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Puppy Tips
author: Lori Evans
Feeding:
At 6 weeks to 12 weeks puppies eat every 6 to 8 hours.
Estimate 1 ounce of food per pound of body
weight or let them eat until full.
I feed first thing in the morning, then when I get home
from work, then again before bedtime.
Phase this to 2 meals a day by the time the pup is 12
weeks old. I recommend staying on this
schedule for life.
Kibble should be soaked with warm water until soft
until around 8 weeks old. You can also use
goat’s milk or esbilac (puppy milk replacer
usually found in pet stores) as a treat now
and then. A little ‘human’ milk is also fine.
Use puppy food until around 6 months of age, then phase
to adult. 85% of the dog’s growth is
complete by 6 months. Puppy formulas tend to
be very high in protein and fat; too high
for a dog that is not growing like a weed
anymore. Detrimental effects can start to
occur.
I generally use chicken/poultry based foods for my
Pharaohs. Lamb based formulas are harder to
digest and can cause gas. In the USA, I have
had good experience with Fromm Adult Gold (Chicken
and Duck), ProPlan Chicken and Rice or
Turkey and Barley, BilJac Select, Eukaneuba
Adult Maintenance and Pedigree. In Europe I
have feed Pedigree Puppy.
Puppy play ‘safe’ area:
From
age 6 to 12 weeks it’s going to seem like
the puppy potties all the time! I recommend
setting up a limited area for puppy to play
and sleep in. Use baby gates or a baby play
yard or dog exercise pen to isolate around a
6 foot x 6 foot area or larger.
This area should contain:
a
VariKennel type crate with the door
removed. Put nice fleece bedding in it.
The dog will go in here to sleep or have
quiet time. Use only Vari-Kennels for
young puppies, they are safer than wire
crates.
a
water bowl (something heavy or secure
that won’t tip over if stepped in,
nothing too deep). There are ones that
screw onto the sides that are wonderful.
Beware of buckets, unless you vet wrap
over the bent hooks. Dogs have been
‘fish hooked’ on them!
newspaper to designate an acceptable
area to potty in. Some people have also
used cookie trays with new ‘doggie
litter’ designed for dogs that is
actually newspaper pellets. Do not use
cat litter. Dogs tend to eat it and it
is not good for them!
Toys:
small latex squeaks, fleecy toys are
favorites, small rope tug toys are also
good
chews
– pressed rawhide, rawhide strips,
munchee strips, sow ears, ear puffs,
bullies, snouts are all good
A dog
donut bed to lie in while out side the
crate
As the puppy becomes more reliable in his
potty habits, transition this by moving his
crate to wherever you want him to sleep and
put the door on it. Make sure the crate is
close enough to where you sleep so you can
hear him cry if he has to go potty. You may
want to leave the ‘safe area’ set up with a
few toys, water, and donut bed as a place to
put puppy while you are busy until the
‘puppy phase’ is completely over and he is
reliable with free run of the house. I have
found at around 4 months the PH puppies are
pretty good at not getting into trouble
every minute. I crate dogs while I am out of
the house until they are around 1 year to 18
months old. After that, most PH will
probably just sleep while you are out!
Housebreaking:
In the ‘safe area’ the puppy will learn not to soil his
crate. He will learn to go in it to sleep
and keep it clean. That is why you do not
want a door on the crate until he can hold
his potty all night. If you put him in a
crate to sleep too young, he will have no
choice other than to soil his crate. That
can be a tough habit to break when he is
older. Most of the time puppies seem to know
to go to newspaper to potty. They might also
go on the floor, but I don’t make a big deal
about it at this point. Just have lots of
newspaper for right now and put down clean
ones as they mess them up.
If you bring your puppy home in winter, remember it is
too cold for a tiny Pharaoh to be outside.
Remember that these dogs are built for a
desert climate. They have very little hair
or body fat for insulation. Their blood
vessels are right at the surface to cool
their blood quickly. Their ears are very
thin and fine and tend to freeze quickly.
