By the time your puppy is ready for you to pick him up, he will already be eating dry dog food. Our dogs are fed a high quality dry food that is availible at Costco for a very reasonable price. Chicken and Rice adult formula is under $25 dollars for a 40 pound bag and the puppy formula is under $15 for a 20 pound bag. Your puppy will be sent home with a few days supply of dry food. You can continue feeding the same food or you can mix it with the food you plan on using so your puppy's delicate digestive track can adjust to it's new diet. A sudden change can result in vomiting and/or Diarrhea until he adjusts.

Choosing to get a crate that will grow with your puppy is alway a smart choice. A crate creates a safe den like atmosphere for your puppy. Your puppy is already used to using a crate to sleep in and doesn't think it's a punishment to be inside it. Especially if he has his favorite toy with him. By keeping your puppy in a crate for short periods of time when you can't be with him will also keep him out of mischief and protect your home from his need to chew. It may even save his life.

For the standard size puppies we recommend the ex-large size crate, 36"X42". 

For the medium size puppies, we recommend the large size crate, "30"X36".

We take the puppies for a few car rides to help them get use to the experience before you take him home. We also don't feed the puppies for three hours before you come to take one home. We don't want his first experience with you to be vomiting in your car. The puppy feels the pull of gravity as you speed up and slow down and turn corners, and since they are small all they see is power poles and tree tops flying by unexpectedly. Put yourself in his place and you will understand why this could make him ill. Bring a towel or an old blanket to lay him on if you don't have a travel carrier.

We never would send a puppy home with you that is sick, but, sometimes a puppy can get stressed out and may even appear sick when he experiences a new enviroment. This usually passes pretty quickly in a few hours or a day. Remember he was with his litter mates and parents and now suddenly finds himself alone and with these people that he barely knows. It can be quite overwelming all the new smells, new people, new animals. When we brough home our Fritz he was so quiet, we didn't even hear him bark until he had been in our home for more than two weeks. I would run circles around our back yard to get him to play and interact with us. Whenever we took him somewhere in the car he would zone out and drool excessively. After time he became the playful guy that he is today, he just needed to adjust to us at his own pace. This is why we try to give our puppies as many different experiences as possible, to minimize the stress of going to a new home.

Don't forget that your new friend needs something to chew on. They are like babies, always putting something in their mouth. Between three and five months old they start loosing their baby teeth and their adult teeth come in. They have to chew on something to encourage the baby teeth to fall out and break the new teeth though their gums. If you don't provide something for chewing, they will find something on their own, and you know it's going to be your favorite shoes or your new couch. Better to spend a few dollars on a chew toy than to spend hundreds replacing furniture. They will even chew holes in the sheet rock. Don't think that putting your puppy in the bathroom is totally safe when your not home. It only takes a little bit of chewing on the supply line to your toilet to flood your home. (leads me back to the crate discussion) By the time you discover what your puppy got into, he is going to forget doing it and isn't going to think that your upset by what he did, only that your upset by the mess on the floor. Face it, it wasn't done by the puppy to creat havoc, it is your fault that you didn't provide something for your puppy to chew on a occupy him. Just clean it up and learn your lesson. Even being prepared, you can still be surprised by what they find to chew on.

Your puppy will sniff around when she is looking for a place to go potty, this is the number one sign to watch for. Circling and sniffing. At her age she shouldn't be left out unless she can be closely watched. You can use the crate for potty training. Puppies have a very fast digestive track and need to poo within a few minutes of eating. So you should make a daily schedule and stick to it especially now until she can wait longer. Always take her to the same place outside to go potty, she will smell her scent there and be triggered to go again.
 
Get up, out to potty.
Eat, out to potty.
Training/play time, out to potty.
Nap.
 
Repeat.
 
Rule of thumb is for every month of age up to 10 months is how long she can be expected to stay in her crate before the need to potty. That's why we also use an exercise pen attached to the crate with paper puppy pads, so the puppy can have a separate place to sleep and another place to eat and play. Dogs naturally don't want to potty where they eat and sleep. If you need her to potty and she doesn't seem interested, put her in her crate for enough time to settle down and maybe nap for for 15 minutes. then get her up and tell her its time to go outside.