HELP!!! 6 1/2wk old puppy not weaned

[chanelstepmom]

Please help - my step-daughters mother just came back from out of state vacation with a 6 1/2 week old teacup chihuahua for her. I don't mind the dog in the house at all (since I'm the one that gets to housebreak it and be with it all day) - except for the fact that I don't think the puppy was weaned from momma-dog. All day long, all I've been able to get this puppy to take food wise was about 2 teaspoons of KMR - and just getting that down the dog was a mission I'm not looking forward to again. The petstore recommended a weaning formula dog food mixed with water, but nothing I've tried today has been successful. I've had plenty of dogs in my life, but never one that's been taken before it's been weaned. How can I help this little girl out without stressing me out every hour? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jennifer

[erdog3]

Go to the supermarket, pick up a container of Puppy Milk or Puppy Porridge. Get some Puppy Formula tin meat.
Heat up apprx. 1/4 cup of the porridgemilk to luke warm consistancy. Blend in about a dessertspoon of the tin meat.
Now add a little bit of hot water to make a fairly runny consistancy.
See how you go with this, if it doesn't work write back in I am a breeder and can give you other ideas.
The trick is warming it up, brings out strong smell for the pup to sense.

[chanelstepmom]

Thanks - first thing in the morning when I get both girls out the door for school I'll try that. She's a sweet puppy, but she's had a rough couple of days getting almost halfway across the US via car (no crate or anything) after being taken away from her mom and her littermate. I'm going to try to crate train her as far as housebreaking goes - but I've heard that trying to crate train a puppy younger than 8 weeks is a bad idea. Do you have any suggestions on that? Thanks - I'll let you know tomorrow about the puppy milk.

[Dax]

Crating is never a bad idea as long as you don't use it as a dumping ground for the pup. The dog will need plenty of physical contact with you. But the crate is the safest place of it when you aren't with it.

[Moo]

Crate training is always good. I got mine at 7 weeks, crate training was smooth sailing. (Also has to do with my breeder beginning crate training with puppies quite early) It should work well since you are home with it most of the day.

[erdog3]

If you are going to be around all the time to train, and can give the pup free access to the house for certain amounts of time, it is probably a good idea for this little baby, give him/her a nice warm snuggly blanket, a cuddly toy, ticking clock and hot water bottle well covered. He/She will sleep at least 2/3 of the day anyway. This will give the security and rest that this pup is probably looking for.
You could also feed in the crate till you get the apetite built up.

[chanelstepmom]

sorry that it has taken me so long today to get back on here and give an update. I got a can of puppy milk this morning and mixed the weaning food with it to a runny consistancy. I mixed up roughly a tablespoon and she attacked it. I've since mixed the same up twice more and both times she eats it right up. I'm going to keep doing this for probably another day and then back off the milk and start adding water to the food. However, on a side note - the puppy did find the cat's food dish a little while ago and she managed to swipe a piece of dry food out and ate it. Didn't seem to have much of a problem with the hard food, so maybe in a couple of weeks I can start introducing dry puppy food.

as far as the crate went last nite, I'm very glad the room we had her in had a door on it as well as our bedroom door. she whined all nite - i don't think she got a wink of sleep. she did potty in the crate last nite, but so far today she's been accident free. of course, about 15 minutes after she eats we go out to the backyard and play for around 20 minutes, or until we have success. is it too early to start getting her used to going out with a harness and leash? for right now, i've just set up a small area in the yard where she can run free, but i want to get her leash trained asap.

thanks for all the suggestions so far. if anyone wants pictures, i can probably get those on here in the next day or two - depending on prior commitments with daughters chorus at school.

jennifer

[erdog3]

Get a bag of puppy biscuits and moisten 1/4 cup full with a little water, don't make them mushy, just fairly firm. Enough to break them up with the side of a fork, then add a tablespoon of puppy meat, mix it through into lumps though, don't mash it.
The biscuits will take at least half an hour to absorb the water.
Feed this till at least 8 weeks, then introduce them dry. There is good reason to do this other than the possibilites of choking.

[weimlover0816]

It's never too early to get your pup used to a harness/collar/leash... just be sure to supervise!!

AND, heck yeah we want pictures!!

[chanelstepmom]

Hey guys, sorry about the fuzzy quality of the pictures. My webcam/camera doesn't do the best. These are 2 pictures I just got of her here on the computer desk. In the second picture, right behind her is the computer mouse for size comparison. Today has been really good - all except for the whining when I put her in her crate, but even that seems to be getting better.