Some adult Pharaohs are prone to ‘cold ear
necrosis’ which includes dry, flaky skin on
the ear edges in cold weather and can lead
to scabs and missing ear tips. I would not
push potty training outside until
temperatures are way above freezing. If you
do take your puppy outside, limit the time
to just a minute or two and try to use a
coat. Also limit puppy’s time outdoors until
all vaccinations are complete. Almost
everything they pick up with their mouth
harbors bacteria or viruses.
One thing I have done in housebreaking during cold
months is to teach the dog to potty in the
shower stall or tub. This usually starts
around 10 weeks of age. By then I usually
have the puppies sleeping in crates in or
near my bedroom so I can hear them cry. They
usually only cry when they have to go. I
take them out of the crate, carry them to
the shower stall (mine has a glass door) and
close them in. They usually go potty
instantly and it is easy to clean with my
removable shower wand. Since I travel to dog
shows quite often, and may be on the 13th
floor of a hotel, I have found this to be
very handy in the middle of the night! Later
in life it is also nice when you have an
adult that just couldn’t hold it that day,
they will go into the shower rather than
elsewhere. My hotel roommates find it
amusing to watch my dogs go to the bathroom
to go potty!
When the puppy starts to have some bladder control, if
he starts to pee where he shouldn’t, or you
see him pacing around sniffing, pick him up
quickly, rush outside (or wherever you want
him to go) and use a command to tell him
what to do. I say ‘potty outside’. Usually I
am running to the door repeating this, then
I put them down and when they start to pee,
I PRAISE them, “GOOD POTTY OUTSIDE, GOOD
POTTY OUTSIDE!” Then come back inside
immediately and give them a cookie! Pharaohs
usually house break this way very, very
quickly. You can also hang a bell from the
door for the dog to ring in case you can’t
see him standing at it. That also helps
eliminate scratching to get your attention.
Puppy’s favorite
things:
Toys,
fleece toys, latex toys, rope toys or
any toys!
Rawhide, especially pig noses, bullies,
and sow ears (Avoid pig ears, too greasy
and cause diarrhea)
fleece beds and donut beds they
like to sit in your lap and be petted
Manners:
the
puppies have been corrected by either
verbal (eh eh, no no) or mild scruff
shake (like mommy dog does)
to call
puppy, same their name, followed by
‘come’ – ALWAYS praise when they come or
even look in your direction! Make coming
to you a GOOD thing. Even if you have to
walk them down, GENTLY lead them by the
collar to the spot you were calling them
from, then praise when you get there.
One good way to start recall training is
to say, “COME” whenever you put the food
dish down. The puppy will learn to
associate ‘COME’ with something good.
If puppy chews on the wrong thing,
remove it from their mouth and say “no
no”, then replace it with something they
can chew (rawhide or rope bone). Praise
for playing with correct toy
ALWAYS give a cookie when putting the
puppy in their crate; they will learn to
run into the crate willingly.
Socialization and
training
I
take my puppies to lots of places to
meet new people and dogs. Please
continue to take your puppy to new
places as much as possible. Have people
and dogs visit your house also. (After
they complete at least their 3rd puppy
shot!)
Try
to attend a Puppy Head Start class at
your local obedience school, and later a
Beginner obedience class.
You
may want to try a breed handling class
to prepare the puppy for the breed ring
if you are going to show. Junior
Showmanship is a great thing for kids to
get involved in with the puppy. It
teaches them discipline and is very
rewarding.
Talk
to your dog constantly! Pharaohs really
do understand many, many words and it
will make your life so much easier.
Whenever I go to put on a leash, coat or
go to the door I say ‘wait’ for the dog
to ‘freeze and be still. If you
associate words with whatever you do
with your dog, they will understand.
Baths
Use any gentle, no more tears formula,
human baby shampoo from puppyhood (Tal
Sannat's note - not use bath for puppies
younger of 4 months of their age !!!) through
their entire adult life. Pharaohs are a bit
different than a lot of other dog breeds in
that they have almost no coat oil since they
are a desert dog. Most breeds have a rather
oily coat, so a stronger shampoo is needed
to clean them. A strong shampoo can irritate
a Pharaoh’s skin and make them flake. Stick
with baby shampoo and only bath when they
need it. Ttowel dry them well and keep them
warm until dry.
