Puppy Questions (lab, shih-tzu, bulldog, poodle) - Dogs - - City-Data Forum

KayAnn246 · 09-10-2012, 07:12 AM

My little yellow lab is getting adjusted slowly to her environment. I have a few questions.

I switched her dog food to the Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice. But I noticed since she has started it, she has been eating her own poop. She is being fed according to the puppy charts 3 times a day. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to stop it?

She insists on biting my 2 year old small dog. I tell her no, clap loudly and pull her off every time and put her on a leash for 10 minutes. But as soon as I let her off, she does it again.

About health, I've had the Wellness Plan for vaccines at Bansfield for my 2 year old dog so that he can stay up to date on his vaccines. But I think I'm going to switch to VCA which is much more reasonable in price. But I'm wondering if I should get pet insurance for my 2 month old lab because of hereditary illnesses. I want to avoid having a vaccine and pet insurance plan for both pets. That's expensive. If so, what company would you recommend?

Should I be following the scheduled vaccine?

Katie1 · 09-10-2012, 10:54 AM

She seems to be taking your small dog as a toy! For the Safty of the Small dog keep them apart at ALL times!

foxywench · 09-10-2012, 11:13 AM

shes a puppy...and a lab puppy at that shes trying to play with little dog and not realizing how big she is (i have a similar problem with dozer, he has no idea hes a 11month old 85lb puppy and thinks hes 10lbs like ruby dog...)
by removing her and leashing her your not actually aressing the issue...
1: continue teling her no...but instead of leashng her and giving her a time out (afterall shes not actually doign anythign wrong...shes just playing) REDIRECT...grab a toy and YOU engage her, or take her for a walk or head into the back yard for some zoomie time or some training (mental stimulation is JUST as important as physical excersize) get involved...if shes chewing on the little og she needs more excersize/play time, your not going to slve this problem by putting her on a leash because that does nothing for the energy and probably just gets her more excited...but by reirecting her playing wiht her taking her for a walk ect your adresing the energy and refocusing the mind.
2: dont leave them alone unsupervised, shes a puppy and going to be large, accidents happen, nothing about what you said sounds agressive, BUT rough play with small breeds cna be dangerous and not worth the risk. so when you cant watch them seperate them either by tethering the lab to you (ie when your cooking ect) or crating ect.

for the poop eating, unfrotunatly very common in puppies, it could be food related bUT ive found most puppies will eat poop no matter wha tyou feed lol, 1 table spoon of Canned pumpkin (plain, no added sugar) will usually solve the issue (and is good for digestion)
also keep ontop od picking up the poop...cant eat it if you pick it up.

for health insurance...personally i dont do it...i DONT vaccinate regularly and have found these plans to be rather expensive for what they cover and will often even argu about coverage of things they DO cover
so instead i put whoever much the insurance would cost into a high yeild savings account and i keep a care credit card for emerencies...least with this method i dont have to worry about "is the insuarnce going to cover this" ect...

in terms of vaccines...
https://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocume...Guidelines.pdf
is the official current american veterinary regime...

personally my procedure goes like this:

Puppies:
5in1 (NO LEPTO NO BORDATELLA) at 8, 12 and 16 weeks
rabies at as close to 6 months as i can push it.

Teens:
5in1 booster at 1yr 2 months (no lepto no bordatella)
Rabies at 1 year since the initial rabies vaccine. (3 yr vaccine)

Adults:
Rabies every 3 years from the second vaccine
Titer test every 3 years. (thus far titers have come back clear with no need to revaccinate for anything else.

Lepto should ONLY be given to dogs that will have regular acess to standing water (ie kenneld/outdoor dogs, hunting dogs or dogs that spend alot of time hiking ect, as leptospirosis is spread by mouse and rat urine and most commonly contracted form drinking stanidng water that rodents have had acess too.
Lepto is also one of those vaccines that commonly causes reactions.

Bordatella is one thats quite controversial...in my especierience its USELESS....the vaccine has an effective life of 4-6 months only and only covers 3 of the current 7 (plus potentially more) strains of the virus...
some dog ay cares, grooming facilites and boarding kennels still require the bordatella (kennel cough) vaccine, in these cases and given no other option id give the bordatella vaccine no more than 2 weeks prior to boarding/grooming ect..) due to the shortlifespan youd have to give it every 4-6 months to be truly effective "full time" so useless to give as an annual...its somehting id only give is absolutly nessicary.

