new puppy, what do i do?

[Guest guest]

yesterday my friend who works down the street from me came into my

work holding a tiny 7 week old lhasa apso puppy & said it was his

co-worker's & that she was selling the rest of the litter. i've been

wanting a small dog for some time now, so i jumped at this opportunity

to get one. unfortunately the deal is that i have to pick up the

puppy tomorrow or i'll miss the opportunity, but i haven't had much

time to read up on the lhasa apso breed or being a responsible dog

companion in general. so i have a lot of questions that ought to get

answered in a very short period of time & i though you would be a good

group of people to ask, being that veg people usually love animals, so

i figured that those of you with pets probably take great care of them.

 

the first thing i want to do as soon as i pick up marcellus (my

puppy!) is take him to the vet to get shots & make sure he's healthy.

any recommendations for a good vet? i live in west add, but a vet in

any of the surrounding neighborhoods would be fine too.

 

next thing i plan to do is buy marcellus some food.. i have two

concerns regarding food though. first off i don't trust pet food

because i know a lot of it is made of substandard ingredients. i

don't want to feed my little friend any rotten, diseased meat &

vegetables/grains! any recommendations for fresh foods i could feed

him, or good dog foods? secondly, i heard that dogs can be vegan. is

this recommended, or is it just one of those things like " well sure

you COULD have a vegan dog, but he would not be very healthy & would

die earlier than an omnivorous dog. " also is there anything in

particular to watch out for when feeding a lhasa apso? anything

they're allergic to (i heard dogs are deathly allergic to chocolate,

yes?)?

 

after that i'll probably go buy him some toys & accessories, then take

him home & groom him. for grooming i plan on just getting a hair

buzzer & giving him a buzz cut, washing & drying him off, then

brushing him with a pin brush & a slicker - does that seem

appropriate? also, are there any recommendations for good a good

shampoo & conditioner?

 

i'd like to raise my boy proper - organic, cruelty-free & human-grade

foods & products at least & if i can incorporate veganism at all

without compromising marcellus' health, that would be fabulous.

thanks in advance for any help!