Preparing for Arrival & Successfully Completing Your Puppy\u2019s House Training Quickly<\/p>\n
How We Start the Training<\/span><\/p>\n Puppies naturally begin potty training themselves around 3 weeks of age.\u00a0 To jump-start their house training, we take advantage of their initiative and ultimately make it easier for their adoptive family to quickly and successfully complete their potty training.<\/p>\n Because a puppy\/dog doesn\u2019t want to use the bathroom in his bed, he will get out of his bed when it is time to potty.\u00a0 So when the puppies are first learning to get out of their bed (at 2-3 weeks), we put newspapers right up to their bed and on the whole floor in their area.\u00a0 By doing this, anywhere they urinate or defecate, they are on newspaper.<\/p>\n Gradually we take away the papers that are closest to their bed.\u00a0 They then walk farther to get to the papers (naturally they don\u2019t want to potty close to their bed).\u00a0 By the time your puppy is 8 weeks old, they usually are paper\/pad trained to go about 8-9 feet from their bed.\u00a0 Their bed is in a wire crate<\/span> (not a plastic travel type crate) that is just room enough for a bed (not big enough to be a bed\/potty\/feeding space).\u00a0 The reason is because if puppies are taught or left to potty in their crate, it can cause major toileting problems.\u00a0 For future successful house training, they need to understand and remember that their bed is separate from their potty area. Luckily this comes naturally for them.<\/p>\n Along the way in their training, once the papers are about 6 feet away from their bed, we put potty pads under the papers.\u00a0 Then gradually over the next few days we do away with adding papers, and the babies are now using the potty pads for their potty.\u00a0 We use cloth washable potty pads that we get from ezwhelp.com but you can also use the disposable ones.<\/p>\n We train to both the papers and pads, so that you will have flexibility (to use newspapers or pads) until he can go outside to potty.\u00a0 Our recommendation is that you continue the house training until he has had his two shots (one at 8-9 and one at 15-16 weeks), and his immunity has taken over (about 2weeks after that 15 week shot).\u00a0 We recommend not taking him outside on the ground to potty until then because several canine diseases are airborne and some can last outside for up to 6 months or more.\u00a0 Parvo and distemper can both be fatal.<\/p>\n One thing to mention is that because he is trained to potty on paper or cloth, if he needs to go and there isn\u2019t a pad or paper near, or there are magazines, newspapers, or clothes on the floor, he may just decide that is his potty for the moment.\u00a0 Once he is trained to go outside, he will not have this tendency near as much.\u00a0 During his paper\/pad training or when you move on to crate training before he is 100% house trained, just remember you might want to keep things like that<\/p>\n picked up off of the floor in the areas he is allowed.<\/p>\n To Prepare for Your Puppy\u2019s Arrival<\/span><\/p>\n The following items will be helpful in your puppy\u2019s arrival & potty training:<\/p>\n A plan <\/strong>of how you are going to house train your puppy – We will look at this in the next section.<\/p>\n A wire crate<\/strong> 24Lx 18w is a good size for a Boston Terrier Puppy.<\/p>\n A pillow type bed or blankets<\/strong> to use as a bed<\/p>\n Food and water bowls<\/strong> (ones that are no-tip are a good idea). A water bowl that attaches inside the crate is good so that he can have water even if he is crated for a long time (and it won\u2019t spill).<\/p>\n Food <\/strong>\u2013 The only commercial puppy foods that we recommend are Orijen Puppy Food or Solid Gold\u2019s Hundchen Flocken . Then Orijen for an adult food.\u00a0 You can go to dogfoodanalysis.com<\/span><\/strong> and on the lower left corner beside the two puppies click on index<\/span>.\u00a0 This will pull up about 1500 dog\/puppy foods that have been reviewed and let you know why they are recommended or not and what ingredients are good, bad, known toxins, etc.\u00a0 Pretty cool!<\/p>\n If you want to take your healthy feeding (and goal to extend your baby\u2019s life for many extra years) to the next level, I encourage you to consider feeding a raw diet.\u00a0 It is very easy.\u00a0 Basically it is feeding your dog a true canine diet of raw meat, bones, and organs to benefit them as the carnivores they are. Our adult Bostons have recently been switched to the raw feeding method and we have been very impressed.\u00a0 They LOVE it and we saw benefits in the first few weeks.\u00a0 To learn more you can go to rawlearning.com<\/strong> and\/or join rawfeeding@yahoogroups.com<\/a> email group and read details of how to start, benefits, and ask questions.