Royal puppy paws 

   If you are considering adopting a puppy from us please make sure that you read this page.

 FIRST FEW DAYS

Your puppy might be nervous in their new environment. Everything from sight, smell, people, etc. are strange and very new to them. You have to allow new puppies to explorer the place and encourage them to play. Try not to pick them up too much the first couple days and play with them on the floor in their eye level rather than your couch or table. When you speak to your new puppy, you need to speak quietly and calmly so they can be comfortable with your voice. They will soon be fine and enjoying their new home and family.

The puppy is used to sleeping with several brothers and sisters, so they may feel lonely and cry for the first few couple for nights. When the puppy cries out, simply touch his nose and tell him 'no' in a soft voice. The only thing you can tell them when the new puppy cries out is softly but firmly 'no'.

READY FOR YOUR PUPPY?

Basic Supplies:

01. Doggy bed
02. Small washable blanket
03.  potty pads or washable pads
04.  ceramic or stainless-steel non tipping food and water bowls (won't break  or absorb odors)
05.  toothbrush and paste( I  use the vanilla favor for my little ones)
06. Eagle Pack holist select chicken and rice
07. Brushes and combs (a slicker brush will take out tangles in short hair, a toothed comb is needed to get deep into the coat to get the hidden tangles out). and nail clippers
08. Shampoo & conditioner  (I like  Miracle coat  and pet Silk  and   Top performance baby powder shampoo)
9.  Chew toys  and bully sticks (no pig ears or any type of rawhide)
10.Playpen An exercise pen for assistance in crate training (I recommend placing the puppy in the pen in a place where you want the puppy to potty for life. When you take him outside, carry him and place him in the pen so he doesn’t go anywhere else.  Do this for a week or two and that will become his primary restroom.) 
11.A breakaway harness and a 6 -foot leather or nylon leash

 It will be helpful to have these supplies ready at home before the day you pick-up your puppy. All of the supplies can be purchased on any  store in your area.

For the first few times the puppy rides in car, they may get carsick. It is normal for little baby puppy, so just having paper towels or Wee-Wee pads just in case for the ride home will be good. Also, being held in someone’s lap can help make your puppy feel comfortable to trip the home and may help prevent car sickness. Car sickness generally vanishes and soon your puppy will look forward to going “For a ride”.

FEEDING

This is the food that we use and our little ones love it!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO GO TO THE EAGLE PACK WEB SITE.  in the website look for the link :WHERE TO BUY and put you are code and you will see all the stores  that are close to you area.

 You can have it delivery to your door too!!  This  is the service that we us   and here is the website where we get it from :

www.petfooddirect.com

Feed  your puppy every morning and night until your puppy reaches 6 months (for  the super tiny size puppies , you have to leave the food out at all times). Then at one year you can leave the food out all times or you can start feeding once daily.  
 

 TREATS
Doggy treats are like junk food; a couple is fine, but don't overdo it. We prefer all natural treats. Again, make sure the ingredients don't include soy products.

 IMMUNIZATIONS

HOUSEBREAKING

PLAY PEN TRAINING

If you work and  you  will leave your baby at home  for more then 2 hours you may want to get a play pen and   train your puppy to  go on pee wee pads,You  don't want her/him  to have full run of the house.

Training your puppy to potty on pads inside a small confined area is by far the easiest method of housebreaking, especially since it will come naturally to them not to potty in their bed. The pads also come scented to attract the puppy to potty on the pad. All of our puppies are partially housebroken to go on potty pads inside their playpen. The only training necessary after adopting one of our puppies is to train them with lots of praise to potty on the potty pads outside their playpen as well. Make sure the first few weeks your puppy spends most of their time in their playpen (their home), otherwise the puppy will be accustomed to being outside its playpen and will not want to go back.  The best time for training is after the puppy eats or wakes up from a nap. They usually will potty within 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on your puppy and when they look like they are about to potty, take them to the nearest pad. If they get anything on the pad, give them lots of praise. If the puppy makes a mistake, it is best advised to just clean up the mess and avoid any type of punishment. As long as you are consistent with the training, you should be able to leave your puppy with the playpen open when you are not at home.  This process could take few weeks to a few months, so, like any other training procedure, have patience.

After house training is successful you may still want to use the crate or exercise pen when you are gone or sleeping so puppy doesn't get into any trouble when you can't watch him/ her.

CRATE TRAINING

If the crate is too large the puppy may use a corner or one end for a bathroom area.

