Woodster

Bully Sticks made in the U.S.
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/...ail.php?c=21&s
=14050

Books we recommend:
The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skeet
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Raising-Pu...Skete/dp/03165
78398/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298680803&sr=8-1

How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend by the Monks of New Skeet
http://www.amazon.com/How-Your-Dogs-...d/dp/031661000
3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298680803&sr=8-2

How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond by Cesar Millan
http://www.amazon.com/How-Raise-Perf...ppyhood/dp/030
7461300/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298680918&sr=1-2

Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog by Cesar Millan
http://www.amazon.com/Cesars-Rules-Y...Well-Behaved/d
p/0307716864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298680918&sr=1-
1

This is a partial list from a breeder I correspond with. She breeds and shows Spinoni and Mastiff.

damaquilts

Here is a link to Ian Dunbar. Positive training.
It is all I ever used with I can't even count how many foster puppies. Lets see the smallest litter I had was 3 most were 4-5. X 8 years

My puppies were whining at 9 weeks old to go out, were crate trained and went all night. And were sitting at 8-9 weeks.
they also learned not to jump soon after. No knees in the chest, no stomping on toes.
They got fed 3x a day with a good quality puppy chow but some were so young I mixed their food with puppy milk and things to build their immune systems. Water was available at all times except after bed time, they were in their crates and asleep.
They went home all healthy happy puppies with no problems if the adopters followed my schedule for a few days and slowly worked them into their schedule.


http://www.amazon.com/After-You-Get-.../dp/1888047011

wolph33

we feed our dogs 2 times a day-helps regulate how often they poop.my dogs would eat til they exploded if we left food out

Kas

Try to find the book "Mother Knows Best" by Carol Leah Benjamin. She is just great. She also has a book on you adolescent dog. Very funny and truthful! No rawhide either. Our boxer choked on one. She lived, but very scary. Then I read that they were just not safe because of the long strips that can come off.

gspsplease

I would suggest Ian Dunbar's website http://www.dogstardaily.com for the best advice on all aspects of dog rearing and training. Lots of good advice using positive training methods.
Lots of dog trainers use the principle "nothing in life is free" so your dog starts to "work" for his food by sitting, coming when called etc, and sits for you to open the door to go outside, come inside. So instead of allowing your dog to free feed, you keep a large proportion of the dog's meal handy out of dog's reach, and use it throughout the day to train your dog.
Be cautious of the amount of food recommended on dog food packets -- often they are greatly exaggerated (sell more food that way!) and it is very hard to get weight off (as we all know). With a large breed dog you need to be careful of bloat, caused by overeating, exercise after meals, drinking too much water after a large amount of dry food etc, so make sure you read up about this.
I especially agree with using Kongs for chew toys -- there is a Kong web site with ideas about filling the Kong.
cheers
Sandra

janedee

you need to find out how much food is needed daily and split it into about 3 meals until puppy is 6 months - and then split into 2 meals - the amount will change according to age and weight and if its dry food always have water available. Personally I have never understood crating a dog even when I was breeding Labs and had 9 of them loose never had to crate just time and training needed

damaquilts

I thought that way too. But with a lot of puppys /dogs leaving them free to roam while people are at work they chew , potty in the house etc. Good way to get a dog returned. Not all breeders are responsible enough to train their puppies. I fostered and the best thing I could to set the adoption up for success was crate train. Dogs don't go where they sleep and learn to hold it. That makes it easier to train during the day. I was one of the few fosters that housetrained puppies. My puppies also went home with a written schedule , 1 weeks food pre measured, toys and a quilt.:-)

bucksprt

Very young puppies need to be fed more then twice a day.
Four times a day at least. As they get older they can be cut down to 3 times a day then twice. Depends on the dog if we have left food out at all times. In over 50 yrs of owning dogs have ony had 1 that over ate on self feeding (a 5 lb yorkie). Multiple dogs sometimes compete and may tend to eat more.
Most healthy aduld dogs can get by being fed once a day if that is what you want.
Lg & giant breeds do not reach maturity until older (14-18 months) They need plenty of food while developing.Some breeds are prone to stomach bloat and should not be fed just 1 time daily. Toys reach full growth earlier (some about 9 months.) Meals should be given according to development. 1 hr before bed restrict water while house breaking, fesh water at all times after. Teach the pup to sit. Anytime it starts to jump, tell it to sit.