The Essays for the First Year
These are the pages we send our own families, in the order a puppy's first year raises the questions. Each one is written from eleven years of our litters and cites its sources. The owner portal holds your puppy's records; this page is the public shelf.
- Before the puppy comes home: a checklist, room by room. What to have in the house on day one and what to skip.
- The first ride and the first night. Why the puppy cries, why you sleep on the sofa for three nights, and when protest becomes panic.
- The first month, day by day. A schedule for an eight-week-old, the 3-3-3 rule, loose stools and the stool test.
- Health findings in the first months. Murmurs, retained teeth, hernias and one late testicle: what is normal and the age at which watching becomes acting.
- Socialization. The three-to-twelve-week window and what to do with it.
- Manding. The sit-and-look-at-you skill every puppy leaves us with, and how to keep it.
- Teething. What to expect from twelve weeks to seven months.
- Being left alone, and the sixteen-week absence staircase. What we do before eight weeks and the schedule you follow after.
- Exercise and growth plates. How much, what kind, what to avoid, by age.
- The first year. Adolescence, the coat change, and the second fear period.
Feeding, Grooming and Health
- Feeding your dog: the two-minute version, then what we feed and the calcium rule, schedules and supplements, raw, grain-free and allergies, and treats and toxic foods.
- Plants toxic to dogs, a Pacific Northwest field guide.
- Grooming: the clip every six to eight weeks, no brushing out, no conditioner, the method from Katrien van Gemert's book. The coat essay explains the transition coat between nine and eighteen months.
- Spay and neuter timing: why we ask families to wait until 24 months.
- Health problems in the breed and what the health tests mean.
- Training and training resources, including the trainers we send families to.
- The senior Lagotto: what changes after ten and what to do about it.
Staying in Touch
Every family that takes home a Northwest Lagotto puppy has direct access to us for the life of the dog. Questions about the first night, teething, adolescence or anything that comes up over the years go to the contact page or to Mark directly. Families around Seattle can opt into the private community directory through the portal to find each other for walks and swims. If your dog has done something worth a photograph, send it; we keep them all.
Frequently Asked Questions
›Where do I find my puppy's records?
In the owner portal, which is private to buyers. This page is the public reading list; the portal holds the paperwork, the vaccine schedule and the contract.
›How long can I ask Northwest Lagotto questions after I take my puppy home?
For the life of the dog. That has been the arrangement for every puppy we have placed since 2015.
›What should I read first?
The checklist, then the first ride and first night, then the first month. Those three cover the first fourteen days, which is where most of the questions come from.
Considering a Lagotto?
We place one or two litters a year from Lynden, Washington. Puppies are $6,500, go home at eight weeks, and are raised on the Puppy Culture protocol from day three. If you have a question about the breed, ask it; if you want to be considered for a litter, the waitlist is where that starts.
Sources for This Page
- Northwest Lagotto. Essays listed above, each with its own reference list.