\u00a0 Additionally you can check out the myths to raw feeding\u00a0 http:\/\/rawfed.com\/myths\/<\/a><\/strong> <\/strong>and join the raw feeding facebook page to ask questions as well. Be sure to read the archives (in the yahoogroup) before asking questions as most of the answers are already there. (more about this later) I will be sending you a detailed outline of How to Start\/Continue Raw Feeding.\u00a0 As of September 2011 all of our litters are weaned to a raw diet. \u00a0Once many people discover the amazing health benefits and see how easy it is to feed a raw diet, they switch their other dogs\/cats to a raw diet.<\/p>\n Newspapers or potty pads<\/strong> (cloth or disposable)<\/p>\n A few toys<\/strong>– NO RAWHIDE!! Good choices are knotted ropes, cow hooves (last a really long time and very inexpensive and good for them), pigs ears, squeaky toys, pet approved stuffed animals (love the ones with no stuffing in them, they can really sling those!).\u00a0 Try not to get any bones that have smoked or other flavors added (this is just unneeded chemicals that could build up to cause tumors etc).\u00a0 Dogs can have raw bones but NO COOKED BONES. Do not buy any rawhide chewies or chips because these can get stuck in the intestines and could block the intestines resulting in surgery!\u00a0 Also, no large animal weight bearing bones.\u00a0 These break teeth eventually!<\/p>\n Lots of love, consistency and patience! \u2013 <\/strong>Your puppy will instantly love you and with some consistency over the first 2-3 weeks he\/she will be almost completely potty trained.<\/p>\n A Plan for Potty Training<\/span><\/p>\n Basically, you need a plan for when you are home and when you are gone.\u00a0 While you are home it is great to hold and play with your puppy.\u00a0 Just remember his two natural habits and it will help you have success potty training him.\u00a0 Puppies go potty 1) right after they wake up and 2) right after they eat.\u00a0 Not potty number one and number two at those times, just two habits.<\/p>\n For the little babies, we start with paper training, then puppy pad training, and add in a bit of crate training, but of course our ultimate goal is to work towards using the bathroom outside in your location of choice. One good thing about the paper\/pad training is that he will always have this \u2018skill\u2019.\u00a0 If you ever go on vacation and are in a hotel, condo, friend\u2019s house, or cabin or if there\u2019s flooding or severe weather or even if you\u2019re going to be gone longer than usual, you can just put the paper or pads down near the exit door, or in a bathroom etc. and he will \u2018remember\u2019 and use that as his temporary potty.<\/p>\n While You Are Home<\/span><\/p>\n Limit your puppy\u2019s roaming area.\u00a0 This is of utmost importance and is only temporary!<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Basically he is trained to the area of one room when you get him.\u00a0 At our house he was never farther away from his potty than about 9 feet so if his \u2018roaming area\u2019 is about a 10×15 room then one area of open papers will be fine (once you are done transitioning him).\u00a0 A larger room, maybe 12x 25 or so would need a potty in two areas spread out (maybe at opposite ends of the room) so that he doesn\u2019t have to search too hard for a potty if he needs to go.<\/p>\n Block off rooms he isn\u2019t allowed in at first.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, etc will just be places for him to make a new potty if he is left to explore on his own.\u00a0 Keep doors shut or put up baby gates.\u00a0 There are gates that are tension mounted (no drilling holes etc).\u00a0 If you\u2019re buying a gate for long term (to keep him in or out as an adult), keep the height in mind (at about 12-14 pounds, 6-8 months?) he will be able to jump over the shorter gates (about 28 inches tall) but may not know it yet.\u00a0 As an adult there will be no stopping him with a 28\u201d tall gate.<\/p>\n In the room or areas he is allowed, put down an open fold of newspaper\/puppy pad.\u00a0 In the beginning you can\u2019t have too many paper areas.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>He will naturally go back to one or two areas (per room) and in a short time (maybe 7-10 days) you can remove the rest if you have papered several areas.\u00a0 Keep in mind, he is used to only having to search about 9 feet to find a potty.<\/p>\n Keep your eye open for potential \u2018hiding\u2019 places to potty such as behind a chair, couch, or TV etc.\u00a0 Once a puppy starts pottying in a certain place it can be hard to remove the smell and change his mind.\u00a0 It is better to be super diligent in the beginning even if you have to scoot furniture back to the wall or rearrange it.