New Puppy Mommie with MANY questions!

[Guest Anonymous]

Hello to ALL! :D

I am the proud new Mommie of a Shih Tzu Puppy. His name is Toby and he is soooo sweet. But I have MANY questions! Toby is almost 14 weeks old and we have had him for one week. The lady that we got him from said he was paper trained, but he rarely goes on the paper. I am trying to housebreak him and it is not going to well. I have tried to give him treats when he goes outside and lots of praise, yet he still goes all over in the house. I take him out ever three hours but most of the time we just walk around the yard in circles(sometimes we are out there for a half hour or more). Just to have him go once we get inside. So my question is would it be better for me to try a crate? Right now we just put him in the kitchen at night and let him hang out with me in the living room durring the day.

Secondly, when we are outside he eats a lot of grass. Is this bad for him? If so how can I get him to stop? We are feeding him two times a day and sometimes he doesn't even eat all his food, so I don't think he is hungry.

When it comes to his food I am trying to follow the breeders suggestions...she was feeding him eukanuba with lots of extra things mixed in at different feedings. Like garlic one time, vitamins another time, curd mixed with a little honey one time, and every now and then a little canned food. I tried the garlic and he would not eat it...I don't know what vitamins to use so I haven't tried that. He loves the curd and canned food. But she told me not to spoil him on the canned food, however, he won't eat his food dry at all. I have to mix in either the curd or the canned food in order to get him to eat. She also didn't tell me how much to feed him...all she said was very small amount. I'm so confused!

My last question for this post is about him being afraid...when we went to pick him up from the breeder's he was very outgoing...didn't seem to be afraid of anyone...not me and my husband nor any of our children (we have three) But now he seems to be afraid of me. I have never raised my voice at him nor repremanded him for anything. But when I try to get him to take him outside he runs from me...I have to pick him up because he won't jump down the step to get outside. Is it because I am so much bigger than he is? I would be heart-broken if I had done something to scare him of me forever. :cry: My husband says I'm woried fo nothing...but I feel like I'm a first time mommie with NO knowledge. HELP! :errrr:

[TDG]

[quote name='TobyandSaddieMom']
When it comes to his food I am trying to follow the breeders suggestions...she was feeding him eukanuba with lots of extra things mixed in at different feedings. Like garlic one time, vitamins another time, curd mixed with a little honey one time, and every now and then a little canned food. I tried the garlic and he would not eat it...I don't know what vitamins to use so I haven't tried that. He loves the curd and canned food. But she told me not to spoil him on the canned food, however, he won't eat his food dry at all. I have to mix in either the curd or the canned food in order to get him to eat. She also didn't tell me how much to feed him...all she said was very small amount. I'm so confused!

eukanuba is a popular brand, but the quality isn't great. you can do a lot better for the same price or even less. have a look here for information on commercial food:
http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood

giving a good multivitamin daily is a great thing to do, but like for the commercial foods, the same rule goes for vitamin products: most of the stuff you find at the mainstream stores (e.g. petco, petsmart) are overpriced and of poor quality. one product i really do like is the herbal multivitamin from animal essentials. it's also reasonably priced.
http://www.animalessentials.com

the reason i said daily is because most vitamins are water soluble and whatever the body doesn't need is excreted in the urine, so there is a daily need for replenishing and you get the best health effect if you do that regularly.

as for the amounts of food, the guideslines on the bag are a good point to start. they will tell you how much to feed at what age. keep an eye on your dog's weight and don't let him get fat. be prepared to reduce the amounts of food slightly if you notice he's getting pudgy, and also substract any extras (curd, honey, canned food etc.) from the amount of kibble you feed - all these things bring calories into the diet.

i know i'm going to overload you on links, but here's an interesting article on the topic:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/02/12.12.02/dog-diet.html

it's not a bad thing to add different things to the kibble. you can also give finely grated or cooked veggies, a bit of meat (also both raw and cooked is fine), fruits, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, eggs and other things.

just make sure you don't fall into the trap of indulging your dog each time he refuses to eat something, or you are likely to create a finicky eater who will always hold out for something better.

[hicksstar]

A crate is a great investment. Our pups were paper trained and one that we kept to have desexed before sending off to her new home slept inside. She would sleep in the crate in the laundry and I would leave the crate door open so she could come out. In the morning she would have messed on the paper so the following night I shut the crate and not another mess, as dogs like to keep there sleeping quarters clean, they dont like to mess in it. I would take her out before bed and walk around saying GO TOILLY GO TOILLY and when she did lots of praise. Once they understand what is expected of them they learn. Remember puppies or dogs cant open the door we can so when they do mess its because we havent taken them out.
GOOD LUCK :D