New Puppy!

miami2007

Hi Everyone, turbo excited as we are picking up our new baby weimaraner bitch in 3 weeks!

Havent done this for a while so wondering what people think about a puppy crate for bed/toilet training combo?

Also, food....i want a good quality food to wean her onto - recesionary times etc so any ideas on a type or brand? dry food only i think.....

thanks

*Lees*

The crate is definitely a good idea imo! I started Ozzie out in a crate, actually I didn't even need to coax him into it, he automatically loved it because it was somewhere he felt safe!! I did the whole getting up during the night and leaving him out too pee routine and he honestly got it within a few days and after that has always asked to be left out too pee!! He only ever had 1 accident and it was on his first morning, my boyfriend opened the crate and left him out and instead of picking him up and carrying him to the door he let him walk to the door himself but pee'd on the way!!
I don't have much advice to give on food as I am relatively new to all of this myself!! When I first got Ozzie I fed him on Royal Canin for labradors and he really didn't seem to like it so I changed him to James Wellbeloved and he does seem to enjoy it more!! I think it's a case of experimenting and finding out which food would suit them best!! You should find out what the breeder is feeding though and try stick to that!!
Good luck with puppy, they are so much fun!!!

miami2007

thanks lees, thats so helpful! yep think im going to go down the crate route, really dont fancy the idea of coming down to the kitchen in the morning and facing whatever might have happened!!

was also thinking royal canin myself, i like that they do size specific food so her legs dont grow too fast! do you use any of the pet websites to buy your food, some seem to have great value

andreac

Just remember, that you cant leave a young pup in the crate for the full night as they wont be able to hold themselves for that long, so accidents will be expected.

You could try getting up and letting the pup out in the night to go to the toilet, as they get older their bladder gets stronger and they can hold for longer.

Try feeding it early enough in the eve so it might poop before bedtime, and if its tired out before bedtime too it might sleep longer.

upthedub

Im currently doing the kitchen thing with my 8 week old boxer pup:oso what is the crate thing??

andreac

Be careful with Royal canin as i know a few people who have had problems with it as it was too high in protein (for large breeds) and the dogs got pano and had to take them off the royal canin.

I personally wouldnt be a fan of RC as think its way too over priced.

andreac

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/ccp51/cc/dog-training/dog-crate.shtml

upthedub

Are they expensive?Ive a 8 week old boxer pup

andreac

Are crates expensive do you mean?

Well you would need one that will fit a fully grown boxer when mature, they can cost anything from 80-100 euro.

lightening

I have a Wiemaraner. Crate training suited him very very well as a pup, where the crate used to be is where he loves sitting now, its his "place" and he will sit and stay there as you cook, eat, do general stuff around the kitchen. This is a must as weimaraners are born morons and will trip you up when you have the biggest knife in your hand.

Take your training very seriously Miami, they are a tough dog to own, lots of socialisation and introduce the dog to as many things early as possible, the car, being in the car, being near traffic, other people, kids, other dogs, joggers, cyclists, other houses....

Training in a club or with other dogs for socialisation is a must.

Now, your dog could be a dream, I am just going from experience with my dog, and... if it's bred for show, get insurance, you will need it.

Best of luck.

Mcloke

Have a look into Orijen food...our 9 month old goldie has been on it since the start and loves it...does circle spins while she waits for it!
It is a great food...human grade meat and designed for a canine needs (no grain filler). You will read plenty about high protein diets etc but having done tonnes of research we were/are happy to feed Orijen...you won't be able to pick it up in a store but there are online retailers who deliver free of charge.
Good luck with your puppy

Incheerocket

I have just had my 15yr old weimaraner pts, a very sad day but I would definetley go down the crate route they will quickly learn thats his/her space, and like lightening says they are a very tough dog to own, very strong willed but do respond to training well, you need to be strong willed too!! so enjoy your blue eyed pup and best of luck

lightening

Sorry to hear that Incheerocket. What's next? Would you go for another? I have promised myself that I will never get another pure-bred. Too nutty, too many health problems.

miami2007

oh no, my heart goes out to you incheerocket, thats awful sad. am very much looking forward to our pups arrival. i have a sheltie and she is now 15 so looking for another show dog potential pup but i will definately be doing agilty and obedience. so we'l be starting socialisation asap. mollie was a great pup and now dog - but she's a sheltie so always eager to please. looking forward to a challange with the weim......im sure il get it!

yeah still not sure about the food, but the 'o' one sounds interesting - just dont want something too inaccessible just purely cos knowing me id forget to order it ontime! what i prob need to do is get some samples and try her on each

miami2007

lightning, hi! do you mind me asking what kind of problems have you had with your weim? ive done a good bit of research and im geting a pup whose parents have a very low hip score so not majorly worried from that point of view and im well read on the gastric torsion issues - anything else i should know dyou think?

lightening

Good for you Miami. Our dog has dreadful hip displaysia, really bad, he's only three and sometimes can't get up, he is on Metacam every day. I would advice very very little exercise as she is growing up, no jogs, runs, jumps or long walks but plenty of socialisation and experience. No real food or digestive issues, and he is incredibly good and well trained when out walking off the lead. I couldn't recommend pet plan enough, saved us thousands.

