Lucy has arrived!!!

M

marie_bel_air

Forums Regular
I picked up my precious bi-black sheltie puppy yesterday! She is a little thing; 11 weeks and at about 3.5 pounds. She is such a snuggle bug and loves being held. She also loves playing with her (many) toys!

I have a few questions, though. She has been having very loose stools since I picked her up. Maybe from stress? I had read that canned pumpkin can help this, but she sniffs at it and walks away. I don't think she's ever had it before. Any ideas on how to properly introduce her to this, or other alternatives that may help the loose stools?

Also, she HATES being confined to her crate. She carries on something terrible! I don't know what to do to make it more welcoming for her. Any suggestions on this would be AWESOME!!

Also, I bought some clickers and am really thinking of starting clicker training with her. Has anyone else had good luck with shelties and clickers? She seems to really like Zukes (broke off into tiny pieces for her tiny mouth!) Thank you guys so much, you rock!! :smile2:

-Rachel
 
Very loose stools could be a change in diet, an INCREASE in diet, or illness.

Is she on the same food, or did you abruptly change her diet? And abrupt change in diet can give a puppy seriously loose stools. Adding treats that they have never had before also equals a change in diet. New foods should be added a TINY amount at a time (no more than 25% of total volume and 10% is a better bet with a very young pup)

Did you increase the amount that she is receiving? Happy new owners make this common mistake of over-feeding a new puppy, and the puppy rewards them with nice, sloppy, chocolate pudding poops. Just scale back the amount you are feeding and it will be fine.

Is there a big change in the water she is drinking? If you brought her from a good distance away OR changed from well water to city water that can give a pup the runs for a while as they are adjusting.

If the poops are watery or she appears to be having stomach cramping or pain you'll want to see the vet. Which you SHOULD have her seen by your vet within 3 days of adoption anyway.

Congrats on your new girl! Hope that she feels better soon!
 
I absolutely agree with Janet's advice on the food change, make it minimal. That's probably why your puppy is having loose stool, and plus the stress of moving over to the new home, my puppy had loose stool for a few days as well.

As for clicker training, yes, they are a smart breed and pick up on clicker training easily. Though one tip, Try stuffing the clicker inside a small baby sock or wrap it inside a small cloth when you first use it for the first month or so. And never click right infront of the puppys face/beside their ear. I find the clicker is really loud and Precious thought so too. She was actually afraid of the sound the clicker made (shelties are very sensitive to loud noise). So I had to decrease the sound and wrap it in a sock and stuff it under my leg/pants pocket while clicking it and treating to continuously build that the click meant a good thing and not something to fear/be weary of. I did that a couple of times a day and the week or 2 after I didn't have to stuff it in my pockets but still head it away from her face and still wrapped in a sock. Precious would flinch but she wouldnt run scrambling on the floor (my mistake the first time when I was first trying it out). You may find similar advice if you search it up on google. I find it works better this way by slowly introducing the loud clicker noise as a lot of puppies don't like it at first. Hope that helps! Congrats btw :)
 
I have been feeding what the breeder was feeding her until things calm down around here and I can transition to something else. I have been feeding the amount the breeder said she'd been getting there.

She is drinking different water, but she had these same loose stools on the ride home (about a 7 hour drive.)

I'm calling to make an appointment with the vet first thing tomorrow for her first visit here. I'll mention the loose stools. I'm not sure what it could be.
 
Make sure you take a fresh stool sample. If you have to keep it fresh, just double bag it and put it in the frig. Also, make sure they check for coccidia. It is extremely rare that a puppy would all of a sudden develop loose stools in the first 7 hours of ownership. They may have a bowel movement due to stress, as you said, on the long ride, but loose would have me concerned.
Something else may be brewing.
 
I have been feeding what the breeder was feeding her until things calm down around here and I can transition to something else. I have been feeding the amount the breeder said she'd been getting there.

She is drinking different water, but she had these same loose stools on the ride home (about a 7 hour drive.)

I'm calling to make an appointment with the vet first thing tomorrow for her first visit here. I'll mention the loose stools. I'm not sure what it could be.
 
Haha, I'm not sure why my post showed up twice!

OK, good thinking on the stool sample. I'll be sure to bring one. I'm not sure what the deal is...she has been having frequent loose stools since I got her. I hope they can get me in tomorrow.

I finally got her to lick a tiny bit of canned pumpkin off my finger, but she still didn't seem too impressed. I guess we'll keep working on that.
 
missjenneygirl said:
Make sure you take a fresh stool sample. If you have to keep it fresh, just double bag it and put it in the frig. Also, make sure they check for coccidia. It is extremely rare that a puppy would all of a sudden develop loose stools in the first 7 hours of ownership. They may have a bowel movement due to stress, as you said, on the long ride, but loose would have me concerned.
Something else may be brewing.
Click to expand...

I agree, have the vet check for coccidia - Sundae had it when she came home with us; apparently it's a rather common thing for them to have and the stress of leaving their mom and littermates can bring it on. Sundae never got to the "loose stool" stage, as the vet checked and got us some meds (I think they even said that yogurt could help) right away. The bonus was that the medication was so tasty that we could use it as a training treat!
 
Lucy sounds exactly like luna she was about 3.5 at 11-12 weeks. She's now about 4months and 5.6lbs. Shes also bi-black we will have to compare pictures :)

We have been using for the clicker and i agree with michelle at first Luna was scared with the noise now when i click on a walk she looks at me hey wheres my treat?!
 
Hopefully I'll hear back on her stool sample sometime today. There was actually some blood in it, so I'm not sure what that is all about. She acts like she feels absolutely fine, which makes me feel good.

Even though she is so tiny, she certainly doesn't think she is! She has gotten so much more "spunk" to her in the few days since we brought her home; I think she is starting to feel more comfortable here! We have only had her since Saturday, and she has wormed her way into our hearts since day one.

The biggest issue we are having to work on are barking at squirrels and the neighbors yap dogs. I'm not sure how to even go about this. She doesn't do the play bark thing (yet.) She just tosses her toys around and makes them squeak and crinkle in silence. Any suggestions on the barking issue would be awesome.

So far, she is responding quite well to the clicker. When I click, she gets excited because she knows a treat is coming. We are still working on the basic "sit" command though. She hasn't quite got that down yet.

I'll have to post a picture here soon...I'll try to take one today. :smile2:
 
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