Puppy Pick Up

It's time!

When your puppy is 8 weeks old, it can leave our home and head to your home. Here are some things to help you prepare for and pick up the puppy.

The Big Day

For specific instructions to reach our home, e-mail or call us several days in advance.  Mapquest and Yahoo Maps have incorrect instructions from what we've heard, so don't use those other than to come toward Bedford from your location. After getting near Bedford, use our instructions.

If your puppy is flying to meet you, click here for more information about the trip and what you'll need.

Final Payment

Most people bring the final payment in cash at the time of pick up, which is best for us because cash doesn't require clearance time. 

If you plan to pay via credit card, check or money order, please send it at least 2 weeks prior to picking up your puppy to allow for clearance time.

We have found with even PayPal credit card payments that there can be a processing time, depending upon the actual card or account you use when paying. So, it's just best to take care of that about 2 weeks in advance.

Supplies to Buy/Have/Bring

• A small collar and light leash for potty stops on the way home and leash training

• Two short and heavy (flat-bottomed) tip-resistant bowls for food and water

• Some chew toys are good to have!

• If you have far to travel, a pet carrier is an excellent idea (and also helps for vet visits down the road). We might be able to get one for you if you give us advance warning. We can get them for $20-$30, depending upon the size you choose.

• A crate for crate training or to keep the puppy in (when you are not home) until it is completely housetrained

• A bag of puppy food. Click here to see what we like to feed.

• One can of soft puppy food for emergency temptation only. PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR PUPPY CANNED PUPPY FOOD in unlimited amounts soon after receiving him/her. Puppies are healthiest when fed dry food. Do keep a couple cans of soft food on hand to use to tempt the puppy to eat if he/she is off feed. But give just a couple tablespoons at a time to prevent overeating. If the puppy eats soft food until he bloats, he could begin a cycle of vomiting/diarrhea that could lead to blood sugar problems and anemia, and which could be fatal.

• Talk to your vet in advance about having some medication for coccidia on hand to use at home (Marquis, Albon or Corid, for example). Many puppies get diarrhea from the stress of leaving littermates and home, and it's sometimes caused by coccidia. We treat preventatively prior to their leaving us, but they can still have an outbreak a few days after arriving at their new homes. Or, they can pick it up any time in their lives, though it usually just affects puppies between 2 and 4 months of age.  More information about coccidia here.

• Ask us about orange or berry Gatorade...a tablespoon added to water can disguise the chemical/mineral smell of differing water from your tap and our tap. We may begin adding a tablespoon of  Gatorade to our puppies' water a week before they leave us to help that transition.

• Pepto Bismol: You can give puppies Pepto Bismol if needed. If your puppy has a little bit of loose stools for the first day, you can give Pepto to him/her to help settle the stomach. The change of leaving littermates can sometimes cause a little diarrhea. If the puppy is still eating and drinking, it's normally not something to be worried about. But if he/she stops drinking, dehydration can become a concern. I have given Pepto Bismol (or generic equivalent) to puppies as needed....1 to 1 1/2 cc's orally, which is probably 1/4th to 3/8ths of a teaspoon. A couple times that first day seems to help a lot.

• Visit our Supplies page for a more complete list of ideas.

Travel Carriers and Crates

Beagles from us are usually between 15 and 30 lbs and around 11-13" tall when mature, so look for a carrier labeled for that size of dog if you want one for long-term use.

If you want to just transport a dog in a carrier to the vet for quick trips, a smaller carrier will work (but be careful about carrying it so the handle doesn't break). If you want to keep the dog in a crate/cage while you are away from home to crate train him, we recommend a much bigger, coated metal cage with a door.  Pet supply stores sell large crates such as these for $40 to $100.

Visit our Supplies page for more information.

Feeding Your Puppy

From just prior to weaning until our puppies leave us, they experience a variety of foods and supplements including puppy milk replacer formula, canned puppy food (small amounts only), probiotics, Nutrisource Small/Medium Breed Puppy, Diamond Small Breed Puppy, and sometimes Purina Puppy Chow.

Don't Worry! :-)  The most important components of our feeding program are those that your puppy is eating right before he/she leaves us, because you should try (as best as you can) to mimic that diet for a week or so before changing the puppy's diet. At that time, we typically are just feeding our puppies a mixture of two dry puppy foods.

