Our puppy is finally home....

[ChowAddictTUR]

Dear All,

After a long time, we finally made our decision and picked up our Chow puppy yesterday.
Her name is Leon and she is about 1,5 - 2 months right now.

I have some questions about how to care correctly with her, so I'll be grateful if you can help me.

First of all, we brought her home yesterday about 10:00 PM after her first vet check.
As she has a long flight and is too small, she was quite calm at the time we first saw her, also at the vet as well.

We brought her home, she spent her first night in our balcony (Which is closed). On about 11:30 PM, we turned off the lights and let her sleep. She cried about 5 minutes and then fell asleep. But on about 4:00 AM in the morning, she woke up and cried continously until 7:00 AM, when we woke up and went there to feed her.

The vet said, we are not supposed to go and take care with her each time she cried, so that she can get used to be alone and not abuse us with her cries to take attention.
Do you agree on that ? This looked right to me but wanted to double-check with you as well, cause it's so hard for me to leave her alone while she is crying so much each time when I left her alone.

And one more thing ; she didn't eat the puppy food that we gave her, so I suppose she is not used to that right now. Then I gave her yoghurt this morning, she liked it, so I mixed the yoghurt with the puupy food but again she didn't eat the puppy food, just the yoghurt only.

Our vet suggested us to wet the puppy food with water and then mix it with canned food until she gets used to eat the puppy food.
Do you also agree on that and have any other suggestions ?

Sorry for taking your time but your experiences will mean a lot to us on our path growing her up.

Thank you so much.

OZGUR (The father of LEON)
AKSEL (The mother of LEON)

[Coco Chow]

Hi Ozgur!
Congratulations on baby Leon!!

I had the exact same 2 problems with Coco when I took ker home at 8 weeks of age.
For the crying during the night, I just put her on a blanket on the floor close to my bed and the crying stopped. Here is the link: http://forum.chowchow.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8173
Since then, Coco sleeps in our bedroom (we were firmly against it when we got her , but actually, now we would miss her if she wasn't with us ). You can try everyday to put the blanket a little bit away from you so that when Leon is older, he doesn't sleep with you in your room if that's a problem for you. But I understand Leon to be affraid alone at night because it's maybe his first night without his chow family, all by himself...

About the food, Coco also wouldn't eat her dry dood at home the 1st days together. We took her to the vet and her white cell count was low, she had some parasites and needed treatment. That parasite and the stress due to the change of environment made her stop eating. With a treatment and the adjustment to her new life, she started to eat more. But she's always been a picky chow anyway, and you might just have bought one for yourself too!

I just wanted to add, with the stress, the food issue can become a bloat issue (I'm thinking Shumy). Please be careful that Leon doesn't get gas after he eats, and make it peaceful for him during and after meals, and don't force him to eat if he doesn't want to.

Now, after the novel I wrote, will you show me some Leon pix???

[ChowAddictTUR]

Hi,

Sorry, I don't know your name yet.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, it helped a lot.
Leon will be an inside dog, so she will mostly stay in our apartment flat, except the times we took her out to pee or walk. Our apartment has a quite big front and backyard, so she can spent time there as well, under our surveillance for sure.

But I prefer to keep her in the balcony for the time being, at least until her pee training period is over. I think it was just a first night issue, which may last for a week maximum and we can get over it.

Good news is, I gave her soaked dry food mixed with canned food today for lunch and she wiped it out, yuppie !!!!!!!
It seems that she was quite hungry and maybe that was also one of the reasons that she cried so much. After she finished her lunch, I played with her for a while, then closed her into the balcony agin and this time she didn't cry that much, just a couple of seconds only.

So, I'm sure she will get used to it.

She also has the biting attitude for the time being, I think this is because her teeth are itching, right ? How long do you think this will keep on going ?

Finally, I proudly present you Her Majesty's Princess Leon....

[jacqui]

Leon is a sweetie she looks very tiny and cute.start teaching her now not to bite.when she bites say'NO BITING' or say OUCH. she was taken away from her family very young and they teach each other not to bite hard.
go to the Training section on this site and read Biting Inhabition,its at the top of the page.
thank you for the picture of Leon.

[Coco Chow]

Leon looks adorable!
I'm sorry I didn't get she was a girl by the way... and my name is Elodie.
For the biting part, ignoring her if she bites when playing is good. Think about giving her a toy to chew on also.
I don't know how long the biting is supposed to last because Coco has never really been into biting...

You must be so thrilled to have your puppy home! How is she doing with the parrot around?

