My First Puppy - Help!

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RedVendetta

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Hi guys
My horse is out of action, and we are moving to a big house with a big garden.... so it was time to get a puppy, whilst I (a) have time for it and (b) have space for it!
I have been waiting for this moment all my life and I am SO excited, however, I am pretty apprehensive and worried that I don't know enough and it's all going to go hideously wrong.

So... we are buying a female 7 week old King Charles x Chihuahua. We didn't purposely go out to buy a 'designer' or 'toy' dog, but we wanted a small lap dog that wasn't going to be a complete nut!

We know we need to get her vaccinated and therefore when she will be allowed to go and socialise and meet other dogs, and the insurance is already in place for when she turns 8 weeks, but I just want to know... what else do I need to know? At what age will she need neutering? If she cries a lot in the first few days, what do I do? How do I start toilet training her and when? aaaaaaagh what am I getting myself into?

Any help gratefully received
Yours sincerely
Completely Numpty Dog Owner to be
 
RIMG1760.jpg


Here is HONEY!!
 
And a very cute picture at that! ;)
Deff PM CAYLA - its a lot to write as a reply on here....!
The most important thing though, don't panic just calm down you'll settle right into it! :)
And enjoy!! Its the most amazing thing owning a puppy! :)
 
She is teeny weeny at the moment! I have pm'd Cayla so hopefully I will get some more info. So nervous but so excited! Will get more pics when she arrives on Tuesday. I'm crazy about her already and Im pretty sure she's going to help heal the great big pain of my injured horse. He comes out of horse hospital on Tues and then she will arrive to cheer me up!
 
shes so cute!
ive a king charles. heres a few tips :)

- she will squeel for a few nights as she will prob miss her family and if she does just leave her. Put her to bed a bit earlier so she wont keep u awake all night, They are like babies and need to learn!

-when u want to train them for the toilet bring them out side every hour and after you feed them too. If they pee inside stick their noses into it , they will eventually learn :P Put some old newspapers in the puppies room where it is staying and they can pee on that.

-when u want to nuture ask the vet when. as im only 14 and cant remember :P

- it will need check ups as you prob know by now :P


Ur prob alot older than me but i hope i helped :)

enjoy with ur new puppy, shes so cute :D:D xxx
 
Awww she is so sweet :)

If you're unsure with dates of vacs and worming ask the breeder, they should be able to tell you what's done so far and what's due. Correlate this with vet advice (take her for a check up within a few days of bringing her home) and go from there.

Toilet training (and basic manners like waiting for food) should begin right away. With regards to accidents (this is just what worked for me, others may know better), if you're not around to see it happen just clean it up without comment. Taking her back to the scene of the crime and scolding is a little confusing if you look at it from a dog's point of view. If you do catch her in the act, interrupt with a gentle collar-tug and 'ah-ah' (or pick her up if she's so small, be prepared for a little wee to go flying til the flow stops :p) and take her straight outside. Vocal praise for going in the right place. I've found our pup to begin with needed a 'toilet break' after meals, when just waking up, and often during any exciting play times. Outside of this you can expect to be taking her out every hour or so at first (unless she is sleeping, then leave her til she wakes up - at which point she will need to go NOW :p).

If you get the idea she may need to go, then take her straight away. Don't be tempted to finish up whatever you are doing (I mention this only 'cause my mother is a beggar for doing this). Her brain may get the idea that outside is the place to do it, but her bladder and bowels will take a while to catch up. Don't expect to be able to take your shoes off and relax for ooooh.... at least 2 weeks :D

Sorry for the stupidly long post, I've become a little obsessed with toilet training since getting my pup, since I also have to contend with getting him down a flight of stairs and through a public building before he can go :o The above did work for me though, to the point where the other day he hung on for a good 15 mins despite the fact it turned out he had the most awful squits.... and I'd been correcting him for pulling on clothes while I was dressing and then pulling on the lead :o I had a right guilty-mum face on for the rest of the morning!

I'm now off to ask CAYLA if I can have her puppy guide too :D
 
Wrap a hot water bottle (obv only warm) in a towel along with a ticking clock - it will serve to comfort her and remind her of her mother's warmth and heartbeat - its always helped ours with their crying during the night :) and for toilet training just be on standby after every meal and drink to bundle puppy outside!! :)

ETA she's absolutely gorgeous!!!!! :)
 
lorraine&comet said:
-when u want to train them for the toilet bring them out side every hour and after you feed them too. If they pee inside stick their noses into it , they will eventually learn :P Put some old newspapers in the puppies room where it is staying and they can pee on that.
Click to expand...

