Raising a Puppy - Third week in his new home

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Raising a Puppy - Third week in his new home

A day and a life with Bruno the Boxer puppy. Bruno's Third week - 9 weeks old, 16 pounds, 12 ½ inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders (the withers).

2 Months Old

Bruno is now 9 weeks old and has grown considerably. He weighed 12 pounds on his first vet visit at 7 weeks old. Now at 9 weeks he weighs 17 pounds.

Loose Stool

We seem to be going back and forth between normal and loose stool. I had been in the process of slowly adding a new puppy food to his old puppy food, however I do not necessarily think this is the culprit. Just in case, I have stopped the switch, feeding only the food the breeder was using, until I can determine the cause.

8 weeks and 6 days, Bruno's stool was normal during the day (nice and firm). We had Bruno out and a meter made gave Bruno a biscuit. That night Bruno had loose stool. I gave him Pet Pectillin (a diarrhea medication for dogs, cats and birds), which I bought at a pet store. By the next day his stool was once again normal.

9 weeks and 1 day old. This particular day Bruno attended a family reunion. Bruno had somewhat loose stool in the morning, and we had already left for the reunion and I had forgotten his diarrhea medicine, but his stool firmed up on its own in the afternoon. I was being careful not to let him get a hold of any people food, however he may have at one point in the day. By the time I got to him, whatever he was chewing on was gone. That night his stool was too loose. I could hardly get him outside fast enough. I once again gave him 2 doses of Pet Pectillin (4 hours apart).

9 weeks and 2 days old. Bruno attended a friend's picnic. I was watching him 98% of the time myself. Bruno's stool was normal during the day. Near the end of the day someone else was watching him while I went in to do dishes. I don't know if he got any people food. At the time I didn't think so, and still am not sure. By the end of the night Bruno's stool was loose again. He pooped outside and stepped in it. I had to give him another bath. I gave him the Pet Pectillin again, twice, 4 hours apart as it recommends.

9 weeks and 3 days old. Bruno's stool seemed to be ok until late that night. That night I gave him the Pet Pectillin once again.

9 weeks and 4 days old Bruno awoke at 12:00am and yipped in his crate. I happened to be still up so I immediately took him outside. He had loose stool. I gave him the diarrhea medicine before putting him back to bed. At 3:00 a.m. he woke once again, this time yipping up a storm in his crate. I ran down the steps to him as fast as I could, however I was too late.

Bruno was standing as far away as he could from the poop mess that he had made in his crate. I ran him outside and cleaned up the messy blankets, threw them in the wash and put new ones down for him and brought him back inside. Bruno was quite pleased with this new bedding. He quickly went back to sleep. At 6:00 a.m. he woke once again. This time I made it in the nick of time. He was crying in his crate and about to poop. When he saw me he stopped. I ran him out the door as fast as I could and put him in the grass. Bruno's stool was once again too loose. Not quite full diarrhea, but looser than it should be. Bruno had tested positive for round worms at his last visit. He was given a dose of worm medicine and his second dose of worm medicine is not due until next week, however we gave the vet another stool sample to have it checked out.

Possible Loose Stool Causes

1. Bruno had tested positive for round worms at his last vet visit. He was given a dose of worm medicine. His second dose of worm medicine is not due until next week, however we gave the vet another stool sample to see if he picked anything else up.

2. Bruno is eating odd things other than his dog food. We had to stop people from giving him treats at places such as PetSmart and even the mail man and FedEx guy give him a treat trying to make friends with the new dog. I also realized Bruno just may be eating fallen cat food. The cats eat up on a picnic table and there is usually cat food that has fallen on the ground. I am the only one in the house that sweeps it off the porch. Today, after I thought of the possibility that Bruno is getting cat food off the ground, I went and looked only to discover there was no cat food on the ground. Hmmmm... that would be a first. So it is highly likely that Bruno was getting a hold of food that he was not supposed to get a hold of. Not to mention the bird wing he was caught chewing on this morning, courtesy of the cats. Bruno will have to be watched even closer.

Update: The stool sample came back positive again for round worm. Bruno is due in a week for his second dose of worm medicine. This should totally knock the parasite out of his system... At the vet, it was decided to give Bruno a chewable dose of worm medicine and not wait the week and then in 3 more weeks give him a second dose. The reason you wait 3 weeks and give a second dose is some types of worms have a cycle of life that comes back around about every 3 weeks. This second dose stops the cycle.

