New Mom with Questions

[hooley]

I finally brought my little baby girl home this past Saturday! She is such a pleasure. I could not sleep at all Friday night in anticipation of bringing her home! My mom said I was crazy....

Anyway, she is 6 weeks old and weighs 3.4 pounds. Is she small for 6 weeks? Or is this pretty average?

She loves to play. However, not with her toys. She prefers my hand/arm to anything else. I guess she sees me holding the toy and figures "why go after that poor innocent toy when it is that hand doing all of the moving?". Anyway, if I play with her with my hands (wrestling, light rough housing) will I be teaching her bad things? How can I get her interested in the toys?

She also seems to sleep quite a bit. I take her out to potty, then she eats, plays for a little bit, and then sleeps. On average it seems she is awake for about 30 minutes and then sleeps at least 1 hour. She generally sleeps from 10:00 p.m. to about 5:00 a.m.

Thanks!

 

[Poohsmom]

Aww- a new baby Congratulations !!! I'm not an expert but I think once she gets alittle older,she'll start to play more. ( and sleep a whole lot less )
Her size seems ok, best suggestion is have her checked out by your vet. Most babies don't come to their new home until 8 weeks or so. Enjoy the peace and quite for now- pretty soon she'll be a fuzzy handful.

There is also alot of good info here on the boards on puppy matters. Just search the forums. Good luck with your new little one. Can't wait to see pics

Sue and the kids,Pooh,Bownser,Dozer & Cissy

 

[mancin]

It's hard to say because she's so young. Why was she taken so early? When I got Tyson he was 8.5 weeks and 10 - 11 lbs, but I have no idea how much he weighed when he was 6 weeks. I agree, have a vet check her out.
It's fine to play w/ her w/ your hands, but don't let her bite you. If she tries to nip at you, re-direct her attention to something else. Personally, whenever Tyson tries to bite me, I just grab a toy and stick it in his mouth. He then chews on the toy and leaves me alone.
I'm sure she's sleeping quite a bit because she's going to be growing a lot very soon. I can tell when Tyson is going through "growth spurts" because he gets very tired.
Good luck w/ your new baby! I hope to see pictures of her very soon.

 

[hooley]

The breeder said she was ready to be picked up at 6 weeks. I was the last one to get my puppy on Saturday. Others had been there days before and picked up their baby's. I figured there would be no sense in leaving her there alone. I did want to wait until 8 weeks though.

She does "chew", so to speak, on my hands/arms. Although it is not hard. I tell her "eh eh" when she gets too hard. Even if I stuff a toy in her mouth, she puts it down and comes right back at me. I just don't want her growing up thinking I am okay to gnaw on!

Maybe when she gets a little bigger, she will have more interest in the toys. I just don't want to start in the development of bad habits.

Thanks!

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Shame on the breeder for being so irresponsible. I can tell you that is much smaller than any of my pups at 6 weeks old. Your puppy should never have left its home prior to 8 weeks old. In fact, it is illegal in some states.

Puppies need to stay with their mother and their littermates. Irresponsible breeders that get rid of puppies at 6 weeks usually do so to avoid paying for shots and food. They don't want to clean up after pups or alter their "normal" life. It is an inconvenience and it costs them money. So they dump the pups at 5-6 weeks old just to be done with it all.

Shame Shame Shame on such an irresponsible breeder.

 

[Scrapper's Mom]

Christina is right; that's really young to get a puppy. You want to make sure she's getting the right food and rest for such a young one. Also, at the young age, you sometimes have to show them the water bowl and make it attractive to them so they drink enough. She also seems kind of small to me, too.

Set up a nice cozy, warm bed for her and don't expect her to play too much but sleep a lot. You can do a search on here to find more help. And keep her away from other dogs because her immune system is still very weak.

 

[Daisys_rjm]

A responsible breeder wouldn't even consider releasing a puppy before day 49, shame on them.

I do hope you have a healthy, happy, puppy.
Have lots and lots of FUN!!!

randy and Daisy

 

[coastalgirl]

3.4 lbs seems kind of small to me, but I'm not sure. I know when Savannah was 6 weeks old she weighed 6.5 lbs, but as the others said a vet could probably tell you if that's a normal weight or not, but it does seem rather small.

 

[hooley]

Yes, I agree that 6 weeks was too young to be removed from her littermates. But, she seems very healthy and I can see she will be very intelligent. She reaches her water bowl just fine and I have her on Nutro Puppy food which she eats really well. I do not have her around any other dogs, so she shouldn't catch anything from anyone else.

I took her to the vet on Monday, just to get her checked out. The vet echoed your concerns over her being only 6 weeks, but other than that, she said she seemed quite healthy. When she is awake, she has quite a bundle of energy - so I believe she is getting proper nutrition.

Her "doodies" are not nasty. Look like normal doggie "doodies".

Thanks everyone for your replies. It is good to know I have a resource to turn to if I need some advice.

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Warning-take off your shoes whenever you get home. Even if you are not taking your puppy outside, you are walking outside. If you step in infected pee or poo from another dog, you will track it into the house. Then when the puppy touches it and licks herself, she will be infected.

Very very serious. And this is the reason all people take their shoes off in my house when I have a litter. You can't be too careful.