new puppy Info

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This page will answer most of your questions about caring for your new English Setter puppy. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Here is a list of recommended items that will make puppy ownership much easier.
Crate -
Please make sure it is large enough for your puppy to stand up inside and turn around, without being so large that he will use it for a potty. In the puppy pen, we place a large grass mat in the corner as their "potty" area. When the puppy leaves our home, he/she already has an idea that the pen is for sleeping and the other end or corner is for potty.
Grass Pad(s) -
Our puppies are trained to potty on reusable grass pads. We use this method because it is environmental friendly, cost effective, and mimics outside grass texture. Your puppy will need to be slowly adjusted to outside potty training. You can do this by slowly moving the grass pad closer and closer to the outside door that your puppy will be using to go out to potty. Grass mats come with washable pee pads that can be changed frequently. This saves on money buying the disposable potty pads. 

Feeding Dishes/Bowls - 

Your puppy has been eating as a group so he/she may "gobble" up their food quickly until they realize that their is no other competition. You can help with this transition by using a 'slow feed' bowl until they learn to eat slower. Otherwise we recommend stainless steel food and water bowls.

Puppy Food -
Our puppies are fed Wholesomes High Energy 26/18 (all life stages). It is very important that you continue feeding puppy food until they are at least 1 year old. If you decide to switch foods, we recommend that you transition them slowly by mixing the new food with the old food for at least a week. This helps their digestion and reduces the chance of diarrhea. 

Chew Toys/Bones -

It is very important to have an abundance of chew toys available to your puppy. He/she will be teething heavily for at least 6 months, and beyond that time, chewing is helpful to relieve boredom and help clean their teeth. Bully stick and marrow bones are great for relieving boredom. Please be advised that bleached 'rawhide' is not safe for your puppy as they cannot digest them. The best bones are all natural and easily digestible.
Dogs can be taught at a very young age to chew only their own chew toys. When we have a dog pick up a shoe, or child's toy, we say "drop it" and give them their appropriate toy. They soon learn the command of "drop it" and learn what is appropriate to chew on.
So in the early months it is important to have appropriate toys in a lot of places. If you do not want your dog to chew your good shoe or sock,  please do not give them an old one as a toy. They will not know the difference between a shoe you have discarded, and a brand new shoe.
Collar -
Our puppies are collar trained at an early age using breakaway collars and they should be used to wearing one by the time they go to their new home. This is not necessary but it never hurts to have your puppy get used to wearing one at an early age. Always remove the collar before you kennel your puppy for the night to avoid strangling or getting tangled.
Leash -
We prefer leashes that are 6ft in length. They give you length that is needed for recall training. We advise that you begin leash training as soon as possible.  

Brush & Nail Clippers -
Our puppies are exposed to nail trimming at an early age. We start nail trims at 3 weeks old and trim them weekly. Its very important that your puppies paws are desensitized to touch and will make future nail trimming much easier. It is never too early to get your puppy used to a good brushing also. Grooming is a great way to desensitize all areas on your puppy. 

Your new puppy will be so busy exploring their new home that they most likely not even miss their littermates until it is time for bed. That will be when the whining begins. I will warn you in advance that English Setters are very persistent. That is why they make wonderful hunting dogs. However, that determination gives them the stamina to whine/cry for hours. In our experience, the best thing to do is stick to a consistent schedule of when they eat, play, go potty, and go to bed, and in no time your puppy will learn the routine. It may be helpful to place toys in your puppy's crate at bedtime to distract him/her.
The next thing you can expect is diarrhea. This is very common, and does not necessarily mean they are sick. You puppy has undergone a tremendous amount of change since arriving to their new home. They had their first long car ride, possibly an airplane trip, new smells, new people, and new sounds. Nothing is familiar except a blanket that smells like mom. On top of everything else, all of their littermates are gone, too. So due to stress and lots of new changes, diarrhea can happen.
If your puppy has diarrhea, it is important for you to make sure he is getting enough water and try to keep them confined to one area of the house, so messes will be easier to catch or clean up, and also so they can get used to one new place at a time.
If your puppy still has a diarrhea after several days, please take him/her to the vet, just to be sure. The stress of change could bring on illness from coccidia. Coccidia is everywhere, but is not active in most dogs. Young puppies are very susceptible to it until they have their own immunity built up at around 4 months of age. For this reason, we recommend that new puppies not be taken to any dog parks or pet shops that allow dogs until they have completed their vaccination schedule. 
There is no way to know if other dogs brought to these places have been properly vaccinated, and your puppy might be at risk for parvo virus or other illnesses.
A lot of dogs carry coccidia, and are not sick, but stressful situations will make it surface. So our puppies are given three doses of a Toltrazuril and Safeguard before they leave to go to their new home.

Your new puppy has been on a feeding schedule since being weaned. You are more than welcome to keep this schedule for your puppy or gradually change it to what is more suitable for your family.
Your puppy has been eating breakfast between 7-8 am and dinner between 4-5 pm. We feed them as a group and each puppy gets approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup of puppy food mixed with warm water. We allow this to sit for a minute or two to help the food become softer and easier to digest. At dinnertime we do add in Native Pet probiotics. We use three shallow feeding dishes for our group of puppies and each dish gets a half scoop of probiotics. This helps with digestion and their stool consistency. Our puppies have access to fresh water at all times.
We feed our puppies Wholesomes High Energy 26/18 (all life stages). It is recommended to follow instructions on your puppy food bag for proper amounts to feed based on your puppies weight.
If you do choose to change foods, we have found the best way to do this is to make the change slowly over the course of 7 days. While keeping the same amount of food, slowly replace the old food with the new food. You can do this by gradually changing the ratio of old food to new food until by day 7 your puppy is eating only the new food. 

We start deworming at 2 weeks of age, and repeat every 2 weeks, so your puppy will have 4 rounds of deworming done by the time you pick them up. At 2 and 4 weeks we use Pyrantel Pamoate and at 6 and 8 weeks we use Safe Guard (Fenbendazole). We also use a medication called Toltrazuril to protect against coccidia, a common protozoan parasite, given at 7 weeks.
All puppies are vet checked and given their first vaccinations between 6-7 weeks of age.
I highly recommend that you schedule a visit with your vet soon after getting your puppy home to continue their vaccine routine.
Regular dewormings will also need to be continued. I also recommend that you get your puppy started on flea/tick preventative and heart worm preventative when your puppy becomes old enough.