Thameswood Veterinary Clinics Ltd

Maverick is an impressive Great Dane, who we followed through his puppyhood at Thameswood. This is a collection of his diary entries.

Puppy Diaries...back to Maverick!

Our big, bold and very beautiful Maverick has now nearly reached his First Birthday. Maverick and his Mom and Dad will celebrate his birthday on the 4th April.

He now weighs in at a mere 60kg ( 9 stone 6 lb ) and still has some growing to do. He really is a big adolescent teenager with the spots to match. He loves everyone and has developed into a gentle mannered young man.

Maverick had his neutering operation last month to remove his manhood. He was a very well behaved patient and doesn’t seem to notice he is missing something. Neutering is very beneficial for health reasons unless you are planning to breed of course.

He is doing well at his training classes and after being awarded his Bronze Certificate he has now been promoted to the Big Boys class. The training classes have been an excellent experience for Maverick as he developed from young puppy into adulthood. He walks very nicely on the lead with the help of a Gencon headcollar and has learnt how to behave politely in public.

The changes from puppy to adult have been remarkable and we will be showing you some photo’s of Maverick at just eight weeks of age to his Birthday . Log on next month to see Mavericks first year.

Maverick...seven months

Our Lovely Maverick is now nearly 7 months old now and weighs in at a whopping 51kgs (nearly 8 stone 3lbs) and is still growing. He will continue to grow until he is about 14-18 months of age but this rapid growth rate should start to slow down.

As you can see, Maverick has thrown himself into the Halloween Trick or Treat Season as he proudly models his witches outfit. Not sure what the neighbours will think as he knocks on their door for a treat.

Since our last puppy diary, Mavericks favourite Mr Ducky (his cuddly toy which went everywhere with him) has sadly passed away. His owner reports that Mr Ducky was laid to rest after suffering a terrible haemorrhage in his stomach and all of his beans fell out.

Maverick has recovered from his loss and has a brand new toy called a Pup Tire Truck which bangs into the walls and doors as he marches about the house. Apparently, the nice thing about this is that you always know when he’s coming!

Maverick’s big personality is really taking over the house now. He seems to have a fascination with buttons and has removed every single one from his quilt cover and decided that he didn’t want any filling in his quilt either, so promptly removed this too. He had to have a new quilt after this episode.

He loves nothing more than cuddling up with dad with his new pillow and quilt. And regularly drags them into the lounge so he can do just that.

Maverick...16 weeks

Our lovely Maverick has now reached the age of 4 months. He is a very clever boy now and his owner is very pleased to announce he is fully toilet trained. As you can imagine, being a Great Dane pup, the puddles aren’t exactly little……they tend to resemble a small pond.

Maverick is still going through the play-biting stage but is learning how to control this. Now play biting is a natural behaviour for puppies – they tend to spend a lot of time in rough and tumble play before leaving their littermates and this carries on when they come to live with you. Play biting is important because it teaches them about ‘bite inhibition’ , if they bite their litter mates too hard they will make them cry and they won’t play anymore. Maverick is learning this message with his owners. When Maverick bites too hard, his mum and dad stop play.

Maverick has also started puppy training classes.

He is thoroughly enjoying them so far but as you can see he does tend to prefer lolloping around on the floor just messing about rather than actually learning the basic training commands like ‘sit and stay’. This training class is a fantastic way of socialising Maverick with lots of dogs as he grows into adolescence and he certainly doesn’t seem to be shy.

Maverick's favourite time of day is when he goes to ‘Na Nights’. This is when he gets to pick out his own treat from his pic n mix box. He loves his lazy times in between his sudden bursts of energy. His favourite toy is Mr Ducky who goes everywhere with him. He even joins Maverick for dinner….literally!

Meet Maverick!

Maverick is an eleven week old Male, Blue Great Dane puppy who will need lots of room to grow. Maverick is a very handsome, noble young man who according to his owner has settled in very well to his new home.

He is already showing his mischievous side to his personality . He loves his crazy monkey and has a huge fondness of squeaky toys. Maverick has learnt to sleep through the night (thankfully) and is doing his very best with his toilet training.

So, how would we best describe a Great Dane; alert, powerful, exuberant, outgoing; independent but at the same time, they love to be around their family. Now they can be a little clumsy and will think nothing of trampling over your feet but these gentle giants do need extra time and care to train and socialize them. Obviously a dog of these immense proportions can spell trouble if the essential social skills are not learnt. The exercise requirements of these giants are not too demanding unlike a border collie that will run for hours without tiring. They have short dense sleek coats which require minimal grooming. Of course, bath time involves getting just as wet as your Dane.

Mavericks owners contacted the surgery via e-mail before purchasing the big pup. She sought advice from what to look out for when purchasing a puppy, specific breed health problems and obviously scrutinised our range of services. Luckily for us we came up to scratch and we are proud to have Maverick as one of our news pups.

Maverick came into the surgery at tens weeks of age for his 1st vaccination and general health examination which he passed with flying colours.

The nurse then talked Maverick’s owners through the worming and flea regimes that will be needed to keep him parasite free and about his diet. As maverick will be growing at quite an astonishing rate, his growth and weight will be monitored throughout his puppyhood to ensure he is developing properly and grows into a healthy young male.

All our puppies are invited to our Puppy Parties. These are great fun and as you can see by the pictures, Maverick was not at all shy and was soon rollicking around with his new found play mates.

Puppy parties are an excellent way to introduce your pup to other pups of a similar age. A puppy’s socialisation period is from four to 14 weeks and this is when he will be most responsive to new experiences. What he experiences now as a pup will shape his attitudes and character for the rest of his life.

We will be following Maverick’s progress throughout his puppyhood until he reaches and adult. Log on next month to see how he’s doing and see what antics he gets up to next.