What You'll Need For Your New Puppy
So you're preparing everything for your newly reserved baby, what are the things you need to give your new friend the best start?
* Beds (2 or 3 to allow drying time when washed)
* 30-32" crate
* Bowls Collar and Lead for when puppy can go out for walks
* Pet carrier for the car
* Puppy pads or Paper for the early days
* Disinfectant suitable for puppies (Dettol is great)
* Snuggle Puppy - With Heartbeat
Bed time:
If you are planning to crate train then a 30-32" crate is the best option. It will be perfect size for a puppy bed and some paper/pad so that puppy doesn't soil their bed in the night but will also last them right through to adulthood. This way you can put a soft bed in one side and the other a puppy pad or news paper as before 12 weeks puppies rarely can make it though the night without needing to relieve themselves. Try eBay for great value with crates..
Snuggle Puppy
Dogs are natural pack animals, meaning that they know from a young age to follow their mother's instinct and stay close to the rest of the pack. When puppies go to their forever homes, this does mean leaving their current pack for a new one. To make sure your puppy feels safe and sound during this transition, you can use a Snuggle Puppy. The Snuggle Puppy replicates the intimacy of the mother through a heat pack and simulated heartbeat. This has a calming effect on most puppies, making them feel less anxious and less prone to experience separation anxiety.
How it works:
The Snuggle Puppy is a soft puppy heartbeat toy that includes a heartbeat simulation and a heat pack. This makes it perfect to snuggle up to, helping your puppy to fall asleep.
Top tips: Bedding: a pillow inside a strong bin bag then covered by a cotton pillowcase makes a comfy bed to start that's easy to clean if any accidents occur - just pop the pillowcase in the wash, wipe the bin bag with a drop of disinfectant and pop a new pillowcase on...
Pop a small book (2inches max) on the end of the crate where puppies bed is to slightly raise it so that if your new little friend has a wee on their paper or pad in the night the wee will be forced to roll away from their bed and keep them nice and dry.
A pen around the crate is also a super way to give puppy that extra space. I tend to attach the pen to the crate with cable ties to start with to make sure its secure.
Bedding: When puppies are slightly older I buy my beds from Zooplus and find they are really long lasting and most importantly comfortable my dogs. Heres a link to the beds I use ZOOPLUS CRATE BEDS
Feeding:
I like to use heavy based stainless steel bowls or ceramic heavyweight types that can't be kicked over by your puppy. I remove any drinks or food from my puppies at bedtime until the morning. My personal routine entails removing water at around 11pm and giving fresh again at 7am. I will give the last feed around 7-8pm and first feed at 7am.
Harness or Collar?:
The Dachshund Breed Council have done the research so we don't have to into which is best with harness v collar. Heres a link to the DBC so you can be totally clued up and make the best choice for your puppy. I personally feel I have perfect control with a collar but would always say to never leave a collar on in the home when not supervised as they have been known to get caught on various things and be very dangerous. DBC Collar v Harness.
Exercise:
The rule of thumb is 5 minutes of exercise per month of life for a puppy, this seems to work well but many people often ask me how I stop my dogs jumping on and off things in the home. The truth of the matter is, that I don't. I train my dogs when its acceptable to come up or down from the sofa and so this way they will wait for me to accept their request and when they want to get down I will assist them. Its actually not bad for Dachshunds to run up the stairs as it actually can help build great muscle that helps to protect the spine but going down is another story all together. Long bodies and little legs do not bode well on stairs. I will always ask my dogs to wait and will carry them down. Obviously there will be situations that are out of your control, like the door bell going when your dogs are snuggled up with you on the sofa which leads to them all charging off in a frenzy. Sadly in my many years of Dachshund ownership I've never been able to conquer this so I like to think breeding good backs gives my dogs and puppies the upper hand in these situations.
