Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

This is going to sound like a really dumb question but how do you feed wet food? We're feeding wainwright's trays, and weeing him on at the moment so just mushing it in bowl with kibble mixed in, but when he can have a whole tray do I just give him the actual tray?

@Sparkle79 we use the wet trays, even if I have done it for a whole meal I have used his bowl as its so tightly packed in, I always assumed it needed mushing up. I have used it in the tray occasionally if feeding half though.

We have gone back to the Wainwrights wet trays and mixed it with the food he doesnt like, it has upset his tummy straight away. DH is picking up some Royal Canin pug puppy food today so no idea how to wean him on it, do i mix it with the food he doesnt like or with his original food? He's only had the new food for about a week. It didn't upset him, made him better but he just doesn't like it so I am thinking he may not eat the new stuff if its mixed in.

I am wondering if I just use the original wet food and mix with the Royal Canin dry food and use some probiotic if he needs it to settle his tummy?

Honestly it is all so complicated, so much easier with cats haha. They eat anything and are never upset, they are hard-core lol.

Same with the toileting, quite often pugpup doesnt have a wee till later on, mostly needs a poo first thing but that is around 12 hours after the last one.

@PugInTheHouse it really is complicated. If it was me I'd stick with the new food if he's already on it, and then slowly add in the wet food. I thought the same about needing to be mushed up because of how compacted they are, but it seems like they were made in trays for the convenience of feeding them Plus means not having to wash up his bowl

@Sparkle79 that's what I assumed but when I saw how packed in it was then I thought maybe not. I guess it would take them more work to actually eat it though which isn't a bad thing 🤣

@Sparkle79 @PugInTheHouse thank you both. I might try it on a day where it doesn’t matter if I end up with a sleepless night 😂 like Sparklepup she doesn’t seem desperate when she wakes up and generally manages to fit in some zoomies
before we go outside, so maybe she could hold it

I haven’t seen that thread but it sounds useful thank you! Will go and have a look. Poor thing, she wasn’t sick again yesterday so fingers crossed it’s passed for the time being at least

Last wees for ours is around 8ish and they're fine, never any accidents. Up at 7ish

What time do your pups go to bed and when is their last feed? We are following the schedule from the breeder but it is a late bedtime and it is killing me to be up that late. Also pup is getting over tired and getting hyper so finding it hard to settle. Going to start bringing it forwards from today.

Our pup is in to crate at 10.30 up at 6.45. But for the evening she seems to sleep in kitchen floor from 9 onwards so not sure if I should just bring bedtime forward

last feed between 4.30/5 bedtime is 8/9ish with last wee right before.

@Turquoisesol I'd move bedtime forward, ours sleep on the sofa from 6:30 but they're bulldogs so I guess in comparison to other dogs they probably sleep a lot.

[quote PugInTheHouse]@Sparkle79 that's what I assumed but when I saw how packed in it was then I thought maybe not. I guess it would take them more work to actually eat it though which isn't a bad thing 🤣[/quote]
That's true!!

@ilovesushi last feed 6pm, usually crashes around 7pm, has a chew around 9ish and crashes again then wakes at 6am for breakfast. When he was younger and went in the crate mealtimes were the same but he'd be asleep 7-9pm then up for playtime / zoomies from 9-10pm and then toilet and in his crate until 6am.

For those not liking kibble, can I recommend mixing a little warm water with it that wets it and releases a bit more odour. We use Wolfworthy which smells of bovril so the water makes a bit of gravy - poss mix an egg or sardine in as well? Have been researching remedies for the kennel cough and slippery elm came up. Loads of people seem to rave about it as helping tummy problems too. Might be worth a look for those with wobbly tummy probs.

I cut out his lunch last week, so he’s only on two meals... but I do his dinner at about 9 and let him out before I go to bed about 1 or 2. He’s now more or less asleep from about half 10, but his bedtime is just my bedtime because he’s mr clingy.

