puppy care

[badger]

I'd like some info from the lovely dog-friendly people here.

I've been asked if I would foster a sick puppy. While my first instinct is to say yes, I've never had a puppy before. I have loads of experience with elder care, but I've never had a puppy. Come to think of it, I've never had a kitten, either, always older animals.

Before I commit, will I be biting off more than I can chew? The description I was given was a "young puppy", so I'm assuming it's around 8 weeks of age, give or take, with respiratory infection and maybe some mange. I should be able to take it to work so I won't have to leave it alone all day at home, but I want to make sure I know what I'm in for.

Any comments/advice will be appreciated.

[Selkie]

We've been through two very active puppyhoods since 2007....

As you probably know, puppies are like babies. A really young puppy will need to go out for bathroom breaks every couple of hours (I've heard that puppies can hold it one hour for every month of age, and that's a pretty accurate gage, in my experience). They get in to everything, so you have to puppy-proof your house. I found that giving puppy a little nylabone goes a long way in teaching the puppy what's appropriate to chew.

And they are high energy. Their lives are play, pee/poop, nap, pee/poop, eat, pee/poop, nap---repeat! There will be accidents in the house---it's inevitable. Stock up on bitter apple, too, in case puppy tries to chew something inappropriate like furniture, rugs, etc.

Be prepared to get up at least once during the night to take the little one out for a bathroom break.

Pack your patience....it can be rough. But the wonderfulness of a puppy is well worth the aggravation. Puppy fuzz, puppy breath, puppy paws....awww...

[NbyNW]

Who will be responsible for the vet bills, and how sick is the puppy? You probably want to have a good handle on what it will take to get this puppy well and make sure it's not something that could balloon out of control.

[alimey]

Our dog has probably just come out of puppyhood/adolescence (she is 15 months). For the 1st 6 months I reckon looking after her took 2-3 hours a day (spread throughout the day). There is no way I could have left her for more than 2 hours. From about 8-20 weeks she slept quite a lot - but needed constant supervision & feedback about her behaviour when she was awake. At about 20 weeks I started to see some benefit of all the work I had put in. By 7 months she was properly listening to me. I went to a lot of classes from about 12 weeks (ie; as soon as she could go out). My husband & I also spent a lot of time discussing how to bring her up. I have to say that I don't see how looking after a puppy (esp. a sick one that hasn't had the best start in life) could be compatible with work (plus I doubt they would let you take in one w/ mange). We work from home (we are bike mechanics) & hence work downstairs & have really tolerant bosses (ie; ourselves). I did almost no work during the first 4 months we had her as I looking after the puppy - everyone I met in the park said it was just like having a baby.

Don't be tempted to over-exercise the puppy to give yourself an easy life - it's much better to exercise their minds & it's just as tiring. The rule of thumb is that walks should last 5 mins for every month - so by 3 months, that's a 15 min walk.

Best thing we did - crate train the puppy, and be 100% consistent with feedback (ie; decide what the rules are & stick to them no matter what).

If you decide to go ahead, find yourself a knowledgeable mentor & lean on them - we had the breeder of our puppy. It's surprisingly mentally challenging - all the owners of the puppies in our litter really really wanted the puppies, were experienced & had spent £800 on a puppy. Despite this, pretty much every one considered returning the puppy at some point during the first 6 months. Having said this - I think it depends very much on breed (we have a Hungarian Vizsla - high energy & apparently very difficult puppies) - I met a very easy 4 month old golden retriever & the breeder said he was typical of his breed.

[abejita]

The best thing to do, planning wise, is to find out what the pup is sick with.

[badger]

ok, bit more info.

I still don't know the age, but he/she (it's one puppy from 2 litters of sick puppies, part of 26 dogs taken away from being used as drug mules!!) has kennel cough, so nothing permanent.

I'm also going away in 2 weeks' time for a month, so they said it'll be helpful if I could foster him/her for 2 weeks until it can go to another foster home with a senior who shouldn't come in contact with kennel cough.

So this is super temporary

[TsPoet]

yep, you are biting off more than you can chew - but you should do it anyway!
You have the heart and work that allows you to bring the dog in (you should check and make sure you won't be endangering any coworker's dogs with kennel cough).
It will be a tough and rewording 2 weeks.

[badger]

I'm hoping that I won't overstay my doggy welcome at work. If it was truly dog friendly, I would have adopted a dog long ago. They enjoy dogs visiting, and I did have one every day for a week last year, but I don't know if they'll like me bringing him/her for 2 weeks. We'll see. I can always go home during lunch to take him/her out and check up on the critter. And there is the issue of possibly endangering my co-workers' dogs at home, but I imagine a thorough hand washing before going home should reduce the risks of transmission?

