Diet, Potty Training, Health
I couldn’t be more thrilled with the wonderful group of new owners and love all your puppy updates. Each pup found a wonderful union. Each perfect for their individual growing personality. It’s such a comfort to me that many of you have owned Bernese Mountain Dogs before and love the breed as much as we do.
As we launch these babies into their new homes, I invite you to email me pictures and news when they settle into their new life with you.
All the pups receive their DHPP Booster Shot. Puppies are vacinated for Distemper, Hepatitis (CAV-2), Parvovirus and Parainfluenza. Please schedule with your veterinarian as you will need to make an appointment in 4 weeks to receive the time sensitive followup 2nd shot.
Valentines Day Feeding 2/14/18
Week 5 – Pups outgrow their whelping box in my kitchen nook, and have a larger play area in my husband’s woodworking shop.
What’s my puppy’s eating? Week 7: The puppies are transitioning to prepare for their new homes! They eat 3X’s a day which you will eventually transition to two feeding times a day at six months.
Your puppy is eating Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food softened with (boiled mountain well water). Please continue to provide access to water throughout the day and night as your puppy needs to stay fully hydrated to ensure healthy development. Royal Canin Large Breed is formulated by Veterinarians specifically for large breeds that take 2-3 years to develop healthy bones and joints.
The AKC.org states that “Growing too quickly is not healthy for large breed puppies. Excessive growth is linked to developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) including: hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, Osteochondrosis, Retained ulnar cartilage core, Panosteitis. Overnutrition plays a large role in excessive growth which is why it’s important to feed a large breed puppy food (lower in fat, Lower in calcium, lower in phosphorus, lower in vitamin D)”
The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America recommends: “a high quality food with relatively low protein level, approximately 18-26% and a moderate fat content, less than 16%.
Our adult dogs eat twice daily, a combination of home prepared food (we top kibble with a little plain yogurt, cook and raw meat & fish, scrabbled eggs, squash, cooked pumpkin, banana, apple, pear, carrot, cooked broccoli & cooked green beans, Hills Science Large Breed Chicken & Barley Recipe. Weekly, we simmer marrow meat bones to make broth to add to their daily kibble. For training treats we use Original or Regional Red Orijen dry dog food).
Potty Training is challenging during the first year. Plan on hourly visits outside walking with their Berner to a pee spot teaching it’s time to pee. Letting a puppy outside alone isn’t the same … the dog will be distracted, then come inside and pee. You need to actually accompany the puppy to train them to pee.
During the first year, a Berner puppy can not be expected to be crated for more than a couple hours without disrupting potty training. Further, if you dehydrate the puppy this negatively effects the developing puppy’s health.
Week 6: The puppies are weaning from their mother and eating a “Puppy Mush” 3X’s a day consisting of Royal Canin Large breed, Dry Puppy Food softened with boiled mountain well water, puppy formula, plain yogurt, canned plain pumpkin, fresh cooked white rice which I puree and serve warm.
What’s Our Potty Training Routine?
Potty Training Week 6 & 7 It sounds like you all have potty trained before. Potty training works well when feeding is on a schedule. The pups eat 3 times a day as a group for about 5 minutes, and immediately they all go potty. So on warm days we are creating the routine of walking around on the grass to do their potty right before and after eating. They all seem to like to go potty in their same out of the way spot. So, I’d advise creating a habit and a routine. Initially, you’ll want the eating location to be within running distance to the potty location. After a few minutes the pups stop eating and start looking around for a place to go potty. They wake up, potty, eat, potty, play, nap, potty. As soon as they wake up from napping, they all go outside to go potty. If you follow this routine, you will have few accidents. Also inside pups will cue you by scratching at the door when they want to potty as they prefer to potty in the grass or snow outside. Hourly potty breaks are helpful to prevent accidents inside. Each has one-on-one time with me in my home to help them transition into your home so they get used to being away from the group.