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​INFORMATION AND TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL START WITH YOUR NEW FAMILY MEMBER

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We have loved and cared for your new baby for the past 16 weeks, from the time of conception.  We have carefully chosen the best parents we can for our baby.  We want you to have the knowledge you need to keep “our” baby safe and happy.  He is at least 8 weeks old, eating dry kibble and drinking water well.  Your puppy has had his first puppy vaccination, been dewormed, and has had his first veterinary well check.  He is ready to come home to his wonderful, loving, new home and begin life with his new family!

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1. Protect Your Puppy

Your puppy is at risk for Parvo and other diseases until he is FULLY vaccinated.  Don’t expose him to other animals until he has had all 3 of his puppy shots and his rabies vaccination.  At the vet, take a towel from home to put over the exam table. Don’t put your puppy down on any surface in the vet’s office or anywhere else.

 

2. Cover, Remove, or Raise Cords

The only puppy we know of losing was electrocuted after biting into an electrical cord behind the television.  Puppies CHEW for at least a year, on anything and everything. Puppy-proof your house at least as well as you would for a child.  Bundle and/or cover electrical cords that cannot be moved to higher places or re-routed.

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3. Puppies CHEW

Your puppy will chew on anything.  Do not underestimate him.  An unsupervised, quiet puppy is finding something to entertain himself.  He is smart.  He is determined.  He will chew on furniture legs, furniture upholstery, baseboards, SHOES, toys, clothes, and anything else he can find.  Keep a TEETHING TOY in EVERY ROOM.  If you find him chewing on something he shouldn’t, redirect him immediately to the teething toy.  I don’t advise punishment (scolding or a light tap with an empty paper towel cylinder) unless it is life threatening, such as an electrical cord.  Tell him NO or Uh Uh, and give him something he can chew on.  KONG is a pretty good brand of toy for puppy chewing.

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4. Be Very Careful with Batteries

Batteries, especially the button batteries, are deadly for a dog, if swallowed.  If you know you dropped one, search until you find it because your puppy will easily find it.  He may also chew on AA or AAA batteries if he comes across them.  The same goes for dropped medication.  He is on the floor, and he will find it.  A good resource to keep close by is: https://vetmeds.org/pet-poison-control/#   

This page provides a detailed list of poisonous substances and items your dog may ingest or come in contact with.  Please review this list for plants, items, and substances, Sago Palms, Oleanders, Azaleas, Chrysanthemums, and many more.  Please review the list! 

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5.  Water – Your Corgi Will Love It … or Maybe Not

At the least, your puppy will be curious.  We know this from our own heart-breaking experience.  If you have a pond, an in-ground pool, above-ground pool, kiddie pool, spa, even a large tub of water, or live on the lake, you must protect your puppy.  If you have a pool at your home or live on the lake, teach your puppy to swim!  Teach him how to get out of your pool.  Teach him not to get into the pool unless you are with him.  Don’t leave him unsupervised around the pool any more than you would a toddler.  I guarantee he will fall in, or jump in, especially if he has four-footed-furry siblings.  BLOCK ACCESS to above ground pools.  Don’t underestimate his ability to get through, around, over, under, or between anything. 

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6.  Your Puppy is Just Like a Baby  

Your puppy will eat, sleep, poop, and play for several more weeks.  Like a baby, when he gets tired, he will go to sleep.  Where he stands. Wherever that is.  I have a picture of one of our puppies half-on and half-off of the bottom rungs of our coffee table.  He just couldn’t go any farther. 

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7. Backtrack

Your puppy is quick.  Don’t underestimate his ability to get from A to B without you knowing.  If you miss him, backtrack first.  See #6.  You may have just been in the bedroom, closet, bathroom (more later on that!)  for a second but you may have missed the fact that your puppy followed you.  If you don’t want him in a room, keep the door closed.  And when closing the door, be sure he isn’t in the room.  Did I say they were quick??  Also, they WILL get under your or your visitors’ feet.  Especially if you have elderly loved ones in your home, caution them to watch so that the puppy doesn’t make them fall.  Train your puppy to stay out from under their feet.  We never want to hear of one of our puppies causing a fall.

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8. Keep Gates and Doors Closed

Remind family members, especially children, to close gates and doors behind them.  Corgis are curious and will wander to explore if given the opportunity.  

 

9. All That and a Bag of Chips

Corgis love to eat.  Some love to rustle through a trash basket.  This really is “all that and a bag of chips”.  Puppies and adult dogs, too, will sniff out the crumbs in a chip bag (all sizes) and try to get to them.  In the process, they get trapped with their head in the bag and cannot get out and suffocate.  It really happens.  Be sure the receptacle you put them in is not accessible to your dog or cut the bags up.  Don’t leave them on the table or the floor, etc. 

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10. Distracted Puppy Holding

Corgis pitch, wiggle, and squirm and they are stronger than you may think. Hold your puppy with both hands. Small children should sit on the floor with the puppy. Please don't try to talk on your cell phone while holding your puppy. We have had puppies dropped by adults who weren't paying attention or trying to do two things at once while holding a puppy. 

