Telaquire Kuvasz Puppy Information
Items for preparing for puppy:
• Crate for crate training at home
• Travel crate for puppy pick-up
• Small collar and leash
• Food and water bowls
• Food- you will be provided several days of food that the puppy is currently
eating when you pick-up your puppy
• A few toys- appropriate chew toys save other items in your home from puppy
teeth
Feeding kuvasz puppies
Your puppy has been eating Nutro Ultra Large breed puppy food. There is much
debate on the best food, but a couple of things I consider. We recommend against a
puppy food that is not large breed. The make up of these foods has been associated
with higher rates of hip dysplasia, HOD and panosteitis. The large breed puppy food
accommodate the rapid growth of the puppies better than traditional puppy food.
Some people use an adult food, but make sure if you do you use a All Life Stages food,
not a maintenance food as the bone support is not adequate. We recommend against a
grain freed food or one with peas or lentils in the first 5 ingredients. These do seem to
have some association with heart troubles. The puppies have done very well on the
Nutro Ultra and they have some good less expensive options, but other foods I have
evaluated and think are good are the Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy, Fromm
Large Breed Puppy (not the grain free) and ProPlan Large Breed Puppy (depending on
where you live you may notice more pink on the fur, but overall a good food). If you
have questions on a specific food, I would be happy to look at it with you.
Equally important to the quality of the food, is feeding your puppy the right
amount. Overfeeding leads to hip dysplasia, unequal bone growth, and HOD as well as
other problems. Puppies need adequate calories, but not a lot of extras. Your puppy
will go through growth spurts at several different times and the feeding amount will
need to be adjusted accordingly. I recommend checking your puppies body condition
(ribs and hips) a least weekly and adjusting the food as needed. When your puppy is
sent home, it has been transitioned to 3 meals per day. Depending on the puppy they
are eating ¾ to 1 cup per meal. Young puppies do best with 3 meals per day since their
stomachs are still small. As they get bigger, you can change to twice per day. I always
feed adults twice per day to reduce the risk of bloat. It is a good habit to limit exercise
before and after meals to also reduce the risk of bloat.
If you are using a lot of treats for training, make sure to consider this as you monitor
how much food the puppy is getting. I usually train on an empty stomach, so motivation
is high.
Health Maintenance and Vaccinations
Your puppy received their first vaccine on _______. This was a DAP or distemper,
adenovirus, parvovirus vaccine. Your puppy will need a second shot of this between 3-4
weeks after (______________). Distemper and Parvo can be deadly to puppies. The coverage
from the first vaccine alone is low, limit exposure to areas where other unknown dogs
are until at least one week after vaccine two. Your puppy will need at least two more
shots possibly three depending on timing, please discuss with your vet. Diseases such as
leptospirosis and Bordetella depend on your location and environment of the puppy.
Please discuss with your vet. Some kuvasz have trouble with vaccine reactions. I
recommend getting just one vaccine at a time to reduce this risk and help know which
vaccine is a problem. If you discuss this with your vet, they are usually willing to help
space them out, but by default they give multiple in a day because it is convenient for
owners. Rabies has the most reactions, I typically push this one out for the last vaccine
and all by itself and four weeks from other vaccines.
Heartworm prevention is needed in most areas. I like Heartgard brown, but have also
had good luck with interceptor. I would avoid using anything that is a combination
treatment for heartworm and fleas. We have seen lots of issues with oral flea
treatments. For fleas, topicals like Frontline and Advantage have worked very well
without reactions as well as the Seresto flea collar.
Puppy training
Kuvasz are very smart and learn things quickly. They respond well to positive training as
they are learning. Train in short sessions, a couple minutes is generally more powerful
than an hour long class on the dogs end.
All the puppies have been started on crate training. They have been transitioned to
eating their meals in the crate which provides a very positive association. I recommend
continuing crate training as puppies, to help with housebreaking and to give them a safe
place when needed. Often times puppies make mistakes when they get overstimulated
or tired, so a quick rest in the crate can make them a lot easier to deal with.
For puppy biting, I recommend redirecting it to toys, etc. If they get too rough with
play, it would be a great time for a short crate rest.
I strongly recommend a puppy class to help keep your training on track and to help your
puppy learn to work for you around other dogs. Remember you are your dogs leader,
so if the training instructor doesn’t seem to be a good match or you feel uncomfortable
with the training methods, seek another trainer. All your efforts should be to a good
leader and protector of your dog.