What Our Puppies Are Accustomed To Eating

Our puppies are currently eating Diamond Naturals (Chicken and Rice) Small Breed Puppy Food If you are soon to receive a puppy, we recommend that you try to find  a small bag of a food your puppy is currently eating to use for a week. We will send a little bit with you to get you started, too. After a few days, you can begin mixing it with the food  you plan to feed throughout your puppy's first year until the small bag is gone. See http://www.diamondpet.com/dealer_locator/ for online and physical addresses.

How Much Food and How Often?

• We keep Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy Food (unless an exception above exists) with the puppies almost all the time until they are 8 or 9 weeks old. We need to offer food most of each day to ensure that all puppies in the litter get enough food, rather than having one slower-eating puppy not have enough. This also helps prevent any puppies from feeling that they need to rapidly eat as much food as they can, out of fear that they will be hungry when there isn't any food available.

• At 8 to 10 weeks, beagle puppies should be offered 3 or 4 meals per day. Feeding "meals" after a puppy leaves littermates will help you with potty training.

• Check the feeding suggestions for the brand of puppy food you choose. The daily recommended amount will be listed by either puppy weight and age, or else by the puppy's weight at maturity. 
  ~Our beagle puppies "typically" weigh between 4.5 and 5.5 lbs at 8 weeks.
  ~The small beagles might weigh 3.5 to 4 lbs at 8 weeks.
  ~Look at your puppy's mother/father (link is on the web page that your puppy's pictures are shown on) for their weights to estimate your puppy's mature weight.

Examples of Dog Food Brands, and Comparison

Registration Papers

We will mail your puppy's registration application to you about 2 weeks after you pick up your puppy. This is because we want you to wait to register your puppy until after you have had your vet check him/her, and also to make sure you can keep your puppy.

Recommended Vaccination Schedule

We give the puppies their first vaccination at about 6-7 weeks of age, around the time of weaning. You'll need to continue with a vaccination schedule recommended by your veterinarian for your area. The Humane Society has some recommendations:

From The Humane Society

• Distemper - an airborne viral disease of the lungs, intestines and brain.
• Hepatitis - a viral disease of the liver.
• Leptospirosis - a bacterial disease of the urinary system.
• Parainfluenza - infectious bronchitis.
• Parvovirus - a viral disease of the intestines.
• Rabies - a viral disease fatal to humans and other animals.
• Corona - a viral disease of the intestines.
• Bordetella - a bacterial infection (kennel cough)

Puppies - 6 weeks to 1 year

• 6 to 8 weeks - First puppy shot (DHLPP) + Corona
• 11 to 12 weeks - Second puppy shot (DHLPP) + Corona
• 15 to 16 weeks - Third puppy shot (DHLPP) + Corona
• Over 4 months - Rabies (repeat l year later)
• 7 to 9 months - First heartworm test

Adult Dogs - After 1 year

• DHLPP - Yearly
• Heartworm test - Yearly
• Rabies - Every 3 years (after second Rabies shot)
• Bordetella - Yearly

Note: Some states have their own laws regarding the frequency & requirement of certain vaccinations. When in doubt, always ask your veterinarian or local humane society.

I've made a 2-page (front and back of one sheet of paper) health record form for puppies we sell that is great to use to keep track of your dog's health its whole life. Feel free to download it here. It is in MS Word format.

Deworming Schedule

Veterinary recommendations vary for deworming puppies, but all resources we've encountered recommend deworming at LEAST by 6 weeks of age and again at 3 months of age. 

A schedule beginning at 2 weeks with deworming every 2 weeks through the 8th week is recommended by some vets, while others recommend deworming for the first time at 6 weeks. We deworm our puppies at least twice prior to weaning (at least at 4 and 6 weeks), and hope you'll continue with at least monthly deworming unless your veterinarian recommends otherwise.

Training/Growth Stages for Puppies

This is a neat and short article about the stages of puppy growth.  Knowing what to expect for that first year can help you both train and cope with your puppy's changes in personality and abilities.

Click Here to read the article.

More here...

FAQ's About Our Puppies

We are assembling some commonly-asked questions and answers about getting a new puppy, and have created a FAQ page that might help.