♦ Give Her a Small Amount of Water
(One Cup) When You Get Home.
If she doesn’t throw that up after fifteen or twenty minutes
(from the excitement and car travel), you can leave water down for her.
♦ Give a Small Bowl of Food at Her Normal Feeding
Time.
Ask the breeder (or wherever you got her) when she is
accustomed to eating. Also find out the brand of kibble she has been eating and
ask the breeder (or shelter) for a couple of days’ supply to give you time to
purchase some, if it happened to be one of the preservative-free healthy brands
(it’s unlikely that either a breeder or shelter would spend that extra money on
the premium brands). If the puppy has not been fed a high-quality brand like
Innova or California Natural, then mix some of the kibble she is used to with
the new brand you’ll be feeding. Ask if there is any special way the food has
been given to the dog (with or without water, a bit of meat, etc.). For some
dogs it is more important than others to feel comfortable with food. For a
sensitive dog like that you can avoid an upset stomach from “new home stress”
if the puppy gets food that is familiar in the unfamiliar setting of your
house. By mixing the two foods she can gradually get used to the new brand.
♦ Adjust the Dog’s Feeding Schedule over the Next
Few Days.
It is fine to slowly change the times the dog will eat to
make the hours more compatible with your schedule. Any dog’s feeding routine
can be reprogrammed to accommodate your life. This is true of every dog except
the young puppy, who still needs to continue the three or four daily feedings
she is used to and that her growing body needs. However, at least you have the
option of slowly changing the hours of her meals to coincide with when you or
someone else can get there to feed her.
Copyright © Tracie Hotchner – Originally appeared in The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know by Tracie Hotchner
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