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Bailey's First Weekend Home!

Portia

Well-known member
We picked up our new baby Bailey on Saturday and couldn't be happier (although also a bit tired...lol). He is 10 weeks old and has been a very good little boy despite all the new things and firsts he's had in the last few days. He seems to like the car and falls fast asleep within a few minutes of driving. He already has a couple of favorite toys too. He's settling in really well and is becoming more and more comfortable every day with the sounds of the house, our movements, etc. At first, he hated his crate -- I think he was afraid he was going to miss something -- so we set up an xpen in the kitchen along with his crate and that made him comfortable enough to go in and out of it on his own for naps. I also put an old t-shirt of my husband's in the crate, which seemed to make him more comfortable. This is such a relief since hubby and I go back to work tomorrow and Bailey will have to be home alone for 3-4 hours at a time. He's even been sleeping pretty well, only getting up every 3-4 hours to tell us he has to go out. We went to the vet yesterday and she very happily told us that he does not have a heart murmur, noting that every other cavalier she treats has had one. Our breeder assured us he wouldn't, but we were so relieved to have the vet confirm this. She also talked to us a bit about SM/CM to make sure we were aware of it and could watch for warning signs.

On Sunday, I had him in his pen in the yard when the neighbor's half pit bull/half labrador came bounding over. I was extremely nervous as I had never met this dog and had only observed him through my kitchen window. He had always seemed pretty good, but is a very athletic dog and plays very rough. He's also about 120 lbs of solid muscle compared to my 4 lb little fluff-ball. But, I forced myself to remain calm and just prayed he didn't jump over the pen and go for Bailey. When my neighbor realized he had run into my yard, he came over as well, which made me a bit more comfortable. Well, unlike his mama, Bailey does not have a scared bone in his body! They went nose to nose and nose to butt a couple of times through the pen and Bailey ran around inside the pen while the big guy ran around on the outside. I think it was a good socialization experience for Bailey, but I'm still glad the fence we're putting up will be done later today!

Although things have been going well, I have a few questions I'd love your input on:

1. Is waking up every 3-4 hours overnight normal for a 10 week old? My vet said he should be able to hold it 6-8 hours overnight, but would love to hear your experiences. Although he pees almost immediately, I want to make sure I'm not letting him train us to get up with him overnight more often than he really needs to.

2. I want to order him a Puppia harness. Which style do you think is best? Also, any idea on size? I'm going to try and measure him later today, but expect he'll be a little squirmy.

3. Bailey loves toes and feet! When he wants to play, he will pounce on your feet and nip at your big toe. I've tried making the high-pitched yip, pulling my feet away and giving him a toy, but it doesn't seem to be scaring him off enough. Any other ideas for what we can do?

4. Last night, he started humping -- first, my husband's arm and a toy this morning. Is he a little young for this, or is this just normal doggie behavior? Also, what should we do when he humps? What we did the last couple of times was divert his focus so he'd stop...is tis the right thing to do?

Thanks for your input and advice. Bailey and his new mommy and daddy appreciate it! :)

P.S. I would LOVE to post some pics of him. Is there a way to do it without having a URL?
 
Hi Portia,

I look forward to reading the answers to your questions. I will be in your shoes in about 5 weeks. :) I found a wonderful breeder and met my 3 week old puppy on Monday, so now I'm just getting my house ready!

Hope to read more replies to your post! :)
 
Hi Calandra,

You are going to love having a new cavalier in your house! They are the funniest, most loving and precious creatures I've ever met. Despite all the work, Bailey has already brought so much fun and joy into our home. And, as an update, I am very happy to report he actually slept through the night last night from around 9:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. My husband gets up early for work and found Bailey contentedly chewing on a toy -- he didn't cry to wake us up and didn't soil his crate, but waited to be taken out! Can't ask for better than that from such a little guy.
 
There isn't a hard and fast rule about how long he should be able to hold. Just make sure potty breaks during the night are just potty breaks, no playing or making a big fuss. Out to potty and then back to bed. Some people recommend lifting their water during the night too :)

I can't help you with the Puppia I'm afraid, I'm not a fan, so have never used one.

