Caring for your Dalmatian puppy

caring for your puppy is rewarding

Proper care for your Dalmatian puppy obviously starts with giving him sufficient attention. In addition, good physical care and offering varied activities are part of the care for your puppy.

A Dalmatian is a naturally adventurous dog and will love to learn and discover new things. Make sure you do a lot together with your dog.
This will strengthen the bond with your puppy, which makes it easier to make him obedient.
Caring for your Dalmatian puppy will be very rewarding for you and your family, and is an important part of keeping a dog.

Shots
Your Dalmatian puppy has received all puppy shots he needs. You have to continue the vaccination of  your puppy according to the vaccination schedule in your veterinary booklet.
If you plan on going abroad, make sure you timely inform about the vaccinations your puppy will need.

Eyes and ears
Check your puppy’s ears on a regular basis. They have to be clean and smell fresh. The ear has to be cleaned if it has a musty smell or a granular brown substance in it.
Also let the vet check this, because your dog could have ear mites, which would have to be treated with a special ointment.
Make sure the eyes are not tearing and that there is no pus-like discharge. If this is the case, the tear duct might be clogged.
Dabbing the eyes with boiled water or special eye drops from the vet might be needed to completely cure the problem.

Teeth and nails
Regularly brush the dog’s teeth and let the vet remove tartar. You can also remove the tartar yourself if you regularly keep up with it. Special teeth cleaners are available for this.
Clean teeth prevent dogs smelling from their mouths. A hard bone from time to time also has a cleansing effect on your puppy’s teeth.
The nails need to be clipped on a regular basis. The nails of most Dalmatians wear down naturally, especially if they walk on the street a lot. But the little thumbs that are higher on the paw have to always be trimmed to prevent tearing.

Brushing
Dalmatians shed all year long and also have the known shedding periods during spring and autumn, when they lose many white hairs. The best thing to do is to regularly brush your dog with a rubber brush glove. You will get rid of the most loose hair with this…
If you don’t want your clothes to be covered with hair, take precautions by not letting the dog lay on your couch and by protecting your good clothes by not putting them in places where your Dalmatian also has access to.
This prevents much annoyance. Clothes that are infected with small white Dalmatian hairs can rarely be completely cleaned.

Washing
A Dalmatian dog is very clean by nature and likes to clean itself. A Dalmatian also rarely has a dog scent to it. Therefore there is no need to wash your dog often. This is even inadvisable, because you disturb the normal skin flora and sebum of the skin. This can even lead to skin problems.
You only have to wash the dog if he jumped into a puddle of mud or if he had a nice time rolling in the dirt.
Well, then there is no other option…
Make sure you always use a mild dog shampoo, because Dalmatians have a sensitive skin.

Ailments of male and female dogs
Male dogs sometimes suffer from a discharge of pus from their genitals. The best way to keep this clean is by using a cotton ball soaked in boiled water.
If the situation is really bad and you find drops everywhere, you can contact the vet to get so called foreskin cleaner.
If your female dog has a discharge of pus from her vagina, you always have to just consult the vet. Typically, this is a small inflammation of the entrance that doesn’t even require any medication.
If it’s an inflamed uterus, it’s much worse. This can be life threatening and will always require medication, and sometimes even surgery.
If your female dog is listless, drinks a lot and often shows bloated abdomen, a visit to the vet is definitely necessary.
Make sure you are always alert for this!

Parasites
Regularly check your puppy for parasites. Make sure he is well protected against ticks. Nowadays, also in the Netherlands, many ticks are infected with Lyme’s disease. This is a contagious disease for dogs, but also for humans.
Ask your veterinarian for the proper protection.
Deworming is done according to the deworming schedule of your vet or breeder. With us, the puppy will be dewormed at least four times already.