need help, ASAP!

[i'm_sofa_king]

ok, so my puppy wasn't supposed to be ready for another week ,but we got a call from the lady this morning saying that he's ready and she'll bring him to our house tonight after work. so my wife is all exicted, but we dont have any puppy supplies yet. so, i need your help, fast. what size crate do i need for a Shih Tzu? what are good toys for a Shih Tzu puppy? what kind of puppy food is the best, and is avalible at either Petco, or Petsmart? the only thing i've got already are some of those puppy training wee-wee pads. where is the best place to put those. please help me!

oh, and we are going to take him to the pet store with us tonight. this will be the first time i've ever taken a puppy or any animal into a pet store. what things should i look out for?

 

[Vicki20]

First off how old is this puppy? If you take her to petSmart (i've never been in a petco) They can help you pick out a crate. It should just be big enough for your pup to stand up turn around and lay down. As for puppy food I use Natural Choice puppy food. Toys- Kongs are nice to have u can stuff them w/ peanut butter and place them in the crate with ur puppy while your away to keep them busy. Also while your at petsmart with your puppy. You should just watch out for other dogs. Some people don't pay close attention when they are walking there dogs and they could snap at your puppy. which could cause your pup to become dog aggressive. Good luck with your puppy!

Vicki
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[i'm_sofa_king]

he's about 8 weeks old, i think. i have a crate that is 20 X 15 X 12. my 19lbs. cat fits in it, just barely. is that too big? what about leaving him home alone during the day? i can go home at lunch, noon, and let him out to go potty and stuff. should i crate him for the 4 hours or confine him to an area, with some puppy pads in them? what about a feeding? when and how often?

 

[Vicki20]

The crate sounds like it should be ok. Might be a little big. But thats ok. I would leave him in the crate when ever you are not home. I feed my dogs 2 times a day but since your puppy is young you might want to start out feeding him 3 times. It also depends on how much you feed him. You may want to ask the breeder what type of food she's feeding them and how often. That way you could try to stick to the same feeding schedule. That would probably help the pup adjust as well.

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

We had to leave our dogs home alone when they were puppies. We came home at lunch for a potty and play break. We left them with the toys to play with.

I would be careful about having your puppy around other dogs until he has had all of his shots. My vet told me that it is easy for them to get illnesses from other dogs, especially Parvo before they have had all of their puppy shots.


I also have been told that puppies should have "free food" meaning that they can eat whenever until they are four months old, because they grow at such a tremendous rate during this time.

I feed my dogs & puppies "Exclusive" food. It is made with fresh chicken, and has no corn in it. I have gotten good results with it. I get mine at a feed store. You can look it up on the internet and read about it, and also find out where it is available in your area.

 

[Renee750il]

Four hours is, according to what some of the other members who use crates (I don't) too long for a puppy that young. There's a formula to calculate how long according to the pup's age, but I can't remember it off the top of my head.

Brattina's really good with this kind of thing; she fosters all kinds of pups and has a lot of know-how, especially with the little ones, which can be very different from raising XXL size puppies. Why don't you look her up and send her a private message? Now, if you wanted to know how to deal with an 8 week old puppy that weighed 35 pounds . . . .

 

[poodlesmom]

The general rule of thumb for how long pups can hold it is 1 hr for ea. month of age plus 1 hr. (2 mos = 3 hrs.) Of course, there are always exceptions such as not as long after eating/drinking.