Shots and Worming
Our puppies  are wormed with Liquid panacur for puppies oral liquid wormer at two weeks of age and once every 10 days thereafter for as long as it remains in our care. Please consult with your veterinarian to determine schedule and product s/he advises for on going protection for your area. Be sure to ask about heartworm prevention. Also flea, tick, ear mite prevention.

Shots:

Your puppy got its first 6 way puppy shot at age six weeks; (Spectra 6)("The puppy shot")You should now consult with your veterinarian to determine schedule and product s/he advises for your area. Rabies is usually given at age four to six months. Again, consult your vet for advice regarding vaccination schedules, etc.

Food and Water: Any good food that DOES NOT CONTAIN CORN is fine; The first ingredient should be Salmon, meat, or at least chicken meal; brown rice is good but be sure NO CORN.

We feed our puppies Diamond Naturals Salmon and potato Skin and Coat all life stages food. If you want to buy a large breed puppy food, or some other brand all life stage food, that will work as well. You may want to consult with your vet regarding best food for puppy. We will give you some of our food to take home so you can mix half and half with yours in order to switch your puppy over to yours alone over several days. Remember, switching food abruptly can cause diarrhea. Clean fresh water should be available to your puppy at all times.

However, if you are crate training your puppy be sure to offer the puppy a drink after nighttime potty breaks if not yet sleeping through. The puppy can go without water no more than eight hours overnight once s/he is sixteen weeks old and sleeping through the night, or if crated during the day for 3 hours or less, as long as you are conscientious about providing water at all other times, and your puppy remains well-hydrated. We keep water and food in front of all of our dogs all the time (24/7). Our puppies and adults are never without food or water. If you are crate training and have a nice large cage you can leave water and food in one corner of the crate thru the night. If you position the water and food at the back of the crate, it is less likely to be spilled or knocked over; Putting near the front of the crate means it will be more likely to be spilled when the puppy comes running to greet you!

Never feed anything (treats or food) preserved with BHA/BHT or ethoxyquin. These are believed to cause cancer in dogs as well as other problems. Look for food that is preserved with tocopherols, a source of natural vitamin E. It is a good idea to read labels and be sure none of these things are in the food you and your family eat. For instance, lard, (which some cooks still use in biscuits and pie crust) is still preserved with BHA/BHT!

Your puppy will eat a lot and grow at a very rapid rate the first year. Because a young puppy needs small amounts of food very often (they can only hold enough to last a couple of hours), it's important to keep dry food down where the puppy can eat all it wants, anytime it is hungry. This will also help them with teething since chewing the hard kibble helps their teeth and gums. (Most people find their mastiffs will not overeat.)

After the first year, you will find your mastiff consumes no more food than any other large dog, such as a lab or shepherd. We keep our dogs on automatic feeders for their entire lifetime; They have food and water available at all times. They will not overeat, and having food available all the time helps prevent bloat (often caused by eating too fast and swallowing too much air). They know the food is always there so do not "gobble" their food.

Table scraps are ok in moderation after the puppy is eight weeks old. Take the food away from the table and place it in the puppy's dish, to prevent begging. Be careful with new foods as they may cause diarrhea. Do not feed onions, chocolate, nuts, grapes or raisins to dogs, as they can make them very ill or sometimes result in death.

Safety:
Bare wood floors and tile can be slippery, and running, klutzy puppies run a risk of serious injury. Try to keep your puppy on carpet as much as possible. If you have slippery floors, just pick up several rubberized bath rugs and create islands of safety. This will also help your puppy get used to the floor.

Do not let the puppy jump off anything higher than six inches for first sixteen weeks of its life, and do all you can to minimize high-impact activity for the first year to 18 months. Jumping down from heights or over things can injure rapidly developing front legs. Moderate exercise "on the flat" is fine, given you keep the safety of developing bones and joints in mind. walking, etc.