New dog owners need Advice

ABajaninCork

beccaboom wrote: »

Going on Tuesday to the local animal hospital and going to have a chat about the best way to do everything for him and what he needs, and the little fella is getting his last vaccination too :eek::eek::eek:

He is curled up in his blanket now sleeping off the exhaustion from the 3 hour car journey and the sickness that went with it. He has had a small amount of food and some water too and has had a bowel motion so I hope that it is the uncertainty of the new surroundings and the fact that he is missing his brother that has him zonked. If he doesn#t perk up by Monday I'll pop down to the vets


Again , thank you so much for the advice , please , no need for critising , this is a learning curve for me .

It's great that the little guy did his business outside. Start as you mean to go on!

He's probably knocked out from the journey, and the new surroundings, so I wouldn't worry too much. You'd be amazed how much a little sleep will help. In fact, he'll spend a LOT of time sleeping!

Get him used to the car though. Take him out for short rides around the block at first, preferably before he eats, so he doesn't give his dinner back!

Have fun

magnumlady

Best of luck. I'm sure you'll have great fun.

beccaboom

ok so last night was good, he styed in his bed and there were no accidents. One this morning when I had to go out , a little puddle !!!
One question , he is wimpering alot and he only seems comforted when he is lying in my lap, so we put a hot water bottle in his bed and he was good last night but today he is just really sad

decskelligs

Never put a hot water bottle into their beds. Dogs cannot regulate heat like a human can.
He will whimper for a while just, like a kid will miss their parents for the first few days. Bichons are known as lap dogs and are happiest when lying on someone it is just their breed.

Cherry Blossom

I got a little soft toy with a bean bag thing in it that u put in the microwave for 30 seconds, managed to stuff a little travel clock in there as well. My first night was very good, the second was horrific, got better again after that. I bring the crate into the living room in the evening and if she falls asleep on my lap, at my feet or anywhere else i pick her up, put her in the crate and tell her its bed, leave the door open and if she comes out thats fine but as soon as she looks like sleeping i do the same thing. Had to put her in bout 50 times the first time, but no prob. When im going to bed its just a matter of closing the door (well asleep by that time) I haven't been feeding her after 7 and no water after 8 and she hasn't soiled her bed yet. She does go first thing in the morning when she gets out. (I've been going to bed around 2am and my dad lets her out at 6:30 as he's up anyway.

This is the book I mentioned before, very simple and straightforward and you can just go straight to the relevant part (in case of emergencies )

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/what-if-my-dog%E2%80%A6.-%28book%29-11335

beccaboom

ok so , now we have him over a week , had to bring him to the vet as he had ear mites and we got him drops.
We are a bit concerned , he is slightly off his food and sleeping all the time. He is regular with his toilet . But he seems down a little.
He loves playing but Id say his sleep to play ration is about 90:10.
Our main concern is that he isnt eating an awful lot at all.

belongtojazz

That sounds a bit excessive to me (although I do remember my pup sleeping a HUGE amount until she was about 4 months old)

If you are concerned though you should speak to your vet, if you tell them how much you are feeding etc they should be able to reassure you.

Best of luck

ABajaninCork

I wouldn't worry too much about it just yet. He's still settling in, and puppies do tend to sleep a lot! . Make sure he has plenty to drink though...

avkeskie

beccaboom wrote: »

We are getting our new Bison Frisse tommoro , its a puppy and our first dog .................... any advice greatly appreciated...
we have a toy to rub on his mother to get her scent for bringing him home and we have training mats but other then that we dont know where to start with licences vets and all that , then the training issue to

You have plenty of advice on the puppy part. Am a groomer see MANY Bichons, they are happy good natured dogs RARELY snappy with grooming. Please start brushing him asap get him used to it. Don't don't if the breeder told you (most don't) Bichons are high maintainance dogs, their coat is like a poodle and if you dont brush properly AND sent to a groomer no less than every 2 months you will end up with a matted coat which has to be saved off. One other important note, they grow hair inside the ear canal, it needs to be removed regularly, wax cannot drain, if left your puppy can get ear infections and drive itself nuts shaking and scratching at its ears! P. S. its Bichon Frise, little white dog! Don't worry expose your puppy to all sorts of sounds, kids, car, hoover, hair dryers other 'friendly' dogs, tho all Bichons are very playful with other dogs. Feed a good dry food, not supermarkrt brands. Someone listed Zooplus, get a premium small bite puppy food from there, you can read reviews from there! Good Luck

avkeskie

beccaboom wrote: »

ok so , now we have him over a week , had to bring him to the vet as he had ear mites and we got him drops.
We are a bit concerned , he is slightly off his food and sleeping all the time. He is regular with his toilet . But he seems down a little.
He loves playing but Id say his sleep to play ration is about 90:10.
Our main concern is that he isnt eating an awful lot at all.

