A builder working in the garden next door had a tiny puppy with him all day, so of course I poked my nose in as it looked so small.
He only got it yesterday and it is 8 weeks old. A terrier cross. It has been loose in the garden all day with no warm bed to snuggle in for a rest, it has been in puddles and is wet and muddy and shivering.
I asked if it is on 4 meals a day ( thinking how have you fed him today ) and he said no he's on 2 meals a day, I'll feed him when I get home tonight. So I said what puppy food is he fed to which he answered oh he's on the same adult food as my other 2 dogs.
I mentioned that adult food  is not usually right for a small pup as it doesn't have the necessary minerals and vitamins etc for good strong growth , and surely his tummy is not big enough to get enough food in  and should be on 4 meals, also he is small and needs a warm bed to have frequent rests.
I also asked if he had any vaccinations but of course the answer was no. I was told that he knows all about dogs as he has 2 already and the breeder where he got him (BYB) told him adult food is ok.
So I had to walk away leaving a very hungry cold and wet little puppy - I wanted to cry

That is so sad, I am afraid he would have got a piece of my mind whether he wanted it or not, the breeder was obviously in it for the money and agreed to anything the buyer said re feeding, no matter how small the dog it needs 4 meals till 3 months old as its stomach size will be on par with the body size, it must be starving by the time each meal comes around and be so full if it eats half its daily ration at one sitting.

Hopefully he won't be around too long on the job tormenting you with the plight of this pup.

I didn't ask the questions quite as it sounds in my message, I did it through conversation and dropped the questions in. I actually held the pup and even though I know it was too young to have had vaccinations I was trying to tell him that many dogs visit the area where the pup was running free. I cuddled the shivering little pup and it snuggled into me for warmth and comfort, and then it broke my heart to put it down and walk away, especially as it followed me.

Comfort yourself with knowing that as a small terrier type any decent food will probably do little harm, he will have other dogs to play with and the builder takes his dog to work instead of shutting him up while hes at work.
This little chap will probably get to work with vermin and his owner has successfully reared at least 2 other dogs.

A damned sight better life than many poor little pups get.

Anyway not that long ago the puppy versions of completes were 24% protein at most,a nd the adult ones were 18 - 20%, and pups were reared fine.

This pup will grow slow and steady, and while at work with his master will no doubt scrounge his lunch etc, so he will get to know if the pup is really hungry.  I have certainly had pups that could have existed on two meals a day, but of course I would not have done so.

Based on what I pick up at our local I think few pups ever get more than three meals a day, as mot seem to come from BYB's where I live, with neither new owner or breeder really being clued up.

We are comparing ideal rearing to adequate, and I would say the majority of pups only get adequate, mainly due to ignorance.

My neighbour having kept his pet Russells for 50 years is of the opinion his dogs do not need to go out at all, as they have access to the garden all day, and the occasional walk as a treat or when they go on holiday is enough.  He has done this for 50 years, so how am I to tell him different???.

"This little chap will probably get to work with vermin and his owner has successfully reared at least 2 other dogs."

Like the OP I would have been very concerned as well. If this dog did come into contact with rats would he be at risk of Weils disease? We also don't know that the owner has 'successfully' reared 2 other dogs as we haven't seen them. They may or not live in conditions/have lives which we may or not wish for our own dogs.

You cant actually think that terriers shouldn't have the natural instincts to catch vermin. Not all dogs are show dogs or just pets, many still do the job they were bred for.
Being kept in kennels and cages isnt ideal either.

What we wish for our own dogs have little to do with this situation I think.

I know what you're saying is true, the way I treat my dogs ( run of the house and my bed at night ) is completely different for some country types where dogs are kept outside all the time in a garden shed and are treated as animals instead of pets. Just because I choose the best food I can afford and my dogs needs come before my own, this doesn't mean that the working terriers in the garden shed are treated badly - just differently.
My own little Patt loves to go ratting it is her instinct even though she is my companion and pet. As long as the puppy is not treated cruelly then I have to stand back and put it out of my mind and accept that my way is not this builders way.
It still hurts !!!

