first time pet owner needs advice
 

Hello Everyone,
My name is Jesse and I bought my girlfriend Nicole an 8wk old puppy yorkie for Christmas. I have never had a dog before and she used to have a yorkie when she lived with her mom, but she never had to train her old yorkie. We need as much advice as you are all willing to give. We have had the dog for 5 days right now and we do not know whether to crate train or pee pad train or walk him outside? I work 5 days a week from 9am-8pm and she works from 8am-6pm with a lunch break around 1pm to go feed him. For the last week we have been leaving him in the kitched with a pee pad, food, and water with the baby gate up. He pees and poops where he wants and when he wants. Sometimes he uses the pad, sometimes he does not. We are feeding him Pedigree for puppy and mixing the hard and soft, I am sure if this is good or not. Please give me suggestions on food, training, arrangements and how to leave him home without being cruel to him. I love him like my son already and just want to be the best "Dad" I can be for him. And I am 24 and my girlfriend is 22, if anyone lives in South Florida and wants to get together for some puppy playtime just let me know. Thank you everyone.

I would suggest an xpen, this way you can make it any size, if you make it larger, you can put a pee pad, water, food, toys and a bed in there for the puppy, and he will be safe when he goes through his teething stage. Having the full kitchen is really too much room, and that's why he's not using the pad. With the hours you work you really can't expect him to hold his bladder all day. Also, put a radio on for him so he's not so lonely, or leave the tv on where he can hear it. Don't feel bad, my son (also 24) and his fiance have to leave their 2 yorkies all day too, they do leave the radio on and they do fine.

Thank you for the suggestions. When you say "xpen" , you mean playpen right. Please be specific. I keep thinking baby playpens but that seems odd to me.

No, an xpen is a cage, you make it different sizes. do a search on xpens, and you can see what they look like. You can make them long, small or even round. I have one but, it's up in my rafters in the garage, as I only use it until they're housebroken and done with their chewing. this is a website that has them, you just fold them back to the sizes you want
GoGo 8 Panel Exercise Pens w/Door

In theory you could also use a baby play pen. They are essentially the same thing.

phfgkl gave you some great advice about how to set up the xpen.

As far as food, Pedigree is not the greatest food. I would suggest switching to something better. Some brands I personally recommend are Wellness, Nature's Variety, and Orijen. Other people use Innova, Innova Evo, California Natural, Natural Balance.. etc. with great success. These are brands that you won't be able to find at Petsmart (although Petco carries Wellness and Natural Balance). You will more than likely have to find a feed store or a pet boutique to buy these foods.

You have some really good info there for you
but Give him a good Puppy formula ... most are good
I like the Iam's Smart Puppy
If you're both gone so long crateing might be too much for him
Best to Pen him in or use an Xpen
make sure there's nothing he can get into to hurt himself
give him enough water and toys
and Make sure he's on a vaccination schedule

... and he'll do fine :p

thank you for the advice everyone. has anyone fed there pups organic food. my girlfriend wants to keep our baby as healthy as possible and read somewhere organic food is the best. any thoughts?

Well yes, organic food is good although I'm not sure there are any "organic" dog food brands. Your best bet is to go with a high quality, all natural, grain-free food. Nature's Variety, Wellness, Orijen.. these all fit those qualities.

I probably would switch food, pedigree is not what you want to feed your baby, just remember any kind of food you can buy at petco,petsmart etc. isnt all that good, you can really do your homework on this site and find what kind of food is good for your baby. And good luck with that potty training.:) Oh, remember to always have some nutacal handy.

Petsmart sells good food..:confused: Now, I know most grocery stores/walmart, etc dont', but, I buy my dog food at petsmart

Believe me I am not an expert but I can tell you best advice I have is to be consistant. Positive reinforcement is the best way to train. Best of luck with your new little guy. Don't worry you guys will be fine. Have patience, patience and more patience. It gets easier don't worry. Your baby is lucky to have you.

:aimeeyorkCOCO :aimeeyorkPEBBLES :aimeeyorkTRIXIE

Sending you great big hugs from my babies to your baby

:ghug: