Caring for Your Lagotto Romagnolo

Complete, nutritious food is very important in keeping your Lagotto healthy. We feed our dogs Purina Pro Plan Focus - Puppy. When choosing the food for your dog, it is important to choose a brand that has been evaluated by AAFCO to meet the minimum nutrient standards your dog will need to grow and flourish. We recommend keeping your puppy on the same brand and type of food for at least 2 weeks after coming home. A new home can be stressful enough for your little guy. We want to keep his digestive system as normal as possible to avoid an upset tummy. When switching brands, it should take about a week to be on the new food. Add a tablespoon of new food to the old variety for a full day. Each day, up the amount of new food and lower the amount of old food until you are only feeding the new variety. We like to feed puppies 3 times a day until they are about 6 months old. Water should be readily available.

One of the trademark looks of the Lagotto Romagnolo is her rustic, curly coat. While it is important to brush her weekly to avoid matts, this takes away the rustic look. After brushing, lightly mist the coat with water and those gorgeous, tight curls come right back. We like to use a pin brush for at home brushing. We have our dogs trimmed to about 1-1 1/2 inches every 6-8 weeks. 

Potty training your Lagotto Romagnolo starts the day you bring him home. It is wise to immediately take him where you want his potty area to be, even before bringing him inside to see everyone. We recommend crate training until his potty habits have been established. 

Choosing a vet is an important part of owning your Lagotto. Each of our puppies is given a nose-to-tail checkup before going home. Our vet looks at the puppy's eyes, ears, nose, mouth, lungs, heart, patellas, and is very thorough in his exam. We recommend having your new puppy examined within 3 days of coming home. This will be a general examination, with no vaccines given. Your vet may recommend a fecal test. Roundworms, coccidia, and giardia are common occurrences in puppies. We take every precaution to prevent these parasites by keeping a clean environment and having the puppies on a regular deworming schedule. If found in your puppy, your vet will likely give a dose of dewormer. Even if not found, it is routine to deworm with each round of vaccinations. 

Your puppy will receive 3-4 puppy vaccines spaced up to 4 weeks apart.  At 16 weeks, he is old enough to receive a rabies vaccination. The first rabies vaccine is good for 1 year. The following rabies vaccinations are to be given every 3 years. 

**Please note that it is believed that almost every dog and puppy harbors some sort of parasite and the stress of leaving his litter may cause symptoms to arise.