\u00a0\u00a0 It is for the benefit of everyone in the family, especially your new puppy!!\u00a0\u00a0 This (returning to the same potty spot) also works for your benefit.\u00a0 Once he has pottied on the papers, you can take a paper with some of the urine on it and place it on top of the clean papers where you do want him to \u2018go\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 If you do need to clean up an accident, the ONLY thing we have found to work is Odoban.<\/p>\n If you have an open floor plan living area, then you need to get creative.\u00a0 There are large gates that will stretch across huge rooms, some even self standing.\u00a0\u00a0 There are play yard panels that you can buy to make him the biggest or smallest area to roam.\u00a0 Sometimes, we use these to enclose our whole dining room to train our puppies.\u00a0 This way they can\u2019t get to cords, blinds, or furniture to chew on etc.\u00a0 The panels come in sections of two.\u00a0 The brand we have is called Northeast Super Yard, with additional connecting panels.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t get creative or the expense is too much, then just put several areas of puppy pads\/papers down, and watch him very closely when he is roaming.<\/p>\n While you are playing with him, holding him, watching him etc., PLAN ON TAKING HIM TO THE POTTY PAPERS EVERY HOUR OR SO and say the same \u2018potty command words\u2019 to him.\u00a0 You are training him not only to know where the temporary potty is, but also to know what the command is to get him to potty.\u00a0 You will use these words when you start taking him outside as well.\u00a0 You can say \u201clet\u2019s go potty\u201d, \u201cgo be a good boy\u201d, \u201clet\u2019s go out\u201d or whatever.\u00a0 What you say doesn\u2019t matter, what matters is that you say it every time and try to say it in the same tone of voice, and start saying it from the beginning even when you are carrying him to the papers to potty.\u00a0 Everyone in the family who shares in the training needs to know the command words and use them each time to help train him quicker and not cause confusion.<\/p>\n When you first get your puppy home, if you take him to the papers every hour on the hour that is a good way to remember to take him.\u00a0 Keep him on the papers for maybe a minute or two and once he stops looking at you like he is in trouble, he will realize that he\u2019s not in trouble (and that he\u2019s on newspaper which is familiar) and will go pee if he needs too.\u00a0 Any time there is success, really give him tons of praise.\u00a0 This will be his favorite reward and Bostons by nature really want to please their owners.\u00a0 You are just making it easy for him (by consistently taking him each hour at first).\u00a0\u00a0 If he won\u2019t use the papers for several times in a row, you can try letting him fall asleep in your arms then once he wakes up take him straight to the papers.\u00a0 Or you can put him in his wire crate and leave him for about an hour (set a timer if needed).\u00a0 Then take him to the papers.\u00a0 You want him to have success as soon as possible.\u00a0 Also make sure he has access to clean water<\/p>\n (purified is best). Tap water has been proven to cause kidney stone in certain breeds, additives in tap water have also been proven to cause cancers and a bunch of other health issues.\u00a0 Do your research.\u00a0 You actually have a big part in his lifespan!\u00a0 Remember each thing you do to guard his health and give him good health will add time to his life and can end up adding years.<\/p>\n In a day or so, start stretching his time between taking him to the papers, to an hour and 15 min, then gradually an hour and a half etc.\u00a0 A timer works great for this.\u00a0 Use your cell phone or carry a kitchen timer around.\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you 2 weeks of diligence and your baby can be 90+% potty trained.\u00a0 If you have any backsliding (accidents), shorten your time to take him to the papers again.\u00a0 Start back with every hour on the hour if necessary.\u00a0 Gradual success is excellent!<\/p>\n *Paper\/pad placement note<\/span> \u2013 If his roaming area is in the room where he will start going outside to potty, place one set of papers\/pad near the exit door.\u00a0 Your goal will be to let this be the last set of papers you remove in the house.\u00a0 The reason is because after he is totally outside trained, if he ever needs to go potty, he will come to this door.\u00a0 If he needs to go and there are papers there, he will know to use them if you don\u2019t come.\u00a0 If there are no papers there then of course he will try to wait for you to come let him out.