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First Time Puppy Owner


GLAMACHIC
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hi everyone,

my name is effie and i am the owner of a 8 week of chiuhaha cross pug puppy that i have name "electra"

i bought her last nite from a pet shop..i kno alot of ppl probably hate doing this but she was the most gorgeous little thing!!

at home my parents used to have cats and birds...we interacted more with the cats but my brother used to rev them up

so they would end up being really agressive and biting and u could not interact with them.

my husband and i are now first time puppy dog owners and we are as you all know potty training!!!

electra seems to be able to control her bowels as she came out with us last nite after we bought her and she held on..no piddle or poop

but as soon as we brought her home...off she went to our ensuite and left us a couple of little gifts!!!

i didnt know whether to sleep her in a room on her own or in our room , but my girlfriend who has owned dogs all of her life told us to put

her in the laundry alone even if we feel bad hearing her crying all night...so we did just that and she went to the toilet in the laundry when we woke up

i brought her into my bed when my husband left for work and she snoozed with me for about 3 hours...holding onto her gifts...now as soon as i put her in the

laundry off she went and did her business....now my question to everyone is...how do we make her go in the one room on some paper or something.

is there such a thing as a puppy litter box maybe we could permanently have for her? she is a very small puppy and the pet shop owner told us she isnt gonna get much bigger how bout food wise? we were given meatloaf to feed her and some dry bikkies i gave her some last nite and this morning...how many times a day should i feed her? what should i feed her? ...please help...we are first time doggy owners....

thanks so much and cant wait to meet and hear from everyone!

xoxoxoxox

effie & john and our new baby girl electra..

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wow perfect reason not to buy from a petstore ... you have no idea and yet they gladly took your money and let you walk out the door.

OK your dog will not stay 8 week old puppy size. The breed standard for pugs is about 6-8kg and chis can be large or small. Since you dont know what is actually in the dog it could en up any size.

puppies should be fed at least 3 times a day at this age. Their tummies are small and can't hold a lot of food so regular feeds are essential. Get yourself a good quality food like Royal Canin, Eagle Pack, Nutrience etc for small dogs and use that as a base, if its too hard to chew soak it in some warm water. Get some puppy milk too from the pet supplies/supermarket. Some lean chicken mince or even some boiled chicken meat is good to get your puppy interested in more natural foods, and in a couple of months introduce a bashed chicken neck.

Pups cannot hold on all evening. They need to go at the following times: after food, after a nap, after playtime etc. After any activity expect the pup to need to go, roughly every couple of hours. Think of the bladder and tummy size!

Grab yourself a shallow cat litter tray and put some newspaper in the bottom. Sprinkle a handful of paper based litter in there and after an activity put your puppy in there until it piddles/poos. Dont let it leave until it does. Praise the puppy for going and leave some of the paper in there after every change so the pup can smell thats where its toilet area is. Dont be tempted to scrub the tray to perfection, leave a tiny bit of smell so the pup knows. Your pup did what is natural, no tiny dog can hold on for long periods especially the puppies. If in doubt, straight to the toilet :D Also, NEVER punish the puppy for making a mistake in where it toilets. If it associates getting caught with getting in trouble it will learn to hide its poo and wee but not actually learn this is not the place to go. If you find an accident, clean the area really really well, especially tile grout/floorboards/carpet where the smell can lurk and she may try there again.

Your friend was right, let her adjust on her own. Let her sleep in the laundry for a week or two so she learns some independance. If you cater to her whines, pawing etc she will become a pain in the bum. And please dont carry her around everywhere. She's got legs, and chi's n pugs are happy to follow you around instead of being a Paris Hilton accessory. They're small and cute, but a dog needs rules and boudries to learn how to be a friendly, social animal. Never accept her barking at you, growling or nipping at you or anyone else. Never let he lunge, bark or growl at other dogs this is bad behaviour on her behalf. Teach her manners and focus and you will have a wonderful companion.

WE WANT PHOTOS!!!! :rofl::laugh: :laugh:

Edited by Nekhbet
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At 8 weeks old your puppy has little or no control over bowels or bladder, she is a baby puppy and baby puppies are made of wee and poo :laugh: . Are you intending to train her to go outside or train her to a litter box? If you're going to train her to go outside I suggest that you start training her straight away, put her outside immediately when she wakes up, after she's eaten, after playing and at least once an hour in between times, stay with her until she eliminates and then praise her lavishly. If she makes a mistake inside and you don't see her doing it simply clean it up (don't use anything with ammonia in it), don't punish her because she won't associate the punishment with the deed and will just be frightened of you. If you catch her in the act say 'No', take her outside and praise her when she goes. If you decide to use a litter box the same principles apply. You need to be vigilant and watch her constantly, if you're consistent she will soon get the idea. At this age she won't last the night so you will be having some early mornings :rofl:

Personally I don't think that putting the puppy in the laundry is a good idea, the laundry is generally one of the coldest rooms in the house and the puppy is totally isolated from you. Unless you intend to have her in bed with you permanently this isn't a good idea either, start as you mean to go on, if she gets used to sleeping with you and then you try to make her sleep somewhere else you will have a very confused and very noisy puppy on your hands. Have a look at the 'Crate Training' threads on these Forums, crate training will also make housetraining her a whole lot easier.

