New Mom with Questions

[Bear's Mama]

Congratulations on your new baby! I just wanted to add that I was told NOT to feed Boxers puppy food because it will make them grow too quick. I feed my Bear (who will be 2 on Dec. 3rd!) Nutro and always have but started off with the non-puppy food, it's just the little bites - I think it's the green bag. Your baby will sleep a lot and I worried about this some also....of course, I don't have any skinbabies to compare it to, but I think it's the same concept. Keep lots and lots and lots of toys around! A bored Boxer can become a bad Boxer....Good Luck and keep reading the posts!

Jennifer & Bear

 

[Kenosmom]

We brought Keno home at 6 wks too...he was and always has been healthy as a mule...he weighed about 8 lbs when we brought him home...he had his first shots and was dewormed by the breeders vet...I know we got lucky with him tho because I've read so many horror stories about puppies who come from BYB's and are infested with worms and sick....Ofcourse we did not even know what a BYB was when we got Keno and have since learned so much...his breeder was one of the "better" byb's tho (if that's possible)...she owns both of Keno's parents (and they were there when we picked Keno out) and her sister owns his grandparents...Keno's parents are thier family pets and the puppies were kept inside thier beautiful home....but...no health testing was done...we're fortunate that Keno has no health probs to speak of (I know they can still happen as he gets older tho)....
But anyway, hooley, your baby girl does sound kind of small...I would get her in to see a vet ASAP just to make sure everything is ok...better safe than sorry ! Also, start her on a really good premium kibble..(if at all possible)
Good Luck !

 

[Kenosmom]

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.

Sorry, I didn't see this post before I wrote mine....glad you got her to the vet and glad your vet says she looks healthy....as for the sleeping a lot...its totally normal...
Also glad to hear she's on one of the better kibbles...is it the nutro natural? I've heard that's the better kind of nutro...

BTW, I see that you're also in IN...we live in Lafayette !!

 

[Adelle]

Congratulations on your new pup - what is her name ? Can't wait to see pics

 

[hooley]

I have named her Isabel. We call her Izzy for short. I hope to get some pictures up by this evening. I have uploaded one, but it hasn't been approved yet.

I live in southern Indiana near Louisville, KY. Good to see there are some Hoosiers aboard!

The vet said to give her a couple of weeks and bring her back in for some shots. At that time we should know if she is still too small.

I never heard of not giving puppies puppy food. I thought it would have the extra vitamins or whatever in it to help them to grow. As opposed to adult dog food that maybe doesn't?

I am curious about this, what should I be feeding her?

 

[PingsMomNiki]

We brought Ping home at 7 weeks, we picked him out the day he was born [the breeders are friends] and we visited him about 4 times a week getting him used to our scent and our voices. We would not have brought him home if he wasnt ready and at 7 weeks he was. He slept a lot too when we first brought him home. We went and bought all kinds of toys and he wouldn't have anything to do with them!! LOL.. but after awhile he started playing with them and then starting tearing them up! I think at first they just dont understand. We played with Ping like that, eventhough we knew it probably wasn't good we even let him nip at our shoelaces when we had our shoes on and nip at our hands a little when we "play-fought" but we taught him early nto to chew on things, he has never chewed on a shoe [off a foot] to this day but he bites his daddy's shoes still when they play fight. We also taught him early NO BITING THE KIDS!! LOL.. and no biting in the face. We taught him this by encouraging kisses on the face ... so we were rewarded with lots and lots and LOTS of kisses! They are very smart, even as small pups.. Ping learned and understood "No" and "thats not okay" very quickly. We rewarded him with treats and happy phrases "Good boy!" etc.. when he did good. About her size, every puppy is different sizes.. take her to the vet for a checkup anyway to establish your records and make sure she's in good health and ask the vet about her weight. Ping was tiny but soon he fattened up!! Your lucky she sleeps at night.. Ping slept all day and wanted to play all night for awhile! With the toys.. in time she will play with them more like I said but all i can recommend is introduce small things when yall are playing together and make it fun and she'll figure out she can play with them. It's good to start early to teach her what is hers and what is not hers to chew on. Ping started with small toys and then when he was about 2 months we got him this giant lion and purple bear , they were bigger than him but he would drag those things all over the house. It was so cute. Congratulations on your new baby! I know how you felt.. I was soooooo excited to finally get to bring Ping home. Good luck.. keep us updated! :D

 

[pinkpuppy]

Izzy seems small... Chloe came home at 9 weeks, weighing just over 13 lbs... At 6 weeks she was around 8 lbs... Still, at 9 weeks she slept a lot Infact that's all she did... She even had me concerned... SHe's 16 weeks now - and just recently she has figured out how to play with her toys. She now has enough strength to make the squeekies squeek and to carry the larger toys around. When she was little she preffered smaller softer toys - and did not know - as she knows now - how to play by herself. I guess it all comes with time...

I am however surprised that she sleeps through the night - from 10 to 5 a.m. ... congratulations. With Chloe we got up twice every night (at 2:15 and 4:45 a.m.)... we also took her potty about every 2 hours during the day; just to teach her... Chloe also slept in a small crate at night (now she sleeps on a doggie bed next to me).

Do you take care of the puppy during the day? She can't be in a crate for too long - an hour at the most - but I'm no expert.

Chloe had 4 sets of shots - starting at 7 weeks - and finishing just recently - on Saturday. Thus, for the 6.5 weeks that she was home with us, she did not go anywhere other than our back yard, or the grandparents' yard... And was - and continues to be always supervised.

The first few weeks are though but full of new love. Good luck with everything & have fun!