<\/p>\n Accidents<\/span><\/p>\n Accidents will happen, it\u2019s just part of the process<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Expect it at some point and have a plan to deal with it.\u00a0 You can\u2019t fuss at him unless you catch him in the act.\u00a0 He won\u2019t understand otherwise.\u00a0 Once the crime is past, it is unpunishable.\u00a0 Just clean it up and either change your strategy, block off a room, rearrange furniture, cut his free time back, crate him and let him out only to take him to potty or hold him, etc.\u00a0 If you catch him in the act, you can say in a disappointed tone (not yelling) \u201cnooooooo\u201d and at the same time scoop him up and take him to the potty.\u00a0 After you tell him noooooo, then tell him the command words in a sweeter and kinder tone.\u00a0 Think of it as your fault if he messes up.\u00a0 He\u2019s either had too much roaming space or time between being taken to his papers.\u00a0 Several accidents and I would suggest going strictly to crate training for a few days. Crate training is keeping him crated and letting him out onto his papers on a timed schedule (start with every hour on the hour and add time gradually).\u00a0 He will \u2018hold\u2019 it while he is in his crate and will take the opportunity to potty on the papers when its time and he needs to go.\u00a0\u00a0 More about crate training later.<\/p>\n While You Are Away or During the Night<\/span> You need space for his crate with his door open, his food and water near his crate, his bed inside his crate, and papers on the floor outside his crate.\u00a0 Even a 4×6 or 4×8 size space will work as long as there is room for his crate and papers or pads on the floor.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how you start his \u2018night time\u2019 or \u2018while you\u2019re gone\u2019 room plan.<\/p>\n Before his arrival – Check out the room, sweep and clean the floor real good, rinse with water, Don\u2019t use toxic chemicals (puppies like to lick and chew a lot!) Also dog foot pads absorb similar to sponges.\u00a0 If you\u2019re using toxic cleaners, your puppy is absorbing them through his paws! Vinegar and water works well.\u00a0 Also look for things that HE will look for, cords near the floor, things to chew on like shoes, pipes, cleaning supplies, vent hoses, stuff on a bottom shelf or in a low cabinet, etc.\u00a0 Be especially careful to make sure there\u2019s no rat poison. We delivered a pair of puppies and were helping them set up their laundry\/mud room for the babies and my daughter found a box of rat poison on the bottom shelf!!\u00a0 Note- keep toilet paper and plastic bags put up out of reach.<\/p>\n Day 1 \u2013 Place his crate on one side of the room with his water and food bowl near his crate. You can get an attachable bowl that will attach to the inside of his crate to keep water in.\u00a0 That way if he is crated he can still drink.\u00a0 Put his bed in his crate (make sure there are no holes or strings that could tangle him up while you are gone.\u00a0 Put his chew hoof and a toy or two in his bed.\u00a0 This is his sanctuary!\u00a0 Next lay newspapers on the WHOLE floor starting at about 10 inches from his crate and going all the way across the room. Be sure to put them down also in any narrow areas (like beside a commode, beside his crate, etc.)\u00a0 Remember sometimes pups like to hide and potty.<\/p>\n Day 2 \u2013 You will notice where he has used the bathroom on his papers.\u00a0 Throw away all of the papers but keep one with a little bit of urine on it.\u00a0 You can now put down fresh papers but now leave an open floor space between his crate and the papers a little bigger than day 1. Now perhaps you can start the papers about 2 feet or so from his crate door.\u00a0\u00a0 Put the urine scent paper on top of the papers in the area you want to eventually end up with only one spread of newpapers or potty pad. \u00a0\u00a0He will return to his favorite area to potty.\u00a0 This will probably be the farthest place away from his crate or in a corner.\u00a0 Be sure to put papers down in any narrow areas again. If he uses those papers, you will soon teach him to go where the other papers are (depending on your goal area).<\/p>\n Day-3 Throw away all of the newspapers on the floor, keep one urine scent paper.\u00a0 If you are going to switch to puppy pads (cloth or disposable) now put one of those under the newspapers in the area farthest away from his crate (or where you want his eventual 1 potty area to be in this room).\u00a0 If he has only used the potty on the papers yesterday (and not on the open floor area), then you can now move his papers farther away from his crate, now maybe 3 feet from his crate door.<\/p>\n Day 4 and further- Each day you can start his papers a little farther away from his crate.\u00a0 Any areas he doesn\u2019t use papers you can gradually stop putting papers there.