Oliver's first week with us

[StaceyW]

I have never written a blog but I have lots to say about Ollie's first week home and thought this would be a good way to document. He is 9 weeks old and absolutely awesome. I researched and read a ton before he came home and was worried about so many things but so far - biggest challenge is the bathroom thing - more on that later.

First - things I am happy about: he doesn't mind his crate - we try to only put him in when he is sleepy or tired out and then he is fine -and sleeps. At night - he goes in about 10 and sleeps thru until 6:30 or 7 - so far no accidents in the night. The first three nights he woke us up and went out around 1a but the last 5 nights - not a peep (or a pee). He cries a little if he is not tired when we put him in during the day (when we leave the house) but stops pretty quickly and at night he doesnt cry at all! I thank our breeder who put him in a crate alone starting around 7 weeks - I think it really made a difference.

He already climbs up stairs - we have about 10 steps down to our backyard and the first three days I carried him up and down but then on day 4 - he surprised me by going up by himself - he kind of leaps like a bunny rabbit. He is still scared of going down but I figure he will let me know when he is ready.

He is a big chewer but seems to understand that when he picks something up and I say "no or drop it" - he needs to go find one of his toys. He loves the bully sticks and apparently so does our other dog who keeps stealing them and hiding them - an expensive trick. Ollie keeps trying to get Charlotte (4 yr old Shepard mix - rescue dog) to play with him but unfortunately - my guess is she was abused as a puppy and never learned how to play. She tolerates Ollie to a point but then will growl to get him to leave her alone. Still - for the most part she doesnt seem to mind him.

He is a very tolerant puppy - let's anyone and everyone pick him up and cuddle him (my kids are 9, 6 and 2.5) - he does nip at them when he thinks he is playing and then they scream and run away and he seems confused. I have told them to look for rain which we have had varying degrees of success with.

Now the challenges: potty potty potty. We take him out all the time, he goes all the time, we treat him and do the "good potty Ollie" thing. We watch him for signs that he needs to go out and yet - he still is peeing in the house. I think some of it is marking as it is only a tiny bit. We have caught him in the act a couple of times and done then loud No and taken him right out but he is getting sneaky and seems to do it when a back is turned! I have ordered the poochie bells which should arrive this week so we will try that.

Food - the vet told us that feeding him twice a day was sufficient (and that is what our breeder had been doing already) but I feel like he is always starving! The directions on the food say his total intake should only be 1 cup total and so we give up 1/2 cup for each meal which he wolfs down in 5 seconds flat! He also gets lots of treats throughout the day when we are playing sit and come.

I was able to work from home last week to be with him for his first week home but this week I am back in the office. We have 2 babysitters who split the days and so I am hoping they are consistent with what I did last week - happily they both seem to like him and are willing to help.

I tried to cut his nails last night and nicked him - no more of that for me - I will let the vet do! I did trim some of the hair around his eyes so I could actually see his eyes!

We always stay int he yard when he is out - how long before you can leave a puppy alone in a yard? He tries to eat the rubber mulch from the playset which is a problem. He also tries to eat leaves, sticks, dirt etc so I think it will be a while!

Enough rambling. If you made it this far - thanks for reading! Stacey

[Kyoko]

He is a cutie! I can't wait to see more pitcutes!!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I am so happy that things are going so well. Everyone with a puppy goes through the same things. The only thing I would NOT do is leave a puppy outside alone. Sticks and mulch, tho they are such fun to chew, can get lodged between teeth, in the roof of the mouth or GF in their throats. Dirt, leaves aren't great but they can't choke on them.
As far as the food - how much does Ollie weigh? is he a mini or standard? 1 cup a day doesn't sound like much for a big puppy. What does the package of kibble say to feed? Just be careful to include the treats in the amount of food given daily. I didn't do that and Samantha started to get 'round' because I didn't. Puppy classes are big on treats.
have fun and keep blogging!!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Keep up the good work with Ollie! he cant be expected to really master the no potty in the house thing until he is at least 16 weeks old, I read. So keep up the praising for getting it right and forgiveness for mistakes.

I hate the nails too! I get DH to do it. But tiny puppy nails are better with a dremel (pedi-paws).

You will know when you feel he is safe in the yard on his own.

[Michele Barton]

Congratulations Stacey! Oliver sounds like a sweetheart. As for potty training, it does take time. Our pups are 12 weeks old now, we've had them for 5 weeks, and every once in a while we still have an accident in the house. It has been 4 days now without one! Gus is always eating sticks, dirt, even rocks...and he battles diarrhea as a result. If this happens, add a little canned pumpkin to his food; it helps a lot. As for chewing, it's just a fact of life for puppies...they all need to chew. I give Gus and Molly bully sticks also; they are indeed expensive but they really seem to satisfy their chewing urge. Have fun with your sweet new baby!

[Kevin Poole, Penny & Ozzy]

Hi Stacey. We've had our puppy Penny home with us almost 2 weeks now, I too posted a blog about our first week, which you can read on my page. The feeding thing is difficult to judge, we have a "slow feed" bowl that has a dome in the center, so it takes longer for her to eat it all. We put about a cup of food down, 3 times a day, and she doesn't eat it all at once, visiting it 2 or 3 times before it's empty. I too worried about leaving her in the yard alone, and didn't for the first week, but now I do. She does eat stuff like dirt, leaves and sticks, but that's just being a puppy, everything has to go in the mouth, even fingers, toes, noses and pant legs etc. It's hard work, but worth it to have that face to look at 24/7.

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

Puppies are wonderful! So happy that Ollie is doing great. Remington was the same way with his food... he would eat it in 5 seconds... I think that has to do with coming from a big litter and always fighting for food. However, once we brought Remington home we fed him 3 cups per day and the vet told us he was still on the skinny side... so now we feed him 4 cups... 1 1/2 in the morning 1 1/2 at lunch and 1 at supper. I don't know what your vet suggests but only 1 cup a day seems like not enough... however, I'm no expert. Can't wait to read your next post :)