At twelve months the puppy becomes an adult in an official sense. Between the ages of six and twelve months he may be entered as a puppy in the various shows, but after twelve months he must take his chance with the grown dogs though he will not yet have attained his full growth.
The time when full height and weight are reached varies with the breed. The larger the dog, the longer time he will take. He will reach his matured height first, possibly as early as nine months, but he is still a gangling youngster that will not come to the top of his form until he is around two years of age.
Small breeds may do so at fifteen months. Once the full height has been reached, there will be no more development in this direction. The weight will change, but once the skeleton is completely formed, there will be no variation in the height of any dog.
Young puppies, and grown dogs for that matter, derive great enjoyment from chewing anything they can get hold of. This should be kept in mind, and wood, metal, broken glass, or anything which is likely to splinter must be kept from them.
A very small particle of some sharp material may puncture the intestine and cause death from either peritonitis or internal hemorrhage. Even rubber balls should not be given as toys if they are painted, and they must always be too large for the puppy to swallow. Do not give him a ball which he can chew into pieces.
Many authorities give a definite age at which puppies should be weaned, but in my estimation this is not possible. It may sometimes be necessary to start this change in feeding as early as three weeks. On the other hand, it may frequently be left until the puppies are five or six weeks old.
There are various causes which necessitate early removal of the puppies from their dam. If a large litter or sickness makes her milk supply fail, the only way out of the difficulty is to aid her by taking at least part of the load from her. It is a good plan to start teaching the puppies to lap as soon as they are able to stand alone. This is usually when they are about three weeks old. Any of the prepared puppy formulas are satisfactory, or condensed milk may be used.
A pan kept specially for the purpose makes a very good feeding dish. In it is placed a small quantity of either slightly diluted condensed milk or one of the prepared formulas, mixed according to directions. When the pan is first placed before the puppies, curiosity will usually draw them about it. But they will not know what it is for until their noses are gently pushed into the liquid. When they lick off their lips, they will find that they like the taste, and from then on it is easy.
By starting this feeding about the third week, some of the load is taken from the dam. Should her milk supply fail, the puppies are partially trained to carry on for themselves. Early weaning is also an advantage for a show bitch, as it prevents her body from becoming so badly depleted that she would have to go through a long period of preparation before again being shown in anything like good condition.
For the first two weeks the bitch will stay with the puppies almost constantly. Then she will start leaving them for periods which gradually increase in length. She may stay where she can keep an eye on the whelping box or may wander off if allowed her freedom. She will not go far, however, and no fear need be entertained that she will desert them.
By the time the puppies are four weeks old some tiny, needle-sharp teeth will have erupted. They will prick the skin of the nipples and breasts and make nursing more and more of an ordeal to the bitch. In some cases this is so irritating that it becomes necessary to bathe the breasts several times a day with a warm boracic acid solution, or a warm, very dilute solution of Zonite. At other times it becomes necessary to use an ointment, such as Ozonol. “When ointments are employed, the puppies must be kept away from the mother, and before they are returned, the breasts and nipples must be thoroughly sponged off.
If the puppies learn to lap while they are still nursing, what they get from lapping is merely supplementary feeding and does not have to be as carefully balanced as it will be after they leave the dam. For this purpose I use condensed milk diluted with one third of boiled water. To this is added a small amount of dicalcium phosphate and a few drops of cod-liver oil for each pup.
If whole cow’s milk is used, one-half teaspoonful of butter should be added for every eight ounces of milk.
After the puppies have lapped fluid only for two or three days, a small amount of the meal fed to the grown dogs is sifted into the milk through a fine-meshed sieve. This addition is in a very small amount at the start and is increased from day to day. By the time the bitch has stopped feeding them, they are getting a large percentage of solid food.
When the transition from liquid to solid food is gradual and is carried out while the puppies are still receiving an appreciable amount of milk from the dam, the chances of digestive upsets are much smaller.
This method also affords the bitch more comfort, for if the puppies are left to feed on her alone as her milk supply is dwindling instead of growing to meet their increased appetites, they not only lacerate her nipples badly but they drain her system of a great deal of vitality. This energy could well be used to her own advantage in re* covering from her whelping.
My puppies are fed four times a day from the time they are weaned until they are three months old, and their feeding schedule begins when they are first taught to lap. They get their first meal of the day in the early morning, the next at noon, the third when the older dogs are feeding around six o’clock, and the last one around midnight.
These times may be set to suit the individual breeder, but adhering to a rigid schedule is very necessary. Do not feed at one hour one day and at a different time the next. Puppies are like babies—the more care taken to provide proper diet and regular feeding, the healthier the growing youngster will be