\u00a0 Today put his 1 potty pad on top of the papers and he should use it just like he would the papers.\u00a0 Any area he starts going that aren\u2019t paper covered, put paper there.\u00a0 He will eventually get to only one place to potty or two. Your goal is to get down to one potty pad or open newspaper (or two) if he has two favorite spots. Once you get to that point, as long as he needs to have an inside potty place, just put one open spread of papers or one potty pad down when you leave him in there.<\/p>\n Crate Training<\/span><\/p>\n Puppies can stay in a crate one hour for every month of age. For example at 2 months no more than 2 hours at a time, 3 months no more than 3 hours at a time etc.\u00a0 This is why your puppy needs an \u2018area\u2019 where he can have crate and potty separate when he must be confined for more than the ideal crated time for his age.<\/p>\n Basically, crate training is keeping him in the crate for a certain amount of time and taking him out of the crate to go potty.\u00a0 This is a very effective and fast way to house train.\u00a0 The crate ideally should be a wire crate so that he feels like he is in part of where you are and not in a box.\u00a0 You can move the crate to the room you are going to be in or possibly have one crate for his night night room and one for elsewhere in your home.<\/p>\n If you crate him and take him to his potty, whether inside on paper\/pad, or outside if past his two vaccinations, then he will learn to \u2018hold\u2019 it and release it (potty) in the area you give him opportunity.\u00a0 Once you are taking him outside, take him to potty in the part of the yard where you want him to continually potty.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want him to potty in your rose garden, don\u2019t set him there when he\u2019s a baby!\u00a0 Remember, your little guy is going to do either what you teach him, or what you let him learn on his own.\u00a0 He wants to please you, so by taking him where you want him to urinate\/defecate, you are telling him this is okay.\u00a0\u00a0 This is why once he is completely house trained and there are no more papers\/pads on the floor, he will instinctively know he is to potty outside where you have miraculously \u2018moved\u2019 his potty.<\/p>\n If he uses the bathroom in the designated area, after MUCH praise, you can either crate him or hold him until his next potty time (again a timer works great).\u00a0 On day one, once he has used the bathroom, if you choose, you can give him 10 minutes of free \u2018roam\u2019 time under your close watch.\u00a0 If he has no accidents during his 10 minute freedom, then crate him set timer for an hour and take him to potty.\u00a0 You are teaching him over and over \u201cwhen you need to potty, this is where you go\u201d.\u00a0 The more times you get him to \u2018go\u2019 there, the quicker your success will be.\u00a0 That is why consistency is so important for your new puppy.\u00a0 We have even used this method for adult dogs.\u00a0\u00a0 If there\u2019s backsliding, back up a step or two.\u00a0 Crate training really works.<\/p>\n Feeding for Success \u2013 SECOND BEST OPTION \u2013 Holistic Commercial Food<\/span><\/p>\n At 8-10 weeks your puppy should be eating 2 times per day (if feeding a commercial food and if he can eat his full daily amount in two sittings), gradually this will go to one time per day.\u00a0 During that one time per day, he should be able to eat his whole daily amount.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are feeding a commercial food, make sure it is a super food (like Orijen). I\u2019m talking one of the top three foods in the world if possible.\u00a0 If those aren\u2019t possible look for something holistic and do your research.\u00a0 It will pay off in lower vet bills, better health, and longer life and I mean years of longer life<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 Read the instructions and give him at least the daily recommended amount if he wants it.\u00a0 As a puppy, he can eat as much as he wants but try to limit it to 2x per day unless he has a special issue.<\/p>\n If you will feed his second feeding early enough (say before 6pm), then he should have several opportunities to poop before bedtime and could stay crated longer if you need<\/span> to crate him all night.\u00a0 An 8 week old puppy typically can\u2019t crate for an 8 hour night, nor is it fair to ask him too.\u00a0 So if you did need to crate him, you would need to let him out to potty in the middle of the night at the very least every 5-6 hours.\u00a0 If he barks or cries, he may be telling you he has to go!\u00a0 If he should happen, by some chance, to end up in bed with you and gets wiggly or starts walking away from your arms, this means I must go potty \u2013 take me to my papers!