Meet Archie...

snollup · 10-06-2011 9:36am #1

We got him in Slane Dog Pound on Tuesday. They found him straying in woodland. Folks at the pound reckon he’s a collie x spaniel approx 6 months.

Myself and my wife are totally new to the puppy world and would be really grateful for any help and guidance anyone could offer.

Just wondering
1) how much exercise does he require? would half an hour twice a day be ok?
2) what about grooming – how often should you bath a dog and brush his hair? Is there anything else needed?
3) Is it ok to feed a pup the same thing everyday? We got a bag of Redmills Leader dried food.

Thanks for reading!

andreac · 10-06-2011 9:46am

Congrats on your pup.

Firstly as hes only a baby you need to be careful not to over exercise him at a young age. The general rule is 5 mins per month of age per day.

So at 6 months thats half an hour so i would maybe split that in two walks. You can have loads of play time in the garden too as well as that.

Once he gets older you can gradually increase the length of walks. Collies are high energy dogs so will need very long walks everyday. Cycling and swimming are great ways to burn off energy too and the more variation of exercise for them the better to keep their mind from getting bored.

Collies dont need to be groomed too often. A bath once every couple of months is more than enough to be honest. But if you brush them every couple of days it will keep their coat nice and soft and clean and free from tangles.

Redmills Leader is fine for your dog, but just keep an eye on your dog and just make sure that the food suits him as not all foods suit all dogs. Once their poo's are solid and their coats, eyes etc are in good condition then you should be ok with the food. Theres no harm feeding a little bit of oily fish every now and again too or a raw egg, its great for their coat.

Try and stick to one brand of food as changing too often isnt good for the dog and can upset their tummy. So if you do need to change his food, make sure you do it gradually over the space of a week or so.

ruben · 10-06-2011 9:55am

Apologies in advance if you've done this already:)

A trip to your Vet is a must. Archie needs to be vax'd and chipped and just given a thorough once over.

Good luck with him, hope you guys have years of fun and frolics.

snollup · 10-06-2011 10:01am

Thanks guy's,

He is already chipped & we are bring him for his second vax shot on Monday.

Thanks again for you advise.

Gremlin · 10-06-2011 10:39am

Just to add to what andreac said about food. When a dog is eating the same thing every day, he might get bored and go off his food. We had exactly this and the trick was to mix up something new into it every so often. Bit of oily fish (as andreac mentioned) the odd bit of boiled chicken, boiled white rice. Just something wholesome to make mealtimes a bit more interesting. If there are different flavours of the same brand you can usually change every now and then too, just try to stick to the same brand and type.

Good luck with the new member of the family, hope it works out for you all.

Charity Search And Rescue · 10-06-2011 12:17pm

Nice pix of fella, my experience is that dogs are roaming animals, next to eating or mating walking is their most favourite and fulfilling pastime. So the more you walk fella the more he will bond with you.
I have always combed my dogs more often than washed. If my dog get muddie and muckie I have some liquid soap in my pack so I wash the dogs underbody before the muck drys along with the attendant bacteria. I check for ticks and fleas often.
99% of the time I feed my dog people food... pasta, rice, potatoes, I top this with beef or chicken pieces or just the stock.

Good Luck with the pup... Jack

Zapperzy · 10-06-2011 3:22pm

Lovely looking pup!

Some good advice already given. How are ye getting on with house training and general training?

As already said don't over do it on the exercise when they are still very young, but a few short training sessions a day or mental games will wear him out mentally also. Things like hiding treats under plastic cups and making him guess which one the treat is hiding under, or making him sit and stay in one room while you hide his favorite toy in another room and then calling him to come and find it is another one which is also great for practicing his stay. Kongs are wonderful little things too for keeping them occupied. http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html

snollup · 14-07-2011 9:42pm

Evening all,

Well Archie is doing really well. Thanks all for your advise. Did the puppy training with Dog Training Ireland and that has really helped get things off on the wright foot. We have him in doggie day care there a couple of days a week too. He loves it! He has so much energy this helps tire him out and so give myself & my wife a couple of less energetic evenings!!
The only problem that we are having with Archie is that he really does not like the car. He'll get into the car but once there the poor fella drools like crazy. He has started getting sick in the car recently also. Would love if someone could give some advise that might help. I know there are travel sickness tablets that you can give him? Are these any good? Are there any natural ways of treating this that I could try first.

Thanks a mil for reading.

Meet Archie...

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