Ears and taping:
Pharaoh Hound ears generally stand up on their own, but
some need support for varying lengths of
time.
I have seem some ears pop up at 6 weeks and stay up,
others take until 6 months to stand, and
sometimes rarely up to 11 months. Some never
stand completely erect. The Pharaoh Hound
standard calls for a ‘large, fine ear’. The
ear needs to be fine or thin so that it is
an efficient ‘cooling fin’ in the desert
enabling the blood vessels to be as exposed
as possible. The truly fine ears are the
last to stand. Some Pharaohs with more
incorrect ears, that have lots of substance,
stand more quickly.
My general rule is that if the ear is continually
changing, don’t mess with it! If it get’s
stuck in one of the following phases for any
length of time, support it. If in doubt,
call me.
Pharaoh Hound ears all start out with ears folded front
which are called ‘button ears’, the type you
see on a Dalmatian. As they start to come up,
they turn out to the side usually into a
perfect ‘rose ear’, which is the type of ear
you see on a Whippet or Greyhound. Then the
ears start to go up (prick). They are
usually still weak and floppy and often as
soon as they stand, they tend to flop
inwards over the skull. As the base of the
ear gains substance, the ear set will
correct itself and should wind up with the
ears at roughly 11 and 1, or slightly off
the side of the skull.
If the dog is very warm, from lying in the sun, or
being under covers (they love that), the
ears may flop! Don’t panic. As soon as they
hit the cooler air, they will pop back into
shape. However, teething can affect ear
progress. The ears tend to become weaker as
the puppy starts cutting adult teeth. I
would support them during this period if
they do and some believe calcium supplements
are good at this time.
Now the tricky part is how to support them. Each
breeder has their own favorite method.
First clean the inside of the ear with alcohol or an
astringent that will remove any waxiness or
dirt or your support materials are not going
to stick and will fall out within minutes!
Wait a few seconds for the ear to dry.
Then open up 2 Breath Right Nasal strips that will be
used as the support. I use small/medium size
at first, then the large if supporting a 6+
month old’s ears. But Breathe Right strips
are not sticky enough to say in on their own!
(New Tip from a Chinese Crested person: Use Super Glue
GEL (IT MUST BE GEL) to affix the nasal
strip.)
So to affix them to the inside of the ear I use bandage
tape. My favorite is Fixomull from Sweden. I
have friends send it from Sweden, and you
can find it on the internet, but that is a
lot to go through. If you have a connection,
get some. You usually only need one package
to do one puppy through the whole support
period. My second favorite is Kendall
WetProof which I buy at dog shows. It is an
American product and is around $8 a roll.
You can get it off the internet or probably
from a vet or hospital supply store. I have
also used bandage tape from drug stores. As
long as they are ones that say ‘maximum
hold’ they will work. I like the Kendall
tape because it is stiff and also provides
it’s own extra support.
Cut the bandage tape to look like an ear. Cut off the
corners so it has an ear tip and an almost
straight bottom. Don’t leave any sharp
corners.
Like this, but round off the corners:
/\ Lay your Breathe Right nasal strip on it before
sticking it in the ear.
/ \ Put the fabric side against the sticky tape side, so
the sticky side is
towards the ear.
/___\ Position the nasal strip where ever
the ear is weakest; usually towards the
outside of the ear.
You can even use 2 in a teepee shape for a really weak
ear, or just one down the middle for a weak
tip.
Now put the whole contraption into the ear. Have
someone else hold the puppy. I find it best
to put the tip in position first, then run
my finger down the middle and smooth out
towards the edges. Don’t worry if it is
wrinkled or not positioned perfect. It will
still do the job. They usually fall out on
their own in around 4 to 7 days. I sometimes
wait a day before putting in a new one to
let the ear breathe a bit. Sometimes the
skin is a little red underneath. The ear
usually wants to stand for a day or two.
Then if it starts to look weak again, put in
a new support.
