New Puppy, advice needed

babyboom

Hi, we've just taken in a new puppy, he's now 9 weeks old. He's a cross between a Jack Russell and a Yorkshire Terrier. He's a lovely little thing but we're having a few problems with him. Firstly, he seems to have a very poor appetite. I have been softening it up a bit of Connolly's Red Mills by soaking it in some warm water and mixing it with dry Science Plan, which we were advised by the vet is the best food. He sniffs around it and eats a few mouthfuls but then loses interest. He seems to like the taste of the Science Plan but finds it hard to eat as its so hard. Anyone got any ideas of a good mix of food for him that he might find more attractive?

The other issue we're having is that he is very aggressive. He's biting constantly (which I know puppies do) but he is also growling (although his little growl is hilarious to listen to). However, its making the children very nervous around him and making them jumpy which, in turn, is making him more excitible. I've tried advice like yelping loudly, saying no firmly and putting him back in his bed or ignoring him but he just comes back for more and gets more and more agitated and more aggressive. I want to make sure I don't make him worse and would be grateful if anyone has any advice on how to treat this problem in the most gentle manner. Thanks in advance.

dancingqueen

Hi OP

I have a 4 month old Yorkie female

She is on Royal Canin Mini Junior 33 - the kibbles are really small so she can manage them, it's specific puppy food for puppies up to 10 months, then you can switch them to adult food, or their breed specific food.

http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/my_pet/dog_products/size_health_nutrition/mini_dogs/mini_junior.aspx

If you are going to change his food, make sure you mix it in gradually, 25%, 50%, 75% up to 100% over 7-10 days. I did this with my pup when I got her and it worked great. I wasn't happy with her being on Red Mills.

With the aggression, I was giving her a time out for 5 minutes if she was biting or being bold. I'd put her down, and ignore her for the 5 minutes. She soon associated what she was doing with being ignored, and it worked.

Since she has gotten older from 9-16/17 weeks the biting/knawing on our hands is becoming less frequent and she is enjoying taking a love from us instead of using our hands as a toy, so to speak, so I think that is just playing and to do with age.

Hope this helps, I'm no expert but it worked for me!

babyboom

Thanks for the advice. Nice to know the biting may lessen over the next few weeks. I have been buying puppy specific food but he's still having trouble eating it. I've just given him some chicken that I had poached and he absolutely wolfed it down, probably a mistake, but I knew he must have been hungry. I might give the Royal Canin a go and see if he prefers this. God, its worse than trying to feed the kids.! Thanks again for the advice.

spygirl

awwww, cute little dog i'm sure maybe try the arden grange, it's supposed to be good. the biting will lessen as he/she gets older. enjoy your new puppy hope it all works out

Sigma Force

The biting will lesson but you need to offer the pup lots of toys as an alternative to fingers and toes. Have lots of toy scattered around the house so they are always to hand.

I didn't find yelping worked much with our pup, it gets easier but once your guy has his full vaccinations get him into puppy classes, and if possible regular play dates with other small pups when they wrestle about and play they nip each other and let each other know when they are biting too hard.

I tried Royal Canin but the Burns puppy was more of a hit the pieces are tiny too and suitable for all puppies and toy breeds although it is dry so can be hard, don't give in and give chicken etc. small dogs can be very fussy eaters of course it's important for the pups to eat but now that the pup wolfed down the chicken you know there's nothing wrong health wise the pups just holding out ..as they do.


Although chopping and changing food isn't good for pups either if you hold out a bit the pup will eventually give in and eat it.

Pups hate being ignored so ignoring her, as mentioned already will help.