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G'Dieter
Danes 14404
Cearfoss Pike Info@dieterdane.com 301.745.8922 Great Dane
Information - page 1 of 3 When
You Get Your Puppy Home: Give
your puppy a few days to adjust before putting any demands on him/her. Keep confusion and distractions to a minimum,
offering the puppy peace and quiet during this traumatic time of
missing
his/her old home and littermates and adjusting to his/her new life. Your puppy has been raised with a lot of love, gentle handling, and positive
reinforcement and we hope you will continue this way of care. Feedings: Your
pup is used to having Eagle Pack
Large Breed
Puppy food with warm water 2 to 3 times a day.
Eating from a feeding
table or stand when you pup gets older is highly
recommended. It is believed this will
decrease the chance of bloat. Your puppy
will need fresh water
available at
all times. You may need to increase the
protein level after the rapid growth is over at 1 yr.
Eagle Pack makes many foods that should meet
your dog’s nutritional needs for his/her entire life.
If after one year you would like to try
another holistic hormone-free preservative-free food, please make the
change
gradually. Vitamin
C
should be given every day. Vitamin C
does many good things including promoting healthy growth.
You can purchase Vit C time release chewable
tablets from Drs. Foster &
Smith
mail order catalog. Follow the
instructions for dosage. You may also
give glucosamine and chondroitin. Your
puppy should have no other
supplements,
etc. Allow your puppy to rest after eating. Danes'
bones grow rapidly, sometimes
causing orthopedic
problems. For this reason, protein level
of your puppy's food should remain fairly low. The
protein level should not excess 23% during the first
year. Ears
Taping: If your
pup is cropped and still has a cup on his head, try to keep it there
until the
ears are completely healed (up to two weeks). For
several days after cropping, the ears will look very
sore. You may use triple antibiotic
ointment or
Gold Bond Medicated Powder if you want, but normally you need to do
nothing. Take the cup off only if the ears
are not
erect. If the cup gets loose, try taping
it so it is secure to the ears and the ears are erect.
Make sure you do not put tape on any unhealed
edges of the ears. If you cannot get the
ears to stand erect against the cup, remove the cup completely and wait
for the
ears to heal and/or call me for help and/or consult a Vet in your area
who is
knowledgeable about posting ears (many Vets are not).
There
are many ways of taping ears once they are healed.
Use the method with which you feel
comfortable. I use pipe insulation (foam
rubber) for ear taping. Cut the foam in
two strips so that they are long enough for the ears and fit
comfortably on the
ledge (knob at the base of the inside of the ear).
Wrap each strip completely with adhesive
tape. Put it on the ledge, pull the ear
up so that it’s nice and straight, and wrap tape around the bottom and
the top
(elastic or adhesive tape may be used). Skin
Bond may be used for extra strength if needed to help
hold the
tape-covered strip to the ear. Then hold
the ear up straight and wrap the rest of the ear with adhesive tape. After both ears are covered with tape and
standing straight, run a piece of tape from the bottom of one ear to
the bottom
of the other ear to keep the ears vertical. It
is a good idea to leave the very tip of each ear
exposed so you can
watch for any swelling, which would mean the tape is too tight. In this case, remove the tape immediately and
tape the ears again once the swelling goes down. If
the circulation is cut off, the pup may
lose his/her ear, so it is very important to pay attention to this. Usually each posting will last about a week
before it starts coming off. But keep
check for rubbed or irritated areas (at least once a day at first). If the ears smell fowl (stink), take the tape
off the ears and clean them. Hydrogen
Peroxide can be used to clean the ears especially if there are any open
areas
or the ears are red. If there are no
open areas or redness, rubbing alcohol can be used.
Then tape the ears again making sure you do
not cover any open areas. You can let
the ears air for a couple hours, but it is important to get the ears
taped
ASAP. If the ears are standing straight,
you may leave the tape off. But, if they
start flopping, tape them immediately. Continue
this procedure until both ears are permanently
erect on their
own. It usually takes 4 to 8 months of
taping, but it could be longer with softer ears. Please contact us with
any
questions.
Great
Dane Information - page 2 of 3
A
Note about BLOAT: Bloat is a real
threat to your Great Dane. Large-chested
animals are prone to it. Bloat is when the
stomach fills with
gas. Some of the symptoms are retching,
acting uncomfortable, and distended (large) abdomen.
Please keep simethicone (gas-x or the like)
on hand to give your dane at the first indication of bloat. Then get your dane to the Vet ASAP. This is a medical emergency!
Please read more about Bloat on the internet
at http://www.marvistavet.com/html/bloat.html. Toys: Puppies
like to chew, chew, chew! Toys and
things to chew on are very important for many reasons.
One is so the puppy doesn't chew on your
furniture, shoes and other undesirable items. Toys
are also necessary to stimulate a puppy's mental
capacity and
soundness. And it will help to keep your
puppy from getting bored. I recommend
cow hooves, sheepskin toys, rope toys, hard rubber bones or kongs,
gumabones,
nylabones. Milk jugs are great toys too,
as long as they are not chewing them into little pieces.