[Dogdad]

Leon is very cute. There are different ways to raise a puppy as there is raising children. I personally always went to the puppy when it cried, especially on the first night. It is new and afraid and without its mother, put yourself or your child in its place.I personally believe it helps with bonding, My dogs are now my best friends and were fully bonded after a few days. I also personally believe it is easier to train when they know you are the parent. Your chow needs to know you will be there for her. What you are doing is also fine, like I said there are many ways to raise a puppy

david

[Laura]

I do not mean to sound critical...as David said we all raise our furkids in our own way. That being said I can't resist adding that she is a teeny baby and these first couple of months are so important (the most important) time in shaping her personality and bonding with her. I know they can be little peeing machines but taking them out to potty 100 times a day and potty training them is just part of it. She is in a new place with new people without her mom or littermates so she is scared when she is put out and left all alone. Now you are all she has to play with and look to. She just needs and wants to be with you. She also needs toys and alot of playtime and love from you as well as alot of socialization and exposure to different people and places (provided she has had her first shots). She is an adorable little baby! Congratulations!

[Sydney]

Leon is adorable and she is only 6-8 weeks old. She's a very young puppy and you may need to consider that when she was crying at 4:30 in the morning she needed to go potty. It isn't easy for such a small puppy to hold it from 11:30 pm until 7:00am the next morning. Plus when they're little they needed to be fed at least 3 times a day. I wouldn't let a puppy go anymore then 4 hours without taking her out to potty. Puppies are fun but they do require work and dedication. This may be a new experience for you and it's good that you are asking for advice. I wish you the best.

Sydney

[Auddymay]

I agree, she may have needed to go potty in the middle of the night. There is a line between spoiling and giving comfort. We all have to decide when we are doing too much. Being little as she is, treat her like the baby she is...also, there is good evidence that you should not play after meal time. Look at the health section for a condition called bloat. There are measures you can take to help prevent this from happening. Nibbling and nipping are quite common. If you go to the Training section, there is a sticky about bite inhibition. There are very good instructions on how to stop her from using those sharp little teeth on you. Congratulations, she is a doll.

[ChowAddictTUR]

Hi All,

Again thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. Each day we learn something new about these cute puppies and this forum has been very helpful for us.

Sydney and Auddymay, regarding her potty ; Leon is 7 weeks old and since we got her just 2 days ago, she is in the quarantine period right now. After 10 days (8 left now) she vill visit the vet and if everything is allright and she doesn't show any signs of a viral disease, her first shots will be made.
Therefore, she is limited with our balcony and us until her first shots have been made.

So, we assigned the far corner of the balcony as her potty area, covered with papers and we replace the papers each time after her pee or potty. So, I don't think that she has to potty and therefore cried, she wants us near her.

I thought that she may be hungry but she doesn't have much appetite either. For the time being, I'm soaking the dry food and mixing it with the canned puppy food. Yesterday skhe liked it at the first time and wiped it out but today morning she didn't eat that much.
Is it normal that her appetite is not so good and constant ?

Her biting habit is also inconsistent. Sometimes she is quite calm and just licks me but sometimes she is like crazy and wants to bite. Actually it's just been 1,5 days right now, so I think it's early to criticise her behaviours.
Can it be that her baby teeth are itching and therefore wants to bite ? Or is biting a natural instinct of all dogs ? Cause she bites her stick and ball as well and after a hard biting fight with her toys, she gets calm, maybe tired, lol.

[janet]

welcome to the site. leon is an adorable chowling. lots of luck to a long happy future with him.
as far as the feeding goes,chows are very finicky . they also dont eat as much as other breeds imo. if he doesnt eat at one meal i wouldnt worry too much. if he refuses to eat for more than that i would give a call to the vet. he needs nutrients at this young age.
try not to soak the food. i know he is young but bloat is a very dangerous and deadly occurance. look in the archives there is alot of info. soaking the food to entice him to eat could cause problems down the road. also, try and keep him calm after he "wolfs" down his food.
what are you feeding leon btw??

in my experience with my chows, whenever they would bite or nip, i would and still do (when they play too rough) give a firm "no bite"! and give them a toy instead. you'd be surprised how fast they pick up on it.never raise your voice, it gets you no where.lol.

and out of curiousity, why is he being quarantined?? do you have other pets in the house?? if not there really is no reason for this. he needs as much socialization as possible at this stage.

i hope i have been of some assistance.good luck.
any questions you have we are here to help.

