Taking care of your puppies

Vaccination

Vaccination serves to build up immunity to prevent unnecessary ill health and suffering of your puppies.

Puppies receive protection against Canine Distemper, Canine Hepatitis, Canine Parvovirus and Canine Cough through vaccination. When the mothers have been correctly vaccinated, puppies should receive their vaccinations at 6 - 8 weeks, 12 - 14 weeks and 16 - 18 weeks and once yearly thereafter.

Our veterinarians conduct thorough clinical examinations of the puppies before each vaccination to ensure effectiveness of the vaccine. Our veterinarians will also work out the vaccination schedules that best suit your puppies. A Vaccination Certificate is issued for each puppy after vaccination.

Do not take your puppies out for socialisation until at least 10 days after the third vaccination at 16 - 18 weeks when an adequate level of immunity has been attained.

Worm Control

Intestinal worms and heartworms are common worms that may cause ill health in puppies. Puppies may pick up intestinal worms from their environment and mothers whereas heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes.

Puppies must be wormed against intestinal worms once every 2 weeks as puppies and once every 3 months thereafter.

Our veterinarians conduct thorough clinical examinations of puppies before dispensing the correct dosage of worming tablets for intestinal worms each time.

Heartworm prevention programs are commenced as early as 12 - 14 weeks. Testing to ensure puppies are heartworm free is required if puppies are not started on heartworm prevention programs at this stage. Our veterinarians are able to advise the most appropriate heartworm prevention program for puppies.

Nutrition

Nutrition is important to the growth and development of puppies. Do not give only meat and/or milk to your puppies. Feed a complete and balanced diet to puppies each day in accordance with each of their daily requirement. Our veterinarians are able to give advice on the best nutrition and feeding regime for puppies.

Flea and Tick Control

Fleas and ticks are parasites that may be found on the body surface of puppies. They suck blood and cause anaemia. In addition, fleas may transmit tapeworm that stay in the intestine of  puppies and ticks may transmit fatal bacteria during blood sucking. Fleas and ticks are also found in our living environment which cause nuisance to us.

Our veterinarians will advise the correct flea and tick control programs for puppies and living environs.

Desexing

Desexing puppies has many advantages. It decreases aggressive behaviour, prevents future unwanted pregnancies, prevents uterine infection and mammary tumours in female dogs, and reduces the chance of testicular and prostate tumours in male dogs.

Puppies may be desexed from 16 weeks. Our veterinarians will advise of the most appropriate time to conduct desexing operations on puppies.

Microchipping

Microchips are a 'rice like' electronic device that contains information about the puppy. It is the best means of identification for puppies. Such information is especially useful in locating and identifying puppies when the go missing. Microchip implantation can be conducted at any time during consultation.

Behaviour

Puppies like chewing objects, including furniture and shoes. It is mainly due to replacing milk teeth by permanent teeth growing out from the gum. Puppies should not be allowed to bite body parts, although such bites usually do not hurt. Allowing puppies to bite encourages them to develop an incorrect concept that people can be bitten. Give puppies rubber chew toys. Their biting habit will disappear soon after 6 months when their milk teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.

Attention seeking is quite often seen in puppies. For instance, they may make a lot of noises outside the bedroom at night. Do not let them get into the bedroom if you feel you will not sleep with them every night. Calm them down by talking to the puppies while still inside the bedroom. They will gradually learn to sleep without your actual presence.

Puppies may urinate and/or defeacate in places not designated for such. Remove the waste and clean up the area immediately. Try putting their food bowls at such places if they habitually urinate and/or defeacate at some specific locations. They do not like their feeding areas to be dirty. Further, take puppies out for walks after meals and do not play with them until they have urinated and/or defeacated.