Just had to reply - please don't ever, for any reason, stick a dogs nose in its mess. It will think of this as a punishment for doing said mess and therefore not understand the link between mess inside and outside, only that any messing is scary and will lead to a punishment! :(
Plus, if you go out and Honey messes, say for arguments sakes, 3 hours later you come home and rub her nose in it, she's going to have forgotten exactly what she's done in order to receive this treatment!! :eek:
Please never ever ever do this to a puppy!!!
I've seen it result in a dog becoming very defensive after toilet time towards its owners and its NOT easy to correct this behaviour.
 
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wee puppy looks lovely, pretty colour.
Hopefully the breeder will give you a puppy pack with instructions so with that and Caylas pack you should be sorted. They should also give you some food to keep her going for a couple of days but if not, find out what they are feeding her so you can get the same stuff, or if it isn't what you want to feed you can phase it out and the food of choice in gradually. saved on tummy upsets.

As kelly says, please please never stick her nose in her toilet. I know Lorraine was just trying to help but this an awful thing to do to any dog.
 
:rolleyes:
KellysHeroes said:
Just had to reply - please don't ever, for any reason, stick a dogs nose in its mess. It will think of this as a punishment for doing said mess and therefore not understand the link between mess inside and outside, only that any messing is scary and will lead to a punishment! :(
Plus, if you go out and Honey messes, say for arguments sakes, 3 hours later you come home and rub her nose in it, she's going to have forgotten exactly what she's done in order to receive this treatment!! :eek:
Please never ever ever do this to a puppy!!!
I've seen it result in a dog becoming very defensive after toilet time towards its owners and its NOT easy to correct this behaviour.
Click to expand...

Ditto that......there is no purpose in rubbing a puppies nose in urine, and I would imagine it would get pretty sore the amount of times puppies urinate.

If the puppy urinates indoors repeatidly (then you where not quick enough and you where not vigilant):rolleyes: the key it to guide and not scauld, your gonna get the puppy pittling them making a run for it to avoid you coming to pish dunk it:rolleyes:
There are msuch more pleasant methods to toilet train a puppy.
 
At first, I also will be running through a public building to take her to the toilet as we are just about to move into a big house with an ENORMOUS garden from a second floor flat! So she will have to pu up with being in the flat for now. I think the proper toilet training will come when we move in a couple of weeks.

Also with toilet training we are going to find it hard at first as we will be there in the morning and from 4pm, and my Dad will check on her at lunchtime but she will be on her own for short peroids of time (2-3 hours). I am having two days at home with her when we get her though.

I have bought a puppy comforter for her which you can heat in the microwave so I think that will help in getting her off to sleep. Ive also got training pads for her and a cage to help us toilet train her.

I just don't want to do it wrong! Looking forward to reading CAYLA's puppy guide. Thanks so much for all your help guys :)
 
Just a thought - could she stay with her breeders for a few more weeks until you move?? Remember that at 7 weeks she hasn't got a great deal of bladder control and may struggle to hold it.

Are you planning on using a crate? I think it will help you a lot when you come to leave her for a few hours.
 
We have sectioned off an area for her and we have a cage, which also gets called a crate I've noticed, is that what you mean? I'm a total novice with these things so please correct me.
We could leave her with the breeder but they have advised us to take her. The situation won't be different in the house, just easier access to the garden.
 
Crates and cages are the same thing :) yes it will be invaluable but make sure when she's in there she gets praise, toys and treats - make it a safe fun environment for her to be in so its not like a punishment.
She'll learnt to love being in her crate and will go in there of her own accord, for her own space :)
 
yes - sorry, crate and cage = same thing, hadn't read your post properly :)

We got our first puppy (never had a dog before) just under 2 months ago, so I know how you feel :) Make sure above all you enjoy it, don't sweat the small things (pup WILL have accidents, if and when they happen just take pup outside calmly), and don't get stressed about anything because they pick straight up on it (it took me a few weeks to realise the effect me getting stressed had on stan!). Get yourself booked in for some puppy classes when she's old enough (12 weeks probably?) and have some fun with her :) She's uber cute.
 
I toilet trained my puppy in a flat having to get down stairs. I would reccomend carrying her down, mine never weed on me, but i bet if he had been walking he wouls of stopped to go!! You will get very fit going up and down the stairs but its fine, i also bought some of the puppy pads but didnt use them in the end. Its also so much easier when you can start walking them. good luck she looks lovely!!
 
Just a thought - get some carpet stain remover in :D
but make sure it is one which removes the odour too as this will prevent her from going back to the same spot :) there are carpet cleaners specifically for puppy's accidents and they're not very expensive.
 
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