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About your Labradoodle Puppy

Below is a list of information that will help you in preparing for your puppy. Many items are what we've found to be great with the LD's or GD's specifically. Some of the information is general care information. Some of the information is specific care information about what your puppy has been accustomed to. Please read this information carefully.
    Items for puppy care:
  • Feeding Bowls and Watering Bowls
    Stainless steel is superior to plastic. Wal-Mart has the best prices on dog dishes
  • Leashes & Collars
    Your puppy will come with a small adjustable Lupine collar. I highly recommend Lupine products as they have a lifetime guarantee regardless of what happens to the collar. Even if your puppy chews it in half, you just send it in to them, and they mail you the same thing completely free. Trust me. I've done this many times and they are excellent at customer service. I have recently been approved to carry the Lupine products, which means I can offer them to our customers at a discount you won't be able to find anywhere else. If you'd like to order leashes or collars, no matter how much or how little you order, it will only cost you $6 shipping to your door. To view the fun patterns and sizes available from Lupine, please visit the Lupine site at www.lupinepet.com Let me know what you want to order, and I'll give you a payment link and price. You will get about a 25% discount off of retail if you order through us. There are other products as well from other companies, but none with the guarantee that Lupine has. It is by far the best value and quality we've found. I will place all orders from families on this litter list about two weeks before the puppies are due to go home.
  • Chew Toys - NO RAWHIDE!
    Bully stix are great, Nyla bones are excellent, cow hooves are good. Rope toys are fun and these pups love to drag them around and play chase. Do not tug very hard though because they have puppy teeth that will begin to become loose in a short while.
  • Crate
    I highly recommend crate training and our website has info on how to accomplish this, the link is given below.
  • Natures Miracle for those potty accident clean-ups, or some similar product. You will use this, I guarantee it!
  • Paper towels for clean-up, and baby wipes are great for cleaning messy faces or feet.
  • Blanket or Mat for sleeping on, doggie bed if you plan on having one elsewhere in your home for your puppy.
  • Brushes (slicker brush) and nail clippers (nails should be clipped weekly) possibly a dematting tool.
  • Styptic powder, in case you clip a nail to short and it bleeds. You will need to stop the bleeding and it can be hard.
  • Shampoo, I personally like Mane & Tail, can be purchased at Wal-Mart, don't bathe more than once monthly or you can cause skin problems or irritations.
  • Blunt trimming scissors for trimming between eyes, feet, etc.
  • Dog food. Very important!
    I believe in high quality, holistic, human grade, all natural, no by-product dog foods. Feeding quality food will protect your dog's health and encourage a long life. Recently, Costco began carrying a food that is just as good as the other expensive, high quality foods I typically feed, so our puppies are now being raised on this food. These puppies have been fed Kirkland Super Premium Chicken & Rice Puppy Food. This can be found at most Costco's, but some do not carry it. Your puppy will come with a small bag of enough food for about 5 days, so if you do not have a Costco, or if they do not carry the food, you will have enough to transition to another food. I highly recommend reading the below info about dog food before you consider switching to any food. You DO NOT want to feed your puppy anything other than what we send at first, and then very slowly transition to another food if you choose to. You will end up with a puppy with severe diarrhea that can be hard to get rid of if you quickly switch foods. www.api4animals.org/ & www.members.aol.com/ Your pup will need to be fed three times daily until about 5-6 months old, then reduce to two meals daily. If you cannot find the above food, look at privately owned Pet Stores (not large chain stores) for one of these foods: Canidae, Innove EVO, California Natural, Wellness.
  • For basic tips on training, feeding, etc, please read the info on this link: Springcreek Labradoodles Training
  • Ear cleaner
    A drying/cleaning solution, and a powder is good. If your dog ends up with lots of hair in the ear canal, you may need to have it pulled out by a groomer or vet on occasion.
  • Cowboy Magic is a great product to help keep a coat in good condition and to help eliminate matts if you ever get them.
  • Bitter Apple is wonderful for helping to train a puppy what not to chew on.

Vaccination Protocol

Newer studies show that vaccines given too young are not effective and can actually cause immune related problems later in life. www.ighawaii.com Please look into the effects of vaccines, and discuss them with your vet. Like people, most dogs will develop a lifetime immunity after having only their initial vaccines and the first yearly booster. After that, titer tests usually show complete protection against the diseases. To vaccinate when unnecessary could lead to many immune related problems later in the dogs life. Many allergies, skin conditions, etc have all been linked to vaccinations. In my opinion, you are much better off doing an annual titer test to determine whether or not your pet is protected, then if you find they are not administer the vaccine. Otherwise, you are putting things into your dogs body that are not necessary, and are actually harmful.

Dog Products

I highly recommend www.carealotpets.com They have the best prices I've found, and even after paying shipping they are much less than local pet stores.

COAT TRANSITION:
Your puppy will go through a coat transition sometime close to a year old. It's adult coat will begin to come in, and you will need to do some extra brushing to remove the dead puppy coat so that the adult coat does not matt into it. This process can take several months to complete, until the adult coat is fully in. In many cases, it is simplest to have your dog shaved down and let the adult coat come in without the added maintenance of removing the puppy coat over a period of a few months.

DO NOT Run with your puppy before
he is at least 18 months old!

Puppies joints are going through a lot of development very quickly. If you put too much stress on your puppies developing joints, you could actually cause or contribute to joint problems that could affect your dog for it's lifetime. A puppy running off leash is just fine, but no running with repetitive movements on leash with you.

DO NOT overfeed your puppy!
You want to always be able to feel his ribs, but not see them. A rotund puppy may appear very healthy, but you are doing the worst thing for him and causing stress on his joints that could have serious consequences. Keep your puppy slim, do not let him free feed if he eats a ton. I suggest feeding set times each day, and only feeding what is necessary to keep your puppy in good shape. Switch from puppy food to adult food at 6 months of age to help slow growth and eliminate some stress on joints. It is not necessary to feed puppy food after this point. Please feed a high quality food that will help your puppy to live a long and healthy life.

DO train your puppy.
Take your puppy to a puppy class or obedience class. If you do not train your puppy, you could end up with a dog that is not much fun to be around. It is up to you to help your puppy become a well-behaved member of your family, one that you will all enjoy spending time with.
If you have questions about caring for your puppy, I am always available to you. Remember, puppies need lots of love and attention, lots of consistency in training, and they need you to make the best decisions for them.