She should be having three meals per day, I recommend a good super premium dry food (Advance, Royal Canin, Eagle Pack) for small breed puppies plus a little human grade mince, raw chicken necks (crush with a mallet to start with), tinned sardines can be used for variety. So maybe give her some moistened dry in the morning, 1/2 a chicken neck for lunch and dry food with a little mince at night. She will also need worming every 2 weeks until she is 12 weeks old, then once a month until she's 6 months, every 3 months thereafter.

There are a couple of helpful posts pinned at the top of this Forum, check these out too, they are very helpful. Good luck and enjoy your new puppy :laugh:

ETA LOL Nekhbet you beat me to it.

Edited by Miranda
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guys thanks so much for your help

i know what u mean about the pet store owners but i just couldnt resist!! i mean i have some idea...they are like little human beings really arent they? the need a feed a change a play and just general looking after...she is part of the family!!

i have updated my avatar with a photo of her that i just took.

at the moment she is sitting on the desk in front of me with her face buried in my cleavage and sleeping!! she seems to only love to sleep with company..i guess coz she had company in her cage at the pet store...

now please tell me what is this crate training....actually what is a crate?

i would love to be able to just let her go outside but we dont have gates and the back just leads to the driveway which leads to the main road ..and i dont want her doing that..so i guess im kinda in need to train her to go into a litter....but i would love to know what this crate business is...

my husband went and got these drops that apparently attracts a puppy to one particular spot and they poop/pee there..but idont think it seems to work with out little one...those drops just stunk the house out!!!

im not sure on how i can post photos up so i can show u guys but if u can tell me i would love it..

she seems like she is such a good doggy...she doesnt really listen at the moment...she does what she wants but im a stubborn taurus and when i want to do something i will do it until it kills me...

thanks again everyone

ps: how can i prevent her from always sleeping in my arms...she just wont sit in her bed...always sits on my feet .. even my husbands....

pps: even tho i love paris..iim not sure onthe dog accessory either..hahaha .. we do let the doggy walk everywhere she is so tiny tho we are scared we mite step on her

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firstly congrats on you puppy and welcome to the forum of wonderfull knowledgable people.. you will get loads of great advise here..... you have already got some very good advise so i wont add to that..

the only thing i would be concerned about is.. that u please look into getting a fence ont he property.. dogs need to explore thier yard safely.. yours can not do this,, livining on a main road.???asking for trouble.. what happens is the pup accidently runs outt he door when u open it or someone comes to the door? sorry this just rang alarm bells and had me concerned,,..

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HI RExy

yes we are in the midst of landscaping so when we finally finish (if the rain would EVER stop) we will be putting a fence on the property

at the moment its the most important thing..not only for the puppy but also for when we have kids..i want my kids to run a muck outside not stuck inside ....

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Glamachic, what a cute puppy!

Re the crates, you can see pictures on this link: Crates. These are the type most people use. There are also soft crates but I can't use them for my 8kg puppy who is now 18kgs :rofl:

I will find you some links on crate training.

Have fun

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great to hear glamachic... cute pup...

there are many different types of crates... so hard to say.. i am using the airline approved crate where ists all plasic has breathing holes in top half bottom half is solid.. and has wire door on front..

also i have a larger all wire crate and have a cover for it as well..

crates are invaluable IMO.. i have a 12 week old stafford pup, and it has been the best thing ever to have him crate trained if u cant find the link do a search on here on crate traininga nd u will find loads of great threads,, i wish i had of had it for my 10 month old toby, altho he goes in and outt he crates now as well..

some people who are new to crates se them as a cage or that it is cruel.. its quiet the opposite.. it provides the pup with a secure cosy safe little place to sleep and rest and , at time to give u time out fromt he pup as well.. i beleive it also helps when toilet training your pup.. as it is their bed they usually wont wee in there , having said that my pup did,, only twice tho so far.lol

here is a pic of both my crates... to give u an idea..

100_3676.jpg

lol even my daughter loves it..

100_3675.jpg

100_3395.jpg

the smaller crate pic isnt a good one sorry i thought i had better than that..

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Crate training links as promised:

Link

And another:

Link 2

You should find everything there that you need.