My Pharaohs rarely try to scratch their ear supports
out. However my older Pharaohs love to
remove tape from puppy ears! If you really
have trouble keeping these in, you can use
skin glue. I have not tried this, but I know
other breeders have used it if needed.
Vet/Vaccines
Please see my vaccine chart for my
recommended immunization schedule. My
approach to vaccines is to not over
vaccinate. There has been enough studies
done that seem to indicate that over
vaccination can do more harm than good. When
you are administering a vaccine, you are
injecting your dog with a killed or modified
live virus so that the dog can build
immunity to that particular disease. A dog’s
immunity level can be measured by testing ‘titers’.
Studies indicate these immunity levels
remain high enough to prevent diseases for
anywhere from 3 years to life. So annual
vaccinations for all diseases are most
likely overkill. And there have been cases
where vaccines have killed the dog! Dogs can
die of allergic reactions to vaccines if too
many vaccines are given at one time and some
vaccines are just more reaction prone than
others. Some studies indicate cancerous
tumors are occurring more often at popular
injections sites (the nape of neck) and also
some auto-immune diseases and hemolytic
anemia may be caused by over vaccination.
Remember each time you inject your dog with
a virus; your dog’s immune system has to
respond to it. Some older dogs especially
have weakened immune systems and just cannot
do this any longer.
I weigh the risk/benefit of each vaccine. I recommend
doing your own research on the internet and
deciding what is best for you.
Allow at least a period of 4 weeks between any single
vaccinations, medications, or anything that
will stress your dog's immune system! NEVER
combine any more than one vaccination per
vet visit, such as a Rabies booster and DHPP
booster at the same time. NEVER give heart
worm treatment within 4 weeks of a
vaccination. I cannot stress enough to allow
your Pharaoh Hound's immune system to
respond to one vaccination at a time.
This breed is a 'primitive breed', whose history in
solely on Malta up until very recent times
(1967), where the environment is VERY
natural Usually including NO vaccines, no
medications, no commercial dog foods, no
preservatives, no household cleaning
chemicals. The Kelb Tal Fenek is most often
fed table scraps bulked out with whole grain
bread. This is the environment this breed
has adapted to. Some individuals are more
sensitive than others to elements they would
never encounter in their native environment.
‘Puppy
Boosters’
Puppy boosters are combo shots that vaccinate against
several diseases. The most common combo is
usually called DAPP – for distemper,
adenovirus, parvovirus, parainfluenza.
Sometimes this shot also contains
Coronovirus, and also sometimes
Leptospirosis. Some of these diseases only
occur in puppies, others can occur into
adulthood.
Please see the Pet Passport that comes with your puppy
to see what vaccinations and worming your
puppy has received.
Leptospirosis is not common in some areas and is one
vaccine that I, and probably most other
breeders, have had the most reactions to. It
often causes hives and swelling in Pharaohs.
Sometimes severe enough that I thought the
puppy would go into shock and even liver or
kidney damage. As the puppy gets older,
there is much less risk of severe reaction.
Therefore I recommend not giving Lepto until
the annual booster, when the puppy is a
little over 1 year old. Then assume they are
immune for life and do not give it again.
Some breeders even give Prednisone or
Benedryl before giving any shot containing
Lepto to minimize the risk of the allergic
reaction.
Parvo is the disease a young puppy is most at risk of
and it can be very life threatening. My
approach though is not to rush the
vaccinations, but limit the puppy’s exposure
to other dogs and the outside world until
all 3 boosters are complete. Let other
people and dogs visit your puppy at your
house, but make sure you know the visiting
dogs are healthy and have all guests leave
their shoes at the door. It is on the bottom
of shoe soles that most bacteria and viruses
are tracked in. Keep your puppy away from
‘high traffic’ areas in your house at this
time. Stay in the ‘safe area’. You can also
have visitors wash their hands with anti-bacterial
soap before playing with puppy.
Try not to let your puppy eat things off the ground
outside. This is where they will come in
contact with things like giardia and
coccidia.
