reared from 2 days old, now he's gorgeous.

[gladiator2]

My pup (Marcus Maximus Marillius) moved in with us when he was 2 days old. His Mummy died whilst in labour.It was very tough at first but now very rewarding, he's now a very strong and of course demanding 10 week old.
Theres a few things that worry me though.

Maximus has never met with another doggie he has only had human contact. I have spoken with the Vet, she advised me that until he has had all his injections he shouldn't really mix with other canines. Do you think this will effect him in any way. As I don't want him to make my tea and massage my feet, I want him to do doggie things, if you get my drift.

Also my husband wants him to have his tail docced as it is so long, please advise me on this.

Maximus eats everything and has at present 4 meals a day but I can see his ribs, he has been wormed and checked. Any advise on what the cause of this could be.

What's a crate?.

I am so pleased I was able to keep him alive.

Maximus's Mom
:D :D

 

[Scorpio]

I didn't see any pictures?? As soon as he has had all his injections then you can introduce him to other dogs. You would not want him to catch something from another dog before his shots. Not sure about the tail, that is something that is usually done right away. He is eating 4 meals a day, thats fine, I wouldn't worry about his ribs showing, what did your vet say? As long as he is healthy don't worry about it. Use the search buttonon the top right to look up, Crate, weight, etc. check out our puppy forums.
He sounds like a lucky little boy!
Colleen

 

[Vela]

Tail docking is usually done at 3 days of age or so. Now it would be a major surgical procedure as all of the bones, nerves and blood vessles have grown into the tail. If it was me I wouldn't do it since it would be so traumatic now. But that's just me.
I think it's so great you were able to keep him alive and raise him up. He's a lucky little guy, that takes a lot of hard work. My boy showed his ribs until he was about 7 months old. He is quite tall though andhe seemed to grow up then out. He still has a lot of filing out to do. If you vet thinks he's a good weight he is probably just fine. As your vet about it. Some boxer babies stay skinny looking for quite a while. Make sure he's getting a good diet and he will probalby be fine since he's been checked for worms etc.
A crate is a cage you put the dog in to keep them from harming anything or themselves when you aren't home to watch them. As was mentioned above, do a search on things like that and you will get lots of information.

Congrats on keeping him going and thriving that's really great.

 

[Krikkit]

Here is a recent thread that might be helpful (scroll down to near the end of the first page):
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42896

If you go to http://www.boxerworld.com/puppy/ and follow all the articles you will find heaps of info that will help.

Here are a couple specific on socialisation and development:
http://www.boxerworld.com/puppy/socialisation/
http://www.boxerworld.com/puppy/education/

Book him into a good puppy pre-school ASAP

It is wonderful that you were able to raise him from such a young age. All the best to Marcus Maximus Marillius

Sharon

 

[adeinert]

Yeah! Congrats on the growing pup!

I also have a hand-raised puppy from a few days of age, but he was found in a box with his siblings.

I am not sure how late with the tail but after the bones, nerves, etc are into the tail it is now an amputation. I don't know of a vet in my area that would amputate a healthy body part. I found this out when I received a young boxer foster and was told to have the tail "docked". I called around and found out that in this older puppy it was an amputation. Needless to say, she has her tail. Even when it is done with the spay or neuter the healing process can be very, very long. I contacted another foster that had a few and she said it is a very long and tedious process as it doesn't tend to heal well.

I have fostered two boxers with tails. The smaller puppy beat you with it but really nothing bad. The one year old's tail wasn't a big deal. His dew claws were much more to contend with!:p

Best wishes!
Ashlie
and the rescued boxertrio
www.flbr.org

 

[gladiator2]

thankyou for all the great advise. I will look into the tail situation a little more as I would never put Maximus through any sort of trauma.

Your comments have been taken onboard and I appreciate it.

I'll get some piccies loaded when I have worked out how it all works.

I'll keep you updated on his prgress.

Maximus's Mom:D

 

[jnlflip]

My boxer is just over a year old now. She is still pretty skinny; I can see her ribs too. She has gotten a clean bill of health from the vet and eats like a horse. I feed her more than is recommended. I've heard this is fairly common with some lines of boxers; they'll tend to fill out when they get older. I guess I'll keep waiting!