I have a poodle puppy and I have some questions.

[Deadnettle]

Puppy is 16 weeks old (we got her at 10 weeks) and she is brilliant but I have some questions that I can't find answers for and I thought mn will know!

1. Puppy does not like walking, she refuses to move and whines a lot of the time (she wants to go home). Am I doing the right thing in letting her take her time but not letting her go home until she has had a short walk? She is having 2 walks a day and has done for 4 weeks now. They are very very short but take ages!

1. We changed her food to Eden as she wasn't even eating a 1/3 of what she should have been on her old food. She loves Eden but has had loose stools 99% of the time. She has been on it for 3 weeks, 1 week of just Eden. Should we change food or give it more time? She also ate some plastic which made her ill (vet said she is fine) in the last few weeks so I don't if they are related.

1. Any guesses for when a miniature poodle will stop needing the loo (wee and poo) in the night? Last dog was 15 or 16 weeks before he could sleep though the night but he was a collie. I am so tired!

1. Puppy sleeps fine in a crate at night but screams in it in the day. Even if we are right there. She seems ok if I leave her in the kitchen for a few minutes so I was thinking of leaving her in a puppy pen when I need to. Is there a foolproof way of introducing one? Will it impact her toilet training? She has had one accident in the last four weeks.

1. How do we make her tolerate the rain. That one accident in the house was because it was raining. She went to the door asking to go out, Dh opened door, puppy saw that it was raining so went in the kitchen (puppy now gets put out if we know its raining).

1. We don't have any decent groomers near us so decided to do it ourselves. We have clippers and have watched 100's of grooming videos. How do you work up the nerve to put the clippers near the dog?! (Puppy is fine with clippers, its us with the problem).

TIA

Oops I forgot a picture! This is a few weeks old because I don't have any newer ones on my computer.

She also looks more like a poodle now as the hair on her face is short.

1. I'd persevere, but try and make them really positive, loads of treats and maybe concentrate on doing a fun game rather than distance travelled.

1. You're probably over feeding her, that causes loose stools and feeding recommendations are usually way way too much.

1. I'd just do what works, I don't really rate crates for housetraining anyway...and unless you're hugely busy I wouldn't put her in one if you're there anyway, I basically use it as a safe space to put them in when I'm not around.

1. Just keep going out, lol, put her lead on if you can't get her there in the first place and then stand out there miserably with her and one day she'll accept that it rains...

No clue about poodle specific stuff.

Thanks Tabulahrasa.

Does it count as over feeding if she doesn't eat it all? We have had a real problem getting her to eat. She doesn't have a drop of fat on her and is very very skinny (to the point I took her to the vets!).

I'm not trying to get her in a crate for housetraining as she is pretty much there. I'm trying to crate her so I can leave the house knowing that she is safe and happy. I just don't understand how she can willingly go in and happily spend all night in her crate but scream like I'm killing her if she goes in during the day.

Because it's different and you're doing stuff withoooouuutt heeeeer (that was a crying toddler voice btw) lol.

If she's not finishing it you probably are over feeding her, yes. It might be too rich for her, some dogs find high protein foods like Eden a bit much, but usually it's just too much food.

Skinny is fine on a puppy, you should be able to feel their ribs - though with poodle fur that's harder, lol.

What did the vet say about her weight?

Because it's different and you're doing stuff withoooouuutt heeeeer (that was a crying toddler voice btw) lol.

Yep this is our puppy. The larger the audience the louder the screams! We are becoming very good at ignoring her.

Right I'll feed her less. How much less? She has been having the amount eden recommends for her weight. Well under that as she doesn't eat it all.

I can feel every single rib and all the gaps inbetween. Vet said that she is very skinny but not terribly underweight (so a bit underweight?), we have to take her to be weighed again soon.

I'm mean, I'd half it for a day...because if it makes no difference then she's not getting too much.

If it does make a difference then I'd feed her what she actually eats less about 10% and go up or down from there.

If it makes no difference at all, then I'd start looking at a different food.

Ok, I'll do that then.

I don't have a problem changing food.

I hate looking and trying new foods. Our last dog had allergic colitis and all we did was research foods that wouldn't make him ill.

