Your New Puppy will need a few things.

Here are a few things I have used and that have worked for me.

MANNERS!!! Are a MUST!!!! No one wants a large dog jumping on him or her and it is dangerous to small children. I do NOT allow my dogs to jump or even take their front feet off the ground. We call it the "Four on the Floor" Rule. I do not allow my dogs to put their front feet on the furnisher either. :( Just when you are ready to go to town you get a muddy wet paw on your clean jeans/slacks. I say "no thank you". We teach puppy to keep their "four on the floor" by squeezing front paws if they come off the ground. A good firm squeeze will do. You know you are squeezing firm/hard enough when your puppy/dog rethinks their behavior. I do not say a word (your words mean little to excited puppy) I just give them immediate consequence. If you do this correctly you can even retrain old dogs. :) If you do not you are probably rewarding your dog for their behavior (jumping) and teaching them you really want them to jump on you. At least that is the message you are sending them by giving them attention, even negative attention, when they do this.

The Three Lessons Every Dog Needs to Know EXCELLENT short page every new puppy owner needs to read. If link doesn't work it's www.barton.bizland.com/training.htm

42 inch Wire Crate with divider so crate grows with puppy.

I do not like plastic crate. the crate your puppy arrived should NOT be use as it is entirely to small for anything except a cat. He/she might fit in it a few more days for trip to vet but that is it. And please do NOT allow puppy on floor at vet clinic. good place to catch disease.

Crate Training Links: http://www.charityadvantage.com/Dog_Scouts_of_AmericaMKEPKF/Puppies-HouseTraining.asp

One of the best and funnist I've read. :) There are many ways to crate train. please use common since here. Your puppy CAN NOT "hold it" more than 2 - 3 hours in the day time. If you leave puppy locked up in crate without breaks they ONLY thing you are teaching them is to pee/poop in crate. Puppy should be able to "hold it" all night but when they wake up in the morning and get up they are ready to pee! Good by sleeping in on Sat/Sunday. :)

Secure fence yard with shade: I do not like the "invisible fences" just read this article about Rusus. They sometimes go haywire in the rain and will not stop shocking dog and can cause deep burns and wounds and you are torturing your beloved pet for hours. You may have to copy and paste some of these links. they sometimes quit working but usually are out there on the web.

http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/RUFUS.HTM

Please do not leave puppy out side alone when young. You must go out with puppy to teach him/her to do "their business". Bullmastiff and Bordeaux MUST have shade or they WILL DIE in heat!! Short nosed dog can not cool themselves like regular dogs, even if they have shade if something works them into running or fence fighting for very long in hot weather say July/Aug and they get really hot sometimes they can not cool themselves down, they can over heat and go into heat exhaustion and yes they can die. IF your dog's temperature gets over 107 they are unable to cool themselves and will go into heat exhaustion and die. If you can get them into cool/cold water and bring temps down that is good if not the ONLY way to save dog is blood transfusion. SO an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!

2 Stainless steal bowls if you put them side by side you will end up with food in water bowl.

Collar. I like web collars. Leather is fine but dogs really don't appreciate wide collars. 14 - 20 inch should last about 2 months on new puppy then you need to move up to 20 - 24 and for big boys you will need to move up to 26 - 27 inch.

Check collar as it might need adjusted as much as every week when puppy is growing. If collar gets to tight it can cut into skin and cause scars.

PLEASE put a tag on collar. Mine reads: Help me! 479-582-5606

Please Do NOT use a chain on your puppy. This is only for training once they get about 5 or more months old. Here is good link for leash training. www.perfectpaws.com/pup7.html

Bed: Keep them out of yours!! I use several different kinds. when puppy is so small I only use a bathroom mat, as one side is backed with a non slip coating and it washes easy!

I get dog bed at Sams or Pet Smart or on line. I've even made a few. Your choices are many.

Bath: to bath or not to bath, that is the question. Bathing your new puppy will stress them. Not good. Use recipe below in spray bottle instead. If you are bathing more than once a month your dog will shed Much more. Bullies and Bordeaux are not given to shedding. If you have a Bordeaux you might want to use dandruff shampoo. Be sure and rinse well or shampoo left on skin will irritate skin and cause problems. personally i do not bath useless we are going to dog show. I do wipe off muddy paws with wet rag if needed.

I use 1/2 Linsterine mouth wash and 1/2 water is spray bottle and just spay and wipe.

Things to Chew: chewing is a must for teething puppies. www.canismajor.com/dog/teeth.html

You can find most of these things at JB Wholesale www.jbpet.com 1-800-526-0388 for a lot less than Pet Smart ect.

Greenie - ck size you will need. (some people do not use greenie anymore after the trouble they have had)

I like Wolf Wish bone by Nylabone

Puppy Fish is also good (and expense) must get Large - Nylabone

Flexible Bones are okay mine have not used them that much.

Cows ears (NOT pig ears they are too greasy)

Real Hambone or Knuckle Bones

I don't really like the pressed bones they are more apt to just get soft and choke puppy.

Beef Pizzles or Bullie stick are expense but they love them!!

Hooves are nice when they get a little older if they really like to chew.

