New baby girl- I am mildly flustered

936 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Zhanna, Aug 16, 2007

hodad

Discussion Starter · Aug 15, 2007

Hi all,

I the local rescue organization just brought my new 9 week old baby girl to me last night. I did as much research as I could the two days between when they informed me that I could have her and when I got her, buying an (adult sized) crate, a bed, a few different brands of "premium" foods (chicken soup for large puppies and canidae full life), a couple toys (a puppy kong and a little stuffed sheep with a squeaker in it), and various and sundry other stuff.

The meeting process went very well, she took to me right away. She even peed in the back yard for me within the first 15 minutes (I probably didn't praise her lavishly enough for that, and didn't have a treat on me, lesson learned.)

She is obviously accustomed to crating because it wasn't hard to get her to go in to hers (albeit with a treat bribe each time, but she's not all that tentative.) I fed her about 1.5 cups at about 8pm, which in retrospect was probably too late at night.

The first big problem I had last night was that she would wake up whining every hour from about 11pm (when I went to bed, she was sleeping on my lap til then) to about 3:30 am. I sometimes I could talk her down by just putting my hand by the crate and talking quietly to her, but other times she wouldn't stop, so I took her out to go potty, though she didn't need to go.

This morning I got up at 6 and took her outside and she once again was very good at potty. I then fed and watered her and put her back in the crate while I got ready for work and she went absolutely bananas, alternatively barking and whining loud enough for me to hear it in the shower. She calmed right down when I came back into sight. I took her out again and she went potty again, but wouldn't make a pile and I eventually ran out of time and had to crate her and go to work.

About 2.5 hours later I came back to check on her and of course she had messed her crate, and to make matters worse had tried to clean it up which ended with poo smeared into her bedding and flung all around the room (and all in the caging as well, it took me about 20 minutes to get most of it and replace the bedding with a clean towel while it was washed.) I figure this was probably my fault because I fed her too late at night. I took her out and then hung with her for about 10 more minutes and came back to work, then went back another 2.5 hours later and she was fine this time, and I'm going to go back again here in a couple minutes.

I guess the questions I have are:

1) What can I do to exercise her? She's too young to chase/fetch anything and she doesn't really seem to be running around on her own. I did carry her 4 blocks to the park last night and she walked most of the way back. Is there anything else I can do?

2) What times are good to feed a 9 week old pup on a 2 feedings/day schedule?

3) Can anyone recommend toys a young pup will play with? She didn't manage to get any peanut butter out of the puppy kong I left her and she hasn't figured out how to squeak the squeaker yet, so she gets bored of that really fast if I'm not around to squeak it for her. I'm feeling guilty about leaving her home alone on the first day I've owned her but I didn't really have a choice (and won't the next two days either)

4) How small do I need to divide her cage off? She's got access to about about 4/7 of it right now, up from about 3/4 when I left this morning. I dont' know if she messed her crate because she had too much space or if she just absolutely couldn't hold it anymore because I fed her too late at night and she didn't manage to go before I left.

Thanks for any help, I'll post pictures of her after work.

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southerngirls

· #2 · Aug 15, 2007

Hello and welcome!! I cant wait to see pics of your puppy! does she have a name yet?? ok on to your questions

1. the best way to excercise at this point is to just play with her. just get on her level and have a good ole puppy romp. you can take her on a 10 min walk. i believe that the most common way to determine how long they can go is 5 min per month of age.

2. as for the food, i would feed her no later than 730, since she is young though i would say closer to 630-7 if possible. My girls get fed between 7-730 (they are 2 and 6 months) and i take them out twice sometime 3 times before i go to bed between 10-1030.

3. Toys i cant help with, my girls only play with the rubber chicken so you could try that but she will get the hang of the kong soon, she is still pretty new to the environment.

4.as for the kennel she should have enough room to stand up and turn around. that is all if she has more room then that can lead to issues with going pee/poo in the kennel because she can always walk away to the side that has not been pee/poo'd on

hope some of this helps!! good luck and keep us posted....and please send pics!!!!!

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Taymickey

· #3 · Aug 15, 2007

Hey, mine will be 10 weeks tomorrow so I'll tell you what we do with Maggie.

For one, she has too much space in her crate otherwise she never would of pooped in there. Shorten that down so that she basically has maybe an extra few inches in front and behind.

Secondly, definately praise her with treats when going outside.

As for the food, the latest we do feed her is 8pm and she will go outside before bed, if not she's pretty good with holding it until she goes out later. She will also warn us in her crate by letting out some whimpers in the morning around 5:30.

Toys... well the toys we have for Maggie are, the rubber chicken which she absolutely loves since she can actually squeak it.. most are too hard for her to squeak (speak of the devil, it's squeaking all the sudden now LOL), she also has a rope toy that she likes to play tug-o-war with. Then there's the rubber tire that has ropes on each end, it slightly squeaks and she likes throwing that and going after it. There's this purple thingy that looks like a soft rattle but it squeaks and on the end is also a rope. The lamb that you have is probably similar. That was her first toy so she's partial to that. Another one we bought (yes she is spoiled LOL) is this big huge stuff dog that is minty green. It has a squeaker in each paw and the tummy. She pretty much likes to lay with it in her crate but she's slowly learning to squeak.

There you have it LOL. So don't worry about the squeaking, that will come in time. Maggie also had a hard time squeaking until we got that rubber chicken. I forgot, she also has a few tennis balls.

As for the exercising. Just play with her when you have the chance. That will come in due time as well. Throw some toys and run after them yourself, encouraging her come with. Umm ohhh a water gun! Maggie loves water squirted at her mouth and then she'll run after the water gun (my kids would be holding it and running) to have some more.

Hope this helps.

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Barbs2Ks

· #4 · Aug 15, 2007

Welcome, can't wait to see pictures also. The only suggestion I have is to put an old t-shirt or piece of clothing that you have worn (not washed) in with her. Some say to put a ticking alarm clock (maybe wrapped with your clothing) in with her at night when she is sleeping.

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hodad

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 16, 2007

As promised, I posted pics in the Showoff forum:

Puppy!

Please suggest names, I haven't come up with one that fits yet.

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Zhanna

· #6 · Aug 16, 2007

Yes! What they said.

I would also suggest feeding three times a day for a while, at least until she's about 4 months old.

Z

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