Shawndee Kennels Perm Reg’d
8 Gusnowsky Rd.
St. Andrews, Mb
R1A 2X3
Ph. 204-339-1413 |
Your New
Airedale Puppy
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Care:
1. Food: Your puppy will do well on a high
quality food such as Nutrisource puppy, Eukanuba medium
breed puppy food or Iams puppy for the first four months of
age. Offer puppy ½ cup of dry puppy food four times a
day when you first bring him/her home. Leave the food down
for 20 minutes and then put the dish out of puppy’s
reach. Puppy may not eat all of the food at one time, but
will be hungry at next feeding. Approximate times, dependent
on your schedule would be 7 a.m., 11 a.m. 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
By the time puppy is 9 weeks of age you can stop the 7 p.m.
feeding and give puppy a biscuit instead. Puppy’s
amount of food needs to increase, as puppy gets bigger. If
he eats all of the food in the first 5 to 10 minutes offer a
little more. If he is still leaving a little food in the
dish, he is getting enough. By the time puppy is four months
of age he only needs to be fed twice a day, morning and
around 5 p.m. At four months of age change the puppy to
adult Nutrisource, adult maintenance Eukanuba or adult Iams.
Some research indicates that feeding puppy food for too long
can increase the incidence of hip dysplasia in dogs. The
theory is that the higher percentage of protein found in
puppy formulas can accelerate growth before the developing
skeleton can support the weight. I have been feeding
Airedale puppies in this way for 20 years and have had good
results.
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2.
Water: Puppy should have access to a bowl of clean
water most of the day.
Airedales
drink a lot of water compared to some other breeds.
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3. Grooming: Many pet Airedales are
clippered to King of Terrier look. Find a pet groomer in
your area that is familiar with the Airedale. Your vet may
be able to recommend a good groomer. In Winnipeg I recommend
Dog Grooming by Darci phone 255-3611 on 684 Elizabeth Rd
(east side of Winnipeg) and Classy Clips, phone 837-8140 at
3414 Roblin Blvd. (west side). Your puppy should go for his
first visit by 12 weeks of age just to become familiar with
the sights and sounds of a grooming shop. Ask the groomer to
show you how to keep the nails cut in between regular
groomings (approximately 3 to 4 times a year dependent on
how short you like your Airedale). You can brush your
Airedale with a slicker brush in between grooming to remove
any dead hair, since they do not shed like other breeds.
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4. House Training: The ideal way to house
train a puppy is to buy a crate. Puppy should sleep in the
crate and be carried out in the morning. If you let puppy
walk, he may stop and pee on the way out. While he is small
it pays to carry him out and put him down in the yard where
you want to train him to go. Praise him lavishly when he
goes. He can then come back in the house to eat. He needs to
go out again once he finishes eating for 10 to 20 minutes
until he eliminates . He will need to go out at least every
two hours for the first couple of weeks until bedtime. He
should sleep for 6 to 7 hours at night except for the first
few nights he may cry to get out once during the night.
Puppy will not want to soil his bed so for first few nights
if he cries once it pays to take him out. If he is crying
more than once, then ignore as it may be just for attention
and you do not want to start giving attention for bad
behavior (crying) unless it is to go outside. Use the crate
if you are too busy to keep an eye on puppy. You do not want
puppy to be wetting in the house so best to only have him
free when you can keep an eye on him. If you are busy, put
him in kennel with a safe toy (one he can’t choke on)
and when you are again free to watch him, take him outside
first for a pee, then give him some more free time. In
approximately two weeks puppy will have a pretty good idea
of what is expected if you are very consistent and don’t
allow mistakes in the house.
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5. Lead training: Start as soon as you are
home. Put a collar and leash on puppy and let puppy lead you
around for a while until he gets used to the feel of the
collar. Then you lead and if he balks, get down on one knee
and coax him to you. Then get up and gently tug and call him
by name. He will soon know what you want. You can have a
treat in your hand to show him and reward as he walks a few
steps. Airedales learn best by praise and reward
(treats).
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6. Vaccinations: Your puppy has had a
complete physical examination and his first set of
vaccinations. He will need a booster shot at 12 weeks and
again at 16 weeks. He will also need heartworm preventative
medication. Please ask your veterinarian what he/she
advises. Yearly veterinary checks for vaccinations and
heartworm prevention will be required.
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7. Bathing: Bathe your puppy only when
necessary (muddy or smelly). Not more than monthly. Brushing
regularly will keep coat free of dust and will keep his skin
clean. Shampoo used too frequently, dries the coat and skin.
Always rinse all of the soap out when you do bathe your
puppy. .
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8. Exercise: Airedales are active dogs and
need to be exercised. Playing ball in your back yard, or a
walk morning and evening are advisable once your puppy is
four months of age. Prior to this puppy will get enough
exercise just playing. Do not over exercise a young puppy by
running with him, or taking your young Airedale with you
while you cycle. They can damage their bones and joints if
forced to over exercise before they are ready. Airedales are
“terre-iers” and love to dig. Keep this in mind
when you are preparing a yard for them. You may need to
discourage digging if they are in your house yard (not a dog
run). If you don’t want help with your gardening it
will take time, when they are babies, for you to discourage
their tendency to dig.
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9. General training hints: Airedales are
“thinkers”. Don’t ask them to do foolish
things.
If
you ask an Airedale to do a “long down” in the
sun they will get up and
move to the shade.
Don’t
bore your Airedale. They will never become robots. They like
variety and hate being asked to do the same thing over and
over in obedience.
Use
lots of positive motivation. They are happy dogs and want
you to be happy too. Praise, praise, fun, fun. Be prepared
to laugh with your dog .
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