Puppy Advice

Comrade_salad

Hi, we got a new puppy about 2 weeks ago and I was wondering if I could get some advice on caring for him please?

He is now 16 weeks old, mixed breed (no idea what) medium-ish sized, fully vaccinated and due a worming in about a week or two.

Firstly, I am worried that he is too thin, as his ribs are visible. We took him to the blue cross to get his vacinnes and they didn't seem concerned with his weight, however, due to time constraints they didn't really get a good look at him. He was thin when got him, but he doesn't seem to be gaining any weight. Having said that, he seems a little bigger than when we got him and I'm having difficulties lifting him which I didn't have originally. Other than that he seems perfectly healthy, good coat and lots of energy when playing. He does sleep a lot, but I read that puppies of that age usually sleep between 17 - 20 hours a day so I don't think that's a big issue. Getting him a vet is difficult as we do not live in the centre of Dublin and have no car, so ideally we would like to try other options before doing that. We're currently feeding him half a tin of pedigree chum with about 2 handfuls of tesco mixer 3 times a day (both the puppy versions.) Is this enough food for him? He rarely finishes his dry food, which we soak for about ten minutes in water before giving it to him. Judging from what's been said in other threads, these are pretty poor quality foods. Are there cheap puppy foods that people could recommend for us please? As we don't own a car, if buying in bulk, we would need to able to order them off the internet.

Another issue we are having is with the lead. He seems totally terrified of it. As soon as it goes on he won't budge. This wasn't always the case, it only started happened after the fourth or fifth time we took him out. I think its because he got a scare from another dog that was barking at him. There is another dog that lives with us and when we take them out together this is not an issue, but this isn't always an option because together they are a handful and two people are needed to take them out. Is there anyway to build up his confidence? Also, how long a walk is too long at this age? He usually goes out between five and 15 minutes a day.

And lastly, I was wondering if people could give me their opinion on keeping him outside when we are out of the house? He currently stays inside the house when left alone, but is never left alone for more than half an hour and usually destroys something during this time. Ideally we would like to be able to leave him on his own for a couple of hours (very) occasionally. The garden is secure and there is shelter for him and if we decide to do this, we would build him a kennel. He hates being left in the garden on his own at the minute, but are trying to get him used to this slowly.

Sorry about such a long post. I'm a novice and just want to get it right. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

andreac

Ok, firstly, get your dog off the pedigree tinned food and the tesco mixer. Both are very low quality with little nutritious value for your dog.
Tinned food is made of mainly water so its not good for them at all.

Go to your local pet shop, or buy online, and get a good quality puppy complete food. If you have to add something to the food, which you shouldnt need to really, then maybe a little bit of tinned sardines or tuna (in oil, not brine).
Foods like Burns, James Wellbeloved, Whites, Eukanuba, Clinivet etc are all quite good foods.

Increase the amount the puppy is getting and maybe try another feed. Little and often is the way to go to try and get a pup to gain weight.

Crate training is recommended too for when you are out of the house.

Regarding the lead training it just takes time and patience. Make it fun and exciting, have lots of nice treats so he associates the lead with nice things. Leave the lead on him in the house and leave it on and have a game and lots of treats and build it up slowly.

planetX

Could he have some hound in him? If so the ribs are normal - are you weighing him? My pups ribs were always sticking out even though he was putting on more than a kilo a week!
He's very young, the fear on walks is very common at that age. Just keep taking short walks.
I wouldn't dream of leaving him outside at this time of year if he has so little body fat:(

Comrade_salad

Thanks for info about the food. I will look into cheaper better quality stuff.

Yeah, I think there is a bit of hound in him alright. If that's the case that's reassuring. I know some dogs are just naturally skinny, I'd just hate to think we're not feeding him enough.

You're right about leaving him out. Hopefully when he stops teething he'll stop destroying everything as soon as we take our eyes off him.

liger

Hi,

Sorry to hi-jack but i too have puppy, Teething still but almost got the full set in now.

However I have noticed his coat seems fairly Dry and a little flakey, He is on Whites puppy food, is there anything i can add too help his coat. Someone said cod liver oil but then i was told this is bad for him.

andreac

Cod liver oil is very good for them and will help with their coat. Although i recommend Salmon Oil, or Flax/Linseed oil instead as ive found better results with either of those oils instead of Cod Liver Oil.