\u00a0 Or if he happens to sleep with you on a regular basis, keep a large Rubbermaid-type tub on the floor next to your bed with newspapers in it and set him down in it.\u00a0 He will potty then want to be picked back up and go back to sleep.<\/p>\n Another Food Option (BEST option to add years of life) \u2013 RAW FEEDING<\/span><\/p>\n In early 2011, I discovered the raw feeding method.\u00a0 Sounds complicated but basically is feeding a dog or puppy like he was created to be fed.\u00a0 Dogs are canine, and canines are carnivores and carnivores eat raw meat.\u00a0 I know what you are thinking, I probably had similar thoughts for the few months that I researched this option.\u00a0 But the bottom line is I want what is best for my dogs (and a longer life span), like you no doubt, and so I kept researching and asking questions.<\/p>\n Many years ago, after research, we made the switch from garbage commercial food to the highest quality holistic commercial food available.\u00a0 We also began supplementing as needed, with fish oil and other healthy supplements.\u00a0 I\u2019ve learned that raw feeding is an even bigger improvement in health.\u00a0 While our dogs were in excellent health, as we switched to raw feeding, I noticed their great looking coats became gorgeous.\u00a0 Our male that came to us a year ago (with horrible<\/p>\n breath) now doesn\u2019t have horrible breath!\u00a0 They all \u2018filled out\u2019 and seemed to \u2018muscle up\u2019.\u00a0 All of our Bostons LOVE the raw eating.\u00a0 And now they don\u2019t have the gas that was caused by commercial foods!\u00a0 If you\u2019ve had a Boston before you know the gas I\u2019m talking about!<\/p>\n Basically the idea is this.\u00a0 Your goal, which you work up to, is to feed 80% meat, 10% edible bone, and 10% organ meat with half of that being liver.\u00a0 This goal is achieved over time and not on a daily basis.\u00a0 Most people start with chicken, yes raw chicken and yes they can have the bone. Never cooked bones but yes raw edible bones<\/span> according to their size (larger dogs might choke on smaller bones, small dogs couldn\u2019t eat beef weight-bearing bones etc.).\u00a0 So it\u2019s important to know what others are feeding who have the same breed or size dog you have.<\/p>\n After a few weeks you give tiny amounts of liver (like pea size), then about 6 weeks of feeding chicken quarters you introduce beef or pork and then in a few weeks, fish or deer, etc., and whatever they like and whatever you acquire, that\u2019s what you feed.\u00a0 There\u2019s all kinds of research showing the benefits of this and disadvantages of feeding kibble, which the die-hard\u2019s call krapple or doom-nuggets.\u00a0 I have a beginner raw-feeding info sheet, if I didn\u2019t send it to you, then ask for it.<\/p>\n For more info you can go to rawlearning.com<\/a> and\/or join the email group rawfeeding@yahoogroups.com<\/a> and just read all of the comments, questions, and answers or put in key words to read archives.\u00a0 There are people who have fed this way for 20+ years and also plenty of newbies as well.\u00a0\u00a0 The holistic health experts say that small breed dogs (such as Bostons) should potentially live 18-22 years.\u00a0 Serious thought should be given to feeding raw when you realize that your dog could live that long instead of only 12-15 years.<\/p>\n Vaccinations<\/span><\/p>\n Vaccination research has been going on for over 30 years now.\u00a0 The findings are slowly continuing to make their way into the mainstream veterinarian offices.\u00a0 We use and love our\u00a0 traditional vet and in 2011 we also added a holistic vet.\u00a0 We try to use wisdom as we meet our Boston\u2019s health needs.\u00a0 What I discovered in my research, is that over-vaccinating causes much damage and is probably the number one or two reason that our pets end up with tumors, cancers, skin allergies, behavior issues, liver\/kidney problems, vaccinosis, seizures, and much more (basically & seriously shortening their lives).\u00a0 Based on the recommendation of our local holistic vet, we vaccinate with parvo and distemper (or a 4 way shot if individual parvo & distemper shots are not available) at 8-9 weeks and then at 15-16 weeks.\u00a0 There is still some debate over whether a 1 year booster is needed after that.\u00a0 With just those first 2 or 3 combo shots, the dog is vaccinated for life!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because research has shown that the vaccines are still active in the dogs bloodstream as long as 12 years.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 There is a blood titer test that can be given yearly or every few years to verify that the vaccine is still active.\u00a0 Your vet may have to send the blood sample off to a special lab to do the testing or you may have to go to a holistic vet for this test.