A few puppy questions...

[vadersmom]

So we have had lil' Brodie for almost a week(11 weeks old today) and she is doing really well. Don't know how I am going back to work next week as it takes 2 adults to structure her day to get her sleeping through the night. Overall she is doing really well-much easier than raising 2 siblings the last time we did this. We are still feeding her with Canidae Life Stages soaked a bit in water. When should we stop soaking it? We are feeding 3 times a day 2/3 cup each time(she is 14 pounds today-bullmastiff)-this amount sure seems like a lot to her little frame and she really rips and roars around after she eats! man-it is crazy time and I get a bit afraid of bloat. After a crazy 15 min, she settles right down. I try to exercise her before meals so she will stay calm but to no avail. Should I really be concerned-or just let her do her thing and not force anything now? She also has a bit of dry skin with a few flakes-I asked the vet today about coconut oil but she recommended fish oil instead. Any opinions about that? We will be switching her to a salmon/no grain food soon-we purchased a 40 # bag-just so used to a big bag(stupid me!). Overall, she sleeps well in her crate from 1130 pm to 5 am but isn't crazy going back in during the day. I have to work and hubby may be out for several hours at a time(usually not more than 3-4 at a time) so we really need to have her OK with that during the day maybe several times a week. Sorry for the huge paragraph-I don't know why it won't let me do another paragraph. I am dizzy looking at this-help?

 

[LLJohnson10]

I don't soak my pups food, and he does just fine. I'm feeding Fromm Salmon Tunalini All Life Stages(http://frommfamily.com/products/four-star/dog/dry/grain-free-salmon-tunalini). I like the list of ingredients a lot, and my puppy really loves the food. I do give him a squirt of Salmon oil with his meals. He's eating 2/3 cups per meal, 3 times a day, and when he finishes his bowl hes looking for more.

I've always used salmon oil or cooked ground salmon in all my dogs meals. It helps with the skin and coat, but it will take a few weeks for you to notice a difference. I'm of the belief that animal oils are more readily available than plant oils, which is why I prefer the salmon oil over the coconut oil.

What brand of salmon/no grain food are you switching to? I usually feed fish proteins because my GSD is intolerant of Chicken.

 

[rcnd82]

vandersmom:

Your diligence is to be praised. My 5 1/2 month old bullmastiff never received "soaked" food. We feed Fromm Adult (green bag) Gold. We started with 1 1/2 cups 3x per day and have moved to 2 to 2 1/2 cups 3x per day. We add 1 tablespoon of Flax seed oil and some powdered Ester C for inflammation. We also feed some yogurt as a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack or zucchini/carrots/apples. Never had a bloat issue. Food bowls are on the ground until about 5 months. We do add some "wet", no grain, all veggie food to the dry mix.

I think you let her "do her thing" and not force anything. We, including puppies, are all different.

If she sleeps from 11 pm to 5 am at 11 weeks, God Bless you and send her to my house. I am thinking about another puppy and she may be the one.

Take her on a walk at 5 am or when she gets up. This helped my pup. Also, feed at the same time every day. My time was 7 am (noon and 7 pm) even if I got him up at 5 am. Walk her after dinner too. Sounds to me like she'll have no problem making 3 to 4 hours in the crate. Feed her a snack on the way in and walk away.

 

[rcnd82]

Caveat to the above: this my first BM and I am learning as I go ......

 

[musicdeb]

I would start the transition to the new food once you get down to about 1/2 a bag of the old food.

Slow transition to the new food is as follows to prevent diarrhea. If at any time during the transition, the pup has diarrhea return to previous amounts of food per feeding.

Amount per feeding:

Day 1-4 ¾ cup of old food and ¼ cup of new food.

Day 5-9 ½ cup of old food and ½ cup of new food.

Day 10-14 ¾ cup of new food and ¼ cup of old food

Day 15 Start 100% of new food

Generally, mastiffs are allergic to grain and chicken found in kibble. There are a number of posts on the forum regarding kibble for your new pup. Do a search for food to check them out.

You can check www.dogfoodadvisor.com www.dogfoodanalysis.com On this forum, Smart_Family is our resident food guru.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/05/31/large-dog-feeding-mistakes.aspx

You may want to check out the raw diet for your pup. Check out the sub forum on raw diet that has a wealth of information. It is not recommended to feed the pup kibble and raw food. Dr. Becker talks about this in one of her videos.

Check out Dr. Becker’s videos on youtube.com for a lot of great information regarding the raw diet. Here is Part 1 there are 3 parts to the series. Well worth the time to watch the videos.

[video=youtube;Qx2YIIpF4cc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx2YIIpF4cc[/video]

 

[vadersmom]

Great-sounds like things are going well for us. There is a Canidae salmon and no grain that I really want to change to eventually. I will stop the water addition and add some salmon oil. We don't have Earthborn here but I can order it and have it shipped for free-that food seems to be great as well as Fromms(that one we have available here). She had a bit of a fright this morning as the 3 barky dogs next door came back home from vacation and you could see her just really get nervous. But mommy has treats and we were able to stay and listen and then play a bit away from the fence. It is so shocking to them to hear barking as every bully I have had was pretty quiet. Thanks again-I am sure this will be an ongoing thing for all of the new puppy owners.

 

[rcnd82]

Unfortunately, our 5 lb yorkie taught our 80lb 5 month old BM to bark..........we may start a band. The Yorkie hits the high notes and the BM has the low notes covered.

 

[vadersmom]

Too funny! Two different extremes in sizes-how did they do growing up....how old is the yorkie? I am sure the yorkie was there before the BM.

 

[vadersmom]

Brodie update-I want to know when the other shoe will drop. This puppy has been so easy with better toleration on the crate this week, good potties outside and even in the garage when the rain is too much to bear. Sleeps 6 hours at night before needing to potty. Sits, "leaves it" "Off" "Come" are all 75% consistant. I am thinking it is too good to be true. My next question is how much of a predictor is good puppy behavior as it relates to a great adult dog-if all things are equal such as consistant training, socialization etc. I know we are the developers of the adult personality at least to some degree, just curious if the dog will be like the puppy. I have had bullies in the past-the high maintenance puppies were high maintenance adults at least till middle age. The easy one was always easy. Is this most peoples experience?

 

[Robtouw]

What breed is Brodie? If em, then you can expect a brief rebellion period followed by your description typical of the breed. All six of my em boys have been incrediably easy to train and just get better with age, it is why we are in love with them and will probably always have one.

 

[vadersmom]

Brodie is a BM. Now, granted, she has a couple hours a day of the wheels coming off with the zoomies and a stubborn streak but overall it has been pretty easy.

 

[rcnd82]

Yes. The Yorkie was in the house for a few years before the BM puppy, Percy. They play pretty well together but Percy outweighs the female 3 year old Yorkie by 85lbs, so "play" can get rough but Percy does restrain himself. The Yorkie does avoid the paws. The Yorkie backs into the space between the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinet only leaving her head and teeth exposed and bites at and yells at the BM. It is deafening and funny.

Sounds like Brodie is golden. We have had some regression but not alot. As I explained in another thread, potty training has been an adventure at times with occasional tinkle trails. Consistency is obviously the key. For the first time last night, Percy decided he wanted into the bed.........

 

[vadersmom]

My God...she slept 8 hours! I just cannot believe this at all. I scooped her up and took her out for a potty in less than a min. Something will go terribly wrong....I just know it I go back to work tomorrow so that will be another adjustment but I am hopeful we have laid a decent groundwork down. I know to stay on top of it as it can go south. Another question-when does teething start? I need to get some bitter apple spray as my furniture is taking a small hit.