"To their virtues be vigilant and to their faults a little blind."
-Nigel Aubrey-Jones
A Bit More About Our Puppies...
-
Our chihuahua puppies & adult chihuahuas are raised and live inside of our home. We don't have a separate kennel building.
-
Puppies are in our bedroom for the first 3-4 weeks of life then they move to our living room where they get used to all of the sights, sounds and smells of normal household life.
-
We litter box train our puppies (more about this below).
-
We don't breed to "sell" puppies or to have puppies to sell. First and foremost we breed each litter trying to produce our next show prospect. As a result, puppies are not available for deposit until they are old enough for us to evaluate (at the earliest 6-7 weeks usually).
-
All puppies leave fully vet checked including a fecal examination. A copy of these reports will accompany your puppy.
-
All puppies leave micro-chipped.
-
All puppies leave with 1-2 sets of shots depending on their age at the time they leave.
-
All puppies leave with a few week's worth supply of the food they are eating and a puppy pack with some basics to help them adjust to their new home.
BASIC THINGS YOU WILL NEED...
____Food!!
-
We feed and recommend Royal Canin.
-
Your puppy is either eating Royal Canin Mini Starter or
Royal Canin Chihuahua Puppy. -
We send 2-3 weeks worth of food with your puppy
and STRONGLY advise continuing to feed this food
during your chihuahua's life!
____Bottled Water - we find using bottled water greatly minimizes any tear staining.
____A small slicker brush and pin brush if your puppy is a long coat
____Puppy Shampoo & Conditioner
-
SUGGESTIONS - Tropiclean 2-in-1 or Isle of Dogs Tearless Puppy Shampoo
____Puppy Brushing Spray to keep him/her smelling fresh between baths!
-
SUGGESTION - Isle Of Dogs Grapefruit & Sugar Cane Spray
____Flea, Tick & Heartworm Medication - We recommend asking your vet for REVOLUTION.
____A Puppy Harness - We like & recommend PINKAHOLIC for little chihuahua puppies, and Puppia for adult chihuahuas.
Emergency Basics...
____Nutrical or Forti-Cal in case of low blood sugar (learn more about juvenile Hypoglycemia HERE).
____Children's Liquid Dye Free Benadryl (double check NO xylitol is in it!) & 1 ml dosing syringe
____Canned Pumpkin - NOT PIE MIX!
____Probiotics (we like Dogzymes Probiotic Paste...)
____Pet Insurance - We Like & Recommend Trupanion Coverage:
Suggested Supplies
Transitioning your puppy to his/her new home is exciting and an important part of their new life!
Chihuahua puppies are tiny and require special care to ensure that they transition well and continue to thrive in your home. The below supply suggestions are tried and true!
We suggest setting up a "puppy room" or "pen" for your puppy to keep him/her out of trouble when you can't watch him/her, for sleeping at night and eating/resting.
Your new chihuahua puppy should have...
____Pen
Suggestions: Iris Pen or Wire Iris Pen
His/her pen should have:
____bed/cozy place to sleep (we like the ones pictured below and so do our puppies! click to visit website)
____Water bowl or licker (we like THESE - NO DRIP bottles/BPA free)
____Food bowl (stainless steel or ceramic...avoid plastic, AVOID MADE IN CHINA).
____Litter boxes (we like THESE for young puppies and THESE for older puppies to help keep litter from going all over)...you should have 1 litter box per room your puppy has access to.
____LITTER for the litterbox...DO NOT USE KITTY LITTER! Puppies need either pine pellet litter or paper pellet litter.
-
SUGGESTIONS: Tractor Supply Wood Pellets or Paper Pellet Litter
____Toys (small stuffed toys are generally favored over rubber or plastic ones)
____Chewies
SUGGESTIONS:
-
Beef Tendons (these are huge but the puppies don't care and they LOVE them!)
AVOID:
Rawhide
Smoked bones
AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!! AVOID ANYTHING MADE IN CHINA!!!
Example Puppy "Room"
.jpg)
Litter Box Training
From about 3 weeks of age we start to litterbox train our puppies. We start this process pretty much as soon as they are able to crawl out of their whelping box and able to eliminate on their own. I place a small 2" litter box directly next to their bed and place them in it quite a few times a day. They quickly learn to potty there as their natural instinct is to move away from their bed to potty. We use the pine pellets suggested above and move to larger litter boxes by about 5 weeks of age. Usually by 8-10 weeks our puppies are completely reliable to this method and as a result we strongy suggest continuing with a litter box when you bring your puppy home. A litter box should be available in each room your puppy has access to initially. Litter box training is far more cost effective and a lot less mess than potty pad training.
All puppies will be vet checked including fecal & microchipped before going to their new homes.
Each puppy will have had 1-2 sets of shots depending on the age which they leave. We suggest 10, 14 and 18 weeks for the puppy vaccinations in accordance with the recommendations of Jean Dodds.
We currently vaccinate using:
Nobivac® Canine 1-DAPPv (Galaxy DA2PPv) prevents Canine Distemper, Adenovirus Type 1 (Hepatitis), Adenovirus Type 2 (Respiratory Disease), Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus
We vaccinate at 10, 14 & 18 weeks of age.
Late Winter & Spring puppies will have a Parvo only vaccine at 7 weeks to offer additional protection at an earlier age to Parvo due to increased risk.
We do NOT recommend leptospirosis, bordetella or coronoa vaccinations for your puppy. There is a high incidence of reactions to these shots for tiny chihuahua puppies.
NEVER allow your vet to administer more than 1 vaccination in a visit.
Until your puppy is FULLY vaccinated you should avoid allowing it on the floor at pet stores, the vet office, and on the ground at the park or anywhere other dogs may have been.
Puppy Health
Microchips - all of our puppies leave for their new homes microchipped and you are added on as a secondary contact. This allows us to ensure if a puppy ends up in a shelter intentionally, we are able to bring it back home. While in a perfect world we would like to believe all of our puppy owners adhere to our return to breeder contract and view us as a safety net for their dog or puppy should they no longer be able to care for it, we understand this may not be reality. We are committed to never populating shelters or rescues with our puppies, and therefore stay on as a contact for all of our puppy's microchips.
When Can Puppies Go Home?
The earliest we allow our puppies to go to their new homes is 10-12 weeks and this is a case-by-case basis. If we feel the puppy has any needs that can better be met here due to experience, they will stay until we feel they are ready to go.
During the extra few weeks here (instead of allowing them to leave at 8 weeks like some breeders do) we take the initiative to start potty training and socializing your puppy for you. This time also helps us be sure the puppy is eating well, and not having any blood sugar issues that are all too common in toy breed puppies.