Any toys that your puppy is chewing into
little pieces and swallow are potentially harmful.
Please do not use rawhide unless the rawhide
is big and you are going to supervise your puppy while he chews on it. Your puppy can chew a piece of it off, swallow
it and it can obstruct his intestinal tract if/when it swells. Greenies are NOT recommended.
As a rule, do not give your puppy ANYTHING
small enough that he can swallow. Exercise It is
very important that your puppy is allowed to rest/sleep at will. So your puppy should have NO forced exercise for at least
the first 6
months and longer if you notice ANY limping or uneven gait. I define "forced exercise" as
something as simple as taking your puppy a walk around the block. During a walk like this, he/she cannot lie
down and rest/sleep when he/she wants to. Therefore,
this is forced exercise. Your puppy should
never play with other animals or small
children
unsupervised while growing. Their
rapidly growing bones and joints can be injured very easily. And your puppy should never play with any
animals bigger than he/she is while growing. By the
way, if you see your puppy limping restrict his/her activities for a
few
days. Please let us know immediately if
the limping continues and call your Vet. Training: Training
is very important when your puppy is small. After
he/she gets big it is very difficult to start
training. Do not let your pup on furniture
unless you
plan to let him/her on furniture as an adult. It
is almost impossible to break a habit like this once it
is
started. OBEDIENCE TRAINING IS RECOMMENDED! Your local kennel club should offer
classes. AKC can furnish a list of the
kennel clubs in your area. Housebreaking
in not difficult if you are patient and consistent.
Take your
puppy out after eating, after playing, after waking up, and frequently
in
between these times (about every 1/2 to 1 hour). A crate helps in housebreaking, especially at
night. Usually a dog will not
"dirty" in his/her own crate/bed. Praising
your puppy when he/she relieves himself/herself
outside is very
important. If your puppy has an accident,
tell him/her "no" firmly and take him/her outside.
NEVER, NEVER put his/her nose in it or hit
the puppy. This is cruel and only
confuses the puppy. DO
NOT give a command (tell him to do
something) if you are not there
and can make the dog do it
(if he doesn't do it on his/her own). And
DO NOT give a command if you are the type person who
just likes to
hear himself/herself talk but doesn't intend to carry through. Another
very important thing to keep in mind is to make
training fun for your puppy. Use positive reinforcement (NOT
negative). Praise, praise, praise, praise!!! Plenty of praise for things done
correctly. Do not dwell on things done
incorrectly. Finally,
never call a dog to you and then fuss him/her. He/She
will learn that when he is called, he/she is going
to be fussed
and he/she will not come to you. Training
can be fun and your dog will learn if it is done correctly. One of the many top dog trainers says, "There
are no bad dogs, just bad owners." It is extremely important that
your dog knows that YOU are the pack leader and YOU call the shots, not
him! Registration: Please
pay special attention to your puppy's registration application. After a certain period of time, the
registration fee increases. This dog may not be registered with any
other registry except AKC without written permission from
the
breeder/seller. Great Dane
Information - page 3 of 3 Pet
Supplies If you
are interested in saving some money on dog supplies, these mail order
catalogs
are available (among others): Foster
& Smith 800-826-7206 [www.DrsFosterSmith.com], Valley Vet
800-468-0059
[www.valleyvet.com], Care-A-Lot 800-343-7680 [www.carealotpets.com],
Omaha
Vaccine 800-367-4444 [www.omahavaccine.com], R.C. Steele 800-872-3773
[www.rcsteele.com], J-B Wholesale 800-526-0388 [www.jbpet.com], Jeffers
800-533-3377, Revival 800-786-4751 [www.revivalanimal.com], and KV Vet
800-423-8211 [www.kvvet.com]. Great
Dane Books and Videos: The
Great Dane by Anna Katherine Nicholas The
Great Dane Dogdom's Apollo by Nancy-Carroll Draper The New
Complete Great Dane by Noted Authorities AKC
Breed Standard Series - The Great Dane Video slide show Great
Danes Today by Di Johnson The
Great Dane, Model of Nobility by Jill Sedlow (The brindle on the cover
is out
of my Tee) The
Great Dane Handbook by Mary J. McCracken (G'Dieter's Chance Encounter,
Page 81) Magazines: AKC
Gazette - Dog
World - Dane
World - Showing: If
interested in obedience (which is highly recommended), conformation,
agility,
etc, you may want to subscribe to "The Match Show Bulletin." Address is Websites
of interest: www.doglogic.com
www.sharlaitdanes.com/Links.html www.akc.org www.gdca.org
www.infodog.com Dog
food sites…. www.beowulfs.com
(Back To Basics)
www.eaglepack.com We hope
you have many years of enjoying your puppy and you will treat him/her
like a member of your family. Include him/her in family activities, and never tie him/her outside
isolated with no
stimuli....this would have a negative effect on your dog (especially
danes!)
and it is against our agreement. Please
feel free to phone us with any
problems,
or just to let us know how your puppy is doing. Also,
we love pictures! Revised 013007 |