How often to Feed puppy

trinnylilac

On Saturday we got a new puppy. She is a 5 month old jack russell.

The home where she came from advised to fill a bowl of food and leave out all day and about 6pm lift away and then nothing untill the next day , A bowl of water all day and lift that off in the evening untill early morning too.

I am not sure it is a good idea to leave food out all day but then I have only ever had adult dogs to look after so not sure.

Has anyone any advice

Oh also need advice about whining and weeing...( the puppy that is) She is aparantly toilet trained but I am thinking after several acidents that maybe not so well.
Understandably she is in a new enviroment but not sure what to do when she has an accident. We are treating and praising when she wees outside but not sure what else to do

Also she doesn't like being on her own ( she has been with her mum before coming to us) so at night she whimpers when left downstairs any ideas

UKTigerlily

trinnylilac wrote: »

On Saturday we got a new puppy. She is a 5 month old jack russell. Congratulations!

The home where she came from advised to fill a bowl of food and leave out all day and about 6pm lift away and then nothing untill the next day , A bowl of water all day and lift that off in the evening untill early morning too.
I am not sure it is a good idea to leave food out all day but then I have only ever had adult dogs to look after so not sure. She MUST have water available at all times, unless a Vet tells you otherwise for any reason, so please always have fresh & clean water available for her. I think a Pup of this age needs feeding 3x a day but i'm not 100%, they might be on twice a day by this age, someone will be along soon. I guess it doesn't hurt to leave dried down, but if she wants it she'll eat it right off! I'd feed her 2/3x a day - someone will say how often soon - & not leave it down.

Has anyone any advice

Oh also need advice about whining and weeing...( the puppy that is) She is aparantly toilet trained but I am thinking after several acidents that maybe not so well.
Understandably she is in a new enviroment but not sure what to do when she has an accident. We are treating and praising when she wees outside but not sure what else to do Be consistant, show her where she can go & do what you're doing with TONS of praise when she does it right, take her out once an hour & when she's going use a word, such as Busy. In the end she should go when you say Busy. If she goes inside don't tell her off at all, just clear it up quietly, but not in view of her. At night she could be crated, if the crate is the right size she shouldn't go in it, they hate to go in their beds BUT a) She may well need taking out every hour or so thru the night for now even if crated & b) She needs to be trained to use one, you can't just buy one & expect to shut them in it!

Also she doesn't like being on her own ( she has been with her mum before coming to us) so at night she whimpers when left downstairs any ideas

You could put something that smells of you in with her like a top or blanket, maybe try wearing an old t-shirt & then giving her it at night, a ticking clock some suggest to mimick the heartbeat of her Mum, you can use animal hot water bottles also. I think if she has a crate you could put it in your room but that depends if you & your OH want that! Be consistant, don't ever go to her if she's crying, only when she's silent.

(Maybe I should add that i'm a fine one to talk, I got a Rescue Dog 3 months ago & decided she'd sleep in the kitchen & i'd ignore her, now she's in my bed every night, yes, under the quilt too :rolleyes: )

suki1964

At five months old she should be on 3 meals a day at least. Freeding like you have been advised can cause food guarding.

Weigh her. Then look at the food you are feeding and divide the daily amount reccomended for her weight by three. See how she gets on. She should be putting on about a pound a week at this age. if the weight doesnt go on or she gets too porky - adjust the amount.

She may have been toilet trained in her first home. She now has to be toilet trained in yours. And you also need training on how to spot when she needs out.

Theres a great book - The Perfect Pup by Gwen Bailey. It will go through every stage of puppyhood with you - and into the teens. Its a great book to have. Also go get signed up to puppy classes. As you say its a long time since you had a pup and they really are a great help

UKlily has given great advice re toilet training and night time. Do a search on here and you will find loads of threads covering the same topics filled with really great advice

Good luck xx

foreign_correspondent

ooh, I love Jack Russells - we need pics!

out if interest why were the last owners giving her up at 5 months?

Tigerlily is right - never restrict water. Personally I would feed 3x a day and take it up after 20 minutes of not eaten. Take her out as Tigerlily says and praise and treat like mad when she goes to the loo outdoors! Get some treats that she loves (tiny snippets of ham or cheese always seem to work well, or tripe sticks) and give her a treat every time she wees or poos outdoors (straight after so she associates the two events)

When she goes indoors do not make a fuss, clean up with bio washing powder dissolved in water to kill any smells that will encourage her to keep weeing there.

I would work on getting used to her being alone in a room by popping in and out freqently, withut making a big fuss, so that she thinks you coming and going is just normal - when you say "she has been with her mum", do you mean her owner, or actually her mum?

trinnylilac

Excellent advice everyone. I will definatley do the 3 meals a day and leave water down all day .

Pup had to be rehomed as she was driving her 'canine' mum mad. She kept chasing her to initiate play ( which mum wasn't impressed by ) and so mum would snap. Pup ended up biting her mum a few weeks ago and so the owners decided it wasn't fair to keep both together. She seems fine with other dogs its just the mum.

She's very good natured and loves my kids she is following them everywhere and only barks when outdoors. Only problem to sort out is the weeing indoors and her seperation anxiety

Great idea about the washing powder. Will get that out and it can sit along side the mop and bucket which is now a permanent fixture. Will use my other halves t-shirt in the bed as he is the smelliest in the house :rolleyes: . Going to trawl the boards tonight and hopefully will pick up some hints about training and getting agood nights sleep .. Can't handle the whimpering I feel really sorry for her..


Picture of mum and pup..

black_paw

shame no pic !

trinnylilac

Managed to get picture on x

mumhug

awwww bless she is sooo cute

hethmar

Yes, it should be down to about 3 times a day now feeding her. Does she have a crate to cuddle up into at night? That may make her feel safer. To be honest, Im useless, cant bear to hear dogs crying, all mine have slept wherever they want - usually by my bed, on the landing or on my bed. But I guess a lot of people would disapprove of that. I love being able to reach out and touch them.

The weeing - you just have to put a good bit of effort into taking her outside every hour and standing there saying wee and then making a huge fuss of her when she does it. Our latest rescue boy took 4 months to really get a hang of it - he wouldnt cry or bark to go out - though he is adult - now he will wee on command bless him, both of our dogs will, which is really useful if you are going on a long journey or something.

trinnylilac

Bit of a success yesterday as no crying all night. She has been with us for nearly a week now so I think she might just be starting to feel secure.

Still have the weeing issue though and the odd poo . Other half not impressed when he stood on poo mid route to the toilet during the night, Then while hopping to clean his foot he slipped on some wee . He is not happy

Have been prasing like mad when out and giving a small treat when she she wees outside, will keep on with that .

I have just bought a crate on ebay as though it will be usefull on car journeys too. Pick that up tomorow found lots of tips on this website
http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/crate-training.php

Not sure how will cope with 4 months of it though lol

suki1964

Shes still too young to be expected to last the night, you need to get up and let her out Im afraid. I know its a hassle but it will make toilet training so much quicker. I alsways let the pups sleep in my bedroom in their crates so as soon as they woke and got distressed about wanting out it woke me and I got them in the garden quick enough. No fussing, no playing, just out, toilet, praise and back in crate. Then if they wimpered I knew it was just attention and ignored it - they soon setteled