Cherry Blossom

You can add a small amount of salmon oil to the food or give the pup a small amount of oily fish once or twice a week, once you see how it goes for a while you can either increase of decrease the amount as necessary.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_health/skin_coat_supplements/139622

The cat one is the same stuff - just in a smaller bottle.

Vince32

Firstly, Supermarket brands are notoriously low quality foods, made of 70%++ of water. When you buy food for you dog, check the label ! First ingredient "meat" (turkey / Beef / Chicken / Fish) is a good sign of quality food, some brands even use "fillers" like corn, soy, wheat which can contribute to itchy skin and make the dogs life very uncomfortable and should be avoided.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

If your really worried about your dogs weight, and you shouldn't be if it is active and attentive, but I always find visual references very helpful, just please remember these are guides not instruction manuals. If your dog looks happy and alert stop worrying

http://www.placervillevet.com/canine%20body%20condition.htm

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/feeding.htm

Read through these informations, and look up anything else that might cause you some concern.

Also remember on the bags of kibble you get from a pet store, you want premium or super premium, they average at €24 /4kg and have feeding instructions clearly labelled in daily amount ratio's of age / end weight. end weight being the ideal average weight of your breed.
For puppies under 3 months you will want to break up their daily allowance into 4 separate meals and space them evenly throughout the day, ensuring the last feeding is no later than 7pm and perhaps get up at 3 or 4am to allow your puppy a potty in the garden, their muscles aren't very strong at that age and accidents will happen (saves messes to clean up in the morning)
Puppies 3-6 months get their daily allowance in 3 portions, spaced evenly throughout the day again last feeding no later than 7pm.
puppies / dogs at 6 months + get there daily allowance in 2-3 portions. depending on appetite.

If you dog doesn't eat in the first 5 minutes, take it away for 30 minutes and try again, sometimes they are just not hungry it's nothing to be concerned about unless they refuse food for 24 hours, always have alot of fresh water available.

If you like, you can add 1 teaspoon of salmon oil to each feed, to help cope with skin / fur problems and give the dog an energy boost.

The next time you visit the vet for worming or de-flee'ing strike up a conversation about food and weight gain, to learn how to do it safely and properly, the vet may offer you a brand of food they sell in house, so before you buy anything, use your electrified google machine and check it out on the web, if the reviews are good there is nothing to stop you going back the following day and buying it. But as much as people trust their vets, buyer discretion is advised.
And if in doubt, ask on these forums, many posters are glad to offer knowledge free of charge.

Comrade_salad

Thanks for all the advice so far. What do people think of these brands? Is there any good quality food that's cheaper? Would there be anything I could give him on top of his dry food to make it less dry/ more tasty?

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/bosch/bosch_puppy_junior/128392

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/happy_dog_medium/happy_dog_natur_croq/128486#more

http://www.petshoponline.ie/dog/puppy-products/pero-puppy-food

andreac

The Bosch one would be ok, but i wouldnt touch either of the other two, because if you look at the ingredients, the first ingredient is cereals which is a big no-no. The first ingredient should always be meat.

borderlinemeath

have a look at these guys, dogfooddirect.ie local Irish company, also on facebook so you can ask them what suits your guy best. Free next day delivery (and they usually throw in a packet of treats!)

Michael may not recommend the cheapest food, but as a puppy he needs the best start. Also the better quality the food the less you need to feed so it tends to last longer than the cheaper stuff.

I usually mix a tin of sardines into my dogs kibble about twice a week, they love it.

Comrade_salad

Okay, I think we're going to go with the Bosch, seems like the best value for money. Cheers for the advice!

Are raw beef/lamb bones okay for a dog?

Zapperzy

Comrade_salad wrote: »

Okay, I think we're going to go with the Bosch, seems like the best value for money. Cheers for the advice!

Are raw beef/lamb bones okay for a dog?

Beef bones are probably a bit tough for a pup, they can eat all the marrow out of it but the outer bit would be too hard. Lamb bones should be ok, maybe get some of the smaller softer bones like ribs. I also feed raw chicken wings, just watch him carefully that he chews it and doesn't just swallow it whole in excitement. All raw of course, brilliant for their teeth.

As for food, I would recommend whites (puppy food is €44, adult is €39 http://www.whites-premium.ie/default.aspx) but a lot of people seem to be having delivery problems with them lately.

Comrade_salad

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the advice. He's now 6 months old and coming along great.