New puppy

[Milliemae124]

Hi I just got a new puppy and wanted to post some pictures. She’s a cockapoo called Dottie and she is 11 weeks old

 

[Mad Murphy]

sweet

 

[arealhuman]

Hello and welcome. She's definitely a cutie

 

[Whippylove]

Welcome!
Sweet puppy

 

[Sezzy]

Overload of cuteness

 

[Pritch Art]

Awww she is lovely!!! Dottie is such a lovely name!

 

[Milliemae124]

Thanks, she’s a little nightmare though, she howls all night and terrorises the cat!

 

[Pritch Art]

Thanks, she’s a little nightmare though, she howls all night and terrorises the cat!

Aww I'm sure as time goes on they'll get on better and hopefully the howling will settle down - its always an interesting few weeks at the start!

 

[Milliemae124]

Aww I'm sure as time goes on they'll get on better and hopefully the howling will settle down - its always an interesting few weeks at the start!

Yeah, I just had a little question to ask. We have the same food that the breeder gave her but she won’t eat it without cooked chicken in it and even then it’s only a few mouthfuls. Do you have a method to getting a new puppy to eat properly?

 

[JudyN]

She's gorgeous!!

What food is she on, and how much are you feeding her a day?

Can I just add that it's usually advised that if your puppy isn't happy being separated from you at night, you shouldn't leave her to cry - it's better to have her in the bedroom with you, maybe in a crate, where you can put a hand on her to settle her if she does cry. Later, when she's more mature, you can transfer her out of the bedroom then. Dogs are pack animals, it's not natural for a puppy to sleep on its own, and the stress it causes her could potentially affect her long term.

 

[Milliemae124]

She's gorgeous!!

What food is she on, and how much are you feeding her a day?

Can I just add that it's usually advised that if your puppy isn't happy being separated from you at night, you shouldn't leave her to cry - it's better to have her in the bedroom with you, maybe in a crate, where you can put a hand on her to settle her if she does cry. Later, when she's more mature, you can transfer her out of the bedroom then. Dogs are pack animals, it's not natural for a puppy to sleep on its own, and the stress it causes her could potentially affect her long term.

She’s on Royal Canin mini junior and we feed her 3 times a day. I always heard that leaving them to cry was ok because they might learn to whine to get attention.

 

[Flobo]

She is lovely! and I would agree with JudyN. She's not long been taken from her mum and siblings, to keep her isolated at night at this age will stress her. Personally, all my dogs have slept in the bedroom with me, all their lives, we are a pack, but I know that's not for everyone!

 

[Milliemae124]

She is lovely! and I would agree with JudyN. She's not long been taken from her mum and siblings, to keep her isolated at night at this age will stress her. Personally, all my dogs have slept in the bedroom with me, all their lives, we are a pack, but I know that's not for everyone!

yeah I would like her in my room but my parents won’t let her. Last night was the first night she didn’t cry and she got lots of praise in the morning!

 

[JoanneF]

I always heard that leaving them to cry was ok because they might learn to whine to get attention.

This is now thought to be outdated advice. Comforting her when she is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left alone, or whatever is causing the crying, is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit.

Gradually you can start moving the bed away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want her to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.

Also in your room you are more likely to hear her if she moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.

During the day though you should start to get her used to being alone for short periods so when she isn't interacting with you (to make your leaving less of a contrast) just walk out the room then back in - build up the time gradually.

 

[Milliemae124]

This is now thought to be outdated advice. Comforting her when she is distressed is fine and will strengthen your bond. Unfortunately many people make the mistake of allowing a puppy to cry in the hope that they grow out of it, when actually all they have done is cement in the puppies mind that being left alone, or whatever is causing the crying, is indeed a terrible thing, and for many dogs this fear becomes a learned habit.

Gradually you can start moving the bed away to outside the bedroom door, near the room you want her to sleep in, and eventually into that room. With puppies learning, everything is done in little steps, and if anything starts to fail, you go back a step and stay there longer.

Also in your room you are more likely to hear her if she moves and needs out to toilet. With young puppies it's too long to expect them to hold on all night (their little bladder and bowels aren't big enough or strong enough) so set your alarm for a couple of times in the night.

During the day though you should start to get her used to being alone for short periods so when she isn't interacting with you (to make your leaving less of a contrast) just walk out the room then back in - build up the time gradually.

Yes during the day, I’m at school so my mum looks after her. She has been leaving Dottie for about 5 minutes every day by going down the road and back. As I said before when she eats, she doesn’t eat much and only picks at the little bits of chicken would you suggest anything to get her to eat a bit more?

 

[JoanneF]

She is probably getting enough of the chicken, which is a lot tastier and nicer to eat, to keep the edge off her appetite. So I would stop the chicken and add a small amount of wet dog food to coat the kibble so she can't just pick it out. And if I can be honest, Royal Canin isn't a great food. In the UK all dog foods have to meet minimum standards but there is a huge difference in the quality between the top and bottom of the range. And it isn't even price based, some of the best ones are less expensive because they don' have big marketing spends so you don't see them on tv ads.

Have a look at www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

It is an independent dog food comparison website which scores all types of foods (dry, raw, wet) on a scale of 0 to 5. You can set filters for your dog's weight, age etc and choose to view only the foods scoring, say, 4 and above. Then you can show them listed according to daily feeding cost so you can see what gives you best value for money.

 

[JudyN]

An alternative to having her in your room is for you to sleep in her room (say on a camp bed) and then gradually get her used to you going back to your room. Hopefully she's accepted being on her own now but you might want to show this thread to your parents if she does start crying again. And remember that not crying doesn't mean she's not disstressed - she might have just learnt that crying when she is distressed doesn't achieve anything, like a neglected child.

As for the food, I think there's two approaches you can take - either to find a food that she really likes, or to 'tough it out'. She looks quite roly-poly which could just be puppyness, but check you're not actually feeding her more than she needs according to the guidelines on the bag (remember to take treats into account). It might be that if she is only offered the kibble, after a couple of days she will start to eat it. Make sure that you give her, say, 10 minutes to eat it and then remove the bowl, as allowing 'grazing' throughout the day isn't ideal.

 

[Milliemae124]

An alternative to having her in your room is for you to sleep in her room (say on a camp bed) and then gradually get her used to you going back to your room. Hopefully she's accepted being on her own now but you might want to show this thread to your parents if she does start crying again. And remember that not crying doesn't mean she's not disstressed - she might have just learnt that crying when she is distressed doesn't achieve anything, like a neglected child.

As for the food, I think there's two approaches you can take - either to find a food that she really likes, or to 'tough it out'. She looks quite roly-poly which could just be puppyness, but check you're not actually feeding her more than she needs according to the guidelines on the bag (remember to take treats into account). It might be that if she is only offered the kibble, after a couple of days she will start to eat it. Make sure that you give her, say, 10 minutes to eat it and then remove the bowl, as allowing 'grazing' throughout the day isn't ideal.

Ok thank you, we have stopped leaving the food down all day but we did for the first two days because the breeder let them graze throughout the day. I do agree, she is on the slightly larger side so I will check the amount we need to give her

 

[Violet Turner]

Awe!

 

[Milliemae124]

We checked the amount we were meant to give her and it is correct. We have swapped the chicken for white fish and she seems to be eating more. She went out for her first walk yesterday and she loved it!