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Two questions...

Donald Duck

Well-known member
First, Matt and I are starting to take Huey on evening walks and I'm wondering how far is too far for a 9-10 week old. We took him about 3 blocks and back tonight and on the way ran into plenty of new people (including some young kids and other dogs!) We had such a good time but now he's not himself, he sort of walking around the house sniffing, not as playful or friendly. Could he just be tired? Did we take him too far?

Also, we put a collar on him and he HATES it, keeps acting like he has an itch and scratching his neck. Could he be allergic or is this just his way of showing us how much he dislikes it?
 
As far as the walking goes I would walk Chester as much as he could take and that ensured he slept straight through the night! Pups have a TON of energy and plenty of exercise is the best thing for their muscle tone and heart health. Huey not being as playful right after his walk is just a sign that he got plenty of exercise and simply doesn't have as much excess energy to burn...which is a good thing in the evenings!

As for the collar, pups will scratch at a collar for a week or two until they get used to it. Just put it on Huey and don't take it off and he will adjust in short measure. If you take it on and off constantly he won't get used to it. Chester scratched at his collar for a good two weeks and he scratched it up pretty bad with his nails, so I suggest you get inexpensive ones until he gets used to them and then you can splurge on fancy ones!

Good luck! Everything will be fine...I promise!
 
Are you walking him on the collar? He might fare better with a harness - they are more comfortable on the neck. The puppia harnesses are very popular on this board.
 
GudrunTheRed said:
.... Huey not being as playful right after his walk is just a sign that he got plenty of exercise and simply doesn't have as much excess energy to burn...which is a good thing in the evenings!

so true--and also, the more exercise, the more relaxed he should be during the day, especially if he has to be alone, he will be more likely to sleep and not fret, or to be more anxiety free while awake when alone. Exercise=good :D

i'm a believer in harnesses/halters because I've heard that necks can be more easily injured in small dog breeds, and trachea, and a collar can put more stress on the neck, espcially if the dog pulls really hard, and also, in the case of cavaliers, the tendency toward syringomyelia has me wanting to avoid unnecessary stress on the neck area. the harness i've been using is a Premier Easy Walker harness. I started out with a different kind which had the clip on the back, but zack was pullling pretty hard and someone recommended the Easy walker because it clips on the front/chest area, and it cuts down on the intensity of the pulling because of that.

http://www.premier.com/pages.cfm?id=74

i don't know if neck damage and SM are really serious worries related to collars, but i am erring on the side of caution at this point.
 
This is very important -- I don't think you should be walking him at all -- surely he is too young to have completed his vaccination series? This means until he finishes them, and you wait *another* 7-14 days, he should not ever be touching the ground outside your house as he can be susceptible to parvovirus, distemper, etc. which have a very high mortality rate in puppies. Check with your vets right away -- but usually the all-clear isn't until the puppy is 14-16 weeks or so. Carrying him is fine or bringing him over to visit people at their homes is OK, but generally you do not want to risk exposure to these very serious diseases. There are some who feel it is OK to expose puppies but I have known an awful lot of them die due to picking up parvo etc from the environment when unvaccinated or before the vax takes holkd 9the reason there are a series of vaccinations is that you don;t know when the mother's immunity wears off (from her milk) and when the vax becomes effective. If the timing is off, the vax won't do anything).

Walking three blocks for a pup that small would be very hard on his joints and is too much I think at such a youn age -- 9 weeks is really tiny -- he will get all the exercise he needs playing in your house or yard. (y)

Check in with your vet (just give the office a ring) and they can let you know how long you need to wait. By the time his vax series is done and he is ready to go outside, he will be old enough for brief walks of 10-15 minutes, maximum, once or twice a day.

I strongly recommend harnesses, not collars, for walking cavaliers. The first reason is that small dogs can get a collapsed trachea, which is quite serious, from pulling against a collar; the second is, it is much easier to scoop a small pup to safety with a harness; the third is, this is a breed at risk of developing syrinxes in the neck area (syringomyelia) and several neurologists feel walking on collars could put pressure on the neck area that potentially can accelerate the development of them in dogs who may have them starting (research is showing about half of all cavaliers have some SM so this is an important precaution). Most puppies dislike collars at first and will scratch in annoyance at them.

In general, think of collars as the way to hold their ID tags, and harnesses for walking. You'll need a puppy size harness initially. We have lots of favourite harnesses on the board, so people will rave about the ones they like best! Many of us love Puppias.
 
We had to wait 12 days after all ours second injections and then when we walked them they were just 14 weeks, and only for about 10 minutes or less.