A crate's success as a housebreaking tool is simple, puppies will not soil their sleeping area if they can possibly avoid it. But remember that a puppy needs time to play and has a small bladder. Use the crate when you can't watch your puppy, but don't overuse it

  Choose one Crate that will be large enough for an adult Yorkie or Shih tzu  to lie down, stand up, and turn around easily. 

For the first few times the puppy goes in the crate she may cry or whine.  At the first bark, whine, or howl intervene with a sharp "NO". Your puppy should associate the reprimand with its actions and stop. It may take four or five tries, but it will eventually settle down and be quiet. Never take the puppy out before she settles down or she will think all she has to do is keep making noise until you take her out.   

 Once the puppy is quiet, keep it in the crate for 30-45 minutes. If it begins to cry, take it outside to relieve itself. Once that happens, praise the puppy, give it a small treat, and take it back inside and allow it supervised free time outside the crate. If she starts chewing on something other than her toys, respond with a sharp "no", take the object away and replace with a chew toy.

After 15-20 minutes of playtime, put the puppy back into the crate for a nap. Correct the puppy if she cries. Your puppy learns through association, so consistency should help it accept being in the crate after a few times. After about an hour, take puppy out again and repeat the process.

Your puppy will need to eliminate directly on waking and shortly after eating or playing. Also, a very young puppy will not be able to hold its urine all night, so be prepared to take her out during the night.

Put the puppy on her leash immediately after letting her out of the crate. Rush the puppy to the door or carry her so she can avoid an accident. Watch to be sure that she relieves herself once you are outside

We usually place the pet taxi next to our bed so we can lean down and comfort the puppy throughout the night. It may take a night or two before the puppy learns not to cry.

 Gradually increase the time your puppy is allowed to play out of the crate after she relieves herself outside.

Here is a picture of  one of our girls  asking Mom to let her go potty,she will stand at the door and wait.Most of our girls  will do that.

With pacience  and love you will have a full potty trained baby!!

IMMEDIATELY CLEAN UP ACCIDENTS
Immediately clean up accidents and use an odor remover. If you catch your puppy having an accident, take them immediately to the designated soil area. You may even need to leave a small amount of waste in the spot to help your puppy understand that this is their potty area. Don't discipline the puppy if you find an accident after the fact. Your puppy will not understand what the scolding is for.  Paper training may be an acceptable alternative for a small apartment dog whose owner is not able to take him outside regularly. Consider putting the paper on the floor in the corner of an indoor exercise pen. You might also consider housebreaking pads, which have a scent that attracts puppies to urinate in your chosen spot.

    EYE CARE
 Don't let the hair on the face grow too long to prevent you from easily seeing the eyes. Shih Tzus are considered a "bug eyed" breed, they have a higher risk of injury to the eye.  One 400 mg Folic Acid pill daily seems reduce or totally eliminate tearing problems.

BATHING YOUR PUPPY

PRE-BATH:

You are going to go through the coat to check for snarls and mats, snarls can be pulled apart with your fingers, then using a pin type brush go through the coat before bathing.

Mats hurt coming out regardless of how careful and gentle you are.

Place your finger at the base of the coat next to the skin, start brushing at the ends of the hair and gradually work up toward your finger, trim the hair around the foot at this time.

Before the bath is the best time for brushing the teeth. If you do not brush the teeth, this will mean additional professional cleaning at the vet office

EARS:

If  there is hair in the canal, remove it by pulling it out with your fingers. Do it quickly. Whether the hair is oily or not, using a plucking powered lightly will make it much easier to do.

                                                                           PAD NAILS:

We use small clippers to trim the pads of the feet, hair grows from between them and it should be trimmed to at least where the hair is level with the paws themselves. Trimming nails should be done with almost each bath. Trim the hair around the foot at this time. The feet should be rounded following the outline of the foot itself before bathing.

BATHING:

Make sure the coat is entirely wet, apply your shampoo and distribute it by running your fingers through the coat. Do not rub the coat in circles. There is no reason to scrub back and forth. Rinse twice if it is necessary, shampoo left in the coat can do more damage to the coat than anything else, use a good conditioner .

TRIMMING:

All that you need to do is trim around the anal area, use scissors for this area, cut about 1/2 inch around.

FINAL TOUCH:

Collect the hair starting at the outer corner of the eye , going back at an angle toward

 the center of the head, then back down to the outer corner of the other eye, brush this hair up and place a latex band and your favorite bow. And don't forget the cologne and the hug!!!