independence and she goes crazy when she's in there. She barks all night long and I'm pretty sure she barks in the day time too. At night she's getting a little bit better. Barks herself to sleep then wakes up and barks again.

Last night when I put her in there, I think she barked so much she lost her voice and her bark sounds weird now. Is this damaging? How long till she knows she's not going to get any attention from barking?

my dog always lose his voice after he went to the kennel. I think he barks 24/7 while there. In any case it will come back don't worry. It like you losing you voice after an intense shouting match.

what you can try is to leave the radio on when u leave him alone so its not complete silence

[fliptuner]

Again, I'm currently in the same boat with the whining. You think your dog is bad? My neighbor complained about the noise my Rottie was making a couple of nights ago before I started to figure things out - it's clearly audible throughout the house.

She has a huge kennel lined with towels and a few toys that she's allowed to walk in and out of as she pleases during the day. When the time comes for her to be left alone, she'll be comfortable knowing that's her own place and not feel punished or locked up.

She also has a travel carrier beside my bed with an unwashed work shirt inside and a clock that ticks leaning against the grating on the outside. After I close her in there for the night, I leave my fingers through the door for a few seconds and she knows I'm there. If I hear her start to whine through the night, I wait for her to stop for a few seconds and take her out to pee.

Don't forget they have small, under-developed bladders. Giving water before bedtime isn't the greatest idea and they'll still have to go during the night.

[lilgurl]

oh wow, well no complaints about my dog, surprisingly my tenants downstairs don't hear the barking. I was shocked to hear that but its also a sigh of relief because I was mostly worried that they won't be able to sleep due to the barking.

Maybe I'll try the unwashed shirt and a ticking clock. Last night I put a night light beside her and i think it helped a bit

I actually didn’t think about water before bedtime. I put a bowl of water with her for the night and maybe thats why when I wake up in the morning her pee mat is all wet. Should I not give her a bowl of water? I’m not even sure if it’s her pee or if she spilled the water >.<

Yesterday when I came home from work, again the mat was wet and even worse this time her bed was wet. So I think because she’s jumping up and down on her bed trying to get out she must have peed on it >.< ahhhhhhh

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by lilgurl

I actually didn’t think about water before bedtime. I put a bowl of water with her for the night and maybe thats why when I wake up in the morning her pee mat is all wet. Should I not give her a bowl of water? I’m not even sure if it’s her pee or if she spilled the water >.<

There's only one way to know if it's pee or not lol....

Do you take her out at night to pee? Like in the middle of the night? I know if I tell mine to shut up and she keeps whining, she has to go. So I just wait til there's a break in her crying and take her out. I don't think 6 hours during the night, without water will do any harm

[lilgurl]

I don't take her out because she hasn't had all her shots yet so right now i'm just letting her pee and poo on the pee mat right now

well i came home from work and amazingly everything in her cage area looked normal! The mat wasn't rolled into a ball, she didnt pee on her bed. Hopefully this continues!!

[fliptuner]

Warm day, dried.

[Death2Theft]

Rawfood is the best food , screw anything cooked!

[Nlkko]

The first time we got our pup, he would cry when we leave him outside of the bedroom. We simply put him in the kennel and leave it in the room while we sleep. No clothes or ticking clock needed, the dog could sense you nearby and that's all good.

For separation anxiety (barking and whining when you're away), we would occasionally put him in the kennel for no reason at all. Keep in mind that the kennel should be a happy place for the dog, don't use it as a mean of punishment. Then we would leave the room and come back. Ignore the whining. Do not address him or even look at him. Act like nothing happen. You can gradually extend the away time.

Also don't make a habit of letting the dog out in the middle of the night to go pee. He should know to do his business whenever you take him out. We start out by taking him out for a short walk every 1 or 2 hour. Then we extend the time between walks. Praise him like no tomorrow whenever he goes outside.

[Lil Bastrd]

Originally Posted by lilgurl

I don't take her out because she hasn't had all her shots yet so right now i'm just letting her pee and poo on the pee mat right now

well i came home from work and amazingly everything in her cage area looked normal! The mat wasn't rolled into a ball, she didnt pee on her bed. Hopefully this continues!!

She can go out in your yard to pee. What they don't suggest is going to places that have a high percentage of other dogs.

[kevin7352]

get "taste of the wild" it's good. get it at tysol

try to stay away from the commercial brands cuz if you read the ingredient list, they mostly use BY PRODUCTS (chicken fat, bones, chicken skin etc.)
same thing for canned wet foods like Ceasar