We put our guys collars on as soon as we could and they scratched then got used to it - how about doing one hour, then later on two hours, he will get used to it.
 
he should not ever be touching the ground outside your house as he can be susceptible to parvovirus, distemper, etc. which have a very high mortality rate in puppies


So you're saying that if a puppy is under 10 weeks old he should not go outside at all?
 
In the UK they have to have their two injections which are at 9 weeks and 12 weeks before they can go out - as they can catch awful things from other dogs, foxes, cats, poo ...... you can take him out and hold him to socalise him to his surroundings - but not on the ground......
 
Karlin,

I understand exactly what you're saying about parvo and other diseases...but no walking outside at all??? When I brought Chester home we would go for walks but I would not let him snuffle around mailboxes or other grassy areas where other dogs tend to urinate. Instead we kept to the street in my neighborhood as most dogs don't do their business in the actual street. Luckly it's a suburban neighborhood and the only car traffic was the neighbors so I never had a problem walking him in the street. My breeder was the one who told me to avoid grassy and other areas where other dogs would eliminate. He really loved his walks and they definately contributed to his overall muscle tone and restful nights.

As for harnesses, I am a HUGE Puppia/harness fan too. I just think every dog should have a collar with tags for identification.
 
Yeah I think not going outside is a little excessive. But of course it just may be different in the UK.

Which website is best to order the puppia harness in the U.S.? I guess I need to wait until he is older and can actually go on walks to purchase it but I want to see what everyone is talking about hehe.
 
Mmitc said:
he should not ever be touching the ground outside your house as he can be susceptible to parvovirus, distemper, etc. which have a very high mortality rate in puppies


So you're saying that if a puppy is under 10 weeks old he should not go outside at all?

I think Karlin means he can go in his own garden but not outside the house on public paths etc. That's what we've always been told by our Vets.
 
Mmitc said:
Which website is best to order the puppia harness in the U.S.? I guess I need to wait until he is older and can actually go on walks to purchase it but I want to see what everyone is talking about hehe.

Here are several in the US that are really good to buy from:
Roxanne on the Cavalier Connection has an online store and carries a bunch of the different Puppia colors starting at $19.99: http://www.tiabellas.com

BowsaWowsa.com has the solid color ones and several different patterns: http://bowsawowsa.com/product_info.php?products_id=112
http://bowsawowsa.com/product_info.php?products_id=350
http://bowsawowsa.com/product_info.php?products_id=351

And here's a good eBay seller that a bunch of Cavalier Connection people have bought from:
http://stores.ebay.com/Blazenskyy-Pawtisserie-and-Boutique

Good luck and have fun!
 
I think Karlin means he can go in his own garden but not outside the house on public paths etc. That's what we've always been told by our Vets.

Thank you for the clarication. I have also always been told this.
 
ebay is also good for puppia harnesses. i got one there, unfortunately it was too small. i could've returned it or exchanged it, but didn't get around to it. What i need is a store i can go to in person to buy one. the one i got is black. if anyone wants it, i'll mail it to you, it's still in the wrapper although i opened it to try it on. there's no way it will even go on part way, it's so too small.

the day i got zack, he was a little less than 14 weeks and had not had his last of the puppy shot series yet. he hadn't had bordatella at all or rabies.

I didnt' have dog supplies so i drove directly to an ASPCA store at a park. I was told i should not let him get down on the ground because he hadn't had his last shots. It was scary.

I did take him to the pet store right after that, on the way home, the big pet supply place, and i put him in the seat of a big shopping cart and clipped his new leash to it. When i got him home, i waited a couple of weeks, until after getting the last shot, to walk him outside on the street. Fortunately i have a backyard at my apartment.

It wasn't too long after this that i learned there are people who never vaccinate their dogs at all and report their dogs have been exposed to things without getting sick, and there are a lot more people who get the first series of puppy shots and then no more after that, and report their dogs don't get sick. I learned this on the web. So, i learned that the subject is more controversial than i thought at first.

risk of exposure to the diseases vaccinated against probably varies a lot from location to location and in different situations.

With a new puppy, my own bias is to protect them from outside germs until their immune systems mature and stabilize some. when my daughter was born, it was a while before i would take her into public places, some people thought i was nuts, but even now, when i see a newborn at a crowded restaurant I cringe.

but i do recognize that these things are controversial and there's a lot to learn about them in order to have informed opinions.
 
We're going to get Huey a harness tonight!

I'm going to call the vet this afternoon, we've been trying to get him used to peeing and pooping outside ever since we got Huey and were told it would be okay to introduce him to other dogs that we knew were safe. The vet also said we should definately try and introduce him to children now and since we don't have any and our friends only have newborns really the only way for us to come into contact with kids is our neighbors.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone!
 
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