Too bad about the ear mites, it's unfortunate but he probably had them leaving the breeder, they spread from dog to dog very rapidly so all the litter had them plus the mother, the breeder should not have sold you the puppy with ear mites, look in his ear canal for hair that wont help, the reddish/brown discharge is the symptom but drops should cure.

ABajaninCork

avkeskie wrote: »

You have plenty of advice on the puppy part. Am a groomer see MANY Bichons, they are happy good natured dogs RARELY snappy with grooming. Please start brushing him asap get him used to it. Don't don't if the breeder told you (most don't) Bichons are high maintainance dogs, their coat is like a poodle and if you dont brush properly AND sent to a groomer no less than every 2 months you will end up with a matted coat which has to be saved off. One other important note, they grow hair inside the ear canal, it needs to be removed regularly, wax cannot drain, if left your puppy can get ear infections and drive itself nuts shaking and scratching at its ears! P. S. its Bichon Frise, little white dog! Don't worry expose your puppy to all sorts of sounds, kids, car, hoover, hair dryers other 'friendly' dogs, tho all Bichons are very playful with other dogs. Feed a good dry food, not supermarkrt brands. Someone listed Zooplus, get a premium small bite puppy food from there, you can read reviews from there! Good Luck

Very good advice there. I have a Shih Tzu with the same kind of issues (grooming, ear plucking etc.). He's brushed every day and has been since I got him - which he HATES, but doesn't mind going to the groomer for his wash and blow dry. I can't bring myself to pluck his ears though as I'm afraid to hurt him, so my husband does it. I would also suggest keeping the dog in a 'puppy clip' to make it easier to maintain his coat. He should start going to the groomer when he's about 5-6 months old. I feed mine either Burns or Royal Canin, both of which are excellent dry foods.

avkeskie

on the crate training, the general rule with puppies is that at 2 months they can hold for 2 hours, at 3 months 3 hours, 4 months 4 hours and so on, so take him out of the crate to relieve himself every 2 hours, anyone suggest puppy pads?? they have a scent to encourage puppy to wee. Crate training if done right will be your best friend. My dog at 6 years goes in and out of his crate of his own accord, its his home.

beccaboom

hit our first problem , biting , i say no then show him a toy he is allowed chew but he just keeps at it ........... some times for three hours at a time , biting my trousers then me saying no then giving him his chew toy , then he bites my trousers again , i give him his toy say no then good boy when he goes to his toys ...................... im wrecked!!!! on a positive he does always pee on his puppy pad!!!!

Cherry Blossom

beccaboom wrote: »

hit our first problem , biting , i say no then show him a toy he is allowed chew but he just keeps at it ........... some times for three hours at a time , biting my trousers then me saying no then giving him his chew toy , then he bites my trousers again , i give him his toy say no then good boy when he goes to his toys ...................... im wrecked!!!! on a positive he does always pee on his puppy pad!!!!

Same:D Normal puppy behaviour especially when teething, mine had no interest in her own toys as she wanted things that would crunch and come apart. Would have to tell her 50-100 times to leave something, persistant little fecker I found giving her raw carrots to destroy kept her occupied for a while. She did that for about a week then suddenly just stopped, a lot better behaved now, still has the same energy but isn't putting it into destroying the kids toys and things around the house. Just be persistant and consistant and he'll work out what it is you want him to do eventually. If he nips you give a little yelp and ignore him for a few minutes and he'll soon realise that if he bites his playmate he'll loose them and that's no fun! Give him loads of attention and praise when he's being good even though you might feel silly to start with since he's probably not doing anything other than sitting nicely on the floor or something.

<Edit> I did let her chew on my trousers I have to admit as it was better than chewing something else. Most people probably wouldn't agree with that, but she did stop that at the same time as everything else.