Lauren Hyde

To Buy—or Not to Buy—Pet Insurance

All Sunnyfold Farm puppy owners are eligible for 30 days of free AKC insurance when your puppy is registered with AKC. You’re also eligible for one month free coverage with Trupanion if you activate it within 24 hours of taking your puppy home. Obviously, both companies hope you’ll continue with them after 30 days. Is it right for you? The answer is maybe. Pet insurance is a conundrum. Insurance costs about $500 a year for each dog. If your dog is healthy, you may never recoup the cost of this yearly outlay. If your dog needs expensive veterinary care, it …

Here’s how to have a smooth start on the great path of puppy ownership. First, Portuguese Water Dog pups are super sweet and crazy energetic. Get ready for some serious playtime and walks to bond and house train these babies. They do have needle sharp teeth and are practicing chewing … everything. Ooch! Wear shoes and watch them like a hawk. Things You’ll 100 Percent Need Before You Collect Your Portie Pup A harness and leash: Choose your favorite colors that you can see quickly. A crate: Please bring a crate when you collect your puppy. Why? Your puppy has …

Initially, your portie puppy should eat three times a day about 1/2 cup at a time. As the puppy grows, you need to increase the serving size. After six months, you can drop down to two feedings a day. When feeding, we recommend using a measuring cup, not a scoop. You’ll be more accurate. Feed porties puppy food until they are at least six months old. Puppy food is higher in calories and phosphorus. Active growing puppies can need up to four cups of kibble per day. 75 percent of their growth occurs in the first six months and 25 …

Keeping Kibble Fresh

Kibble goes off about three weeks after the bag is opened. If you have a small dog and a big bag of dog food, the food will go stale before you get to the bottom of the bag. Unsuprsingly, this is called “bottom of the bag syndrome”. It will smell fine to you, but your dog will find it rancid. Keep kibble in the original bag All quality manufacturers use specially engineered bags to preserve freshness. Kibble should be kept in the original bag, not poured into a container. Air in contact with the kibble encourages spoilage. Roll down the …

Most families feed their dogs kibble. While there are better alternatives, here’s our advice on how to get the best from kibble. You get what you pay for This is definitely true with kibble. Cheap kibble is usually corn based. It’s garbage food. Fillers and binders in kibble add little to the dog’s nutrition. They pass right through and make for big, bulky and stinky poops. Watch for allergies Many Portuguese water dogs develop allergies to dog foods. You’ll notice scratching, itching, dry coat and paw licking. Usually, they’re allergic to chicken or other fowl. If your dog is scratching, …

We require hip X-rays on your Sunnyfold Farm Portuguese Water Dog when it reaches age two. Why? Well, although our breeding dogs typically have Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) good or excellent hips, there is still a single-digit percentage chance your puppy will develop hip dysplasia. Initially, PWDs had about a 30 percent hip dysplasia rate—like German Shepherds still have. But through careful selective breeding and full testing by PWD breeders, the incidence of hip dysplasia in Porties now averages 9.5 percent. With ten puppies in a litter, statistically one is likely to have hip dysplasia. Wouldn’t you know if …

To Buy—or Not to Buy—Pet Insurance

Getting Ready to Bring Your Puppy Home

How Often Should You Feed Your Portuguese Water Dog?

Keeping Kibble Fresh

How to Choose Dog Food—Simplifying a Complex Topic

Why We Require Hip Films at Two