Frist Time Whippet Owner After Some Advice

[LM1981]

After years of wanting a dog of my own I got my first Whippet puppy a couple of months ago. She is now coming up for 4 ½ months and it is safe to say choosing to get a whippet is perhaps one of the best decisions I have made. I wondered however, if I could get some advice on a couple of points and clarification as to whether these things are just normal for a whippet?

Firstly she can be very vocal with other dogs; she has not gone for or tried to bite another dog, however she does growl at some. She does this to me when she is playing as well, is it possible, as she has not got another dog to show her how, that this is the way she thinks she should instigate play, could she just be a vocal puppy and its nothing to worry about, or is it likely to be a dominance thing? If so any tips on how to stop it?

The other thing that I am concerned about is her weight and whether I am feeding her enough. She is currently being fed 3 times a day on a good quality dried food, about 50g per serving plus some of her normal food as treats for training and in a Kong whilst I am at work; but she never seems full and will eat absolutely anything she can get near whether it is food or not (and I always thought whippets were fussy!). She often produces loose stools (sorry for the undesirable mental picture) usually in the afternoon and evening and if I increase her food intake even slightly this gets worse. She was the smallest in the litter but I am concerned by just how small and light she is; could anyone tell me roughly what a whippet pup this age should weigh and do they just generally look like a bag of bones when they are growing up?

Oh one last little thing, any advice on stopping the puppy biting? (A common problem I know but those little teeth hurt!)

Absolutely any advice on the breed especially nutrition and training would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bertha]

After years of wanting a dog of my own I got my first Whippet puppy a couple of months ago. She is now coming up for 4 ½ months and it is safe to say choosing to get a whippet is perhaps one of the best decisions I have made. I wondered however, if I could get some advice on a couple of points and clarification as to whether these things are just normal for a whippet?
Firstly she can be very vocal with other dogs; she has not gone for or tried to bite another dog, however she does growl at some. She does this to me when she is playing as well, is it possible, as she has not got another dog to show her how, that this is the way she thinks she should instigate play, could she just be a vocal puppy and its nothing to worry about, or is it likely to be a dominance thing? If so any tips on how to stop it?

The other thing that I am concerned about is her weight and whether I am feeding her enough. She is currently being fed 3 times a day on a good quality dried food, about 50g per serving plus some of her normal food as treats for training and in a Kong whilst I am at work; but she never seems full and will eat absolutely anything she can get near whether it is food or not (and I always thought whippets were fussy!). She often produces loose stools (sorry for the undesirable mental picture) usually in the afternoon and evening and if I increase her food intake even slightly this gets worse. She was the smallest in the litter but I am concerned by just how small and light she is; could anyone tell me roughly what a whippet pup this age should weigh and do they just generally look like a bag of bones when they are growing up?

Oh one last little thing, any advice on stopping the puppy biting? (A common problem I know but those little teeth hurt!)

Absolutely any advice on the breed especially nutrition and training would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Get the Pet Owners Guide to the Whippet, by A Vickerstaff, that tells you all you need to know as a first time whippet owner. You can get it on amazon, £5-99 0r less.

 

[Hula]

She sounds just like my whippet puppy (w00t)

My whippet puppy is very vocal too as were all my other whippets as pups .

For play biting I substitute a toy for me and she is getting the message now but it does take time .

My whippet puppy is always hungry too . I have tried various foods but at the moment she is doing well on tinned Chappie . I used to think it was a cheap and nasty food but it is recommended by vets (including mine ) for dogs wuth sensitive stomachs .My pup is a little older than yours though .

I would expect whippet puppies to be thin so as long as she appears lively and healthy that should not be a problem .

 

[Janimal]

Have you tried the ragger type toys with your puppy, excellent for baby teeth...and keep telling her NO when

she tries to bite..and subistute her toys and play things.

My dogs are all on the BARF diet,(Bones and Raw food) have you tried some nice meaty bones to keep her occupied....also has she been

wormed recently..just a suggestion as thats why she may constanly want to eat...although all my dogs were on 3 meals

until at least 10 months old. I fed mine scrambled eggs, goats milk, weetabix too....as well as the more meaty meals and veggies.

It could be that the food you are feeding her is having a reaction on her, she may not be suited to it... :thumbsup:

She does just sound like a playful pup, and probably a stage she will grow out of, Im sure.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Hallo and welcome to the world of whippet servants :lol:

Some are noisey and some are quiet ......... maybe you have a loud one :- It is probably best to ignore the barking/biting (otherwise she will feel that she has got a result, good or bad!) and praise, stroke, reward etc when she is being quiet and good Mine all went through the rough play stage and I just refused to fuel their fire :lol:

From a feeding point of view - when they are pups you can't really feed too much so if she needs more, it's because she is hungry and growing and her body requires the nutrition. As a general rule of thumb you should be feeding 2% of her expected adult weight (which would probably be around 12kg plus) daily. However, I have been feeding my youngest whippet over double the recommended amounts since she arrived with me last year in July. She is extremely active and by feeding her higher amounts I have maintained her weight and she has grown well and developed good muscle structure. She is also strong and healthy.

Like Janis, I also feed raw meat and bones to all my dogs. They have a variety of raw chicken wings, green tripe, sardines in spring water, rabbit and butcher's pet mince to which I add bonemeal, cod liver oil and seaweed supplement. For treats they get tripe sticks or liver cake.

