My new baby!

[MJC]

vick,

Your new baby is so adorable. My, it does have big paws.....I think it will be a big one. Enjoy your new baby. Love ya!

Cajun Hugsssssssssssss,
MJC

[vickinat]

Thank you MJC, I'm going to try and take pics of him on regular intervals, so I can see how much differance there is. I definetely know that he has grown and has gotten heavier. He will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, lol, at this rate he will be a big doggy. I will have to do my best with him, even though I wanted a small dog, this might work out better.
Love
Vickie

[sparkey]

It is a good idea to go on craigs list and buy a used wire crate to keep them in to potty train them. The reason I say " Used " is because I went and paid 45.00 and used it for a very short time ( 2 weeks ) and ended up selling it on craigs list after for 15.00. That is how I trained all my dogs. As soon as you take them out of there bring them right outside and say " go potty" or " go pee" etc. Wait until they go, and then praise them by saying " good boy, or good girl.

It is true about walking them to tire them. Puppies especially need alot of play time. They also of course love to chew as you probably found out by now. As far as the shows that angel was talking about, if you go to the pet stores you can purchase the video's if you cannot find them on the tv. They sell the series on DVD for training. When I had my ridgeback and brought him to the vet, the vet always commented on the size of the paws and how big the dog was going to get because of them. The doctor was right as he is very hugeeeeeee now. As I said he is now 140 lbs the last time my friend took him to the vet and could be even bigger now as his father was 160 lbs full grown.

Is he a black lab? He is very cute. I wish you the best with him. I miss not having a big dog anymore as when I moved into the apartment I had to downsize and get a smaller dog. Now I have the Dashchund.

[Babebahn]

He's adorable!

[AQA]

If I am correct, the puppy pad is his bed??? If that that is correct, he should be easy to potty train, but you need to start soon if you have not. I know you have to wait to turn him loose in the back yard, but the leash should work.

Take Care

[vickinat]

Sparkey,
He's not a black lab, but looks like one so far. His mother was a Yellow lab and his father was an Austrailian Shepard. Thanks for your advice.

AQA,
The pads are not for his bed, I have a towel for him to sleep on, the pads are down in several places in the kitchen. I take him outside often with the leash and he is doing well. I did have to buy a differant water bowl and food bowl because he got to picking them up and playing with them. I bought him a new one that has a stainless steel food bowl and attached is a watering bowl that is attached to a 2 liter bottle. He should'nt be able to pick theses up,lol.

Love
Vickie

[jayne]

for a day or two..........lol

[Tuffy]

Vickie, A puppy should be feed 2x a day, after feeding pick up his bowls untill the next feeding, that way he will learn the bowls are not for playing, just for food, etc.
You can offer him water several times a day. Dogs do not need food in front of them through out the day. This is what my vet told me when my lab was a pup.

[AQA]

I do agree with tuffy to a point. When he is contained to a room. After that, I would put the food and water in a room ( such as the kitchen ) and fill it up. Keep an eye on it and see what he does. If he only goes to the dishes to eat and does not clean out the dish, you should be fine. You need to make sure he does not eat so much that he becomes over weight.

In reference to my dogs. The female use to always clean out the dish when she was young, and I only fed them twice a day. Now that she is older, I have moved thier food dish and water to the middle room and top it off every evening.

Makes it easy on the human.

[vickinat]

I have been feeding him twice a day, morning and night. The new bowl contraption has been working out good so far. My daughter told me that she thinks that I'm putting too much food down at a time, because he does'nt finish it at one setting and will continue eating thru-out the day, he is getting a belly so I'm going to cut back on how much I put out at one time. I bought a book about puppies and it also said to only feed what they will eat at one setting, lol, I guess he'll get used to it.

He is growing quickly. I can't wait till the fencing is finished so I can take him out into the yard without the leash and watch him bounce around. Thanks for all of your comments and advice.

Love
Vickie