Puppy advice
Read our puppy advice articles to help you keep your puppy happy and healthy
Need more puppy advice?
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How to cut a dogs nails
Keep your dog healthy and happy with regular nail trims, learn how to cut and trim dog nails from the experts at Vets4Pets
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Teaching Your Puppy To Lie Down
Basic training is important for all pups, and ‘lie down’ is a common one to get you started. Read our expert advice for some hints and tips.
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Teaching Your Puppy To Stay
Learn how to teach your puppy to stay in one place on command while you move away by using treats, praise and repetition to reinforce its good behaviour.
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Puppy Pet Insurance
Throughout a dog’s lifetime, there are times when you’re likely to need to make a claim on your insurance, particularly for veterinary fees. Click here to read.
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Changing Your Puppy's Diet
What are considerations you need to take when changing your puppy's diet? Find out how to transition your puppy to an adult diet with our helpful guide.
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Bringing Your New Puppy Home
What is more exciting than bringing a new puppy home for the first time? To make sure it is a great experience, read our top tips online today. Find out more!
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Chocolate Poisoning In Pets
Chocolate can be very dangerous to your pet if they eat too much. Click here to find out how to protect your pet from chocolate poisoning at Vets4Pets now.
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Dog Diet Advice
Feeding a dog properly can sometimes turn into a right dogs dinner. Find the right way to feed your dog or puppy in our free, and simple, dog feeding guide.
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Caring For Your Dog's Teeth
Brushing your dog's teeth is important to avoid dental health issues. Learn more about looking after your dog's teeth with our expert advice and tips.
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Car Travel With Your Dog
Car travel is really important for many dog owners, but did you know that car travel with pets can be very dangerous if they aren’t properly restrained?
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Car Sickness In Dogs
Travel sickness can affect dogs as well as humans, so find out what steps you can take if your dog gets sick or stressed when travelling in the car. Read here!
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Dog Body Language
The most confusing part of understanding your dog's body language is how much it differs from our own. Find out how to understand your dog with Vets4Pets.
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Where Should I Get My New Dog From?
If you decide you definitely want a dog, the next consideration is where you get your dog from. You should consider both breeders and rescue centres.
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Pet Nutrition & Obesity
Discover our useful advice articles for keeping your pet in tip top shape. Click here to read our expert advice from the vets and nurses at Vets4Pets.
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How to Help Dogs Get Over Separation Anxiety
Teaching your dog to be alone for short periods of time and that you will return is very important. Find out how how to get your dogs over separation anxiety.
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Poisonous Flowers
Many of the things we have around the house can potentially have devastating consequences for our pets. Click here to find out which
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Positive Reinforcement for Dogs
Positive reinforcement training is an important and powerful skill. Find out more about this useful training technique, how to use it & the do's and don'ts.
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Neutering Your Dog
This is of the most common routine operations in the UK. Learn the reasons behind neutering, including pregnancy prevention and health or behavioural issues.
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Introducing Dogs
If you already have a dog, you may be concerned that they won’t share the joy of your new arrival. Find out how to introduce your dogs stress free here.
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Fleas And Your Puppy
Find out how to spot the symptoms of fleas on your puppy here. Find advice and treatments to ensure your pet does not suffer from these pests. Read online now.
Puppy FAQs
You’re quite right - adolescent puppies can be every bit as wayward and distracted as human teenagers!
Go back to basics and practice your training in ‘safe’ environments with no distractions and lots of positive rewards for correct behaviours, and be reassured that this is likely to only be a phase that they will grow out of.
If you are not sure how best to approach this we would suggest finding a qualified dog trainer to work with or click here for more dog training advice.
Lead walking is something to practice with short sessions at home before you go out for a walk.
Start by teaching your dog to sit and stand comfortably at your side. Remember to reward them regularly, giving your dog a treat whenever they don’t pull. Slowly build up to taking some steps around the room or garden, being sure to stand still every time pulling occurs.
Read our top lead training tips here
They could be barking because they’re friendly and excited, or it may be that they are anxious and aroused.
In either case, it’s really important that you don’t try to punish or dissuade the behaviour since this could create a problem or make it worse.
If you are concerned please talk to your vet for more advice.
Just like wolves, dogs howl when they are trying to communicate at a distance with their pack members.
This suggests that your dog may be feeling distressed when you leave them, and we would suggest talking to your vet for more advice.
Read about separation anxiety in dogs here
Puppies will quickly learn to settle and sleep through the night as they get older.
For very young pups, night-time can be too long to go between toilet breaks. So you may have some broken nights sleep for the first weeks or months that your pup is with you.
Aren’t puppies delightful? This is likely to just be a ‘phase’ that they quickly move on from, but it would be worth making sure that they are up to date with their worming. If the problem persists please talk to your vet in case there are signs of a medical condition.
It sounds like he also had his kennel cough vaccination today, which is usually administered as a squirt of liquid up one nostril.
It’s perfectly safe for him to be given this at the same time as his injected vaccine, and provides important protection for when he comes into contact with other dogs or has to stay in kennels.
Kennel cough vaccination lasts for a year so it will need to be repeated alongside his booster vaccination in the future.
Spaniel ears are, by design a bit prone to collecting dirt and getting waxy and smelly.
An occasional squirt of ear cleaner is not a bad idea, but needing to do it twice a week and only in one ear seems a bit excessive - it’s probably worth getting your vet to check that there isn’t an infection or foreign body in there that’s causing a problem.
Health Plans to keep your puppy healthy
At Vets4Pets we offer a range of Health Plans that make essential routine treatments more affordable. You'll save money on things like annual vaccinations, flea and worm treatment and routine health check-ups.
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Join the club for expert advice and tailored offers, including £30 off our Complete Care Health Plans