[Laura]

Puppies are all mouth. This baby is a bit young to be away from mom and littermates so she missed out on some learning opportunities like bite inhibition. My Shug was the same way and I kept a toy between us when we played..he loved tug anyway so it worked out great. When his teeth did get me he got a shrieky 'OUCH' and play stopped for a bit. I think more then anything though he just outgrew it after a couple of months. Make sure she has lots of toys and things to chew on besides you and the furniture .
As far as feeding do you know what the breeder was feeding? If you are not feeding the same food I suggest you find out what it was and feed her that for now. If you would prefer her on a different food you can gradually add the new food in a bit at a time over the next few weeks to switch her w/out upsetting her tummy.
You said she hasn't had shots yet but was she checked for worms? Lots of pups have worms and it can make them feel bad and therefore have less appetite. She needs that checked before her 10 day appointment for shots.
Enjoy her...these baby days fly by so fast!

[Abbiegirl]

I agree with Dogdad...I always go to my babies if they cry...I'm sure some won't agree with that, but my animals completely adore me as I do them...they know Momma will take care of them...I just love them so much I have to baby them. I do say "no bite" if their play gets rough but Riley is 1 now and pretty much knows not to do that..I have worked with him since day one.

[pfordeb]

Congratulations. What a pretty baby! I don't know anything about puppies (but I wish I did). We spoil our dogs, and a puppy wouldn't be any different. Fortunately, we don't have any big behavior problems, just the occasional "Oh Gilbert." (That's our line for any wacky thing he does, like be afraid of the dark). I can only agree with what everyone is saying about bonding with Leon.

[ChowAddictTUR]

Friends, you're all so great. I feel myself and our little baby like in a huge family in here with lots of members from different places on earth. It's such a great feeling !!!!!

I'm living in Turkey and Leon came from Ukranie, so the breeder was in Ukraine and she flied here. So I don't know what the breeder was feeding her. Considering she is 7 weeks only when we got her, maybe she didn't get any food except her mother's milk, I don't know.

I checked the BLOAT issue from the health section and ever since I'm not playing with her for one hour after her meals. Regarding soaking the dry food, I couldn't find a different solution yet, cause she simply doesn't like and eat the dry food. I mix it with canned food after soaking and then she eats.
Do you suggest anything else to feed her these days ?

At her first control, the vet visually reviewed her potty under the microscope and found out some worms and parasites, which he said is quite common on puppies. So he gave her a pill to thorw out the worms with her potty. On Wednesday she has her 2nd control and then she will get another pill for the worms with her first round of shots.

Reason for the quarantine is ; since Leon came from Ukraine, the vet wanted to be safe that she didn't get any viral disease on the way to here. So he wanted to wait for 10 days and then after if she doesn't have any signs of a viral disease, he will make her 1st shots.

By the way, we have a little parrot at home, hope that they can make it with each other.

I've added some more pics of her, my little girl, I love you so much !!!!!!!!

Leon at her first hours at her new home...

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You are so strong !!!!! Big girl !!!!

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Leon at her mother's hands...

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[Abbiegirl]

your baby is so gorgeous...I just wanna hug her...lol

[Chow Chow Mama]

What a squishy little thing!

Suggestion about the food situation:

Buy some baby cereal and feed that to her for a week or two until she is better able to chew hard food.

Puppies will bite bite bite! I just went through the puppy stage with Hannah and she was all mouth until about 4 months old. Holden was also very mouthy when he was a baby but he outgrew it very quickly. Hannah was a ... late bloomer My biting suggestion is OUCH. It worked quite well with Holden (not so great with Hannah ) After you say ouch don't touch or play with them for a little while so they learn that biting will get them no attention. Also, if you have anyone else in the house, make sure that whatever you are doing, they are doing. Trust me when I say that your training will go no where if someone in the house is letting the puppy bite them without any consequences (note Hannah above! )

[MickChick]

Congratulations on your new baby! Leon is just adorable. You are much stronger than I am - she would have cried, and I would have melted like ice cream on a hot summer day!

Cecelia

[lastmango]

We do what we have to with the night time rituals. Personally, when Marley was a baby I put him in the bed with my daughter and I. He is now 6 1/2 months old and he sleeps next to the bed on the floor. He wakes me around 0400 to go out each morning. Again it's a personal choice but I wanted to bond with him and this is how I felt we needed to do it. Sometimes when Marley can't wait for Morgan to wake up, I will toss him up there with her to give her purple morning kisses.

Regarding the biting and puppy teeth...I was so terrified that Marley was going to be a bad boy, in the beginning he was so rough and his puppy teeth were so sharp that I really thought he was going to be a rough dog. After just working with him and giving him the toy after he was too rough, now he is so gently. If our hands ever get in his mouth, he is so gentle. After his adult teeth came in, we have never had one incident or even the slightest scratch from him.

Cheers.

[Abbiegirl]

Marley is such a beautiful boy.