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My puppy Ruby.. story so far

Paulette

Active member
Hi all we have had our little girl Ruby for 10 days now and all is going well I am understanding more about her behaviour and playing and the biting and am starting to let her know i am the boss if she bites too hard by saying "too bad" loudly and removing myself.
I am trying to get a good routine in order for feeding and the vet recommended feeding her 4 times a day as she is 7 weeks old, I have changed over her original food gradually and she is almost on fully Royal Canin junior mini with no real problems of runny poo, I will say though when I wormed her each day of the 3 days 1 of her poos was a bit runny I put it down to the wormer and not the changing of the food? but it could have been both?

My feeding schedule is 7.30am, 11.30am, 3pm, 6.30pm taking her out after meals for her business, which I have been doing since monday after the vets recommended taking her out in my own back garden and now she doesnt want to use her potty training pads(great) and will only use them at night when I get her up for the toilet, and today she went to the patio door and I knew she wanted out, but unfortunately I wasnt quick enough with my boots to get her out and she pooed but how fantastic she is telling me by going to the door, how quickly they learn its amazing, im happy to away with the training pads to be honest, but may have one to hand for the middle of the night to see how it goes as she literally goes then I place her back into her crate and go back to bed.

I am setting my alarm for 12.30am, 3.30am and then I get up just after 7am and no accidents and I think for her age its a good she is holding it ok, my question is...should I start to increase the time slightly say by 15 mins to see if she will go a little longer each time? I do leave water out for her at night but last feeding is early on and I take her out last thing about 9pm
Any other advice or direction...am I doing it all ok? Id like to think so as she is happy and contented
 
Hi there

Sounds like your little one is settling in very well ;)

I cant really remember that far back now- its about 4 years to the day that my Ruby came home but what i do remember is going to bed around midnight after her going out for her last toilet- we lived in a flat at the time and had a small patio area that i out the paper on- and getting up at around 4.30-5am to let her out again and i dont remeber any accidents in those approx 5 hours.

I only fed her 3 times a day at 8-12 weeks at 7am, 1pm and 6pm and that way she wouldn't have much left in at bed time.
I would also limit her water intake after 8pm to a small amount to help that too.

Is she getting you up to go out or vica versa?

If she isn't getting up and wanting to go out then i would be inclined to give her a little longer and see how it goes.

Good luck!
 
Sounds good! I think the runny poo was likely the wormer, that's a common side effect.

I would not leave water down for her all night -- for pups that is an invitation to drink and then pee a short time later. Just take it up about 2 hours before bedtime and then have fresh water available again in the morning.

Walk her outside so she empties herself right before bedtime and you should only have to get up once at 3:30 or so. In a week or two you may no longer need to do that. When pups/dogs are sleeping at night, like humans they do not generally need to get up to pee and hold it for longer than if they were awake and active. At 3 months or so you can generally go to three meals a day then to two by 6 months or so. She will probably soon start leaving food anyway and that is the sign she no longer needs four meals.
 
Sounds like you're settling into a lovely routine :)
Food wise - Our pup Fraser will be 16 weeks old on Monday and we're still on 4 meals per day (which we moved to from 3 per day as he had an upset tummy). one day this week we attempted to do 3 meals but it resulted in an upset tummy again. It seems 3 meals doesn't sit right with his little tummy - strange, but as long as he doesn't have an upset tummy I don't mind! So really I'd say stick with whatever works for you :)


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Oh, I remember those puppy days! It sounds like you both are settling into a nice routine. I didn't get Holly until she was 12 weeks, so she was eating 3 times a day then. She also slept through the night, but I am a bit of a night owl so her last potty was probably around midnight every night. She could make it until 7 am or so. I picked up her water a couple hours before bedtime.

Have fun and post lots of pictures! I live vicariously through those of you with puppies!
 
and...I have also been training her to "sit" using treats that are suitable for her age. she now also reconizes her name and comes when I call her, so amazed she is so clever and is learning so quickly too... We love her so much x
 
Tomorrow she will be 8 weeks so this week as she has now fully changed over to a different food after doing it very gradually I am now trying her on 3 meals a day instead of 4, hope this is ok we will see! am hoping from the advice this is about the right age to do so.

Also last night I changed the bedtime routine slightly by taking the water up at 8pm then taking her out for last toilet at 11pm then getting up only at 3.15am then the morning at 7am, no accidents.

I will carry on like this for a week then maybe see if she will go all night with me NOT coming down to let her out for the toilet, I guess it will be only trial and error and worse case senario she will wet inside her cage :(, which I dont want to happen as its not nice for her but I started as I meant to go on and didnt take her upstairs at night which some recommended, instead I stayed downstairs in the living room for 5 days to watch her and listen out.

Now she is a big girl!!:) well bigger anyway!! lol and used to her new home she is left at night time and the lamp left on and I go to bed.

I understand its all about routine and she is learning the same as me.
I feel so proud to be her new mummy, and am so glad we made the move to have a puppy, although I must remember she is my daughters puppy!! ;)
 
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