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11. Jumping Off of Furniture

Corgis are one of several breeds, such as Dachshunds, Basset hounds, Shih tzu, French bulldog, Lhasa apso, Pekingese and Beagles who should limit jumping on and off of furniture, beds, cars, and stair climbing to some extent.  That being said, I know it is, at the least, difficult to control.  Be very careful with your young puppy while his bones and growth plates are still developing.  We have bred your corgi to be free of the risk of the known genetic causes for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC), and Von Willebrand’s Disease (VWD1), in addition to many other genetic diseases.  Proper training will help to keep your corgi in good health throughout his life. 

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12. Corgis and Vehicles

Your new Corgi will more than likely love riding in the car with you.  Take him for short rides often to get him used to riding.  Invest in a car seat, the elevated kind are nice because he can see out.  If you start early, it will be second nature for him.  Teach him to be content in the car seat and not be a distraction to you while you are driving.  My daughter-in-law’s Bess loves to ride to school to pick up our granddaughter.  They also love to ride in ATV’s and will be your best shotgun rider if you ride often.  Begin getting him used to the noise of the engine early.  Teach your Corgi to stay away from moving cars. 

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13.  Grooming

Corgis shed.  Corgis will shed less if you brush your puppy regularly.  Daily, if possible.  Bathing is not necessary very often.  Monthly, at the most.  Unless your puppy finds a skunk or something very stinky.  We use an oatmeal shampoo from Revival to bathe our puppies and dogs.  It is very gentle and smells wonderful.  It is Oatmeal Protein Shampoo by Vet Basics.  

Play with your puppy’s feet.  All the time.  Corgis do not especially like to have their toenails trimmed.  Playing with their feet while they are puppies will help to desensitize their feet.  Reward them for letting you trim their nails.  Here is a tip if your puppy has long hair on his little feet.  Dampen the hair first.  You can see the toenail easier.  I’ve heard that what they dislike is the sound.  Make a game of cutting uncooked spaghetti with scissors near them.  Mine like to eat the raw spaghetti.  The small pieces won’t hurt them if they do eat them.  Use the same strategy with a Dremel or a set of clippers, if you choose to use them.  Don’t plan on getting any grooming done with them for a while.  Get them used to the sound.  Let them investigate the noise.  

A robot is useful for keeping the hair swept up.  Bella didn’t mind the robot at all, but the vacuum cleaner made her furious!  She tried to bite it! 

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14.  Herding

Your Corgis will herd you, children, and other animals.  This is what they were bred for.  It is their instinct.  How they herd will be revealed as they grow.  Some of our Corgis walk behind us and poke the back of our leg with their nose, some walk beside us, and Bella always walked in front of us and looked back over her shoulder to be sure we were following.  I guess she had more faith in us!  Small children may not appreciate this so be mindful of that.  Your puppy may get under your feet while he is learning.  Remember, he can get from point A to Point B more quickly than you can pick your foot up and put it down, so watch that you don’t step on him. 

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15.  Feeding

As an adult, we recommend feeding once a day.  As a puppy, twice a day is best.  Your Corgi should be on a high-quality puppy food for the entire first year.  We send our puppies home with NutriSource Dry Puppy food.  We feed our adult dogs Purina Pro Plan, and you may want to feed it, mostly because it is more readily available.  Most pet stores do not carry NutriSource.  We get ours at Pet Supplies Plus here in Marble Falls.   Amazon carries it but Chewy does not.  Above all, do not let your Corgi get overweight.  Be careful of chewies.  I like C.E.T. Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews for Dogs for teeth cleaning.  Teeth can also be a Corgi vulnerability.  Keep an eye on them.  Try to buy American made products.  Do your best to have meat as the first ingredient listed.  Do not buy grain free food.  Information on how to read a dog food label and what to look for will be in your puppy folder. 

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16.  Ears

We always have at least one overachiever in every litter.  One or both of his ears may already be up.  This is usually the exception to the rule.  Very often, your puppy’s ears will pop up within the week after they are home.  But this is not always the case.  We have had puppies take as long as 16 to 20 weeks for their ears to pop up.  So be patient.  If you feel the need, you can provide extra calcium in your puppy’s diet after 12 weeks or so.  They generally like cottage cheese pretty well.  I don’t really think this is necessary but if you feel like you need to DO something……..patience is the best thing. 

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17.  Last but Definitely Not Least – Remember Puppy = Baby

Housebreaking – Your puppy has been litter box trained.  Please understand, this is not perfect.  He will have accidents.  

When housetraining, the most important thing is to pay attention to your puppy.  Take him outside every hour or so, in the beginning, if possible.  Let him sniff around.  Give him plenty of time to get the idea.  It is always easier if you have another pet.  If you don’t and your puppy doesn’t pick up quickly, you might try putting a pile of his poop outside and letting him sniff it.  When he goes, be sure and give him high praise!  That will get you farther with him than scolding him when he goes in the house.  Take him outside immediately when he wakes up from a nap, finishes playing with you, and anytime he starts looking around or sniffing around.  He is looking for a place.  Remember, he is a BABY!  He can’t always wait.  Be patient. BE CONSISTENT.  Be kind.

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18.  Litter Box Training

We have started training your puppy to use a litter box.  We use a rabbit tray from Tractor Supply because of multiple puppies.  We use recycled paper pellets, such as Fresh News.  A regular large cat litter box will work for a single puppy.  We have found that they really adapt well to this, and it is convenient if you are going to be gone for several hours from home.  They may play in it to begin with, when it is clean, but they soon figure it out.   It is easy to pick up the poop so it will last for several days without a smell.

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