As pups, they get 3-4 meals a day, until they are around 6 months old and then I drop it to two meals a day. They have their chicken wings in the morning and their main meal in the evening.

The more food you put in, the better equipped your whippet pup will be to build good bone and muscle which will stand her in good stead for her future. No harm in being able to see their ribs under muscle as she moves, but if she is looking boney then she needs more food. Everyone feeds differently and feeding has to fit with your and your dog's lifestyle, but, whatever you choose to feed, make sure she is getting plenty and it will pay dividends :thumbsup:

 

[bella wood]

I don't feel qualified to offer you any advice as there are other far more experienced owners on this forum. I am a first time whippet owner myself with a very new puppy but this forum is an excellent source of information and I'm sure that you will get some great advice. There seems to have been someone who has gone through similar situations, no matter what the problem.

Flora (9 weeks) has just started the biting phase now after being incredibly quiet and gentle while she settled in and is it ever painful! At the moment, she isn't a noisy one, but perhaps that will come too now.

Good luck - I will be following the advice you get with interest.

 

[FifeJillandIan]

The best way to stop puppy biting is to let out a high pitched squeal when they bite you ... it has to be loud and squealy /yelpy enough so they stop and give you a funny look :unsure: you can then back this up by turning away for a few seconds so the result of biting hard enough to hurt you and make you yelp has been that they miss out on a little bit of the fun they were having playing (it's what would happen with their litter mates if play fighting went too far and they actually hurt each other) You should find that your puppy will very quickly learn bite inhibition if you stick to this every time it happens. Both Blue and Alfie caught on really quickly and you don't end up feeling like you're constantly giving them a row or telling them off just letting them know they've hurt you. Good luck with your puppy :luck:

 

[Seraphina]

As others said; some pups are quite, some are noisy. The 2 I have in this moment (14 weeks) are the noisiest ones I have ever seen. They keep barking and growling at each other, sounding as if they are ripping each other in shreads, but surprisingly enough there is no scratch on either of them. Not sure how it works, when they try to include me in their game it certainly hurts. i found handpuppets, like this dragon excelent way to play with them without getting hurt. But when they get too rough, I immediately stop the game. They need to learn, that if they go too far, it is going to be end of the fun.

 

[Seraphina]

oops wrong pic; the dragon puppet

 

[eve]

Toddy was a really scrawny boney lad whe I got him at 7 months. Following Jane's advice (jinnyfizz) I fed using her 2% of final bodyweight daily quantity of food suggestion (as a minimum). It worked really well. If you do not want to increase the amount of dry food because of the digestive problems, try adding tinned Chappie to her dry food to increase the quantity. It is very digestible.

You did not say what dry you are feeding. Some are full of additives (Bakers is really bad) and many wheat which some dogs cannot tolerate. It triggers loose stools in Toddy. If she is prone to a sensitive stomach I highly recommend James wellbeloved fish and rice. it smells a bit but is very well tolerated. Toddy has done very well on it.

Some pups are just ribby to start, I would not worry too much.

 

[LM1981]

Thanks for all of the good advice; I will be giving it all a go.

My collection of books on dogs and specifically whippets is ever growing now, but following advice I will be increasing it further 'Pet Owners Guide to the Whippet' is on its way! It can replace 'It's me or the dog' which my puppy actually ate :b

I think I am just being an over worried first time owner about her weight, she is a very happy puppy and has loads of energy. In fact this may be why she is so thin, I am lucky enough to have somewhere near by that I can let her have a run off lead and boy does she run!!! I have to stop her in the end otherwise she would be on the go for hours (makes for nice quiet evenings though, tired puppy ). I know she will always be at the smaller end of the scale for a whippet but I am going to try upping her food a little at a time just to make sure she is getting enough.

I tried the high pitched squeal last night to combat the biting, I think she may have actually thought it was funny, or part of the game, anyway it had little effect. However when I tried this and then walked away, after a few pulls on the bottom of my trousers she seemed to get the idea I was no longer playing, I will keep it up and see how it goes. Does anyone know what the normal sort of age for biting to stop is? Or is it a case of it just starts to get better gradually after they loose their baby teeth?

 

[~Annie~]

I have a noisy, eat anything (and I mean anything :x ) one year old 'pup' here, so you have my sympathy. Lots of good advice already given so not much that I'd add. But if you are worried about her weight why not get your vet to weigh her every couple of weeks so you can be reassured that she is growing. Most vets will happily do this at no charge and visiting just to be weighed and fussed over will mean if you do ever need to take her to the vets for something less pleasant she already has positive feelings about the place :thumbsup:

 

[LM1981]

I have a noisy, eat anything (and I mean anything :x ) one year old 'pup' here, so you have my sympathy. Lots of good advice already given so not much that I'd add. But if you are worried about her weight why not get your vet to weigh her every couple of weeks so you can be reassured that she is growing. Most vets will happily do this at no charge and visiting just to be weighed and fussed over will mean if you do ever need to take her to the vets for something less pleasant she already has positive feelings about the place :thumbsup:

That’s a good idea and if they will weigh her at no charge all the better, I suppose if she did come out as under weight they would tell me. Also giving her the chance to go to the vets without anything nasty happening would be beneficial in the future. My vets is at the back of a pet shop so lots of smells, noise and distractions to get used to so it would do the world of good to face it early.