Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Puppy Care

www.pawtree.com/KonopkaKennelsLLC

It’s very exciting to welcome a new pet into your home however, it’s not so exciting to clean up after your new puppy or stay awake for many nights with your new puppy or lose those favorite pair of socks or shoes.  Your new puppy is going to be a joy and a challenge—to say the least.

Think of your new puppy as a newborn infant who needs to be taught everything by you!

The first thing to remember is that the puppy has been living with his/her litter mates and mom for the past 8-12 weeks and doesn’t know anything but their previous comfortable, safe life. Now, they will be taken from that life and brought into a new, strange and very scary environment.  For many nights, he/she may cry and whine because they are scared of being alone and miss everyone.

We are not  big fans of crate training even though other people swear by it.  However, your puppy needs somewhere safe and secure where they can stay and sleep and eat and not be overwhelmed by lots of noise and movement for several months.  This is also the place where you will be potty training. So, it needs to be an area where you can put down newspaper and not get upset when the puppy uses this area as a toilet.  Your puppy will not reasonably be able to hold their bowels or bladder until they are about 5 months old (or older sometimes).  Please don’t be surprised about this—the puppy will mature at their own rate and their muscles will simply not be mature enough until at least this time frame.

Potty Training

This is a fascinating time that might make you run for the hills—or call me screaming!  During potty training, your puppy will need to be taken outside several times each day.  Most young puppies can urinate and defecate ten times or more per day.  So, when you get up in the morning, the puppy needs to go out first thing, then after breakfast, naps, playtime, lunch, dinner etc.  As they mature, the number of times will become less frequent.  You can also train your puppy to tell you when they need to go by taking their paw and saying ‘out?’ and scratching their paw on the door or try hanging a bell on a string and train them to use it.  Keep in mind though that if you don’t RUN….they can’t hold it!

https://www.pawtree.com/KonopkaKennelsLLC/product/GM_PPDP

Feeding your new puppy

Your new puppy is very much an infant that has been getting all of his/her nourishment from mom and hard food.  If you change foods, you need to do it very gradually or they will develop stomach issues. We also believe that a diet of 100% soft food is a big disservice to your pup’s dental hygiene.  Hard food makes them crunch and helps clean teeth . Doing this together with things to chew such as cow hoofs really help keep teeth beautiful and white…and no bad breath!   The point here is that supermarket dog foods or even foods like IAMS or Eukanuba are NOT quality foods.  Read the labels and compare. We feed pawTree made is USA fabulous food https://www.pawtree.com/KonopkaKennelsLLC/product/GM2000

Feeding schedule for your puppy

Your new puppy needs to be fed four times per day initially(based on your schedule).  We let the puppies graze continuously through the day.  However, if you prefer a schedule for your puppy, until the puppy reaches 6 months old, feed four times per day and then reduce to 3 times per day.  At the year mark, you can reduce to feeding twice per day in the morning and at night.  We would recommend continuing with this schedule for the remainder of their life.  Cavalier puppies grow very quickly so we do not recommend limiting your puppy’s intake at any meal.

Water

Obvious, but we’re going to say it anyhow Always have fresh clean water available- even at bedtime.  You never want your puppy getting dehydrated.  Dehydration is very serious and can lead to death–this is why diarrhea is very serious because it causes dehydration.

Toys!!

All puppies need toys of all kinds.  Soft toys and squeaky toys and balls and bones.  The more that you teach your puppy that the toys belong to him and to chew on bones and soft toys, the less chewing on other stuff that they will do.  Always try to train your puppy that the toys and bones and squeaks are his and the shoes and furniture is yours.

Bones

For young puppies, rawhide is not a great idea.  Instead cow hoofs or natural precooked cow bones from a pet shop work well,or get vet approved treats and chew toys..https://www.pawtree.com/KonopkaKennelsLLC/products/972

 Collar and Leash training

Initially, the rule of thumb here is that your puppy has never been on a leash and doesn’t understand what a collar is.  Thus, patience is in order.  The first several times you try to walk your puppy you might get a bit of resistance.  Since these puppies are small and are in the toy family, a harness will be more suited to their needs as well as yours.  They have small little bodies and tiny necks and a collar will be very harsh for them.

Veterinary care and disease

Your puppy is going to need several rounds of puppy shots for all kinds of diseases.  The reason why your puppy will have several ’rounds’ of shots at your veterinarian is to ‘boost his/her immune system’.  This will keep him/her healthy for the first year of life.  You will receive your puppy from Konopka Kennels LLC MyCavalier Puppies de-wormed and with the first set of puppy shots. However, you will need to take your puppy to the veterinarian within 48 working hors of purchase for a physical and at that time your vet will put your puppy on a schedule for their remaining shots.