Take Home Guide
after patiently waiting and watching our babies grow, The time has finally come to bring home your silver lining doodle!
In order to best prepare for the arrival of your new fur-ever friend, try to have the following items ready for use prior to pick-up day!
Grooming Supplies
Proper grooming and hygiene is essential to ensure you have a healthy, happy puppy. Doodles are a high maintenance breed and require consistent grooming, some coat types more than others! Read more about grooming requirements for individual coat types under Coat Types & Colours.
1. Long-Pronged Slicker Brush: Daily brushing is recommended for all coat types, but for curly/wavy coated dogs it is essential to ensure they do not end up with painful tangles of fur called mats. Mats are not only uncomfortable and pull at the skin, heavily matted dogs are unable to properly regulate their temperature, and are likely to develop sores and infection. Matted dogs must be shaved to remove the tangled hair, but in order to prevent that, we recommend the daily use of a long-pronged slicker brush and comb! We provide you with a professional-quality steel comb and nail clippers that we encourage you to use; you can purchase the perfect slicker brush here at Ren's Pet Depot.
2: Shampoo & Conditioner: Bathing is going to be a fairly regular occurrence for any dog owner, especially a doodle owner! We recommend bathing as needed (ie. dog has odour, dog appears dirty, right after a roll in the mud, etc), but no more than once weekly as excessive bathing can strip healthy oils from the coat. We have introduced the puppies to bathing, it is up to you to ensure they are continuously exposed to good experiences so when they are brought to the groomer they are well prepared! We highly recommend Tropiclean products for shampoo & conditioner, they have a variety of shampoos for different coat types and needs! They have a gentle formula specifically made for puppies, which is what we recommend using for the first 1-2 months.
Toys
To keep your puppy busy and stimulated, as well as to burn energy indoors until they have received their second set of vaccines, make sure that you have toys for your pup to play with! Puppies have big desires to chew while they are young as they are teething, so instead of having your pup chew your furniture & clothing, make sure they have plenty of alternatives!
When you first take home your puppy, teething toys are highly recommended to try and help with the discomfort of new teeth coming in! Kong, Nylabone, and Benebone are all toys I have personally used in the past and have had great success with!
Plush/Squeaky toys are also lots of fun for your puppy to play with! Just be sure that they can't digest any smaller parts of the toy.
With all toys/bones, please make sure you are watching your puppy to prevent any accidental digestion or choking!
Crate/Kennel
As mentioned previously on our site, crate training is highly recommended! Crates come in a variety of sizes, but it is important that you do not allow your puppy excess amount of space while they are learning house training/crate training as they will be more likely to have accidents. You can purchase a larger crate that has a divider, which is a grated wall that you can put up to take away space, and then over time move the divider to allow more space as your puppy grows.
Crates should have a plastic tray bottom, grated walls, and latched doors. Kennels also work well and offer more privacy to your pup, so it is completely your preference whether you would prefer a crate or kennel!
Personally, I find crates are easier to clean and are much easier to transport as they can completely collapse down.
Treats
While puppies are young, they have less of a tolerance to new foods and are more likely to get an upset stomach when introduced to them. It is best to look for simple ingredient, easily digestible treats rather than overly processed baked biscuits. Dehydrated liver, fruit, and vegetable treats are available at most pet stores and are much easier for your puppy to digest! Crumps and Benny Bully are two brands that make whole food treats that your pup will love!
Just like with anything, too much of a good thing is bad! Too many treats will likely upset your puppies stomach and give them diarrhea.
To prevent this, switch up using treats with using pieces of your puppy's food for a reward!
Food
PUPPY FORMULA
LARGE BREED PUPPY FORMULA
Your puppy has been raised on Purina Pro Plan 30/20 Performance food, this is an all-life stages food that is fantastic for young puppies and mother dogs. However, to deliver better calculated nutrition as your puppy grows, it is recommended that you transition your puppy to either Purina Pro Plan Puppy Food, or Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy (depending on the size of your dog). You will be given a large sample of the Performance food to help switch your puppy over to their new food. This transition should be done over the course of a week to prevent gastrointestinal upset.
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Day 1: 25% new diet and 75% old diet
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Day 3: 50% new diet and 50% old diet
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Day 5: 75% new diet and 25% old diet
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Day 7: 100% new diet
While Purina products is what we use, you are not forced to stick with this brand of food! If you would like to switch brands, please feel free!
Please avoid any grain-free boutique foods, or foods not approved by AAFCO unless you are working closely with a veterinary nutritionist. Grain-free diets have been linked to a deadly cardiovascular disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy in dogs, and is simply not worth the risk to feed!
Other
One of the best parts about picking up a new puppy is the adorable collar and leash sets! We recommend having a collar and leash with you when you bring your pup home. Usually at 8 weeks, a collar size small is perfect!