"Being kept in kennels and cages isnt ideal either.

What we wish for our own dogs have little to do with this situation I think."

Mine aren't kept in kennels or cages. They have the entire run of the house/garden and 3 dog flaps. You didn't answer my question about whether letting dogs catch/kill rats puts them at risk of Weils disease? It's not something I'd let mine do.....

whether letting dogs catch/kill rats puts them at risk of Weils disease? It's not something I'd let mine do.....

It is something that terriers especially Patterdales were originally bred for and it is an instinct, that to prevent her from doing would be like trying to change her character. We have old barns where both of our Patts race around like loonies and they have caught about 10 rats between them in their 2 years of life.
To stop them because of the fear of Weils disease would be like wrapping them in cottonwool and preventing them from leading their natural life.
There are so many things to worry about with our dogs that it would be easy to restrict their lives by being over cautious, but we have to let go a little sometimes and let them enjoy life. I must admit I am more worried about them eating grass with slugs/lungworm concerns than Weils.

My concerns were for the puppy having only 2 feeds a day and no warm bed for a rest during the day when it was wet cold and hungry

>You cant actually think that terriers shouldn't have the natural instincts to catch vermin.

So true, and not just terriers.  It's years ago now, but I had a Toy Poodle in full show coat that had wandered out to the garden one evening.  A few doors down was a man with birds of prey (he does exhibitions.)  I knew that he had a rat problem too.

I heard the most awful screaming, and raced out to find my beautiful ladylike girl shaking a rat as well as any terrier could!

She was fine afterwards.  The rat wasn't.

My friends Cavaliers, and one I bred too, have caught and killed rabbits & chickens when they got into the neighbours garden. Unfortunate of course, but goes to show they have the instincts too!

> If this dog did come into contact with rats would he be at risk of Weils disease?

Weils Disease is what they call Leptospirosis when it occurs in humans, in case anyone was wondering. Yes, the routine vaccines for dogs do cover it, but not all strains; and from what I have read, annual boosters don't last the full year anyway.

There are no vaccs for Weils Disease in people, but those at risk carry cards in case they go down with it ["flu-like" symptoms], that includes sewage workers and anyone in regular contact with fresh water which may have been contaminated with rat urine - fishermen, windsurfers, canoeists, scuba divers and the like. I once met someone who had contracted it and recovered. Thankfully deaths from Weils disease are uncommon but do occasionally occur.

Dogs come into contact with rat urine far more often than humans do, and are able to build up their own immunity... we think nothing of allowing our dogs to paddle or swim in puddles, streams, lakes, ponds and canals, which all might be contaminated.

There was a very interesting study done on dogs, in Edinburgh I think, random dogs ( unvaccinated ) were given blood tests to see how prevalent lepto was, 30 % of dogs tested showed that they had at some point contracted lepto but had formed an immunity to it .

my old girl was a dainty or so you would think it to look at her a chinese crested , she was the best rat catcher we ever had,  when a puppy was a picky eater so to get two meals into her a day was hard at the best of times, but put any rubbish in her vacinity and it was wolfed down with gusto.

My greyhounds also enjoy a bit of vermin murder...

Just an update.
The pup mentioned in the first post was running free as usual, except this time it was run over by the owners car when reversing. At 8 weeks, IF it survives it will only have 3 legs as one needs amputating.
They have no insurance so they may decide to have it put down. If I could afford the vets fees I would take it on - poor little mite.

Oh my goodness. I was just about to post that whilst I could understand your concerns, at least the guy was taking his pup to work every day and not leaving it at home for hours on end. Having read your update, it would have been better if pup had been left at home:-( How upsetting, I hope it does survive and the owner pays for the necessary treatment :-(