I also suggest never giving rabies and regular shots on the same day, the rabies shot is hard on the system so i like to give it at least a month between shots and rabies to avoid any kind of vaccinosis/reaction.

Dashdog · 09-10-2012, 01:51 PM

I am curious what is the small dog doing when the puppy is "biting" her?. Dogs play bite as they do not have hands and I have always let the other dogs disipline my puppies that way they learn bite inhibition. If the dog being bitten is crying or showing signs he/she does not like it and the puppy does not stop I step in otherwise I let the dog tell the puppy when it is too hard or they have had enough. Do not let a dog bully another dog but play biting is normal play .

Some people at the dog park get upset when dogs play bite on each other well if you do not let them they will not develop bite inhibition and then some day you may be looking at your dog being involved in a serious bite. To me bite inhibition is very important and one of the things a dog should learn.

At the dog park I go to my dogs belong to a pack that is there every day. They are all good friends, share toys and play well together. We have never had a fight within our pack and we are all fine with them biting and wrestling while there is another group of people and dogs that are at the other end of the park. They tend to stop any play biting/wrestling and one lady even told us we should not let our dogs use their mouths

( hello these are not people they are dogs and this is how dogs play) anyway when I am at the park several fights a day break out in that other group. They have had a few bites that resulted in punctures over there. and when A fight breaks out at the park their dogs tend to get involved while the dogs in our pack ignore it and go on playing with each other. It has been very interesting and educational for many and our pack is on the large side as more people see the way our dogs get along so well and start hanging out with the pack. Yes our dogs may come in a bad mood and not want to play that day so a snap tells the other dogs and they leave that dog alone until it decides it wants to play but we have yet had a fight among the pack and we humans are not nervous Nellies waiting for a fight.

Jazz use to grab my cat Misha and bite on her, chew her head etc and the cat would be making noise like the dog was killing her yet she never once used her claws, never had a bite mark on her and would come back for more. I was talking to my vet about it and he said if the cat did not like it she would use her claws to defend herself so yeah sometimes it can look and sound like it is out of control but knowing Jazz had developed very good bite inhibition and the cat was not using her claws I could relax and let them play.

so I will ask again what is the small dogs reaction?

foxywench · 09-10-2012, 02:05 PM

agree 100% with that...dozer frequently chews on the cats and thelittle dogs, i dont step in unless they make the "stop it" noise and hes not backing off...
play biting/fighting is not only important for bite inhibitionbut establishing hierarchy between them...
so i agree, i wouldnt stop puppy unless the small dog is obviously uncomfortable or the puppy is actually hruting the little dog.

Jasper my 5lb boy wont stand for the rough mouthing play and will put doer in his place, but out in the back yard jasper runs at dozer nipping at his legs barking untill dozer chases himyound the yard and they run around like idiots untill they both pass out lol...and ruby will put up with some rough housing but at 10lbs shes also not afraid to tell him to back off...as i said, unles shes getting TOO rough and not listening to them i dont step in...
but i also dont let them play unsupervised because again, accidents can happen and its my job to be there to reirect if nessicary.

LuvABull.Denver · 09-10-2012, 06:09 PM

I agree with Dash and Foxy on this...

When Spanky (70 lbs) and Diesel (80 lbs) play, they "sound" like all heck is breaking loose. I supervise their play. They are both bully breeds and MUST be supervised as things can get hot and heavy quick. They play inside and mostly mouth one another, when we got out to the backyard that when it can get hot and heavy...however they still listen to my commands and follow them.

I watch and read both dogs but it is usually Spanky that I have to calm or call off, then allow back into play.

I've watch Diesel play with a French Bulldog and do just fine. When my sister brings her shih-tzu's over, they will put my two large dogs in their place if they are being "bothered."

I like Dash, am interested in what the smaller dog is doing to tell the puppy "no."

KayAnn246 · 09-10-2012, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dashdog

I am curious what is the small dog doing when the puppy is "biting" her?. Dogs play bite as they do not have hands and I have always let the other dogs disipline my puppies that way they learn bite inhibition. If the dog being bitten is crying or showing signs he/she does not like it and the puppy does not stop I step in otherwise I let the dog tell the puppy when it is too hard or they have had enough. Do not let a dog bully another dog but play biting is normal play .

