Raising your pup

Raising a puppy can be divided into 4 main areas:

• Feeding your pup
• Socialising your pup
• Training your pup
• Caring for your pups health

You need to think of raising your pup as an investment. You may have already invested time and money into purchasing your puppy, and hopefully you are reading this kind of information in preparation for your pup arriving so that you can get the most out of your important investment. If not, then all is not lost at all, use the resources here from wherever you are at.

Whether you have purchased a pup as a family pet, a show animal, a possible breeding animal or a livestock guardian, you need to remember that this wonderful animal may live anything up to 20 years depending on many factors including the breed. (the average lifespan of maremmas is more realistically around 12 - 14 years)

So this means that the effort you put into raising your pup correctly both physically and behaviourally is going to be giving you returns for many years to come, and we want those returns to be positive, both for your pup and for you.

If you are still in the investigation stage and have not yet purchased or placed an order for a pup, congratulations, the time and effort you are putting in now are going to give you a much higher chance of success!

Important resources

I don't believe you can be prepared enough for your first puppy. I have worked with people for 20 years brining home their first puppy and it is amazing how many things they do not consider before the arrival, and find themselves racing after the pup is home to get organised. This only produces stress and a feeling of not really being in control of the situation, so let's avoid that.

The section of this site devoted to raising puppies will give you a lot of information that you need to raise your pup and most sections are applicable to any breed of puppy that you may wish to purchase. This means that as your journey to choose a pup unfolds, if you happen to choose a breed other than the maremma sheepdog, you should still bookmark this site as a main resource for helping you raise that pup well.

There are a number of excellent resources you can purchase here that are designed as practical tools that you can use to make the right choices in a logical way. These tools are designed for you to download and use in a totally practical way to assist you firstly to identify your own unique needs and priorities, and then find the answers to the questions that are most important to you. In fact, they will assist you to find out what are the questions that are most important to you! The tools are designed to work together, however you only need to choose the tools that you want.

You do not have to jump into find yourself buying a puppy just because one is available and you didn't know there was another choice. You can take control over how you will become a dog owner, and make a wise investment that will give you a long return in the form of a healthy dog that suits your own situation. This is all about you and your situation!

This topic has been divided into specific articles for your convenience

Introduction to raising a pup	How can this site help you choose and raise your puppy?
Foods for your pup	What foods are and are not suitable to feed puppies
Feeding routines	How much and how often do I feed my pup?
Bonding your pup to livestock	What does it mean to bond to livestock? Is this not training a pup?
Socialising your pup	How to socialise your pup with people, other dogs and animals
Socialising LGD puppies	Specifics of socialising when you have a livestock guarding puppy
Training your pup	Basic behaviour training for your puppy
Obedience training your pup	How to obedience train your puppy
Caring for your pups health	How to tell if your pup is healthy and what to do if there is a problem
More useful resources	Other helpful resources for raising puppies