Eric is a poodle cross and is very fussy about food but eats enough to be healthy. He's skinny but the vet says he's not underweight so I don't tend to fret.
Eric's a bit of a diva, loves an audience so the screaming for an audience doesn't surprise me tbh. Eric does exactly what he knows he shouldn't if he's bored purely for attention.
We never had to get up with Eric for toileting mind you he has always gone hours between toileting and only goes on his walks now so can go twelve hours or more in between pees
Eric has a poodle coat and we were told he shouldn't be clipped before six months as it ruins their coat so I'd phone a groomers and ask. Having said that we did have around his eyes trimmed with scissors because his hair covered his face and around his bum too to save on daily washing before he was six months.

Weirdly the puppy doesn't seem fussy about treats Poor thing is having the absolute minimum of treats at the minute incase thay are adding to the problem.

Puppy is a diva too but is already better than a couple of poodles I met a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't have wanted to live with them! Ignoring her is working.

Clipping a poodles coat before 6 months doesn't ruin it. You can keep the puppy coat long but its best to cut it short (unless showing) during the coat change because it matts horridly.

Sorry that was meant to say:

Clipping a poodles coat before 6 months doesn't ruin it, I don't think. There is lots of info saying it does but lots more saying it doesn't.

The puppy has now woken up.

I've no idea whether it does or not to be honest only that the two groomers I phoned said they wouldn't clip Eric before he was six months but did bathe him which I think is useful for them to get used to the experience.

Thats weird. One groomer I spoke to said 16 weeks before a proper groom but the only info I could find about waiting until 16 weeks was from the US and had to do with the rabies vaccine.

I have a poodle grooming book that came highly recommended and it doesn't say anything about waiting.

1. We tried eden for months when our lab was a pup and after many calls with Eden and recommendations to give him time to detox, feed less, feed in a slow feeder, add probiotics, try elm tree bark, etc etc we switched to Millies Wolfheart Countryside mix and within 2-3 his poos were beautiful and the smelly wind disappeared.

Thanks WeAllHaveWings, I know Eden doesn't suit all dogs. TBH it was only chosen over similar foods because we can buy it locally.

Thanks Kelpeed. Do you have miniature poodles?

We fed our first dog raw and thought it was great, its just not practical for us at the moment.

It was insan1tyscartching who was told not to clip before 6 months.

Puppy's face, between her pads and her bottom are trimmed every week by us and the groomer we were taking her to (but now won't us again) trimmed her coat a bit but she hasn't had a proper clip yet. She is line brushed every day and the only matts we have had are from the groomer not brushing her properly after a bath (it took over an hour to get the knots out!).

We have everything we need to clip her ourselves and she is fine with the clippers, we just haven't worked up the nerve to do it yet.

I don't really care if she doesn't like the rain, I just need her to go to the loo outside when it's raining. The only accident she has had in the last 4 weeks is when it rained. Her toilet training is coming along quicker than I expected, if you discount the time it rained she hasn't had an accident in the house since she was 12 weeks old! I don't trust it at all but its still pretty good.

Thanks Kelpeed, we aim to keep the puppy short as she likes lurking under bushes and the fur is like velcro!

We are having trouble finding a good groomer. A friend is a groomer but is a bit too far away and is new to grooming although she is willing to teach us. The local one has such a bad rep that I haven't even tried them.

The groomer we used seemed good at first, I watched her groom a dog before I decided to use her and she is nice and calm with them. The puppy has seen that groomer 4 times (to get her use to being bathed and dried because she hated it), and except for the first appointment where she was already there she has been late. Last time she was over an hour late, it took a text, a phone call and finally speaking to her mum before she turned up! She didn't even apologise! I think the groomer did brush the puppy but did a very poor job, I couldn't run a comb though her coat at all.

I have seen that forum and been amazed at some of the things posted but have found some of the stuff useful.

I would put her in crate with Kong or new toys so it becomes a nice place to be, if you aren't already doing that.

She is lovely!

Walking wise I found it was pretty common to see puppies not wanting to go out for a walk my boy was same .Now loves it

OwlFeathersFluff we are doing that but it makes no difference. She only has a problem with her crate in the day.

ChairRider4 I've found it to be common too, I've just never experienced it before. How old was your dog before he liked walking? I don't mind what should be a 10 minute walk taking an hour in nice weather but I really will mind it in bad weather!