They have been litter trained on pine pellets. This should help with transitioning to
potty training outdoors. You may want to put some in a small area outside. Remember,
the puppy only has a bladder the size of a walnut, so take them out often, especially
when they first wake up, eat or have been playing for a while.
Socialization
Your puppy has been systematically exposed to many things for the first 8 weeks. The
major socialization period in all dogs is 4-12 weeks. The exposures in this time are
critical for helping the puppy be a good adult dog and accept normal everyday life.
Exposure to many different people and experiences in a non-overwhelming fashion is
key. Do one new thing at a time and allow your puppy to slowly accept these things
with positive reinforcement (food, praise). Remember, you can’t get this time back, so
take advantage, but do your best to choose activities that keep the puppy safe until the
second vaccine coverage is good.
In addition, kuvasz are bred to be independent guard dogs which requires an astute
judge of normal and safe. Therefore, they must continue to be exposed to various
things throughout their life. They will be slower to accept new things as they get older,
so more positive experiences help. Don’t let them get stuck in a rut. Speak up if you
need help!
Puppy Exercise
The picture below shows the joints of a two week old puppy. Puppies are born with
essentially no attachments of their joints and they slowly form. This makes them very
susceptible to injuries and problems with later joint problems. However, appropriate
exercise is important for their development. A few tenets:
• Avoid repetitive motion. Climbing and jumping should be very limited. They
should not be jumping repeatedly or climbing over elbow height. Repetitive
exercise can also cause issues. Watch things like jumping off of couches.
• Short strolls at the puppies pace are good. Just make sure to go at the puppies
natural pace for a walk. If they get tired, it is likely too much.
• Playing with a similarly aged puppy is generally good exercise. Puppies may
overdo it with adult dogs and therefore short periods of well monitored play
are recommended.
• Self directed play in the backyard with supervision is good and help develop
the muscles around the joints.
• Slippery floors are hard on joints. Rugs can help puppies get better traction.
• Avoid flights of stairs before 3 months and routine use of stairs until 6 months.
1 or two stairs is generally fine and helps them with body awareness.
• If you play tug or use balls keep them low and the puppies neck not raised
above the body.
• If you need to tire them out, try teaching them a new trick or skill, this will
often tire them out far more than exercise, without wear and tear on the
joints.
• I’ve attached some general guidelines by age from the puppy culture program.
Health problems
We work hard to decrease health problems by selective breeding, but there are a
few things that we do see come up in the breed. One of our major goals is to always
improve health. If you have a health problem with your dog, please reach out to me. In
combination with our mentors, we have raised many kuvasz and may be aware of
something that could help. The kuvasz is an old and rare breed and many vets may
never have seen one or a unique problem that may crop up. Also, we want to use any
health information to improve future generations of the breed.
Hip dysplasia occurs. Genetics, environment and nutrition are key components.
We have selected many generations of dogs without hip dysplasia to reduce risk. Please
keep in mind nutrition and exercise to help as well. There are several studies that show
increased risk of hip dysplasia with early spay/neuter. If you can delay until 18-24
months, this may also help with joint growth and formation. We recommend delaying
when possible. Elbow dysplasia is less common (I have not seen any problems in the
lines these puppies come from).
Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) causes blindness. Two genes are required to
cause affected puppies and the puppies father does not carry the gene, so puppies will
not be affected, but may carry a gene that could affect breeding.
Hypothyroidism can be genetic in origin or non-genetic. It is no uncommon in
older kuvasz, but can usually be easily managed with medication. If your dog has
unexplained fatigue, hair loss or weight gain, please talk to your vet about thyroid
testing.
Cardiac issues have been seen, but rarely.
Bloat can occur in any large dog, particularly ones with deep chests. I recommend
reading carefully about the symptoms, as this is a surgical emergency if it occurs. Avoid
exercise close to meals, split meals for smaller volume food intake and monitor for any
concerning signs.
Cancer is less frequent than in other large breed dogs, but I have heard of cases of
both bone and GI cancers in older dogs.
We hope you will enjoy a wonderful companionship with your puppy. Kuvasz are loyal
companions beyond compare! If you are having trouble or have any concerns, please
reach out to me. I have lots of resources and experience and I am here to help in
anyway. I would encourage you to join one of our facebook groups or the national club,
to also have support of other owners. We love picture and updates! Please share with
us how your puppy is doing!
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