New Pup Boxer/Lab Mix - 4 Wks. Old!

[BoxerNala]

Hello, Board!

I am a new member/mother of a boxer/lab mix puppy. She is 4 weeks old and my little boys adores her.

I have never trained a boxer before and I have read that they are intelligient and very much family oriented. I am a SAHM and do have time to train. When should I start training our baby? Right now, its dead winter and we take her out at nite and she does really well.

She would whine and somehow bark when she's hungry or needs to go potty. But I still cant distinguish between the two. LOL

There are times when she would just like to cuddle up w/ me? Is it bad that I pick her up and have her cuddle and fall asleep on me? My husband says that it may not be a good idea. I'm wanting to crate train. Any advise will help a new boxer mommy!

Abegail & Nala

 

[boxer]

OMG She's how old? Really only 4 weeks? If that's the case, you really should get that baby back to its mother and littermates for another few weeks. No puppy should leave its mother before 8 weeks of age - actually that's even the law in some States. Removing a puppy from its mother at 4 weeks of age is (frankly) just plain dangerous. They're nowhere near sufficiently developed. If there's any way you can send her back to her mother, I really think you should do so.

 

[BoxerNala]

OMG She's how old? Really only 4 weeks? If that's the case, you really should get that baby back to its mother and littermates for another few weeks. No puppy should leave its mother before 8 weeks of age - actually that's even the law in some States. Removing a puppy from its mother at 4 weeks of age is (frankly) just plain dangerous. They're nowhere near sufficiently developed. If there's any way you can send her back to her mother, I really think you should do so.

I know she is very young but she is a rescue. We can't take her back to her mother and littermates and we are in a position to take care of her as best as we can.

We went straight to the vet to get her checked out as soon as we got her and vet said everything was in good track. She's healthy. Thank you for your reply for I do appreciate. But all my family can do is to take care of Nala and have her feel very welcomed in our family. Have a great holiday.

Abegail & Nala

 

[courtney323]

WOW!!!! I cannot believe that the rescue organization would even seperate the pup from the littermates AND adopt them all out by 4 weeks!!!!

Sounds pretty irresponsible, but I'm not sure what the story is behind that...

Good luck with the pup

 

[BoxerNala]

Rescued from a BYB. Not an organization. It may have not been too responsible of them to let litters go but there was no way for them to take care of additional litters and they are an older couple.

 

[Shakira's Ma]

I, also, had a pup that was only 4 weeks old when I got her, she is now 10 1/2 years old and a Chow. When I went to look at them the breeder told me they were six weeks old, I thought they looked small, their feet was the size of dimes and they weighed 3lbs. Anyway I didn't know any better at the time as this was before my introduction to BW, I knew that six weeks was the usual time of letting puppies go at that time. I brought the pup home and took her to the vets and he said she couldn't possibly be over four weeks old. This dog faired very well for me and we had no problem at all with her, she housebroke with virtually no work on behalf at all. I know this isn't the typical result of bringing home a pup too early, and I know they should be with their moms and sibs until they are eight weeks old, but just wanted to let you know that there are some success cases out there.

 

[BoxerNala]

To Shakira:

Thank you very much for some light on this issue. I also agree w/ 4 weeks being to young. But its nice to hear of success stories!

 

[kassa]

If she's truly 4 weeks old I'd take a radically different approach and probably take her in bed with me -- or perhaps a compromise, take her little crate in bed with me -- they have cat carriers that might function for another couple of weeks). She needs to feel physically close to others at this age -- filling a liter bottle with warm water and wrapping in a receiving blanket may make a nice "friend" to cuddle up to, or an equivalent sized stuffed animal.

A lot of the information you will read about a new puppy adjusting to home simply won't apply to her. You can't expect her to really begin trying to housebreak for another 3 weeks, so you'll just have to keep her off the carpets, chart everything and clean up after her as best you can otherwise.

Make yourself a chart with every hour in the day (maybe grab a day planner). Note when she sleeps, when she pees/poops/eats, when she gets cranky, when she's full of energy. And you will soon spot patterns that you can use to your advantage -- how many bowel movements she'll have between lunch and dinner, how the first signs of being manic translate into sound sleep moments later, etc.

At this point she's still sleeping most of the day, so if she had littermates I'd keep her with them in a pen in the kitchen or living area. Where she's alone I'd keep her closer to you -- she won't have the other pups to tumble with when she's awake, so you'll have to substitute. She can't be expected to spend hours alone -- that's simply unnatural at her age. I would definitely cuddle her and let her fall asleep on you, then ease her into her well cushioned crate with the door open so she gets used to sleeping there.

Talk to your vet about anybody else with young puppies who might be willing to let yours come and play in a few weeks when she's had some shots. You will need to make up for the lack of littermates by early intervention with as many puppy and dog playmates as you can manage. It's too early now unless you have a big network, but it's something to be working on now for later.

 

[cody&duke]

I also bought Duke when he was 4 weeks old. I didn't know better either until I joined here. Looking back I think it was better that he was with us then where he was. He wasn't even with his mother and supposedly he was the only puppy from the litter.

When we first brought him home we snuggled and held with him all the time, he slept with us too. My bf works from home so he was able to stay with him. Cody was also a good influence. Once Duke was old enough and had shots we socialized him with different dogs frequently. He just started daycare last week. We did not start potty training him until several weeks later. We would take him outside but if he had an accident is was no big deal.

He is doing great! He was potty trained right around 6 months. We have not had any problems that I havent' read about other boxer owners having on this board! Now that I know better, I wouldn't do it again unless it was a very bad situation like.

Good Luck, with patience, consistency and love I think you should be ok too.

 

[Doja's Mommy]

Another suggestion.....

Does your puppy eat only puppy food? You might want to think about a mothers milk supplement that you can purchase a local pet store. This will provide extra nutrients that your growing puppy will need... You might want to think about bottle feeding her half the time and puppy food half the time until she is 6 weeks old. And as for training, you might want to wait till she is 8 weeks old. Right now, she just needs to rest and grow a bit... 4 weeks is SUPER young....... My baby will be 12 weeks tomorrow and I started training her at about 8 weeks..... Most places that do training, do not start any earlier than 8 weeks.

She really is missing out on a lot of nutrients that the mother should have provided... the milk supplement should make sure she is on the ruight track for healthy growth....

As with my puppy, the mother pretty much didn't want to have anything to do with the pups after about the 4th week, so the breeder did bottle feed them for about 2 weeks....... and I got to bring her home at 6 1/2 weeks.... And she is doing super