If you work I would take a couple of weeks off to be with the dog, then another person in the house could do the same...

Best of luck with the dog.

miami2007

oh my gosh, sounds terrible - whats the long term prognosis? are you with allianz pet plan yeah? i see 123.ie are doing pet insurance too

yeah i have a week off when we get her and mum and my sister are here quite a bit too which is great then unfortunately im out of work from september so il have plenty of time to devote to her!

thanks for the exercise advice, i want to do agilty which wont be until she's one but il be careful with the first year.

lightening

Not good long term to be honest. Your dog will be a better dog with you at home. I am with Allianz and they lost out big time in our case. Don't be put off, one dog doesn't mean the breed is bunched, all his brothers and sisters are perfect!

He is an unbelievable thief though, unreal. You can't leave anything down, clothes, teatowels, shades, bags.... he is off with them, tail in the air, dying for a chase. It's really funny actually. (unless it's something valuable) And... he's not a bad watch dog.

miami2007

il be sure to get her insured asap. our other dog mollie is a bit incontinent, purely old age and its such a pain in the ass to remember to pick up her prescription every month, so hopefully new puppy will be ok!

have you tried showing your fella? think its something id like to get into - mollie was a fantastic agility winner in her day but she's a bit past it now!!

lightening

miami2007 wrote: »

have you tried showing your fella?

I couldn't possibly, if the judge touched his hips he would react. I think he is a product of the show, an inbred fook up and for that reason, the show is not for me, I don't like the idea of it any more.

(oh, he's no balls either)

Sorry to be negative, don't let me put you off or get worried... enjoy your dog, millions of Weimer owners wouldn't have another breed and are in perfect health... but its mongrels or lurchers for me in future.

Cutie18Ireland

We have a 13 week old Bichon Frise and feed him "Royal Canin Mini Junior" We got an 8.5kg bag for €40 which should last about 9 weeks although there still seems to be loads left. Normal price is about €46 but equipet have different offers on every few weeks first it was big bags then €5 off small bags, last week was 11.60 off large junior bags, this week half price breed specific food so I always check there first.

star-pants

Crate or restricted bedtime area is good for training at night time. You can help both you and the pup by bringing them out to the grass after meals, after big drinks, before bed and so forth. When they're very young they can't hold it at all.
If they have too large an area at night lets say, then they can go all over the place, rather than in the one spot because they've too much room to wander about and forget where the 'toilet' is.
Lots of praise when they go outside or in designated areas, don't scold much when they're too little to hold it, it's not really their fault. Our pup was mostly trained on puppypads/newspaper and we went from there. She was great in time, obviously they can't help accidents and if you don't see them to let them out in time, it's not their fault if they go. If you are using newspaper or anything, it might be close to it, ie they had a paw on the paper and then went, that's good though, they felt the paper and went, not that they deliberately didn't go on it.

As regards food - dry food is generally best, puppys get their food soaked for the first few months, because otherwise they scoff it down, then drink lots of water, it expands in their tummy and they can vomit. And it makes it easier for them to eat when it's softened. At the beginning we left the food in warm water for about 15-20mins before draining and cooling to give to our pup.
Royal Canine is good for some dogs, my b*tch Lhasa is ok on it, but my pup Lhasa has a skin reaction to it so she's currently on James Wellbeloved (about 12.50 for 3kg IIRC). You can get deals on dog food up north, sometimes they have 3 for 2 offers on the 3/5kg bags. There are lots of dog foods, but you need to research your dog breed and see what's best for them, and read the ingredients on the pack.
I thought Dentastix were good for my dog for her teeth, til I noticed all the plaque - asked my groomer and he said what's the first ingredient, sugars! So make sure the foods got the right ingredients/levels of protein/fats etc. And obviously puppy food for now. You can mix in a small amount of tuna or chicken sometimes, but wait til they're a bit older, too young and it can make them sick. Also putting stuff in their food makes them expect it all the time. We tend to keep chicken or meat as a treat outside meal time.
You can put a tiny amount of codliver oil/evening primrose oil on their food too, helps with their coats. Again very small amount and watch they don't have any reactions to it.

upthedub

andreac wrote: »

Are crates expensive do you mean?

