Raising a puppy? Here’s the most important advice the books didn’t mention…

Joel Weierman
Nov 4 · 6 min read

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and bring a little puppy into your life? Congratulations! I promise to try and respect your time and hopefully you can take away some useful knowledge that I’ve learned the hard way.

Sora, our 6 month old Golden Retriever

I didn’t grow up around many dogs so when our son sat us all down and called a special family meeting to declare “I want to get a dog”, I knew we would be in for an adventure. I tend to go gangbusters when presented with a new challenge, so I immediately started diving into to all the books, videos that our friends loaned and recommended to us. It was exhausting. Cesar Milan says you have to be dominate and show the dog who is boss, while another Netflix specials say dogs are different than wolves and are really all about bonding with their human and playing. This same back and forth seemed to ring true for every bit of wisdom I started to read or talk about with dog owning friends. I don’t know who is right or the “perfect” way to raise them, but I do know we have an 8 week old puppy at home who needs a lot of love and attention!


Our dog Sora (pictured above) is now 6 months old and wow, have I learned a lot that wasn’t covered in the books. Sure, introduce your puppy to a lot of people and situations, get them a good vet that you like, spend time and play with them, get them crate and potty trained. All of these things are covered pretty well in all the books I’ve read. However, there are a couple really painful lessons that I learned that aren’t and I’d like to share those with you. (Please keep in mind, these experiences and advice are based on our Golden Retriever pup so your mileage may vary if you have a larger / smaller or significantly different breed.)

Let’s start with pet insurance. I initially went with Trupanion based on the vet we started out at and a recommendation and while they have a great marketing engine, they are really only potentially beneficial much later in your dog’s life. Their special market offering is a “per condition” deductible so they claim you can save money as you only have to pay the deductible once if your pooch has a major medical issue that requires treatment over multiple years. However, if you are raising a puppy, your most common expense will likely be short vet visits for accidents, accidental ingestion, upset stomachs, etc. In this case, each accident is a new “condition” and after a couple $100 to $200 emergency pet visits and no reimbursement from Trupanion, this gets old really fast. A co-worker suggested Healthy Paws which has a regular yearly deductible (the plan i selected is $250) and results in much more predictability and higher likelihood that you may get some benefit from the plan. So make sure you read the fine print closely before selecting an insurance plan.

Next is keeping your puppy alive / avoiding unnecessary surgery. There is a lot of info out there about what is poisonous for your pooch. Our backyard is full of azaleas, ivy, grapes and a bunch of other poisonous plants. I think the safest thing is if you don’t know what it is, don’t let them chew or eat it. Sora loves to eat kale and that’s a healthy and safe option so we let her eat that while in the backyard but not much else. You also need to watch out for things in the house as well. Our little one ate a plush egg toy that was for our cat one morning. When something like this happens, you need to decide pretty quickly if you are going to let it ride and hopefully come out the other end or that it’s too risky and intervene. Puppies seem pretty good at self-regulating but I have also heard stories of socks getting ingested and needing to come out via surgery when the works get all gummed up. Our vets have told us that the digestion process for a dog is about 90 minutes. So if you are going to intervene, you have about that much time to induce vomiting. Yes, induce vomiting. It’s disgusting and makes you feel guilty about how you let this happen in the first place, but it is also generally recommended and learning how to do it safely at home will save you a lot of stress of driving to the vet and trying to beat the clock. Instead, you can use that valuable time at home on the phone with a professional poison control center and attend more closely to your dog and the situation.

(Disclaimer: I’m not a veterinarian so please consider this colloquial advice only. If you have serious medical concerns with your pup, take them immediately to a local pet emergency room to have them professionally evaluated)

Here’s what you will need:

  • 3% hydrogen peroxide
  • Yogurt, honey or something kind of sweet
  • Spoon or similar to stir with
  • Bowl
  • Garbage bags (optional but recommended)
  • Latex gloves or a stick to poke through the vomit (assuming you want to find and confirm what was swallowed)
  • Paper towels
  • Turkey baster or something to measure Milliliters with
  • A clear and clean location for your pooch to do the deed

The rough rule of thumb I’ve seen and adopted is 5 ml per 10 pounds of weight. This is a lot less than the other rule of thumb I’ve seen which is 1 ml per pound. In our case, the lesser amount has worked flawlessly two separate times with Sora.

OK. Ready to do this? Take the yogurt (or equivalent) from the fridge and put a few spoonfuls in a bowl. Measure out the hydrogen peroxide, pour it in and stir. Make sure you are in the general area and are ready to clean-up. Give the mixture to your pooch. I recommend walking them around for 5–10 minutes. You should start to see their stomach convulse and vomiting begin shortly thereafter. Keep those garbage bags handy and try to lay them down just before they do the deed. This can be tricky and both times ours just wretched right on the floor but I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes. Take the stick or put on those gloves and start searching! It usually doesn’t take long to find what you are looking for. If not, you at least have peace of mind that you have done all you could to get rid of whatever it is they shouldn’t have eaten. I would follow this up with some water and confirm they are able to hold that down. Keep them in the designated area for another 10–15 minutes as you are likely to have more than one round of vomiting. If they look alright, you should be able to offer food after about 20 minutes. Dogs don’t seem to have any aversion to eating right after they puke. In fact, ours will eat her own if you don’t stop her. (Eww!) If you have further concerns or notice anything unusual, be sure to follow-up at a pet emergency clinic and/or with your vet.


Hopefully you’ve puppy proofed your house / backyard and always keep a close eye on your pooch and never have to use the above directions. However, if something unexpected does happen, I hope this article helps reduce the stressfulness of the situation at least a little bit. Chances are they will be just fine. Happy puppy raising!

What are some of the things you’ve learned the hard way that aren’t in the dog raising books you read?

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