Hello all

I am new to this site, I have a new addition to my home, a beautiful bulldog puppy called Maggie, we brought her home on Monday evening.  Since we brought her home she has had diarrhea, its not like water, just really runny, she was also sick twice yesterday I am feeding her as instructed by the breeder, so am worried what is wrong with her.  I have wormed her and have given her rice in her diet as I was informed that this may stop it, but it hasn-t.  I am taking her to the vets this morning but would just like some advice.  She seems well in herself and is running and bouncing about all over.  She is 16 weeks old and I am trying to paper train her, I even bought those special pads that you put down but she does not go near them.  I take her for a walk and she doesn-t do anything then when we come back in she decides to do it in the house avoiding the pads.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks Jolene

Was she bought from a reputable breeder, that should be your first port of call for any problems.

With regard to house training, you just have to be there, as soon as she starts sniffing/circling around, or after, playing eating, drinking, sleeping, take her outside and stay with her until she 'performs', then give her plenty of praise, you could say something like 'wee wee', she will soon start to associate this with going to the toilet and may eventually go on command. I wouldn't bother with paper/pads myself as they encourage a pup to go inside, when the aim is for them to go outside.
Sorry to be so long winded, hope this is of some help.

> I take her for a walk and she doesn-t do anything

As she is now 4 months old has she been partially toilet trained by the breeder already?  Adjusting to her new situation may take a little while and she may have forgotten much of what she has already learnt as your routines might be quite different.  Check with the breeder what timetable they had been working to and do try to stick to that for a while. 

At her age she won't need much exercise walking as such, a short stroll out and about to give her some exposure to new things will be quite sufficient.  It's quite common for puppies to only pee and poo at home, in the comfort of their own garden, and some dogs take ages before they feel confident to pee in public places!  Go back to basics and take her out after every meal and every 30 minutes for a while until you and she get used to her timetable.  You'll soon pick up her signs and will be able to get her out before the accidents happen.  As soon as she has chosen a place to pee in the garden use a command word whilst she is relieving herself and give her lots of praise.  The next time she needs to go out take her back to that same spot, on a lead if necessary, and wait for her to go.  Once she's toileted you can let her off the lead for some fun.  It helps if they learn to toilet before play so you don't have to spend ages waiting for them to go in the middle of the night!!

Good luck at the vets - hope she is ok

Hi Jolene,

I see the other posters have advised on a more appropriate toilet training approach.  Just wanted to say that I hope your vet finds Maggie to be OK and perhaps it is something very minor like a change in water that has caused her tummy to be upset.

Please update on her when you've been to the vet :)

best wishes, Teri

I did not manage to get her seen by the vet, I waited an hour and a half in the waiting room as it was a drop in practice this morning, so I am going to ring them to book an appointment.  She has been fine today and is fast asleep now after playtime.  I did purchase her from a reputable breeder but I dont like ringing them to bother them, I know they probably would like to hear from me and i have called them once and they suggested what I have done with her.  She was not toilet trained at all when I got her and was still with the other pups in the whelping box.  I know patience and perserverence is what it is going to take.  The other thing is when she is playfighting with me she gets quite excited and really bites me and has ripped my top this morning whilst we were play fighting, how do I discipline her so that she knows when to settle and calm down a little

I think you really do need to maintain contact with your breeder as they should be happy to help you with all these quite normal and straightforward problems you are experiencing.   Ideally good breeders will give written advise regarding all these things to take away with you but not all do, however all reputable breeders will be happy to hear from you at any reasonable hour ;-) with any particular difficulties.

Firstly I suggest you do ring the breeder again for advice - she'll be happy to help I'm sure.  Young pups can go downhill very quickly, more often than not due to dehydration, so please keep on top of this and take action :)

Re the biting, that's bog standard puppy behaviour - teeth are their way of exploring everything LOL.  Painful too!  However help is at hand, HERE - print off and ensure all family members and visitors read and remember the rules.  They really DO work and are the best method of training your puppy from the outset as well as training ourselves how to behave with them!

regards, Teri

Can I suggest boiling all her water for a while, if you boil the kettle pour what is left into a jug & then decant when cool into a storage cotainer & keep in the fridge. It can be something as simple as a change in water, I always do this with my puppies ever since I got one that was born in a very soft water area, I live in a very hard water area BTW

Hi jolene, don't hesitate to contact the breeder with any problems as they should always be happy to help and to hear how the pup is getting on.

If i have any diarrohea problems with mine then i boil chicken breasts and mix with plain rice for a couple of days and this has always worked here.  Make sure your pup is drinking water.

Good luck with your lovely new addition to the family and hope she is o.k. when you take her to the vets.

x

Her poo has hardened up today thankfully.  I have taken the advice and boiled her drinking water before giving her it.  I am now booked into the vets at Monday teatime for a health check.  Thanks to all for all the advice.

Also another question.  Sorry.  The breeders have advised me to freeze mince and then defrost and give it her raw.  Is this the best way rather than cooking it for her?

sorry jolene can't answer that one as never used mince for mine.  hopefully someone else will be able to answer this for you.

Hi jolene,

just seen this.  Cooking the meat kills off many of the nutrients which is why there is a preference towards feeding raw and if done correctly no supplementation is usually required -  an all raw or home prepared diet would have to include much more than just minced meat.

Has your breeder elaborated on what else you should be feeding when the pup's tummy is settled?  Personally, until the upset is completely over, I would only feed bland food which was steamed ...... white meat or white fish, gradually adding overcooked white rice or mashed potato.

My raw fed dogs rarely get tummy upsets but when they do get something nasty and unrecognisable in their tums from scavenging on the beach, even I don't give them raw food for at least 48 hours.  I think raw makes the stomach acid kick in too much on a system that requires time to heal - personal opinion only of course.

regards, Teri

Yes make sure that you DO FREEZE the mince first, never ever give mince that hasn't been frozen first.

Yes they said for breakfast I should be feeding puppy food with softened biscuits this will be at about 7.40 then I should feed her something similar for lunch followed by the defrosted raw mince and biscuits for tea.  They have also said to use chicken, ham, cheese and eggs at times to vary the diet.  Obviously with her having had loose stools I have been giving her some chicken with boiled rice and her biscuits so as not to upset her stomach.

With runny motions, boiled chicken and nothing else for a couple of feeds generally sorts it out, even in puppies.  Also tinned Chappie chicken and rice fed on its own will sort out an upset tummy in an adult dog (provided of course there is no underlying cause).  I always keep a few tins in the house just in case.