I'm Babysitting an OES puppy!!!!
He's the first OES puppy this young I've ever seen (before Stella, I had only seen adults), and Stella was close to 8 months when I got her. So I may end up having some questions, if you guys don't mind 
He's eating much better now (I've been watching him since Saturday). He sleeps almost all night in his crate (only wakes up once or twice for a potty break). If he's in the crate during the day, he barks and howls, but I have instructed everyone in the house to completely ignore this, otherwise he'll keep doing it. If he gets too out of control with it, I cover the crate with a blanket and he quiets down very quickly. So far we've not had any accidents in the house. He loves to chew on everything, so we made sure we got him a variety of toys that are safe for chewing. Right now we're working on name recognition. (The owner had not picked a name yet, so he told the kids they could name him, and they came up with Sampson). I think he responds more to the pitch of our voices than to the actual name itself right now, but we're working on it (it's only been 3 days). Stella saw him in the crate and growled a little, but didn't butt the crate or bark or anything. I'm keeping them pretty separated right now. Brooklyn is not an energetic dog, so she just looks at him like, "Whatever, go away". She did get in his crate with him last night in the living room and slept with him for a little bit, but the second he woke up she was like, "I'm outta here!". I'll try to get some pics and post them... but I need to get pics of MY baby Stella posted first, lol. So how long does name recognition usually take for a 6 week old puppy? |
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| 6 weeks is really too young to be away from its litter mates and mother. Did the owner say what the problem was? You need to be very careful about what you are exposing the puppy to, as it's immune system is not fully developed, it could easily pick up parasites & virus from a different environment. Another reason that you don't want to bring a puppy home until at least 8-10 weeks is because it learns how to be social with other dogs by interacting with its litter mates. Especially when it comes to biting each other as they will learn what the thresholds are.
Plus obviously there are big concerns too about the dominance issues that are going on in your household right now and keeping the puppy safe. |
While I agree with Verve......this sounds like a special case. Did they explain what's happening to the pup? One always thinks of a problem with the pup and the pack is weaning him away. We know he's not the alpah in that group! 
I wonder how well he'll be treated once he goes back to the pack. It could get worse.........hmmmm Name recognition takes time. You are right, it's the voice pitch he is responding to. So doesn't sound like your pup is deaf. The howling and barking was it's attempt to get back with the pack. Having other dogs around helps marginally. Yes, there's the question of pathogens, but having your own dogs near will help. Would be nice if your dogs would be a bit more neighborly to the little fella, but you can't force it. Anyway, enjoy it. They are adorable at this age. |
VerveUp wrote: 6 weeks is really too young to be away from its litter mates and mother. Did the owner say what the problem was? You need to be very careful about what you are exposing the puppy to, as it's immune system is not fully developed, it could easily pick up parasites & virus from a different environment. Another reason that you don't want to bring a puppy home until at least 8-10 weeks is because it learns how to be social with other dogs by interacting with its litter mates. Especially when it comes to biting each other as they will learn what the thresholds are.
Plus obviously there are big concerns too about the dominance issues that are going on in your household right now and keeping the puppy safe. Thanks for your reply, certainly good things to remember I do know that 6 weeks is typically too young to remove a puppy from it's mother and litter mates, however the owner made this decision, not I, due to circumstances. I was merely asked to babysit right now, and if I had said no, then someone else would have been asked who might not be as good of a choice. The problem was mainly that this puppy is very mellow and calm, while the litter mates were not, and he was being bullied away from food, and started to lose weight and just wasn't very interested in fighting back. (There may have been mroe to the story, but I got the shortened version). He was checked by a vet and found to be perfectly healthy other than the weight loss, and the vet actually recommended in his case that he be separated from the litter mates. The owner has someone coming to feed and water the dogs while he will be out of town, but that person would not be able to stay and provide the level of care and supervision he and the vet felt this puppy needed.
