What to think about first:
*Ensure you have the time and room to keep a Neapolitan from puppy age to adult.
* Have you got the finances to keep a Neapolitan
If yes to both of them, here is what to do now
* Try to gather as much information on them, by looking on as many different websites and reading books about the breed.
* Join the Neapolitan mastiff club
* Try and go to shows that Neapolitans are on at, or go to Discover Dogs either at Crufts (Birmingham), Earls Court (London) or 'All about Dogs' Brentwood (Essex).
* Try and find out if there is someone near your area that owns Neapolitans and see if you can visit. (can get that information from club secretary)
Once you have found out all the information and still want one, now its time to buy
How to find a litter:
* Contact the club secretary
* Look on the kennel club website
* Contact our breed note writers in the dog papers (Our Dogs & Dog World)
* Also look in the breed classifieds of the above dog papers.
What to do when you go and see the litter:
* Try to see the litter as soon as possible
* You must see the Dam and stud dog, if he is not there (which is normally the case) ask for his details and then contact the stud dog owners and try to visit them.
* Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, the breeder should always answer them.
Choosing your puppy:
* Don’t worry about the colour (unless you have a preference) as all four colours are accepted
* Make sure the puppy looks like a mini adult
* Choose one with the tightest eyes, as they will droop as they get older
* Make sure its steady on the legs (depends on what age you see them, this will be from 4 weeks)
* It should be healthy, big boned and have loose skin
* Also make sure it’s not a shy puppy (it might be at first so give it time and just watch).
At this point the breeder might ask for a deposit
Before your puppy comes home:
* Look into insurances (they do normally come with one but get it insured as soon as possible)
* Make your house puppy safe
* Buy a puppy pen or cage so the puppy has a safe place when it arrives as it may be nervous
* When you get the puppy home feed it in there and let it sleep in there.
When you pick your puppy, what you should get from your breeder:
* Pedigree
* Picture of Sire and dam
* Puppy planner (so you know what its routine has been)
* A few days supply of the current puppy food that it has been on
* An item that is known to the puppy, no matter what it looks like just so the puppy has smells of its litter brother and sisters.
* Vaccination card
Your puppy should receive it's first set of vaccinations between 6 and 10 weeks old. With the second set followed up at about two weeks later. However each veterinaries practice will have their own procedures on this so you should follow their advice. But I cannot stress enough the importance of getting your Neapolitan puppy fully vaccinated. If you intend to take it abroad at a later date you should also consider having the rabies injection done at the same time. To ensure proper growth and avoid health complications, puppies should be checked for intestinal parasites such as fleas, worms and heartworm disease. Your breeder should do this with a record given to you of what has been done up to the time you take your puppy home. You should continue worming every 3/4 weeks until your puppy reaches 5/6 months of age. Thereafter it should be done on a regular 6-month basis for the dog’s entire life. Talk to your vet for treatment and preventatives as in our experience Neapolitans can have a low immune system so you should avoid these easily controlled problems.
Socialising:
From the age of 12 weeks after inoculations we would recommend that you join your local obedience club. These run puppy training classes and you progress up to a higher class as your puppy gets older. We have found this to be an excellent way of socialisation as it is in a controlled environment.
Before this we take our pups out in the car to see family and friends who do not have dogs. We also carry our pups out into the front garden to watch the world go by. Plus we have friends to visit ensuring that we invite as many males as possible because we are mainly a female household.
We play with the pup for a few minutes at a time on the floor taking care not to get the pup over excited. We also introduce the pup to any adult dogs we have one at a time and allow short periods of playtime. Extending this to as time goes on but we never leave them all alone together in case the pup torments the older dogs too much or visa versa.
As we like to show our dogs we also take them to ring craft classes from the age of 12 weeks. In our experience this is a great way to socialise even if the pup does not turn out to be a show dog.