Bruno and the Cats

Bruno doesn't chase cats as much as he used to. However this one particular cat seems to enjoy playing with Bruno. The cat could really take this puppy with one good smack in the face with this claws and a hard bite with his teeth and a loud hiss, however, Waffle the cat never hisses at the puppy and most of the time doesn't bother putting out his claws. He seems almost too gentle with Bruno, and I believe he rather likes the pup. He will however, get tougher when the puppy starts getting too rough. When Waffle has had enough, he lets Bruno know about it.

Allergic Reaction to Shots

9 weeks and 4 days old - Bruno received a set of shots. The first set was while still at the breeders. The shots were given at 9:00 a.m. Later on that afternoon I noticed Bruno scratching as if he was itchy. At the time it had not occurred to me that itchiness could be connected to the shots. Later on that night we noticed raised bumps all over Bruno's body. His ears were swelling up and turning a purplish color and he was now extremely itchy. I realized he was having an allergic reaction and we called the vet. It was midnight and the vet told us to give him Benadryl and if we do not notice a change for the better take him into the emergency vet. We drove to the store to pick up the Benadryl, and gave the dose to him in the parking lot. Bruno's mother had an allergic reaction to anesthesia and actually died giving birth to his litter, so we were not going to take any chances with Bruno. We decided to head towards the emergency vet just in case. We ended up taking him in for a check up. Turned out the Benadryl did the trick. We gave him a second dose in the morning. Bruno is now exhausted from the late night (we got back home at 2:00 a.m.), and from the antihistamine. He's going in for another vet check-up tomorrow. He keeps trying to bite his rear end, then immediately sits down. I believe he may need his anal glands drained.

Update: It's 2:30 p.m. and Bruno is running around like a crazy, spastic boxer puppy. Yep, he's back to his old self once again.

Practicing the COME Command

Bruno understands what sit, stay, and come mean for the most part. To reinforce this command outside a training session, without treats, several times a day we bend down and happily call the puppy over for praise and a short play session. This reinforces the command for the times you would need it most, when treats are not immediately available. His reward is positive attention.

Bad Puppy Moments

I walked outside only to discover Bruno chewing up a roll of toilet paper! Bruno, NO! Where did this 9 week old Boxer puppy find a role of toilet paper you are wondering? The kids had camped in the woods and left some of the things they had taken with them on our golf cart. Bruno had helped himself to the toilet paper role. This morning I also caught him eating dirt out of my potted plant in the living room. I told him, "NO, aaaaaahhhhtttttt, NO". He looked at me as if to say, "But mommy, the dirt tastes SO GOOD!" I told him "NO" one more time and he slinked away from the plant. Bruno also started to chew our stereo cabinet, however I was standing right there and immediately told him "Bruno NO! aaahhhtttttt". He got the message and walked away. He went and laid under the kitchen table and started chewing on the leg of the table. Once again he was corrected with a harsh, "NO" followed by a sharp, "Aaaaaahhhhttt". Bruno responds very well to this tone. This little puppy has a lot of house etiquette he still needs to learn.

Learning from the older dog

Bruno really likes Allie. I think a tad more than Allie likes Bruno ;-) At 9 ½ weeks old, I can clearly see Bruno mimicking Allie's behavior. For example: the dogs are not allowed past a certain gate that leads to our chicken coop. Allie always stops at this gate and never attempts to run in past us. Bruno watches Allie, and stops at the entrance to the gate as well. He follows Allie around and does what she does. Our dogs are not allowed upstairs or in the carpeted family room, but do have access to all other parts of the house. Bruno surprisingly enough has only wandered into the family room a handful of times. Allie does not go in there and Bruno tends to stick close to Allie.

Housebreaking

Bruno has not had an accident in the house, outside of being locked in his crate, (((knock on wood))) since the first week we brought him home 3 weeks ago. Granted we do not allow him to wander around inside unsupervised, however he seems to be getting the idea, outside is for potty. After all, his older sister Allie never goes to the bathroom inside. She's always asking to go outside. I don't think Bruno totally has this concept down yet, however we are making good progress. If we take him to the grass and say, "Go Pee" he usually pees.

Raising a Puppy Main

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