Some people at the dog park get upset when dogs play bite on each other well if you do not let them they will not develop bite inhibition and then some day you may be looking at your dog being involved in a serious bite. To me bite inhibition is very important and one of the things a dog should learn.

At the dog park I go to my dogs belong to a pack that is there every day. They are all good friends, share toys and play well together. We have never had a fight within our pack and we are all fine with them biting and wrestling while there is another group of people and dogs that are at the other end of the park. They tend to stop any play biting/wrestling and one lady even told us we should not let our dogs use their mouths

( hello these are not people they are dogs and this is how dogs play) anyway when I am at the park several fights a day break out in that other group. They have had a few bites that resulted in punctures over there. and when A fight breaks out at the park their dogs tend to get involved while the dogs in our pack ignore it and go on playing with each other. It has been very interesting and educational for many and our pack is on the large side as more people see the way our dogs get along so well and start hanging out with the pack. Yes our dogs may come in a bad mood and not want to play that day so a snap tells the other dogs and they leave that dog alone until it decides it wants to play but we have yet had a fight among the pack and we humans are not nervous Nellies waiting for a fight.

Jazz use to grab my cat Misha and bite on her, chew her head etc and the cat would be making noise like the dog was killing her yet she never once used her claws, never had a bite mark on her and would come back for more. I was talking to my vet about it and he said if the cat did not like it she would use her claws to defend herself so yeah sometimes it can look and sound like it is out of control but knowing Jazz had developed very good bite inhibition and the cat was not using her claws I could relax and let them play.

so I will ask again what is the small dogs reaction?

My poodle pop cries and barks loudly. Then my lab pup Ava runs after
Him and wants to bite again.

foxywench · 09-10-2012, 06:55 PM

yes, in that case step in and redirect her. no time outs, shes just playing but instead YOU take the place of the toy, offer her a rope tug of encorage her with a ball ect...redirect the crazies

KayAnn246 · 10-12-2012, 12:25 PM

Ok. Ava (puppy lab has been on the Buffalo Blue for a month). I noticed that she barely sheds now. Could that be because of the dog food?

Ava continues to go after Oreo( 2 year old poodle). She only does it when I take both of them out to go to the bathroom. I usually keep them apart but once I turned to throw away the trash and in a split second she took Oreo by the ear and started to yank his ear back and forth. Her grip is very strong. I had to pull her off him. It was really scary. I'm wonder if it is because she is still a pup or she is just a dog that is not good with other dogs?

Dashdog · 10-12-2012, 12:57 PM

I think you are just dealing with puppy behavior. I could show you dozens of photos of Chaos as a puppy yanking Dazzles ears as well as the ears of other adult dogs. It was Dazzles job not mine to teach her what was too much and what was acceptable. But if Daz was laying down her favorite place was laying or on top of him or leaning on him chewing on one of his ears. But unlike your dog he was bigger then her. But adults dogs will teach a puppy the boundries much faster and better then you can. To be honest I do not know when a tug of an ear is too much as it is not my ear being tugged, but the dog that is having its ear tugged will know and will let a puppy know when it is too much. Dogs are more tolerant of very young puppies then when they reach a certain age dogs are less tolerant and will put a puppy in its place for misbehavior...once again it may look frightening but they are not out to harm a puppy but rather teach it manners.

If your puppy has been vaccinated and is now allowed around other dogs I would get her around other dogs so she does learn to socialize and behave around them..puppy classes are great for that . We have a puppy class here that Chaos was in that was indoors and puppies did not have to be done with vaccinations to take it they just had to be healthy. The vet that started it knows more dogs die because of poor socialization then illness so thinks it is very important to get young puppies socialized. Our classes were a blast and we often run into the other's from class out at the dog parkor at the dog beach and OMG they get so excited to see their old school chums.

Small dogs can be like puppies in the fact that they tend to be drama queens we have a few that come to the dog park that are like that. One named Mini was there yesterday and she runs up growling and snapping at larger dogs most ignore her. Yesterday she did it to my two and Dazzle let out a loud Arrrrooowooooo and Chaos still being very much a puppy did a play bow and mini took off screeching like one of mine had grabbed her, he came back and the same thing happened ...my two had the biggest grins on their faces as I think they thought it was funny the little dog acted so tough then ran screeching like a coward.