Nipping toes is a normal puppy behaviour. Keep offering him a distraction when he does it, he will eventually get the message.

Murphy used to hump his favorite teddy, but he didn't start doing that until he was about 5 months, and he was neutered at 6 months, we just ignored him, but someone else may be able to offer you better advice :D
 
We went to the vet yesterday and she very happily told us that he does not have a heart murmur, noting that every other cavalier she treats has had one. Our breeder assured us he wouldn't, but we were so relieved to have the vet confirm this. She also talked to us a bit about SM/CM to make sure we were aware of it and could watch for warning signs.

Welcome and congratulations on your puppy. This statement confused me. Did your vet and breeder mean that since he has no murmur now he'll never get one? More than 50% of cavaliers have a murmur before they reach 5 yrs. old (I can't remember the exact percentage) and more than 95% get them later.
 
Hi! I can't help with everything because I am a new puppy owner too, but I can try to tell you my experience this far. We brought Sonny home at 9 weeks and at first he slept through the night without a peep for about 7 hours, but then he started to get up once in the night, usually after about 4-5 hours and I would take him out and then put him right back to bed. I agree with the advice to not let them play around during the night time potty break. Sonny learned very quickly to run right outside and then we are going right back to his crate. He is now 16 weeks and has been sleeping about 8 hours through the night without needing to get up. I'm anticipating this will vary a little depending on his activity through out the day and I am sure we will go through times when he is waking up more. I have read before that they should be able to hold their little bladders for approximately the same amount of hours equal to their age in months. So if they are 3 months, then about 3 hours. This wasn't the case with Sonny, but I think all puppies are different. :)

Sonny bit and chewed on us a lot in the beginning. I highly suggest that you read the Ian Dunbar After You Get Your Puppy. It helped me with a lot of my questions and really helped me understand why to yelp and how that trains the puppy. It also walks you through bite inhibition and how to get your puppy to use a soft mouth. I will try to find the link for you or someone else might have already posted it to you. It sounds like you are doing the right thing by making a yelp when he bites you. I would say the key is CONSISTENCY. :-D We didn't think the yelping was helping at first either, but we tried to be really consistent and he now bites a lot less. We also try to always have a chew or a toy near by to give to him, that way he knows what is appropriate to chew on and will learn that we are not appropriate chew toys!!! Our trainer also taught us that when they get too wild or continue biting to turn around or walk away from them and not to make eye contact. This teaches the puppy that if he bites then no one wants to play with him. I will admit this got really tiring having to get up and walk away over and over and over, but I really think it helped and Sonny has really improved on not biting us. Oh also I think Sonny's biting improved after we got him started in puppy preschool. I think he naturally learned about bite inhibition from his little play mates.

Hope this helps! I'm sure others will post more helpful suggestions. Like I said I am new puppy owner too and still in the learning process myself. (y)
 
Did your vet and breeder mean that since he has no murmur now he'll never get one? More than 50% of cavaliers have a murmur before they reach 5 yrs. old (I can't remember the exact percentage) and more than 95% get them later.

My breeder told me something similar - that heart murmurs do not usually show up for at least 2 years, so that is why even "unscrupulous" breeders don't mind giving a 1 year guarantee on a Cav puppy. Also, having a heart murmur doesn't mean that our Cavs won't be able to still function and be happy, etc. It may just be a condition that they develop, but doesn't necessary lessen quality of life. That's my understanding. :) That really put me at ease.
 
Thanks so much for all your responses!

Bailey is still doing great! We've actually figured out that he gets nippy when he needs to go out. So, I guess this is a good thing that he's letting us know, but I'm going to do some research about how to get him to let us know in another way -- ringing a bell, going to the back door, etc.

He has also started to sleep through the night -- about 7 hours -- most nights. He's such a good boy!

Lastly, I don't think my bet meant that he could never develop a murmur since he is clear now, but will double check when we go back on Saturday for his 12 week round of shots.

Thanks again. You all are the best!
 
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