Those first few months are essential for helping your puppy start growing into a happy and healthy part of your life.

WHAT VACCINATIONS DOES MY PUPPY NEED?

All puppies need to be vaccinated. Canine vaccines protect against canine distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, parvovirus, kennel cough, and rabies. View Grandview Animal Hospital's Vaccination Protocol.

Grandview Animal Hospital's veterinarians recommend giving a young puppy a series of these vaccinations starting when the puppy is eight weeks old, and continuing every three weeks until the puppy is about four months old. Remember most vaccines must be given over a period of time and require multiple veterinary visits.

WHAT IS COLOSTRUM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR NEWBORN PUPPIES?
The first milk produced by a mother mammal after delivering her babies is called colostrum. This special milk contains antibodies, along with vitamins, electrolytes, and nutrients. Through her colostrum, the mother passes on her own natural immunity to her young as they nurse.

After just one day, a newborn's digestive tract loses the ability to absorb antibodies. The mother's milk becomes richer, and the colostrum is gone. Newborns have undeveloped immune systems. So, without colostrum's protective antibodies, an illness can be fatal. If your puppy isn't nursing her young, gently hold her down, and help the babies latch on. Even a few minutes of nursing can greatly improve their chances of survival.

WHEN SHOULD A PUPPY BE WEANED OFF ITS MOTHER'S MILK?
Weaning is the process of teaching a puppy to eat solid food instead of its mother's milk. Puppies can easily receive all their needed nutrition their mother at first, but growing up means they require more nourishment than she can provide.

Most veterinarians recommend that puppies be weaned sometime between three and seven weeks of age. But switching from mother's milk to dry puppy food all at once is a big change. So help your puppy ease into the new diet slowly. At first, crush a small amount of dry puppy food and mix it with milk, so the consistency is thin. Over the next several weeks, use less and less liquid so that the food becomes thicker. By week seven, your puppy should be able to eat dry puppy food.

DO PUPPIES HAVE UNIQUE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS?
All those wildly energetic antics we love to see in puppies require energy from food - lots of food. A three- to five-month-old puppy uses two to four times as much energy, pound for pound, as an adult dog. Puppies therefore need a highly digestible, energy- and nutrient-dense diet about four times a day.

On the other hand - or other paw - you don't want to overfeed a puppy. Baby fat is neither cute nor healthy on a dog of any age. So when you're feeding, follow label instructions and consider your canine's lifestyle and activity levels. Remember that Grandview Animal Hospital's veterinarians are there for you through all of your puppy's growth stages.

DO DOGS GET BABY TEETH?
Just like humans, your canine will grow two complete sets of teeth during their lifetime. When dogs are born, they don't have any teeth. But by the time your puppy is about three months old, it's first set will come in. These so-called deciduous teeth are hollow and not as white as the permanent teeth that follow.

Later, when a dog is around six to eight months old, their permanent teeth will start to erupt through the gum. These new teeth should push out the dog's baby teeth. If a dog keeps it's baby teeth too long, the permanent teeth may come in crooked and prevent the animal from chewing it's food properly. So if you notice any problems with your dog's teeth, consult one of our veterinarians.

WHEN CAN I BEGIN DE-WORMING MY PUPPY?
Many puppies already have worms when they're born - parasites they got from their mother. The process of de-worming for roundworms and hookworms should begin when puppies are two weeks old, and be repeated every two weeks until they're eight weeks old.

If a puppy that has worms isn't de-wormed, their body will not respond to vaccinations as it should, and they may not grow and develop normally. You and your family may be at risk, as well, as roundworms and hookworms can be transmitted to humans.

You probably won't see worms in your puppy's stool, though, unless the infestation is severe. So when you have a new puppy, be sure it's de-wormed.

IS THERE ANY WAY TO KNOW IF MY PUPPY IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP HIP DYSPLASIA LATER IN LIFE?
Hip dysplasia in dogs is one inherited disease that everyone wants to eliminate. A painful, crippling bone disease of the ball-and-socket joints, hip dysplasia is most common in large breeds of dogs. Treatments for the condition exist - but they are more successful if the dysplasia is discovered early. That's where screenings come in.

When a puppy is four months old, our veterinarians can x-ray its hips to determine whether or not it is likely to develop hip dysplasia. This not only allows for early treatment but it also helps identify carriers of the disease.