Health, Food, & Vet Costs and Recommendations at 12 weeks

General Health
Weight: 10 lb 4 oz
Health: Excellent
>Eats his food
>Is lively after napping, playing, very awake
>Coat has no bald spots, no shedding
>Coat is soft, not dry or brittle
>Sleeps in crate

Any Health Issues?
As per our usual now, no, there are no health issues but here are a few things that have come up!

1) Ticks. Oh god. The WORST thing to deal with ever.  If you live in an area with ticks get a nice pair of metal tweezers and check your dog everyday.  While he's sitting in your lap playing with a toy, move your hands all over his body and feel for lumps.  When you find one, hold him down and inspect it.  They might scream and wiggle, but you gotta just do it.  So far we have pulled two ticks out of him: one behind the ear on the head and another on his cheek!  One was crawling on him, but not stuck yet.

I live in the mountains above Santa Barbara.  We have lots of ticks, but no Lyme really.  If there is Lyme in your area you need to head to the vet at each bite and get antibiotics immediately!  We apply Vectra3D now for fleas/ticks.

Food & Feeding
Food Type: Acana Pacifica with a variety of wet food toppers like Merrick Grain Free line.  I add about 1 tsp of warm water from my tea kettle to make a gravy that coats the dry food better.  I also break up big meat chunks too to more evenly distribute it.  Otherwise, he'll just pick out the meat.
Amount of Food per Day: 1 cup given 1/3 cup increments 3x per day with 2 tbsp of wet food topper mixed in at each feeding.  Once at 8:30 am, once between 1-2pm, and around 7pm.

Poop?
Here's a quick update on his poop: he is pooping regularly now (once in the morning, once in afternoon, and once in evening on walk).  His poop is solid, a nice log shape.  I love Acana food! I think it has been good on his tummy and makes a nice poo.  TMI? Yes.  But poop is important.

Veterinary 
Second Vet Visit: 1-12-13
Age at second visit: 12 weeks old
Goal: Get Bordetella vaccination and receive boosters for Parvo; get flea meds
    >Cost: $80.00: Includes vaccination, booster, and Vectra3D

Vet Advice/Recommendations from Second Visit (My vet is both Holistic and Classically trained) 

1. Feed more wet food than dry.  She says that evidence now suggests dry kibble is not good for cleaning teeth.  Instead, it just gets stuck and leads to problems because dogs are not designed to chew their food.  She recommends raw stew meat chunks, eggs, and some raw veggies and fruit thrown into the bowl with the occasional raw bone to chew on.  I am a vegetarian and I am not ready to deal with that type of goop in my kitchen so for now I am simply adding more wet food toppers than before at each meal and adding a little bit of water to soften the kibble.  I feed a high quality kibble (Acana Pacifica) and I feel that if it's not the most optimal, it's way better than what most dogs get!  Spoiled puppy over here! :P 
2. Continue feeding 3x per day