Cassie's Angels and We're EXPECTING: New family member MILO

[gracielove]

Originally Posted by broodizt

Thanks all for the great tips. I am very grateful. This new puppy thing is a bit daunting as I haven't had a tiny one for quite a few years, so I've forgotten everything

But thanks to you all, I'm starting to remember stuff

Milo's appetite waxes and wanes. I keep getting different advice from everyone and therefore am quite confused. My breeder says to free feed, my daughter in law and Petsmart trainers says he'll never get trained if he is not on a feeding schedule. Put him in an XPen and put him on a schedule. Breeder says not to put him in the Xpen, as he would be much happier in a room with just a gate up I think my Vet also said to put him on a schedule. The trouble is that he doesn't always eat on a schedule, and i've resorted to feeding him baby chicken stix which he eats ravenously if I hold them and he can knaw them down while I hold them. He's not eating much of his kibble so my Vet is putting him on supplements for Vitamins and minerals, Calcifood, and Catalyn. I'm trying different things, but I keep changing things because they don't seem to work. This is a work in progress and the faster I find a solution that works for us, the faster we can get into a dependable routine. So here's hoping

Sometimes people that do not have a lot of experience with toy size dogs want you to treat them the same as a bigger pup. Most other breeds don't have issues with hypoglycemia and yours also now has the added problem of Giardia. Baby him. He needs it. Don't worry about the potty training. If you can teach him what the potty pads are for you are doing great.
Many of us have trained our pups on puppy pads and later taught them to go outside. Really the puppy pads come in handy for when you have to be away from home for more than a couple of hours or when the weather is bad.
He is not going to have much control over his bladder for a few weeks so really you just need to keep him near the potty even when he is out playing because you just never know when a baby is going to have to go no matter when the last time he ate and drank was.

I don't know how small he is but since he has already had a hypoglycemic episode you need to make sure he eats on a regular basis. Check on him at night or if you think he is napping longer than usual. Getting rid of the Giardia can be a pain so you have your work cut out for you for right now.
Pups are supposed to eat at least 4 times a day. Sometimes with small pups that are particular about eating you have to give smaller meals more often. If he will eat your food then you have an advantage of being able to leave food out for him at all times but if he is a fussy eater then you will have to make sure he eats at regular intervals until he is older and free of the Giardia. Make sure you have his stool rechecked after he is off the medication and best of luck to you and your pups!

Hopefully he will get through this OK and he will be a happy healthy bouncing baby boy.

[broodizt]

Thank you so so much for your words of wisdom and comfort. Yes, after talking with my Natural Pet Foods and Supply people I decided to free feed and to hell with the potty training at this time, so your words were very welcome and reinforced my decision to free feed him. All this is coming to me piecemeal, a little at a time, but things do seem to be coming together. I forgot all my puppy training so all help is so very appreciated. I really really am so grateful for your post. Thank you Thank you Thank you

Originally Posted by gracielove

Sometimes people that do not have a lot of experience with toy size dogs want you to treat them the same as a bigger pup. Most other breeds don't have issues with hypoglycemia and yours also now has the added problem of Giardia. Baby him. He needs it. Don't worry about the potty training. If you can teach him what the potty pads are for you are doing great.
Many of us have trained our pups on puppy pads and later taught them to go outside. Really the puppy pads come in handy for when you have to be away from home for more than a couple of hours or when the weather is bad.
He is not going to have much control over his bladder for a few weeks so really you just need to keep him near the potty even when he is out playing because you just never know when a baby is going to have to go no matter when the last time he ate and drank was.

I don't know how small he is but since he has already had a hypoglycemic episode you need to make sure he eats on a regular basis. Check on him at night or if you think he is napping longer than usual. Getting rid of the Giardia can be a pain so you have your work cut out for you for right now.
Pups are supposed to eat at least 4 times a day. Sometimes with small pups that are particular about eating you have to give smaller meals more often. If he will eat your food then you have an advantage of being able to leave food out for him at all times but if he is a fussy eater then you will have to make sure he eats at regular intervals until he is older and free of the Giardia. Make sure you have his stool rechecked after he is off the medication and best of luck to you and your pups!

Hopefully he will get through this OK and he will be a happy healthy bouncing baby boy.

