Puppy Survival thread part 4

[GooodMythicalMorning]

Puppy's getting bigger!: continuation of Bitey's thread. If anyone wants to join feel free.

Bluths - however many toys and chews you have, electrical cables taste far better Have a look round at puppy height and move, hide or get rid of as many as you can!! Elfpup found ones I didn't know I had (behind the sofa etc)

Welcome Bluths and new puppy

Bluepuppy has managed to get the child lock off the baby gate today ( he'd worked out how to open the baby gate). He also chewed up a garden hose. Got to love teenage dogs! Before anyone asks he had a goat horn, deer antler and pigs feet to chew on. Plus lots of toys and treats in taped up boxes. Guess there's nothing like making your own fun

Oh dear blue hope you don't need to water the garden any time soon

Ha, it's only a mini heat wave here at the moment. 34 degrees today and for the next few days

How is the furry Bitey one?

He's much better thanks blue. I am feeding him every hour so his stomach can tolerate the food. Poos are reasonable and no more coughing/regurgitation/vomiting or diarrhoea. Vets still puzzled as they can't pin point what was wrong and why he didn't respond to treatment quicker but I go back to see them again next week. He's very skinny and is sleeping lots but otherwise is a zillion times better than what he was

Solid poo!

Do you mean PizzaPup has finally done solid poo?

Hmm I was experimenting with a new name but forgot to change back . Not sure squashedpeas suits me

Yes, after 5 days she’s done a solid poo!

Maybe your new username needs to be poo related.

Well after what I have just witnessed it should be pee related

BiteyDog has just stood in the hall and peeded. I managed to say no to stop him mid pee and took him outside and praised. I think being admitted at the vets has regressed him as I know he soiled himself in their crate as they told me he had pooed and when he came home he had dried poo on him so I suspect he has also peeded in there. Think I am going to have to watch him and go back to basics for a bit he's so good normally at asking to go out I was a bit shocked but poor thing must feel out of sorts to have done that.

I'm sure he'll soon be back to his usual house trained self. He must have been quite weak so needs to get his strength back.

Just taken Elfpup to his last puppy play session - he'll be too old for it next week. He's exhausted having had an hour of rough and tumble with a bulldog pup who heavily outweighed him so I'm enjoying a Saturday morning cup of coffee in peace. Sheer bliss!

Deepfried I know the relief when they do a solid poo BiteyDog's has finally firmed up surprisingly when we stopped the 'gastro friendly' food from the vets and put him back on his normal food. I am thinking of throwing his kibble away as he seems to digest the millieswolfheart wet food the best.

Elphame are you going to do other training groups now elfpup has graduated from puppy class? I do need to go back to the training sessions once BiteyDog gets the all clear from the vets because at his age he really still needs regular reinforcement and with holidays and his illness we haven't been for several weeks.

Bitey Good news on the poo front. I have loads of kibble to dispose of too but the local rescue centres won't take it as it's not in the original bag.

Elfpup now moves on to Intermediate puppy class for the next 6 weeks. I think we might stop then as he'll have to go to 8.00pm classes afterwards which will not be convenient sadly or I expect I'd continue to the KC silver award.

Hello puppy thread people again. So Bananapup came home with us on Saturday and she’s the tiniest little adorable ball of fluff. She’s settling in well, but she seems to be struggling to poo, and when she does poo it’s very hard in consistency.

She’s being fed royal canin small dog puppy food, which is what she was weened on at the breeders. She’s eating well but not drinking very much I don’t think. I’m rinsing out her water bowl and refilling it every few hours to keep it fresh for her but she’s just not very interested, she only really drinks a few licks right after eating and i suspect this is behind her pooing problem.

When I have needed to encourage mine to drink I offer him the water bowl but wet my hand and get him to lick it as sometimes this encourages him to then drink. Have you tried different bowls to see if she just doesn't like drinking out of plastic or metal bowls etc.

Now I am always battling the opposite problem of sloppy poos so maybe not the best person to advise but I always thought that hard poo was good but extremely hard poo could indicate underfeeding (if feeding wet or dry) so maybe check the quantities again.

She has constant access to food (as per the breeders instructions) but only eats occasionally. We’ve worked out the maximum amount per day for her but she’s not choosing to eat the full amount, only about three quarters so far.

It’s not so much the consistency of the poo but the fact she’s clearly straining which is worrying me a little. That being said since I posted she’s drunk from her bowl a couple of times and pooed. The poo was while I was out of the room so I didn’t see if she was struggling.

I thought very hard poo was underfeeding too.

If you think she is getting the right amount but want to increase her fluid intake then you could try adding a few spoonfuls of warm water to the kibble and let it stand for a few minutes to make a "gravy".

You might want to look into the constant access to food a bit more once you are settled with the puppy. Whilst it might work for you and your pup there are a couple of downsides to letting them graze. First by having food on tap all the time it can lose its value for the dog because by allowing them to graze they tend to then not view it with enthusiasm.

The second is that it can make toilet training harder as you can predict when they might need to toilet by when they last had their meal. If they graze bits all day then you won't have set times to watch for them needing a poo.

It's entirely up to you on the constant food access but if you find puppy isn't eating as much as it should and or you are struggling with toileting you might want to try several meals a day but then take up the food after 15-30 mins if not eaten. Certainly when mine had been a picky eater in the past this has helped as he views his next meal with more excitement.

Thanks for the advice. The reason the breeder gave for constant access was to keep the puppy’s blood sugar level up, she’s absolutely tiny, just over one pound in weight despite being nearly twelve weeks old. (Just for clarity she’s not been bread or sold as a novelty tiny Pomeranian, she just is tiny, her brother is twice her size.)

When she’s bigger I’ll move her on to three or four meals a day.

Oh my she is a tiny thing. Have you had a vet check yet? Might be worth mentioning the straining if you have one coming up as they may be able to recommend something.

She’s going to the vet on Saturday and to a special pre vaccination puppy socialisation group run by the vet nurse on Wednesday. I’m going to have a chat with the nurse then if it doesn’t improve.

I'd recommend asking a vet for feeding advice with a view to preventing hypoglycaemia. I'd have thought small but very regular meals throughout the day (and possibly night) would be better than allowing her to graze as she may not end up eating regularly enough if she's just picking at it as and when.

Have proper meal times will also make it much easier to monitor her eating which is important as loss of appetite can be a symptom of hypoglycaemia.

Hello,

Just popping in to introduce myself and mousedog. We brought home our new lurcher puppy on Saturday & she is currently snoozing beside me.

We are all in love 😍

Welcome mouse she looks very cute

I thought I would try the madam on some natures menu raw nuggets as she loooooves raw chicken.

Did she touch them? Did she heck. Left them down for her as she tends to eat during the night, still didn't touch them.

The cat had a very smug breakfast this morning