Back in the game - Some advice, please!

SusieBlue

Hi All

I recently adopted a male Maltese puppy. He's now 9 weeks old, lovely temperament and a great little fellow to have around. However, my last dog was PTS over 10 years ago and we got her from a rescue when she was old, so I'm new to the puppy game and I have a few questions.

1. How often should I be feeding him? Upon advice from a seasoned dog owner friend, I've been feeding him at around 8am, 2pm, and 6pm. I'll leave his bowl out until he finishes it (for instance, he might gobble it all up right away, or sometimes he'll pick at his breakfast till 9:30am. I'll leave the bowl out till he finishes it.) but I haven't been feeding him outside of these times upon my friends advice. I don't want the little mite to be hungry though! I can often hear him playing with his toys during the night, is he waking cause he's hungry?

2. His eyes. I know that this is to do with his breed but is there anything I can do to improve how dirty his eye area is getting? I got some Diamond Eyes from the pet shop but either I'm not doing it right or it isn't helping. The tear staining around his eyes and near his mouth makes him look dirty and unkempt when he's very well groomed.

3. He's a house pet, and has free reign of the downstairs by day and the evening. But from about 11pm we put him into a pen in the kitchen, where he has his (open) cage and bed, his blanket, some toys and water. He only cried the first night we put him in there, and hasn't cried since, but I feel awful leaving him in the little space all alone. I leave on the lamp and the radio for him so I think this helps. Should I be getting upto him in the night?

4. The biting! I know he's teething and being playful but it has to stop. He has gotten very nippy, particularly over the last week. I've been firmly saying "no" and "stop" but he really doesn't seem to care. Any tips?

I hope I don't sound too clueless, I did read up a lot about puppies and the breed in general but there's a lot of conflicting advice online. We love him very much and this is going to be a learning process for me too. TIA for any help!

Springwell

Feeding - I leave feed down for ten minutes then remove it. If you want to leave it down that's up to you. With multiple dogs I can't. Feeding three times a day should be enough.

Don't feel bad for leaving him in his pen, it's his den/safe place.

For the biting, try yelping as if he's hurt you. It's how another pup would tell him he's playing too rough. He doesn't under stand no or stop.

cocker5

Op congrats on the new pup - make sure to post a picture of him!

Feeding... three times a day is fine for now, i have one dog he gets fed twice per day (he's 10 now) and like you i leave his bowl down until he's finished... which is grand - never had a problem, its personal choice really.

on the tear staining - im sorry i cant help at all on this one.

Bed - don't worry about leaving him alone its good for him to be content in his own company - he will let you know if he's not happy trust me.

Biting - he's only 9 weeks, all puppies do this, and it will continue for awhile... trying yelping etc it will eventually work but its not a quick fix ... it will take time

best of luck!

Dubl07

The other posters have covered feeding and bed.

Tear staining: you need to wipe the area consistently over days/weeks to get rid of the staining, and snip off any longer bothersome hairs in the area. There are small round-ended scissors specifically designed for grooming dogs.
Get your pup used to grooming now by brushing and combing him and either filing or clipping his nails. A full groom for a small long-haired is €55 in Dublin so you might want to minimise the number of time you take him by doing as much as possible yourself. I've a dog with a similar coat and have a couple of combs, a slicker, a soft bristle brush and a dematting comb as well as the scissors and a pair of doggy nail clippers. I bought them over the course of a few months. Keep an eye out in TK Maxx as you can pick up decent bits at reasonable prices.

Biting: have a variety of options for your pup to chew. Rope toys, fluffy toys, squeaky ones and quartered carrots work for my girl. If he bites, remove your hand while firmly saying 'no biting' and give him an alternative. It'll soon become clear which category of chewy he prefers. When he starts to lose his milk-teeth in a bit the new ones will be less needle-sharp. Around the teething phase you might find frozen carrots and even ice-cubes are useful.

Socialisation is very important. Even before all the vaccinations, you can carry your dog pretty much everywhere and get him used to people and situations of all kinds. Try and get him used to children, other dogs, people of different genders, appearances etc between now and 16 weeks. You can also work on collar and harness now even before he's going outside for proper walks by getting him used to wearing both. I used a light ribbon attached to the collar for a day or two, then a light lead before even picking up the end of the lead.

Invest in a puppy training class if you possibly can. It will have longterm benefits.

Treats for positive training: Low value for low distraction ranging through to high value for very distracting situations.

Pet Insurance: fingers crossed you'll never need it but get it before your dog develops any dreaded 'prior conditions'.

Online: Kikopup and Zak George have youtubes with a lot of good training advice. Ignore any trainer on TV, online or RL who hisses, pokes or rolls their dog.

ShaShaBear

Dubl07 wrote: »

Online: Kikopup and Zak George have youtubes with a lot of good training advice. Ignore any trainer on TV, online or RL who hisses, pokes or rolls their dog.

I LOVE Zak George, just for his absolutely fabulous dogs and their even more awesome names

DBB

Hi OP,
Congratulations on your new puppy... it is quite a shock getting a baby dog when there's been a considerable gap since the last one!
Great advice from Dubl07, you'll not go too far wrong with it.
I will, if I may, add a few bells and whistles, and a couple of other observations.

Re the feeding, I would not leave a puppy as young as 9 weeks without food from 6pm to 8am... it's wayyyy too long and could indeed be contributing to his night-time wakefulness. In any case, personally I prefer for pups this young to get 4 meals a day, and allow them to eat to satiation (within reasonable limits... this can be a dangerous road to go down with Labradors!).
So, I'd suggest adding an extra small feed just before bedtime.
As he gets a little older, drop the feeds to 3, but space them out so that there's a late-ish one still in there. Eventually, you can drop to 2 meals a day (though my own adult dogs are fed 3 times a day). I try to have it so that there's an equal-ish amount of time between meals.
It's hard to tell you what to do re whether to take his unfinished meals from him, or to just let him graze. I don't have much issue with allowing dogs to graze, but it can pose problems when you're trying to housetrain them, because it means their pooping routine may not be as clear as a pup who's fed at specific times and eating it all in one go. Bichons can be a nightmare to housetrain, so perhaps it's fair to say that you should maximise the chances of success by limiting his grazing until he's housetrained.

Finally, the biting. With a lot of pups, saying "ouch" and replacing your fingers with a toy just doesn't really get the message across clearly enough. What happens if you say "ouch", and the pup just keeps on biting you? You're kinda stuck with nowhere to go if this happens, aren't you?:)
Here's a link to a similar thread from a couple of months ago, which describes how to up the ante a bit in terms of letting a pup know, gently, that biting is a non-runner:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=94253436

As with everything training-related, it takes time, consistency and patience, so stick with it. It sounds like you've a great attitude to this whole new(ish) adventure

Edited to add: I've had (another) senior moment... for some reason I thought you said your pup was a Maltese x Bichon, which is why I brought Bichons up above... Sigh. Don't mind me