Well you would need one that will fit a fully grown boxer when mature, they can cost anything from 80-100 euro.

lightening wrote: »

I have a Wiemaraner. Crate training suited him very very well as a pup, where the crate used to be is where he loves sitting now, its his "place" and he will sit and stay there as you cook, eat, do general stuff around the kitchen. This is a must as weimaraners are born morons and will trip you up when you have the biggest knife in your hand.

Take your training very seriously Miami, they are a tough dog to own, lots of socialisation and introduce the dog to as many things early as possible, the car, being in the car, being near traffic, other people, kids, other dogs, joggers, cyclists, other houses....

Training in a club or with other dogs for socialisation is a must.

Now, your dog could be a dream, I am just going from experience with my dog, and... if it's bred for show, get insurance, you will need it.

Best of luck.

Surely not a large crate now as its just a pup and would get up to mischief in a large crate??

LIGHTENING can you give me tips on starting off with the crate???and what size you advise me to get now as the pup is 8 weeks???Also did you use it at night??

andreac

You need to ge ta crate that will fit the dog when its fully grown, dogs grow quickly and if you buy a small crate it will out grow it in a few weeks, you only need 1 crate, 1 that fits it while its fully grown.

lightening

My wife got the crate, I think she got it online, they didn't have the proper size so they sent the next one up, its pretty big. Half of it had newspaper for crapping and peeing, the other half had the bed, toys and water. We only put him in for very short periods during the day, just to get him used to it and then at night for the whole night. We got up very early to let him out. Every time we put him in to the crate we fed him something really nice like chicken so he equated the crate with nice things. We fed him in the crate too and eventually he went in when he was tired to sleep with no prompting. Where the crate used to be is the spot he sleeps now.

Incheerocket

Thanks all for sympathies, and Lightening yes I would have another weimaraner, but at the moment I also have 2 wolfhounds, a mongrel terrier type and a springer spaniel so I am a bit full of dogs at the moment!!, Ember my wiemaraner was also a show bred dog as most are, Certainly use the crate at bedtime, and I also used it if we were out of the house for say a couple of hours, she learnt that was her space and as Lightening said even when the crate was gone that spot was still hers and we put a bed there for her, Agility training would be great for a weimaraner, they do need a lot of exercise, and lots and lots of socialisation, my girl would bark and bark and bark and bark and bark..you get the picture!! whenever she went to the vet she was a nightmare!! she had puppy classes, loads of one on one training with a professional trainer but nothing worked so best of luck, I still loved her to bits though, and thankfully she never had any hip probs or gastric torsion, it was her heart in the end but 15 was a very good age.

lightening

Incheerocket wrote: »

my girl would bark and bark and bark and bark and bark..you get the picture!! whenever she went to the vet she was a nightmare!! she had puppy classes, loads of one on one training with a professional trainer but nothing worked so best of luck, I still loved her to bits though, and thankfully she never had any hip probs or gastric torsion

It's gas, some of the more knowledgeable people here (peasant and co.) have been harping on here about how the breed doesn't define the dog and it's so true. OK, you will get similar attributes, ie , the Wiem will retrieve, point... But my Wiem Never barks unless there is an intruder and when he is in the park off the lead he acts like he is a police trained obedience dog, heel, come, sit, heel....Perfect. Then, he gets in to the house and turns in to a moron.

Incheerocket

Lightening, my girl was very obedient with the sit, down, stay, leave, etc, as you say like a police dog, I think once they have learnt something they never forget, but if any one came into the house she had to go out 'cos of her barking and her hackles would go up..you know how they look when that happens!! everyone thought she was a vicious dog, but she was just very insecure and from an 8 week old pup till 1st July when I had to say goodbye to her she was the same, with family she was an entirely different dog, very affecionate and they love to retrieve, hubby and I are both keen walkers and she came everywhere with us up mountains in Kerry to Galway and would run all day but I think thats what they need especially when younger.

lightening

Incheerocket wrote: »

I think once they have learnt something they never forget

Yeah, deffo, don't know if that's particular to the breed, but our fella is the same, remembers old commands that we haven't used in ages.

No hillwalking for him though, he can barely get up a step now.

miami2007

i must say all this weim info is great, its all very well reading books and researching on the net but real owners are great to talk to - thanks

sungem

Hi Miami2007, just wondering how you are getting on? Have just seen your post now and I have a one year old Weim - Fitz! He is a joy, hard work training wise...he would like to be the boss! and as previous posters have said an absolute thief!! Hope things are good........