Feeding a new puppy...

Hi again,

Newbie with a question here. I will be getting my cav in about 2-3 weeks, by then it should be 12-13 weeks old. Can I leave food out all day or should I schedule feeding times. How soon after they eat (approx) do they have to poo? My sister and daughter will be helping with her while I'm at work and I need to get an idea on how to guide them. Also How much should they eat? I'm sure the breeder will give me her advice, but I was just wondering what everyone else's experiences were! Thanks.

BTW I have a chocolate lab mix that I feed once a day in the kitchen, where the new puppy will be "living" until it is house trained. Should I move Maci's (the lab) food/water out now? HELP!

thanks
Cricket

First, your breeder should, if they are good ones, be providing you with information on what the puppy has been eating, what he or she needs to eat, how many times a day, etc.

Second, the rule of thumb at twelve weeks would be three to four times a day, put it down, leave for 15 minutes, take it up. You might go the the Library section of this forum and see the information on caring for your puppy.

Third, you need to judge your dogs on whether they need to be separated when they eat. Mine do. With some work I could get them to know and respect their own bowls but I have never taken the time. They do know "wait" and "leave" it with treats and are not food or toy agressive, but if they could get a way with it would try to crowd in on the other one eating dinner!

I expect some others with come along with more detailed suggestions. Good luck!

I think Phyllis is right:
4 meals a day to start with.
At first I would keep the Lab out of the kitchen for "baby-feeding-time"
Create a relaxed situation: Your baby should learn that there is no competition for food, it´s far better if it takes longer to empty the bowl than swallowing everything down in record-time.
After every meal: Up and out for a pee!

As editing does not seem to work for me...

Water should be freely available all day
Food should be scheduled for the beginning
I´m not quite sure about the amount of food a cavi-baby needs. Just make sure that the protein in the food is not toooo high

The up and out thing will keep you running! After every meal, every nap and every playtime!

I'd really recommend buying this book so you can read up in advance and have a reference manual to refer to:

http://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Getting-Your-Puppy/dp/1577314557

And also please get Shirlee Kalstone's book on housetraining as no doubt you will have lots of questions in that area and this book, plus using the Search function on the site here, will answer most of them.

A lot of this basic material on caring for your cavalier is also available in the Library section here.

I also recommend:

www.diamondsintheruff.com/behavior.html

But please get the Dunbar and Kalstone books as they will be a godsend many times over and will save you having to type in questions that will be answered precisely there.

As noted, these are also really questions to discuss now with your breeder, who can answer more precisely for the puppy you are getting.