Bordetella or Kennel Cough
Kennel Cough is usually not serious, except sometimes
in small puppies. It is roughly the same as
having a cold. The dog coughs. It is self
limiting, which means it goes away on it’s
own without treatment. The vaccine is
generally an intra-nasal liquid. This
vaccine usually causes no reaction. If you
regularly are among other groups of dogs,
such as going to classes, going to shows,
more than likely your dog will be exposed to
another dog with kennel cough. So you may
want to vaccinate every 6 months to 1 year.
There is no real danger in skipping this
vaccine as far as I am concerned. It is one
vaccine that immunity does not last and you
cannot extend the schedule more than 1 year.
I do give this vaccine every 6 months.
Lyme Disease (USA and Canada only)
This is a nasty disease and a nasty vaccine. Even with
what I thought was very thorough tick
searches, I had 3 dogs come down with Lyme.
Once a dog has Lyme, amoxicillin will treat
the disease, but nothing can eradicate it.
Every time the dog’s immune system is
suppressed, the Lyme symptoms could appear
again. Affected dogs can acquire almost
every problem you can think of with the
potential of almost every internal organ
affected, plus crippling arthritis. I had
one dog I had to give $20 per week Adequan
injections for life, just so she could walk
again. There are several vaccine makers, but
most breeders agree the most effective one
is LymeVax from Fort Dodge. However it can
cause mild to severe allergic reactions in
many dogs including hives, swelling of lips,
complete swelling closure of eyes and has
even caused shock and stopped breathing! One
vet I talked to was giving Epinephrine
before the LymeVax injection and some were
giving Prednisone, again to minimize the
risk and level of the reaction. Even with
these risks from the vaccine, the benefit
still far outweighs the risks of having Lyme
disease. What I would recommend is to
postpone this vaccination until the first
chance of ticks in the spring. Then you will
need two shots, 3 weeks apart. Give Benedryl
or Prednisone before taking this shot! Also
purchase a tick collar that contains the
active ingredient Amitraz, such as ‘Preventic’.
Ticks can only pass Lyme disease if attached
to your dog more than 24 hours. These
collars usually prevent ticks from attaching,
or if they do attach they will die and fall
off before 24 hours. These collars work
extremely well.
Heartworm (USA, Canada and other areas
where heartworm exists)
Heartworm medication should be started in the spring. I
do not give when mosquitoes are not present.
Since some breeds are sensitive to the drug
Ivermectin and experience seizures from it,
do not use Hartguard. Some Pharaoh Hounds
can be drug sensitive. I feel Sentinel is
the safest heart worm preventative, followed
by Interceptor. Although Interceptor is
possibly linked to auto-immune problems in
some present research. Do not use the 'plus'
versions of any of these medicines that
treat other types of worms as well. In
general NEVER combine drugs or vaccinations.
Only give one at a time and at least 4 weeks
apart.
Other Worms (pinworms, roundworms,
tapeworms, whipworms)
Dormant worm cysts are present in every dog, and mom
passes them to her puppies where they grow
into larvae and adults worms. Puppies need
to be wormed every two weeks starting at 2
weeks old and continuing until 12 weeks old.
Check your passport and/or my vaccine chart to see
which wormings your puppy still needs.
Do not use a product containing piperazine. It is cheap,
but only kills around 70% of adult worms and
no larvae. Use Panacur from your vet or
Nemex II, Evict, Drontal Pup, or Pyran 50
from your pet supply store. These contain
much more effective wormers!! Again, please
check the internet on this one. I order from
www.countrysidesupply.com.
Medicines
Household medicines I commonly use are:
1
Imodium and/or 1 Pepto Bismol for mild
diarrhea or tummy upset. Withhold food,
phase back in with rice or pasta. Any
diarrhea lasting more than a day is
serious. Please contact a vet.
Pedcid/AC or Tums for any vomiting/tummy
upset. Yogurt with acidophilus bacteria
is great for restoring good intestinal
flora! And most Pharaohs love it, too. I
give this routinely in their food.
1
25mg Benedryl or Prednisone for any bee
sting or any other allergic reaction
that may cause hives.
Neosporin is good for any cuts or
abrasions
Aspirin for sprain, limping, or pain. Do
not give any other aspirin substitutes,
some are toxic to dogs !
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