How do I properly care for a newborn puppy and prevent diseases?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. With Moonlight, I recommend you take him to the vet for a check-up. Your vet will likely recommend vaccines and deworming, along with flea and tick prevention. You can also ask your vet what the best food to feed Moonlight is, as this will vary from location to location. You should also get Moonlight neutered at 4 months of age. Best of luck with Moonlight!

Puppies typically nurse every 2-4 hours until 3-4 weeks old then it can be every 4-6 hours. If he has a good suckle reflex that is a good sign and he is probably hungry. You will use puppy milk replacement until he is weaned which generally starts around 4-5 weeks of age the. Transition to soft puppy food and decrease milk feedings. They do have to stay warm. Their normal body temperature is 100 so that can be a sign if shaking. You have to gently wipe their behind and probates to stimulate them to go to the bathroom. This should be done after every meal. They generally sleep a lot and as they get older and more coordinated then they stay awake longer

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Congratulations!! Bruno is adorable! Bruno needs to start his puppy vaccines. He should receive a DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parvo and parainfluenza) vaccine every 3-4 weeks starting around 7-8 weeks of age until he receives two past 12 weeks. He should get his rabies vaccine between 12-16 weeks. He can start being dewormed as well. Having him dewormed and Rabies vaccination will protect your family. Keep up with his vaccinations into adulthood as they do have expiration dates. Deworm yearly. I recommend puppy food until 1 year of age. I like Purina proplan, hills science diet and Royal Canin. As a puppy his energy level is like a new born. Play for a bit then sleep. Around 4 months they are awake more. So playing with him when awake and 2-3 walks a day are appropriate. Distance can increase with age and endurance. See below for links on training. I wish you and Bruno the best! https://www.petcoach.co/article/basic-dog-puppy-training-rules/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/rewards-are-necessary-when-training-dogs-and-puppies/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/training-fitness-for-sporting-dogs/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/interacting-with-your-pet/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-obedience-commands-every-dog-should-know/

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your question. First off, vaccinations are extremely important! Vaccinations typically begin at 6-8 weeks of age and are given every 3 weeks until the puppy reaches 16-20 weeks of age. Heartworm and flea / tick prevention are important as well. I would also recommend having Jimmy's poop checked for parasites and put him through a round of deworming medication. Establish yourself with a veterinarian so that you can get all of this for Jimmy and have a veterinarian available for getting all of this done. As for food, feed a puppy food. You can start out with canned food and introduce hard food around 6 weeks of age. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns!

Congrats! I would just schedule a wellness visit with your vet soon so they can make sure he is healthy and no obvious issues. I would make sure he is on a large breed puppy food and that he is eating 2-3 times per day. I would go ahead and start crate training him if you are planning to do this to help house break him. See link below for tips. If his 1st set of shots were given before he was 6 weeks old, then there is a good chance your vet may want to repeat his 1st set of shots simply because any shots given before 6 weeks technically don't count. I hope this helps! https://www.petco.com/content/petco/PetcoStore/en_US/pet-services/resource-center/new-pet/Puppy-and-Dog-Crate-Training.html

The puppy at this stage is best being close to the mother. Because you don't have access to her, you'll want to create the environment. You'll need to visit your local Pet store and pick up a puppy feeding kit. This should include a breastmilk substitute/formula, a bottle, and nipples. He'll need to be fed often until he's a little older. Keep him warm with a warm water bottle and be sure to stay close. If he seems weak or unresponsive you'll need to take him to the Veterinarian immediately. The best solution would be to find his mother (if you can) and let him stay with her until 6-8 weeks of age.

Make sure she has vaccines including DHPPi (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza) and rabies. Depending on her age, the vet the can tell you her vaccination schedule. Spay her before she goes into her first heat (around six months of age) to significant reduce the risk of her developing mammary tumors and eliminate the chance of her developing a pyometra later in life. Put her on a good flea and tick prevention program, make sure to deworm her, and give her heartworm protection. I would have your pup seen by a vet this week to start all of these things to keep her healthy :-)