Aspen Collies

Preparing for Your Pup:

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Your pup will probably weigh 10-15 lbs at 8 weeks, depending on the size of pup.

Items we recommend to have on hand before your pups arrives home:
1) Life's Abundance Large Breed Puppy Food,
2) Life's Abundance Training Treats
3) Life's Abundance Turkey Berry Chewies
4) Crate
5) Collar
6) Leash
7) Few Toys
8) Blanket

Click Here for Detailed Info on Ordering Life's Abundance, how often to feed, and how 
much to feed your pup.

Crate: When we ship a puppy, we use a crate that has these dimensions: 28"L X 20.5" W X 21.5" H. This gives plenty of room for your pup to sit, stand up, and turn around. This is a perfect size for crate training. If you want to purchase a crate that you can use for your collie 
when it becomes an adult, you can get a larger size. However, make sure you also have a divider to make the crate smaller for your pup. You do not want him/her to have such a roomy crate that it thinks it has room for sleeping and a "potty area."

Collar: Get a size small for the first collar. Your pup's neck will only be about 7-9", depending on the size of pup.

Leash: Any leash of a workable length is fine.

Toys: Collies like toys that squeak, and they love rope toys that they can drag around the yard.

Blanket: The pups love a blanket in the crate on which to sleep.

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Getting Your Pup:

 

When you can pick up your pup: Your puppy can go at eight weeks. Anytime on or around eight weeks after birth date is fine - it does not have to be exactly on that day. Look at the birth date and count 8 weeks from that point to know the general time that your pup will be ready.

Note: Aspen Collies strongly encourages families to get their puppy at 8 weeks, as it is a critical time of bonding and training should begin. However, if you have circumstances that make you unable to get your pup at the 8 week point, we can hold your puppy for you (this does not apply to it being a different day than the eight week point, just if someone is asking us to hold the pup for an extended period of time). In that case, there will be a $5.00 charge per day, or $35 a week until the puppy is 10 weeks. If it is extended beyond 10 weeks, the charge increases to $7.00 a day, or $49 per week.

Health Guarantee: Your pup comes with a one year health guarantee. 

Worming: Your pup will have been wormed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age. We use an effective wormer provided by our vet which treats roundworms, tapeworms, and hookworms.

Vaccines: Your pup will have received its first vaccine (called a 5-way) at approximately six weeks of age. After that, the pup will need two more vaccines (called 9-ways) at three to four week intervals. Once those three vaccines are given, your puppy will be immune to diseases such as parvo, distemper, etc. We recommend avoiding such areas as dog parks and areas where dogs tend to commonly play until your pup's vaccines are complete.
We will have the date documented for you that your pup received its first vaccine, and give general due dates for its second and third sets. Our pups' first set of vaccines are given at 6 weeks. If you want to set a date for your pup to get its second set with your vet, count 3-4 weeks from that six week point. Your pup should be approximately 9-10 weeks when he/she is ready to get its second set of vaccines.

Your pup will need a rabies vaccine at four months from your local vet.

Medications: Your puppy, at time of transfer, will be being given no medications. Collies can be allergic to certain medications if they carry the MDR1 gene. One of these medications is Ivermectin, so we recommend an alternate heart wormer. Consult with your local vet on what medications are safe for collies. Also, there is a list of potential problem medications on the Washington State University website. If you want to know whether your puppy carries the MDR1 gene, you can order a simple test through Washington State University. It will tell you whether your pup is Normal/Normal, Normal/Mutant, or Mutant/Mutant.

Documentation Provided: We will provide you with your pup's AKC registration papers, health guarantee, and detailed health records (with date of vaccines and type of vaccines given). We have an FAQ page which answers many common questions. If there is anything we have not covered there, and you have questions, feel free to ask!

Food Provided: We will provide you with these samples from Life's Abundance: A bag of Large Breed Puppy Food, Training Treats, and Turkey Berry Chewies.
We highly encourage you to have the food for your pup before he/she arrives home!

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Taking Your Pup Home:

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The First Day or Two: Expect your pup to be a little confused. This is a big adjustment for him/her. The pup may cry some, especially at night. While here, your pup has been sleeping with siblings on a blanket, so they are often not too thrilled with the concept of a crate.
After the first day or two, start establishing a routine. Let your puppy out to potty once or twice in the night, and always right after eating and first thing in the morning.

If you want them to sleep in a crate, put the crate wherever you desire the puppy to sleep on a regular basis. Consistency is very important.

With the crate, if they do not like it, give it some time...all that is new to your puppy, but he/she should catch on quickly. Some dogs do not prefer the crate, but I think it is important for them to learn to accept what is not their first preference at times. If they start crying in the crate, I would not let him/her out when they yap. After some time, I would reprimand the puppy when it continues barking and tell him/her "no". Your collie should learn to be quiet when told. However, it all takes time and patience, so hang in there :)

Try to not feed them after 6pm and withhold water not too much later. This will give them better bladder and potty control, especially in the first few weeks.

If your pup is one who wants to gulp down his/her food, use a large metal pan where the food "spreads" out more. This will help slow them down.

Sometimes, puppies can bite playfully, or they may snap in irritation. If this occurs, hold their mouth firmly shut and tell them "no". If after several times of doing that, they still continue to bite, pop them across the nose and say "no". Puppies have very sharp teeth, and they can hurt, even when biting playfully. You want them to understand that they cannot do that with humans.

Puppies' personalities vary, so some need more stern reprimand than others; but collies are a very sensitive breed, and it usually does not take much - they love to please!

As with anything in training, just remember it takes time, patience, and repetition. Your collie will do anything to make you happy, they just have to learn what that is!