[wemple2]

Milo is still pretty small, so getting him to eat frequent small meals is a must. Let him nap as much as he needs to, just check on him to be sure he's not hypoglycemic. Follow your vets advise and treatment for giardia...it's best to keep the two pups separated...keeping Cassie's health in mind. Hope and pray all goes well for you all.

[broodizt]

Thanks Kathy,

I do try to feed him frequent meals, 4 a day, if he'll take them. He's pretty finicky, and although I am now free feeding, he's not eating his kibble.
He does seem to like the Halshens raw chicken and veggies with some of the chicken stix mixed in but is not really finishing it-maybe I put too much in his plate. When I leave it out, he does graze, but I can't leave wet food out forever, especially raw. But so far going okay. I do have a few more Milo questions, as I realize I am really clueless about puppies at this point in my life, so any information from anyone who has some idea, would be so welcome!

1 Does anybody know what time I should actually be putting Milo to sleep at night? I'm not asking for exact here, but generally, do you remember what time you put your pup in for the night at almost 16 weeks?

2 How long should I keep him out of his XPEN and in the playroom? Generally about how many hours of play to hours of sleep and rest in the XPEN is best? Is it two or three hours of play and then nap time? Does it seem too long, or too short? Or should I put him in for a nap hourly? He never seems to get tired and when I put him in his XPEN after playing for a good hour, several times throughout the day, and he could stay up till one in the morning playing in his playroom. Is he not getting enough hours of playtime if I give him like several hours of play a day, and the rest sleep in his XPEN? If I put him in his XPEN about 7:30-8:30 he often cries and whines a good part of the night and has been known to keep me up till one in the morning in his playroom till he gets tired enough and decides to take a break.

3 What commands do you give to your pup to stop him from laying on and playing with toys on his potty papers. I want him to make potty on the papers, not lie on them to sleep or drag his toys onto them to play. How do you guys handle that, or how DID you handle that?

Sorry for all the questions, but I really am clueless and I want to do the right thing. I have Yorkie books that I am going to read, and I am going to post on the training thread too, but thought you guys who are a treasure trove of information might have some ideas, tips or tricks that you could suggest.

Anyway thanks for listening. Cassie is doing well and is separated from Milo in her own XPEN. She is gaining weight:banana:

Love,
Shellie

Originally Posted by wemple2

Milo is still pretty small, so getting him to eat frequent small meals is a must. Let him nap as much as he needs to, just check on him to be sure he's not hypoglycemic. Follow your vets advise and treatment for giardia...it's best to keep the two pups separated...keeping Cassie's health in mind. Hope and pray all goes well for you all.

[anniernc]

Milo is just beautiful. I'm so glad that you have him. He will help your heart to heal. As far as Cassie she will come around but it may take her awhile. I'm sure pretty soon she and Milo will be the best of friends. Best wishes to you and your two precious babies.

[Roccosmommy]

I can't answer all of your questions since I'm no expert, but I do remember when Rocco was around 3-4 months he would be down for the night around 10-11 and be up around 5:30 to go out to potty. And he did also have a lot of energy for playing - endless it seemed. But then he would just shut off like a lightbulb and sleep for a couple of hours a few times during the day.
I think it's a very good sign that Milo is so playful - he must be eating well to get all of that energy, and the giardia isn't getting the best of him.

[AndysMommy]

I know I'm really late with responding but first congratulations on Milo!
I put Andy to bed around 9-10 pm and he gets up at 6:30 am. Sometimes 4:30 if he has to go potty.
I had the same problem with him eating the puppy pads. Grr. Determined little things. I eventually said hell with it because I was to scared he would end up blocked so I took them up and just worked with him outside. He was fully potty trained by 6 months. I also free feed him and he only eats when he's hungry. I went through the picky eating as well but didn't want to start him on wet food because it does nothing to help fight tarter on their teeth. So I started with royal canin for yorkie puppies. He liked it but got tired of it. So I found simply nourish (petsmarts brand of blue buffalo basically) 100% healthy kibble. So you could try that. I don't know if you have problems with teething yet but nyla bones were my life savor. If he starts chewing furniture, I found lemon juice worked well with Andy. Also his favorite toy is a 2 liter soda bottle. Remove the lid and plastic ring around the top and let him go to town. I learned the hard way with everything with him. I was always use to golden retrievers so this was a huge change. If I can help in any way please just ask. I hope my advice was helpful. Also hope you, your dad, and Cassie are doing well . 💕🐶🌠🐾