When your pup first comes home with you, they will be adjusting to your cleaning agents, your water, and your environment. Do not worry if they vomit. Vomiting is normal for puppies and dogs. It is not the same as when a human vomits. Humans vomit when they are sick and/or are trying to get something out of their body. Dogs and pups usually vomit in order to redigest their food. After they vomit, let them eat it. This is completely normal. If they walk away from it, then they do not want it back in their bodies.

You can clean it up at that point but first give them the chance to eat it and
redigest it. Once pups are weaned, mothers will often vomit up their own food for the pups to eat. As long as your puppy is drinking, eating, playing and has good energy, they are completely fine! If your puppy is having digestive issues (diarrhea or constipation), a couple of tablespoons of organic canned pumpkin added to their food will usually remedy the situation. If it goes on for a few days, a tsp of Kaopectate once a day, in their food, will almost always do the trick.

Keep your puppy/dog on the thin side. Not skinny. Thin. Labrador Retrievers are muscular, but they easily gain weight. Obesity is the
number one reason for hip and elbow dysplasia in large dogs. The way to judge if their weight is correct throughout their lives is to make sure they have a waist.

Labs are huge foodies so don’t go by the look they are giving you. They will eat a whole meal and then look at you like you have not fed them for a week. Eventually they will eat 4 to 6 cups of food a day. You will have to be the judge of this since every pup will have different exercise schedules and metabolisms so it is hard for us to predict exactly how much you should feed them after their 40 day supply of food runs out. Just go by what they look like. Too thin? Increase their protein. Too fat? Decrease their protein and up the vegetables.

After 30 days, begin to introduce new food. Introduce one new food at a time. If you introduce multiple new foods, and they have a negative
reaction, you will not know which food caused it. Try a piece of apple. See if they like it. If they don’t, this does not mean they will never like it. Try again at a later date. Let a day or 2 go by and maybe introduce a piece of banana. And so on.

Also consider feeding them a small amount of your cooked leftovers. It will further bond them to you. They smell it cooking and then they get to share in the bounty. If you will be going with a different raw food blend, this is the time to introduce it slowly into their food.

Use bottled water while your pup gets used to you, your cleaning agents, their food and new environment. We have a well and your pup hasn’t had water that has been chemically treated. They will need time to adjust to it. After a week or so, you can begin to integrate your water with the bottled water.

Just like when introducing a new food or changing their food, you want to
introduce your water slowly to your puppy.

Worms are a fact of life. Your puppy has been dewormed multiple times by us before they leave with you, but that does not mean they  cannot get worms tomorrow. It is fine to give your puppy Heartgard (which is
provided by your vet), 3 or 4 times a year to keep your pup heartworm and worm-free.

Giardia and salmonella are commonly carried by dogs. They
will not pass it on to you. Please DO NOT let your veterinarian test for
salmonella and giardia, as the tests will come back positive because of the raw food diet that your puppy is on. Salmonella and giardia are not life threatening to your puppy and will not harm them. Save the antibiotics for conditions that really need to be addressed.

We highly recommend you find an alternative veterinarian. A vet that is also a homeopath or a naturopath or are at least fine with the raw food diet. Usually if they are practicing acupuncture or acupressure, they are in the alternative way of thinking. They will encourage the raw diet, and perform titers on dogs measuring their immunity rather than simply giving them more vaccinations.

If you do not already have a vet, it is a good idea to take your pup as early as possible to a vet of your choosing so that you become a customer. This way, if your pup swallows something he shouldn’t, your vet will see your pup because you are a customer, and you will not have to go to an emergency room where the care is extremely expensive and often inferior.

Your pup has already been seen by our vet and given a clean bill of health so this first early visit is simply a “get to know you and your new pup” visit. Do NOT do anything to the pup. NO vaccinations.

At 16 weeks of age, take your puppy to the veterinarian again and have your veterinarian titer your puppy to test their immunity to the Parvovirus. If your puppy titers greater than 65% or higher for the Parvovirus, your puppy is fully immune and does not need any other vaccines except for rabies. Sometimes the test will say: probably protected, or something like that. This is to protect the vet and the insurance companies. Your pup is protected and immune and does not need another Parvovirus vaccine. Parvo is currently an epidemic and very contagious but it is a puppy problem, not an adult dog problem.

With the exception of rabies, no other vaccination is required by law. If not for the law, we would not administer the rabies vaccine either. We do not administer any other vaccines as they have been shown to cause
allergies, Pano, cancer and many other conditions in dogs. Our dogs are being over vaccinated. If you are feeling unsure, do your research! Find out how much Distemper is in your area. Find out if Leptospirosis is a problem.

Ask your vet how much Distemper they have seen in the last few years. Our vet has not seen it in over 30 years. The immunization for kennel cough, (A2-Boratello) will not prevent kennel cough. It may prevent a possible secondary infection called Boratello. Kennel cough is not life threatening. It is just a cough they will get over in less than 2 weeks. If you feel pressured by your vet to vaccinate, then make sure you do the vaccines one at a time and allow for a lot of time to go by between each one. Do not do a second vaccination.

Titer them to see if the first one gave them all the immunity they need. There was a study done where they followed a dog’s immunity for 7 years with a single vaccination of all the vaccinations they offer. The dogs were fully immune for 7 years with only one vaccination. They are most likely immune for a lifetime but the study ended after 7 years.

Your puppy will sleep up to 18 hours a day. This is completely normal. They will breathe heavily and seem dead to the world. This is absolutely fine. Puppies will play hard for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and then sleep for 2 to 3 hours. They are growing at a rapid rate and need to sleep. It is not necessary to be quiet while they sleep. Unlike babies, they can fall asleep
anywhere, anytime and sleep through any kind of commotion. They will be
playing one minute and completely passed out the next. Ahh … if only we all could sleep like puppies!