Though - I can now pee alone, and he doesn’t greet me like I’ve been gone for a year, yay! Lol

I will say though, that’s the sort of times I make all dogs do, because that’s my schedule. Not much point in letting them out for the last time about 4 hours before I go to bed, lol

@ilovesushi Dinner at 7, falls asleep about 9 on the couch, and bed at 11ish. Then up about half 8. Think that's quite late for dogs but I am not a morning person so we've just brought her up on our schedule. If you're early birds definitely move it forward.

@Turquoisesol you could try it. We couldn't bring bedtime forwards as unless she's absolutely exhausted she wants to be with us until we go upstairs. Does yours have access to her crate at 9, could she go in if she chooses but is making an active choice to sleep on the floor? I might just leave her if so.

Re kibble, I think I've already mentioned it but ours isn't keen on kibble so we bought Tasty Topper which is like a liver powder for dogs so no additives/onion/garlic like Bisto. Warm water didn't work for her, but they're all different and it's all worth a try. We had been mixing in small amount of peanut butter or Primula but I'm glad I've found a low calorie, low fat alternative.

We've got face to face training this afternoon. We had a class early January but it was then cancelled due to lockdown so we're starting up again. Will be funny to see how the pups have all grown. I'm also a bit worried cos she's been great with the Zoom training but obviously there's no distractions there so I'm not sure how quickly she'll pick things up with other dogs around.

@PugInTheHouse that sounds really complicated (the food!). You'll probably find he's not gained weight in the meantime! Did you find out if he was likely to be a larger dog? We are back at the vet on Tuesday and I'm hoping she will say Happy is ok as we have definitely slowed his weight gain these last few weeks (we needed to!).

We are sampling some day care next week. I'm really keen on one lady who takes them to a secure field for their walks rather than public parks as that would be much better for Happy!

@ashmts that sounds fun! Good luck! I think they are actually better when older as they can concentrate a bit longer. I was really worried because people kept saying if you miss a training window, it's not great for the dog but it doesn't seem true tbh

We start again next Friday - our first class since Nov/Dec when they stopped!

@HappyThursdays yes it feels way more complicated than it should be, I dont really want to give him the Vets food if he doesnt like it, doesn't seem right but the old food really doesn't agree with him. I have decided to mix the new kibble with the vets food he doesnt like and introduce it slowly that way. At the end of the day the vets food agrees with his tummy fine he just doesnt like it much but I gave him a small bit of the new Royal Canin Pug stuff and he literally inhaled it so I know he will eat something.

Hopefully this will work!

Regarding his size, the breeder said she felt he was always on the bigger size so not to worry, she has seen lots of photos/videos of him and said he looks how he should, she has had pugs for many years (as family pets) and feels quite strongly about keeping them at a lowish weight.

I do want to make sure he's OK though, especially with the summer coming up where he may be less active so I want to get it right even if its just to maintain his weight whilst he's still growing

Another feeding quandary We've dropped to 2 meals and started giving wet food for breakfast and dry for dinner. Usually give a chew at about 12. But around 4pm he goes to where he has his meals and sits and barks so I think he's hungry. He's on the maximum amount for a 6-12 month old and is only just 6 months. DH thinks he should wait til dinner at 6pm but I feel mean (and deaf)

“started giving wet food for breakfast and dry for dinner”

Any particular reason?

Wet food is digested quicker, so he might well be hungry.

I don't know really, I read something about the benefits of wet food and felt like we should be but I'm seriously considering going back to dry only. There's so much advice it's hard to know what to follow.

I more meant is there a reason they’re separate?

@tabulahrasa oh well I try to feed him in different ways to make it take longer and work his brain, which is obviously easier with kibble so I thought feeding him one meal dry and one meal wet would make life easier. But maybe not if he's hungry

I give wet and dry separate - but the wet isn’t really a meal as such, it’s just what I use for kongs.
Usually before breakfast so I get peace for a coffee tbh, lol.

Then dry for actual breakfast I do training with and maybe scatter feed some of it.

It might be worth giving him some dry food with the wet, or maybe giving the wet food in something that takes a wee while to eat where you’re currently giving him a chew? and make his main meals the dry stuff?

He could also just be chancing his arm though - but it’s worth trying switching it up to see.