These tips are for the first few weeks

1. The most important rule, is to always have food & water available for your puppy at all times! Due to their small size, teacups must replenish their energy more frequently than larger size puppies. The only way to do this, is by supplying plenty of nourishment in the form of food. You must remember that puppies only eat very small amounts of food at a time but they exert large amounts of energy. Also, do not change the puppies food for the first 2 weeks until the puppy has adjusted to it's new home. Then, if you are going to make a change, do it gradually by slowly adding more of the new food to the old food each day until they are totally switched over to the new food.

2. The next most important rule, is to have a baby or puppy playpen or some other type of small enclosed area to keep your T-cup confined in, when you are not playing with them. This must be a small area with enough room for their bed and easy access to food and water where they can rest and eat in peace. This area should be no larger than 3ft x 4ft if at all possible. (A 2ft x 3ft baby playpen is ideal.) Never give your teacup puppy the run of the whole house until they are at least 5 or 6 months old. With such a large space to run around in, it is too easy for them to tire and lose track of where their food is. This could lead to hypoglycemia or death.

3. For the first few weeks, do not let your T-cup out to play for longer than a one hour period at a time. Play with them for a short time, then give them a small dose of Nutri-Cal® or karo syrup and then place them back in their playpen so they can eat and rest. Remember that they are very tiny babies and tire easily. Please be careful not to over-tire your puppy especially in the first few weeks. A puppy will play until it drops. It may play so much that it is too tired to eat. It is up to you as the owner to be responsible and see that your puppy gets enough rest. Most very small puppies need as much as 20 out of 24 hours rest. Be especially aware of the amount of time children play with the puppy. These are babies and must be treated as such.

4. *Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar can be deadly to your puppy! It is a problem that affects many toy breeds of puppies usually between the age of 5-20 weeks of age. All owners of small dogs should be on the lookout for it!

The best preventative for this, is to have a tube of Nutri-Cal® or Nutri-Stat® on hand. It is an extremely good source of food and vitamins. It is also one of the best preventatives and/or cures for keeping your puppy from going into hypoglycemia. It is important for at least the first week or so, to remember to give your puppy a little bit (1 inch strip) of Nutri-Cal® or Nutri-Stat® in the morning and in the evening. ( We recommend nutri-cal over honey as honey brings the blood sugar up for a short period of time, but then the blood sugar tends to plummet again. Nutri-cal has a food source combined with sweeteners which keeps the blood sugar more stable for a longer period of time. Also, too much honey tends to rot the teeth). Also, if they have been out playing for a while, or have had a lot of people carrying them around or have been away from a food source for a prolonged period of time, give them a tiny bit before retiring them to their playpen.

5. Always make sure that you have a firm grip on your puppy at all times when it is off the ground. Many fatalities or broken bones have been caused by a tiny dog wriggling out of an owners grasp, or jumping off a lap, couch, or bed, and breaking their neck, legs, or landing on their head.

Always supervise small children when around or handling a small dog. The only safe way for a child to hold a small dog, is sitting on the floor with the puppy between their legs, or on their lap. Also, never leave a small puppy on a chair, bed, couch, or stairs unattended. Remember, a fall from as low as two feet high can be fatal!

6. Never ever leave your teacup unattended unless it is in it's playpen or a safe enclosure! There are many places that such a tiny dog can manage to fit in, and disappear from, not to mention get stuck under! Also such innocent things as a book or telephone falling on them can break a bone or be deadly!