What we do to prepare your puppy for the outside world..

Here at Shima Onida we like to give our puppies the best start in life. This is started by our females being fed a good quality raw diet, ensuring the puppies get excellent nutrients within the womb.

Once the puppies are born, they are each given a small dose of ‘puppy stim’ to give them an extra boost of help before being put on their mother to feed for the first time. During this first feed they get cholostrom, which is crucial for their strength and immune system.

Our puppies are monitored 24 hours a day (Yes, even during the night), to ensure that they are growing well and that their mother is taking good care of them.

Within 3 days of the puppies being born, they are taken to the vets for their first vet check. During this vet check our vet will check their heartbeat, palate and bottom. They also have their rear dew claws removed, this is done so that once they are adults they do not catch them and cause injury to themselves. Some of our dogs do not carry rear dew claws, so these puppies are born without them - The rear dew claw has no purpose.

The puppies are weighed regulary to monitor their growing and are wormed at 2,5 and 7 weeks of age. They are handled multiple times a day, and once they are over 2 weeks old we allow visitors to come round to handle them so that they become very social.

We begin trimming our puppies nails at 2 weeks of age, because they grow ever so quickly and are very sharp, more like cat claws. Nail trimming in young puppies is very important. Many dogs are scared of having their nails trimmed, so starting with them from young gets them used to it. Also we keep our puppies nails short so that they do not hurt there mother when feeding as they pad the milk out of the teat with their paws.

Our puppies are given dog toys in their whelping pen from 2 weeks of age, now their eyes and ears are open they begin to explore! Our puppies also start getting teeth at around 2 weeks old, and using their teeth is often how they like to explore.

We train our puppies to use puppy pads from 3 weeks of age, this is to help them with house training so that it is easier for the new owners to progress them to messing outside.

At 3 weeks of age we begin the weaning process, they get goats milk which then progresses into raw meat with goats milk. Over time the goats milk gets taken away and the amount of raw meat is increased. Their time of feeding from their mum also becomes less. Once they are fully weaned we then introduce Eden Kibble.

During their time with us they learn manners and the word NO! They are de-sensitised to noises such as: Washing machine, Tumble Dryer, Hoover, Hair dryer, Carpet Cleaner etc.

They get their first baths with us, and they have a doggy pool to play in to get them used to water.

At 7 weeks old we microchip our puppies, I am a full trained and qualified pet microchipper - therefore I chip our puppies. They are also taken to the vets for their second health check, this is when the vet checks their heart beat, eyes, ears, abdomen, skin/fur, teeth, palate, testicles.

By week 8 our puppies are ready to leave for their new homes. They are happy, healthy and very social puppies.