Shit, I have somehow acquired a puppy...

[Theoneandonlyitchymcitch]

Help!! She is a teeny tiny baby shitzu crossed with something equally obscure. She is slightly larger than my foot. I have zero experience with puppies. What do j need to do? I've made her up a bed with towels and puppy food in a dish near her. I got her a baby bottle to try and get her to drink milk (kitten milk!) from that. She is ignoring all my efforts and is snoring on my foot...

You may find this website useful OP. It has a breakdown of the developmental stages of a puppy and what you should be doing when as far as socialisation etc. goes.

If the puppy came from dodgy circumstances then there's loads of information about how to report the breeder/seller here on the CARIAD Campaign website.

Quite a few people have recommended Kikopup videos on YouTube for training

Thank you. That is really helpful.

She is gorgeous . The only thing I'd add is even though she's small, let her be a dog. When she's had her jabs she needs the same opportunities to loon around in the woods, play with other dogs, sniff things, get filthy etc as bigger dogs have. There are a few little dogs around here who are treated very much as toys or babies - and they're grumpy little sods as a result! They bark a lot at other dogs going past (and terrify my wuss of a dog )

"Good plan.does the same phrase work for the same outcome?? IYSWIM?!"

It does for us - I say 'be quick' and they go and do weeks and/or poos - whichever they need.

Our brown lab puppy was very quick to house-train - we think having her in the crate overnight helped, because she didn't want to soil her bed. It did help that Labradors are very food-motivated, which helps with training.

She used to take herself out of the garden, through the cat flap, to do her business - and I did worry that she'd reach a point where she would just get stuck half way in and half way out - but she realised when she was getting too big, and started bashing the cat flap with her paw, as a signal that she needed to go out - she still does this.

Stuffing her face currently after taking her on a walk (obviously I carried her). We met lots of other dogs etc. Will definitely just let her be a dog, she is small but she is turning out to be mighty... Did another wee outside just now! Very impressed.

Awwww she's so cute! And so is Alfie. And she sounds like a trooper and a very clever girl!

I have John Lewis insurance. So far they have been very good at taking my money, no idea on how good they are on paying it out when necessary yet.

Here's my Charlie as a 10 week old puppy and as a grown up lady in her favourite sleeping position.

Insurance wise I'd avoid anyone underwritten by RSA (including John Lewis, More Than and M&S) as they've introduced a "preferred referral network". This means that if your pet needs referring to a specialist you will be charged extra unless you go to one of their preferred specialists, who may or may not be the closest or best option for you or your pet.

Petplan aren't the cheapest but they have a good reputation for not hiking premiums up massively every year and lots of vets are happy to deal with them directly rather than expecting you to pay up front then claim back from your insurer yourself. I've heard good things about NFU as well.

There's some information about the RSA changes here and here.

At the moment only More Than and Tesco have introduced the preferred providers clause into their policies but other RSA companies may well follow in the future.

Whatever word you use for weeing/pooing she'll associate it with going outside and performing her bodily functions, so it tends to work for both in my experience.

I, unfortunately, adopted the same phrase that my DD used for her dog, which was 'go pee-pee' so now that's what I have to stand at the back door and say in my most encouraging voice when I want her to go, but she can pee on command so I suppose she doesn't care what I say, even if it does sound horribly twee:)

You sound as if you're having so much fun with her. Like you, I never thought of myself as a doggy person, always had cats before getting my lovely dog nearly 5 years ago, but my god they wind themselves round your heart right from the beginning; now I can't imagine life without her.

She is napping now. I want her to do a poo! She's only done one... Did she she had shat all down me earlier... She hadn't. I can tell she wants a poo (kind of), but I am going to let her sleep. Will wake her up in half an hour and try again. Charlie is gorgeous, assumed she was a boy, sorry Charlie!

Opps meant did think she had shat all down me...

And yes, I know I have only had her for about five seconds but I adore her! Even when she was chewing my hair earlier... That is one way to get rid of split ends, right??

I have John Lewis pet insurance, and they're really good, so you hopefully shouldn't have any worries there.

Will check it out tomorrow... In other news, she is trying to rip my jeans apart. She has also been for three wees out side on command!!! I am extremely proud of her and ME

Here is another picture of her

You're doing so well

I have a shih tzu cross
He is fab
He didn't take long to housetrain but I have a cat flap which the cat showed him how to use and that helped

I've just read this thread from start to finish.
Awwwwwww - lucky pup to have found you.

Hope the poo happens soon.

Seriously, I have never in my life been so excited about poo... I've tried playing, massaging her tummy, giving her dinner and lots of water... THERE IS NO POO!!! I need poo, dammit... cat gorgeous!!

Having done research and asked my friend it looks like she is pure shih tzu... She has the flat face associated with the breed... I guess time will tell. She is an aggressive little thing and I am pretty sure she has fleas... Urgh.