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0There is a holistic vet online that you can email questions to.\u00a0 Look up <\/span><\/strong>Dr. Christina Chambreau.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>You can even send her a check as compensation for her time.<\/p>\n If not needed, why do vets recommend yearly vaccinations?\u00a0 Some say it is because this is their bread & butter (financially).\u00a0 Instead of urging patients to just have their yearly check up and take care of problems as they arise, they push the vaccines as \u2018needed\u2019 when really they are not.\u00a0\u00a0 Additionally, the vaccines actually cause the problems\/issues that cause\/keep people bringing in their pets especially in their mid to later years.\u00a0 Many vets will now allow a 3 year rabies vaccine instead of 1 year.\u00a0 This is actually the same vaccine!\u00a0 One rabies shot lasts a lifetime as well (in most dogs).\u00a0\u00a0 Over vaccinating, of any type, can actually cause the vaccines to cancel out each other (ie the second parvo shot could nullify the first one).\u00a0 Don\u2019t just take my word for it.\u00a0 Do your research!<\/p>\n A good place to start your research on this is to watch the youtube video of Dr. Ronald Schultz (a veterinarian and vaccine researcher of over 30 years). He is being interviewed by another vet, Dr. Karen Becker, and they discuss what is actually needed and not needed and why.\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/youtu.be\/L1Xd5ghnlJ4<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr<\/strong>. Karen Becker and Dr<\/strong>. Ronald Schultz<\/strong> on Pet Vaccines<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 (The 53 minute video is the whole interview.)\u00a0 Educate yourself.\u00a0 Read online and\/or join a yahoo group that is specifically geared toward dog\u2019s health.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth it to do a little investigating online and THEN talk to your vet if needed.\u00a0 There are a growing number of holistic vets or traditional vets that will work with you on these issues if your current vet won\u2019t.\u00a0 Your pet\u2019s health is in your hands.\u00a0 Each thing you do health-wise (especially raw feeding and limiting vaccinations) will potentially add years of life to your pets.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Think of a pet that you lost in the past.\u00a0 What would you have given to add 4-8 more years of life to him\/her?\u00a0 Just these two things alone potentially can do this (raw feeding and limiting vaccinations).<\/p>\n Closing Thoughts <\/span><\/p>\n While many of us may think that 18-22 year life-span for dogs (even longer for cats) is far-fetched, there are a growing number of people helping their pets to live that long and the proof is mounting that ingredients in commercial pet foods, over-vaccinating, and chemical overload are shortening the lives of our 4-legged babies.\u00a0 Raw feeding is a growing trend.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth doing a bit of research, looking at the evidence, and using wisdom to move in the direction of better health for our pets.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure like me, you\u2019ll learn quite a bit, make a change for the better here and there, and it will be worth it, years worth it.<\/p>\n Enjoy your new baby and be sure to send updates and pictures when you can.\u00a0 Call or email if I can be of any help to you along the way.<\/p>\n Blessings,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Janis\u00a0 Huskey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 janisLeee@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preparing for Arrival & Successfully Completing Your Puppy\u2019s House Training Quickly How We Start the Training Puppies naturally begin potty training themselves around 3 weeks of age.\u00a0 To jump-start their house training, we take advantage of their initiative and ultimately make it easier for their adoptive family to quickly and successfully complete their potty training. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":36,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1228,"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions\/1228"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestbostonterrierpuppies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIdeally, your puppy needs a small room\/space to be in while you are gone or overnight.\u00a0 A laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, mudroom, or some other room that has an easily cleanable floor and a door (or can be gated) will probably work.\u00a0 If not a room, then a way to block off a small area will work.<\/p>\n