Toy & Small Dog Breed Newborn Puppy Care
Getting Toy & Small Breed Puppies Off to a Great Start Raising well-adjusted, confident toy and small breed puppies begins in the whelping box. Breeders have a pivotal role in helping them become small dogs with big personalities during the eight-week countdown from birth until going to new homes. In “Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog,” behavioral scientists John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller attribute 35 percent of a dog’s ultimate behavioral makeup to genetics and 65 percent to the management, training, socialization, nutrition, and health the dog receives as a puppy. Carman Battaglia, PhD, describes in his “Breeding Better Dogs” the U.S. military’s “Super Dog” program that uses early neurological stimulation of puppies. “These exercises help to kick in the neurological system earlier than normal,” he says. “This helps to build a strong cardiovascular system with stronger heartbeats, stronger adrenal glands, greater tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to disease. These pups are more active, more exploratory, calmer, and less distracted when working.” “Super Dog” exercises are done once a day for three to five seconds each when pups are from 3 to 16 days of age. They include: • Tactile stimulation tickling between the toes with a Q-tip® • Head held erect stimulation holding a pup in both hands perpendicular to the ground so the head is directly above the tail in an upward position • Head pointed down stimulation holding a pup in both hands with the head pointed downward toward the ground
• Supine position stimulation holding a pup on its back in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling • Thermal stimulation placing a pup feet down on a cool, damp towel Purina puppy behavior expert Annie Valuska, PhD, encourages socialization of puppies that is enriched with physical and mental challenges. “The more experiences puppies have during the critical period of socialization, the better prepared they are going to be in their new homes,” she says. “Puppies need things to move, chew, climb, carry, and tug to develop strength, agility and coordination skills. They should experience different textured surfaces, such as carpet, tile, grass, and concrete, and be desensitized to household sounds, such as a vacuum cleaner, mixer, television, and music.” As to nutritional considerations, toy and small breed dogs that weigh around 20 pounds as adults grow and develop quickly. Maturing between 9 and 12 months of age, these breeds should be fed a complete and balanced growth food specially formulated for toy and small breed puppies for the first year. Purina veterinarian Callie Harris, DVM, explains, “Small- breed puppies reach skeletal maturity faster than large- breed puppies, so a lot of growing takes place in a very short time. This requires energy, thus they need a food containing the right amount of the energy-supplying nutrients, such as protein, which will help support growing muscles and tissue development, and fat, which aids in palatability. “A growth diet is ideal because it contains the appropriate 10
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