Crates are great cause puppies feel safe in a small space and they can be part of the action without getting hurt or causing havoc.

Have a read of that and there will be more questions - there's a lot to learn :rofl:

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you have to bite the bullet and create a permanent sleep area. At the moment you are letting her sleep in your arms or close to you and she is learning there is the right place. You are right, she is used to company but since you purchased her at 8 weeks she was probably taken from her mum at about 6 so expect some sookyness and extra attachment. Thats a problem with pet store pups they cna be a little clingy.

Crate is a great idea, make that her 'den' and leave here in there. If she whines, cries, carries on etc ignore her until she stops. It may take hours but if you give up she will learn that making a fuss will get attention and it will never end. Make a couple of sacrifices now and you will avoid bad habits later on.

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you are rite nekhbet she is a bit clingy but we will teach her independence...i work part time and my hubbie works full time so she will partly be home alone (in one room of course) for a few days a week.. its the potty training i want to get rite so that when we do leave her at home when she grows up a little we dont want to have her in the one room, we would like to have her free around the house....

at the moment like i said in previous posts, we try to leave her to her business in the laundry as its tiled and easiest to clean, but if she is with us in thekitchen or the tv room she will go there!! my husband saw her squatting and quickly picked her up and ran her to the laundry..haha..toooo late.....she went in mid air on the way...poor thing...we left her in the laundry a little bit just in case she was gonna go again...

we woke up this morning to 4 poops!!! to me this means she needs to go every 2 hours...am i rite?

thanks again for all ur help..u guys rock!

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I recently saw a Pug x Chi in Macquairie Shopping Centre.....a lot bigger than I would have imagined.....about 3 times the size of your puppy now.....I certainly hope you didn't spend the $1,100 macquarie was charging.

I personaly think that the puppy is far too young to be left by itself whilst you are at work.

You'll also most likely have trouble toilet training....it may take longer than normal, as with petshops they are forced to toilet where they sleep and eat.

Don't expect her to be toilet trained any time soon, it's like expecting a new born baby to walk itself to the toilet all on its own. You may want to invest in a doggy spray that will remove the scent of the toileting accident from the floor otherwise she may go back to that area to do it again.

You can find Crates for afordable prices here Click here

You may also want to look into pens Click here

I'm glad you love her, however I do think it's sad you brought her on impluse because she is cute. Has she been to 'your' vet for a check up yet? Are you familiar with what health problems pugs and chi's are faced with? It should be something you should be very familiar with so you can keep an eye on your girl.

You may also like to learn why people in the doggy world do not support puppies in petshops Click here

Edited by sas
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yup pretty much as soon as the puppy pauses and looks around grab it and take it to the toilet. Sas has a point, they do learn to go anywhere instead of a designated toilet area. Dogs are clean animals and will find a spot but if forced into the 'go where you are standing' they continue it on. Just be persistant and if its around the time she could need to pee take her to the place and encourage her. Better safe then sorry ;)

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If the pic with her sleeping on your partner's neck is any guauge - she's NOT so tiny. My bitza was smaller than that when I got her and she is now a knee high 12 kilo adult dog!

Welcome to the world of lying pet shops! :rofl:

I too bought my dog from a pet shop - like you against my better judgement - but I saw this particular dog and just somehow knew she was my dog! There was a connection there. The pet shop reckoned she was a sheltie/JR cross - well all I can say is 'sheltie my arse!' ;) Nekbeht, you've met her, seen any sheltie there???

However she is a beautiful and healthy dog. Perhaps the fact she is a real bitzer rather than a DD helps? (and yes, I've read about the 'hydrid vigour' being a furphy, but maybe a total heinz is different from a first cross???).

I also know of (and some of these from 'breeders' *cough* of DD's) rather than pet shops...

a maltese/min poodle cross who is much taller than my dog

a min schnauzer/min poodle cross who is a GIANT compared with my dog

4 border collies which are LESS like BC's than my dog

the list goes on.

Don't be surprised if little Electra grows bigger than expected - just still love her to bits. Get yourself signed up with a dog training school and enjoy being the parent of a 'furkid' :eek:

ETA - the pics in the OP's sigs have now disappeared :rofl: So what I say about the pic of the puppy will not make sens

Edited by KismetKat
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thanks so much everyone for ur tips...we have learnt alot

our pup is starting to understand the word no...and she is getting the jist of where to go to the toilet...but...we still have to persist.

the only thing that i am still questioning is the fact that she is very clingy and she always wants to be held

how can we ween her off this?

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I don't pick my puppy up at all. I let him sit on my lap if I'm sitting on the floor, the rest of the time he is in his basket or on the ground outside.

You have to be patient and consistent and the pup will soon learn not to cling.

Good luck

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