Bringing your new puppy home is a pleasure for the entire family. Here are some training tips to make sure your puppy remains a happy experience and not a nuisance.

Immediately provide a crate for your puppy to have as its hide away. It is also a safe place for you to put your puppy to bed while you are away for a short while. The crate that your puppy is shipped to you in, serves this purpose very well.

A crate also makes a great teaching tool while you are house breaking your puppy. Take your puppy outside when you remove him from his nap time. The first thing a puppy does after waking, is stretch and  take care of potty needs.

Have a special place in the yard for puppy to tend to his elimination work. Part of puppy training is to be consistent and repetitious. After awhile your puppy will follow his nose to the designated area. Consistency will bring much greater rewards over hitting, yelling or rubbing your puppy's nose in his accident.

Don't get upset over mistakes. Remember you are dealing with a "baby puppy" that doesn't always understand what you want it to do.

Remember, young puppies do not always understand or know when the urge to eliminate comes up. Don't send the wrong signal by being harsh and loud.

Food

You will want to feed a good puppy food four times a day until he is three months of age. From three to six months of age feed three times a day. From six to twelve months of age feed two times a day. Switch your puppy to adult dog food at 12 months of age. Continue to feed twice a day. Always have plenty of water available for Puppy all the time. Feed puppy food that is all natural. Follow the amount recommended on the bag of food and adjust it to your feeding schedule. 

Chew Toys

All new puppies will chew on most anything. Purchase safe chew toys for your puppy. These toys should be almost indestructible. You will want to teach your new puppy what he is allowed to chew on. Make sure your puppy doesn't have a  toy he can swallow or get stuck in his throat. Nylon chew toys are safe and are available at most all pet stores. Chew toys will help in your puppies dental hygiene. Don't give your bulldog puppy rawhide sticks, pig ears and pig hooves. These chew toys can splinter and cause life threatening problems.  

Overheating

Bulldogs overheat easily. This can be from the temperature, excitement, exercise, or stress. Bulldogs can die from heat exhaustion. Whenever you and your Bulldog are out in warm weather, take water with you. If you are going to be out for a while, take along a frozen bottle of water. It will thaw and be drinkable for several hours. If your bulldog begins to overheat and starts to bring up phlegm you must act quickly to cool him down. Get your bullie out of the heat. Squirt water into his mouth to clear away the phlegm. Put a wet towel on him and keep him calm. If your bulldog goes down from heat exhaustion, and his tongue turns blue, lay him in ice or cool water if you can. You must bring his body temperature down as quickly as possible.

Vomiting

Bulldogs have elongated palates and sometimes vomit or bring up phlegm. This is normal. If your dog is coughing or gagging  constantly when he is not overheated or excited, consult your vet.

Swimming

Bulldogs are not natural swimmers. Never leave your Bulldog unattended near water. Avoid getting water in their nose.

Poisons

Antifreeze, chocolate, onions, certain lawn chemicals, rodenticides.  Never give your dogs grapes, raisins, chocolate, onions or macadamia nuts as they can prove deadly to your dog. This is just a partial list of things that are harmful to your dog. There are many more. 

Face wrinkles

Keep your Bullie's wrinkles clean and dry. Wipe all of the folds on his face with a baby wet wipe daily to keep them clean and dry.  The alcohol agent in the wet wipe will keep it dry.  Once they are dry, you can also sprinkle in some Gold Bond medicated powder, if needed.  Vaseline on his nose will keep it from drying out and cracking. 

Vaccinations

Your new puppy will require an initial series of four vaccinations. Yearly boosters are required after the initial series. Follow your veterinarian's recommendations. Your Vet will tell you what the State Law is requiring for rabies vaccination.

This is only a guide to caring for a new puppy. Should you have a life threatening situation come up, immediately contact your veterinarian.