I don't like anything that is pressed together or twisted together or anything with knot at end. :(

ALWAYS watch your puppy with chews as I have had even larger dogs get a large raw hide good and soft 1/2 in and 1/2 out of throat and they could have chocked TO DEATH if I would not have pulled it out. they do love their chews and mine get them almost every day - just watch them.

Treats are optional. Great for training.

IF you give puppy to many treats he/she will poop in house/crate as you will cause loose stool.

I like fresh treats NOT packaged as packaged is full of preservatives. :(

I've had Bordeaux owner have treats with Wheat in them cause skin issues. Speaking of SKIN ISSUES if you have ONE Flea that ONE Flea can bite your dogs 1,000's of time in one day and cause terrible skin issues. So forget changing feed, allergies shot etc. It's THE FLEAS! but using harsh chemicals assaults the immune system of a puppy/dog.

A treat should ALWAYS be earned! A treat can be a tiny piece of hard cheese or pop corn or meat. A treat is not a meal! Avoid cheap "milk bones" all they are is white flour and food color. NOT good for your bullie and worse for your Bordeaux. On that note NEVER give white/wheat bread to your dog. It could kill them by causing to much gas in gut. Yes! This does happened. IF you think your dog has gastric torsioned gut you only have about 30 minutes to get them on operating table. IF you think your puppy/dog has twisted gut do NOT hesitate to take them to vet immediately - better wrong then have a dead dog. More reading on that subject

www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html

www.avontipoodles.com/standard-poodle/gastric-torsion.htm

Food for Dog/Puppy

Good dog food (Kibble) that I recommend: ANYTHING you find in Wal-Mart is NOT good dog food. sorry.

Innova, Blue Buffalo, Timber Wolf, K-9 Martin, Eagle Pack, and what we feed Flint River which we think is the best. Flint River contact is 1-800-354-6858 or on line www.frrco.com/121453 Free shipping right to your door. You will not find this in any stores.

Much has been said/written and debated here. I have my own opinion as you will often find me cutting up a whole horse (that died from over eating usually) or cow (that got down trying to calf) (email for pix :)) because my dogs enjoy raw meat and bones so much. Anything can be out of balance. If you only feed your puppy raw meat you would get him growing to fast. Very bad as this can be terrible on joints and cause structural damage, think about a wild dog. They do not have someone going to grocery to purchase them pure meat. They eat bones/fur/feather/gut/greens among other things (horse poop yummie my dogs love it!) So balance is the key here. We feed the BARF Deit: Bone and Raw Food diet along with lamb and rice kibble (Flint River is the best on market). You can feed raw for what you feed a high quality kibble. On that note Science Diet, Purina, or Pedigree are NOT a high quality dog food. Don't be fooled by lable. Back to raw meat. Some people have said feeding raw causes the Mean Dog to come out in your pet. I have to laugh. Think about it this way. If ALL you ever ate was dry cereal how excited would you be to see your next bowl of............oh boy........dry cereal? If someone grilled you a big juicey T-bone steak wouldn't you fight to keep it all to yourself? So when feeding more than one dog you might want to seperate dogs when feeding raw. All of my dogs take raw meat from my hands in a polite way. I do feed mine together if they are used to being together. Mommy spanks for fighting. And no one wants to get a swat from me!

Feeding Raw. (BARF is the Bones and Raw Food diet) there is so much out there you can do a little research yourself on feeding raw. You can grind carrots in blender and pour over food. Puppies learn to like bananas, apples, pears, carrots (anything they see YOU eating) They don't like citrus fruit. Oatmeal, millet, rice, cheese are good.

chicken neck/back raw only. Will sure put the weight on fast if dog needs help in this area.

NO: Raisins, grapes, nuts and dark Chocolate or anything with caffine. on the short list off no-no. Shuts down kidneys (Dog dies eating raisins)

Cows milk. It's not poison but it does cause loose stool. I don't like it.

Avoid Corn in diet. Corn is used to fatten hogs and cattle (and some people wonder why their dogs are fat??? HELLO!) it has little place in dog food.

Soy is known to cause skin issues. so is corn

Eggs: I really like eggs as the yoke is full of good fat. Destiny eats her eggs easy over in the morning. Raw Egg White are bad. Uses up the vitamin Biotin which feed skin tissue. So take the white off or cook it just a little to get the white done. I think eggs are very affordable for what they give you.

The more raw you feed your dog the more acid their stomach will be the easier to digest all foods. The more grain (dog food) you feed the more alkaline stomach will be, does not digest as well.

Dogs were created to eat the dead and dying. They have very short digestive track. Some bacteria will not hurt them. IF you have small children and your dogs eats lots of raw DO NOT ALLOW dog to lick children they can pass salmonella to children. this is the only draw back to feeding raw. But don't allow that to scare you away from a great diet and better health for your dog.

Super Raw food is Green Tripe. I Do NOT like it canned. it kills everything good in there. frozen is the only way and there are only a few good sources to get it. The BEST on the market I have found www.GreenTripe.com (I get mine fresh but that is not available to most city folks) Some sources get if already spoiled and your dog will not enjoy it or benefit as much as nice fresh green tripe (cow guts) Mine go crazy for it. it is the prefect food. If your dog is having drastic health issues I highly recommend only raw with lots of green tripe.

Link: What's in Dog Food. www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

Also look on the link page of web site