[sundial]

I've been asked if I would foster a sick puppy.

Proceed with caution.

Puppies are a handful, particularly if they are sick. Do you know what illness it has? If by chance this puppy has parvo you are looking at spending hundreds for intensive, in-hospital treatment. Like babies puppies can get dehydrated very quickly and things can go south rapidly. Are you prepared to care for a puppy that has frequent diarrhea? Respiratory infection? Needs frequent potty breaks? What about the chewing, crying, biting? Midnight potty breaks?

If this puppy is in a rescue, will you be reimbursed for medical expenses or will you assume all the costs?

This can be a daunting task for even the experienced much less the novice. I would think very carefully about making a commitment to care for a sick baby. Two of the most expensive periods in a dogs life is at the beginning and toward the end.

[badger]

oh yes, forgot to mention it's with a rescue and any and all medical fees will be picked up by them (it's kennel cough). They simply need homes for the dogs to recover.

If I find myself completely overwhelmed, I'm not obligated to keep him so I will be able to hand him back to the rescue.

[sundial]

Well then, proceed.

[badger]

so it seems I may have bit off more than I can chew

I got the pup last night, he's a 4 month old Mastif/Pit cross and weighs roughly 30lbs. Hefty fella.

He's not sick at all, and he's like a toy wound up zipping back and forth and back and forth. I never had a moment to sit down since I got him. He's never been introduced to toilet training, so he seems to pee wherever/whenever, and it's always when I have my back turned. He at least slept through the night and kept his kennel clean.

Not sure if I can commit to the 2 weeks, I was ready to throw in the towel last night, but hopefully we can get used to each other soon. He doesn't have a name yet, though the rescue woman wants to call him "Shrimp". His brother's name is Anchovy...

Pic to hopefully follow if I don't go home to armageddon during lunch time. (he's in the bathroom with his kennel door open, I'm guessing I'll have a few things to clean...)

[Maxxxie]

Give the puppy a million chew toys. Encourage him to use them. If he goes for something that's not a chew toy, say "leave it!" in a firm voice, take it away from him and immediately replace it with a chew toy. Praise him for chewing the toy instead of the inappropriate object. Your puppy will eventually learn two things: 1. "Leave it" means exactly that, and 2. Chew toys are way more fun than your shoes.

As for toilet training, every time he has a meal, take him outside. When he does his business, give him insane levels of praise. He'll get the message. Somebody else here mentioned that puppies have small bladders. This is true and you can expect to have to do the toilet/praise thing many times a day. Your puppy will eventually come to realise that you are the person who opens the door to let him out, and he will come to you when he needs to go to the toilet.

The most important thing for puppies is to give them consistent discipline. I don't mean discipline in the punishment sense, I mean it in the "setting rules and boundaries" sense. Dogs like boundaries, but they need to know what they are. That means you must demonstrate and/or guide them to good behaviour. Reward good behaviour with heaps of praise. I'm not a fan of punishing dogs for bad behaviour. It's far less effective than positive reinforcement. Never create a situation in which your dog genuinely fears you. You must create an environment in which your dog wants to please you. Rewards and praise are the best way of doing that.

I know your puppy's stay with you is only short-term, but I think that you and the pup will both get a great deal of joy from your interactions together. And please post a pic

Max

[TsPoet]

As for toilet training, every time he has a meal, take him outside. When he does his business, give him insane levels of praise. He'll get the message. Somebody else here mentioned that puppies have small bladders. This is true and you can expect to have to do the toilet/praise thing many times a day. Your puppy will eventually come to realise that you are the person who opens the door to let him out, and he will come to you when he needs to go to the toilet.

Max

I've had several friends put bells on a ribbons down their door - they all swear by it. What happens is when you open the door to let them out, the bells ring. Dogs figure out that when the bells ring the door opens - so when they want out they nuzzle the bells and you hear that they want out. No barking, no door scratching.

[tulip]

I've had several friends put bells on a ribbons down their door - they all swear by it. What happens is when you open the door to let them out, the bells ring. Dogs figure out that when the bells ring the door opens - so when they want out they nuzzle the bells and you hear that they want out. No barking, no door scratching.

My dog does that, but he's a 4-year old Border Collie with lots of training under his belt.

I don't know what kind of work you do, but if I worked in an office and someone brought in a non-housetrained puppy for two weeks, I would cry foul. The first day would be cute, but after that it would be too distracting. And if I were the person's boss, I would seriously wonder how much work they were getting done.

Puppies are alot of work, as you are finding out.