Hi, i have just bought home a blue staffy pup + wasnt given any advise/info on anything.
im kind of muddling along + asked some q's at the vets when i took her for a health check but still know nothing!!!
i know a 7 week old puppy shouldnt be away from its mum, i know shes to have 4/5 meals a day, im lost with toilet training - even the recomended mats dont help!!
please, please help me, jo x

I would recommend you get back in touch with the breeder as they are supposed to provide diet sheets etc.With toilet training place the pup outside every hour or so and give the pup about 5 mins then bring it back inside if it has an accident after then tell it no firmly and put it back outside for a couple more mins.Don't forget to take it out after it has been fed.

Personally I would stay outside with it until it does perform, at this age if you take it out after every meal, every nap and after any 45 mins of waking activity you will usually find it does not take very long :) but it seems to me if you give up after just 5 mins you will have a lot of accidents.  I would not tell the puppy off, either, if it does have an accident as at this age it is just confusing and possibly tells them it is not a good idea to do it in front of you the last thing you want when you will be accompanying them to where you do want them to do it.
As others have said, if the puppy is registered it is a requirement of the KC code of practice to provide diet information although I would not hold my breath as to whether you will be given useful advise I would certainly report them to the KC as they should perhaps be either remonstrated with or prevented from registering pups in the future if they are not prepared to take on the full responsibilities of breeding.
If puppy is not KC registered.......well here is another example of why we tell so many posters of the importance of it.

Your first point of contact should always be your pup's breeder.  If it's Kennel Club registered then it's a requirement to provide you with a diet sheet and instructions on how to feed your pup.

Hi Jo,

Sorry, but unfortunately it doesn't sound as though you sourced your puppy from a particularly responsible breeder otherwise you would have been provided with a full puppy pack detailing all the info you would need for the initial introduction of the puppy to your home, training tips, diet sheet and bag of food the puppy was weaned onto and a caring breeder would have ensured you felt comfortable to contact them with any questions or worries you have about your new arrival now and throughout its lifetime :(

Take her out every 30 minutes - religously ;)  Also immediately when she wakes, after meals, after playing - it will be several weeks before she has anything like part control of her bladder and bowels but within a couple of weeks she should at least be able to let you know when she wants out.  In the meantime, be consistent - any accidents in the toilet training department are the owners fault NOT the puppy's :)  It's up to you to keep a careful eye on time since her last outing, signs of her needing to go (sniffing, circling, holding her tail up in a ? mark shape :P )  As she begins to widdle or poo, use a command word such as "busy" or "hurry up" and as soon as she's finished give her lots and lots of praise.  She will eventually associate the command word with what she's doing and in time will perform on that command.

HTH, good luck, Teri :)  

i am cetainly no expert and i am sure there will be other people along who will have more knowledge than me,but my pup was 7 weeks old when we picked her up from the breeder due to her and her sister becoming very attached as they also lived with the mum and dad aunts and uncles etc,and the extra week would of made the seperation even harder for them,so i think as long as you take into account your pup is very young and are prepared to make allowances for that the pup will be fine,it will probably be quite unhappy at night for a while (but all pups are) they have been taken away from everything they know and have to start learning the rules,just be gentle kind and patient with your puppy allow it somewhere to go and sleep undisturbed as it will sleep a lot,make sure children if you have any or visitors understand this and not to disturb it when it is sleeping and of course to also be gentle and kind to the pup when it is awake,my pup was on 3 meals a day when she came to us,but of course i suppose its what the people have had it on before that will count it will gradually drop meals,as long as it is healthy and playing do not worry to much about that all dogs will eventually cut meals out as they grow,they might just need a bigger portion,as for housetraining i found leaving a back door open was great because i could make sure the puppy was straight out to the garden,i was lucky though her mum had done a good job with her i occassionally get the odd puddle on the landing carpet,a tip i picked up off the boards was wash in biological washing powder diluted,it erases the smell and hopefully they wont keep going back to the same place,above all i think you have to get use to your puppy and your puppy to you,you will soon learn the signs,above all enjoy your puppy and try to remain calm and patient hard i know when you may be lacking from sleep,but it does get better and as it grows you will enjoy more and more and that is the main thing ENJOY!!!. My puppy is now 4 months old and has suffered no bad effects from leaving its mum at 7 weeks she is a healthy happy bouncy naughty puppy,excuse the length of this post hope it helps.

regards Lynn.     

My pup is 15 weeks old and still has the odd accident in the house. As soon as she wakes up, eats or plays she is straight in the garden, although we do play with her more outside than in the house. We encouraged her to go in one spot to do the messy stuff, but she pees anywhere outside. I wouldn't bother with the training pads, mine thought it was a toy and started ripping it to shreds.
How about crate training her, that has worked really well for us. Apparently, dogs do not want to soil where they sleep. If you catch her in the act, maybe distract her and get her outside. She will learn.
Wish you lots of luck.
Sarah

Nothing much to add except to get yourself a copy of 'the Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey which you will find very useful with a new puppy.

Look on previous posts and go out and get some books on training puppies. I'm surprised being your first puppy that you haven't done background reading on it or asked the breeder when you went to look at the puppies. As others have said a good breeder wants the best for their puppies and don't mind any questions you want to ask. They will also provide you with diet sheet. Important you contact and find out what this puppy has been fed on and get this food. If you want to change what you feed her, this must be done slowly over time otherwise she could end up with an upset tummy.
There are some really good books out there. Don Harpers 'Your puppys first year' and others are great. Take you from choosing your puppy upto a year old with basic training. Patience and routine are what the puppy needs. If you catch the pup having an accident as previous replies say, pick it up and put it outside. Got outside for however long and when pup goes wees or poos, lots of praise. They don't housetrain immediately but the work you put in now will make for an easier life later on.
Agree with previous reply as a general rule of thumb. Take puppy out when it wakes up, after it's eaten and on regulalar intervals during the day. She'll soon get the idea.