As far as exposures go, that's a good point. I have only 2 other dogs, both of which are completely up-to-date on all shots, and receive regular vet care. He has had his first shots and deworming, and he is only being "walked" in our own yard to limit the chance of possible exposure to parvo or other environmental no-nos (such as chemically treated lawns). Our neighborhood is brand new so the chances of our yard having dormant parvo is very slim, as they laid the sod down just last year. As far as socialization goes, I do wish there was a way to have him with the litter mates, but since he can't I have been having the kids play very gently with him, and if he does "nip" while playing, I've showed them how to "yelp", and to quickly replace their hand, or whatever he's nipping at, with a toy. He's actually only "nipped" once or twice, and each time he responded very quickly to the yelp, and easily switched to the toy. He's not very aggressive when he plays, I just don't think it's in his nature. He's not allowed to have free-play time unless he is in his play-pen, to assure that he doesn't get into anything and to assure that he doesn't go hide somewhere and pee/poop. I also have Brooklyn in his play-pen with him for small periods of time. She is not aggressive with him at all, she just doesn't "play" much. Perhaps he'll bring her out of her shell a little. The good thing I have noticed though is that when he wants to play with her, he'll gently tug at her ear or something, and if she doesn't respond at all, he simply leaves her be, rather than tugging harder. I think it's good for him to see that other dogs don't always want to play (the kids always are willing). While I am at work, there is an adult at home along with my children, and I call home every 2 hours to remind them to take the puppy out. My kids are actually pretty on top of it... my 9 year old (who is much wiser than his years) sets my Pappered Chef timer so it goes off every 2 hours, and usually when I call, they're already taking him out. He also goes out right after eating or drinking, right after waking up, and right after play-time. The kids also know that he needs lots of quiet time in his crate to rest, and he needs to have time to be awake and quiet in his crate as well. With Stella's dominance issues, she has been on a schedule where she is outside for a portion of the day, while Brooklyn is loose in the house. Then she has crate-time in the house, followed by free time in the house (although her "free-time" actually means she is on a leash in the house, with myself at the other end), while Brooklyn is in her crate. (Brooklyn does not like the outdoors at all). I have simply put the puppy on the same schedule as Brooklyn (since they have no dominance issues), so when Stella is in the house on her leash, Brooklyn and the puppy are in their crates. None of the dogs eat together either. I do realize that 6 week old puppies typically should not be away from mom & littermates, but there are sometimes reasons this cannot be avoided, and in this case, I am going to do everything I can to make sure he is properly cared for. Any advice from any of you who has cared for very young puppies (perhaps those of you who breed your dogs or got your dogs when they were very young?) will be greatly appreciated. When I got Brooklyn, she was 6 weeks old and not in good health, so I did get some good experience caring for her, however with a very healthy OES pup, it may not be a very similar experience. I'm sure I'm in for surprises Sampson really is a great pup, though... sweetest nature I've ever seen in a puppy. I'm sure I'll be sad when he goes home in 2 weeks  , but at least we'll know we were able to help give him a better start. I think the owner plans on keeping Sampson for his own, so he likely will not put him back with the litter mates when he goes back home... we'll see, I guess. |
| I think your neighbor was very lucky to have found you!
A 2 week long, intensely scheduled puppy sitter is hard to find. 
I bet he is cute, and your kids are learning a lot. It sounds like work, but fun. |
got sheep wrote: I think your neighbor was very lucky to have found you!
A 2 week long, intensely scheduled puppy sitter is hard to find. I bet he is cute, and your kids are learning a lot. It sounds like work, but fun. Thanks
He's actually not a neighbor, he lives about an hour from me, which is why I'm not able to babysit the pup in his own home environment. I wish he was my neighbor... I'd be over there playing with all the puppies ALL the time!!! I was quite surprised at how big Sampson was at 6 weeks... wow! Brooklyn was smaller than a soda-pop can when I got her at that age. I can't imagine what it's like for those of you who raise Sheepies... just one is a handful |
| How long are you puppy-siting him for?
I had a singleton pup and when in the crate I would hang plastic baby toys from the top of the crate for him to bat around and play with. Kept him busy and tired him out, too...LOL He is not too young for a Kong, stuffed with his kibble all mushed up. I would also take rags, wet them and freeze them. That is something he could chew on to relieve his teething pains. |
Bosley's mom wrote: How long are you puppy-siting him for?
I had a singleton pup and when in the crate I would hang plastic baby toys from the top of the crate for him to bat around and play with. Kept him busy and tired him out, too...LOL He is not too young for a Kong, stuffed with his kibble all mushed up. I would also take rags, wet them and freeze them. That is something he could chew on to relieve his teething pains. Wow, thanks for excellent ideas!! I am supposed to be babysitting him for the next 2 weeks. Hanging the baby toys is a great idea... I do this for our lop-eared bunny, and he loves it! (We have to take the toy with a bell in it out at night, though, lol). Sampson would probably love the frozen rag and kong ideas, too. His teeth are soooo cute and tiny!! I have read numerous posts regarding soaking food/not soaking food. I accidentally bought the smal puppy food (for smaller breeds) so the kibbles are really little right now... I mix them with moist puppy food that I bought from my vet's office (I use it for Brooklyn as well because her last bloodwork came back showing some anemia). Anyway, he seems to eat it just fine, but I wanted to know what others thought regarding soaking food for a puppy this young. The owner was letting the puppies eat grocery-store bought dry puppy chow  . I'm using Iam's Lamb and Rice since that's what my other two dogs eat, and because I worry about possible allergies that haven't been discovered yet.
Also... I want to give Sampson little rewards when he responds to his name. Sometimes I use praise, but I'd like to treat him as well... Any suggestions on puppy-safe treats? |
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