Hi everyone, we have brought our Charlie home on Friday and he's been absolutely lovely. He sleeps through the night, wakes up around 6 for the toilet, is very playful, everything seems to be going well apart from his eating. He seems to eat really little... I always need to encourage him to go back to his bowl and eat a bit more. The breeder gave me notes with recommended amount of his portion for each feed but he hardly eats 2/3 of it and sometimes only half, tonight he hardly touched it. He seems to be happy in himself when he is awake, he interacts well, is very interested in everything and very cuddly. He sleeps a lot. the other issue I have is taking him out to the toilet. He wants to play and run around. I had the impression from the books I've read, that puppies would want to stay close to you and wouldn't wander too far away from you, well not our Charlie... he is very happy to run around and really curious... so trying to take him to one spot and expect him to just move about there and do his business seems like an impossible task.... what to do?
How much are you feeding him at each feeding time? How many times are you feeding him in a day? How much exercise is he getting (I.E. How long are you letting him play/train)? It could be that he's getting enough from the food you're feeding him to keep him sustained. It could also be that it's a new place and he needs time to adjust.
When we brought Jura home I was concerned that she wasn't eating enough too as she was eating much less than her breeder, and the food guide, recommended. After the first couple of weeks settling in she did increase her food intake and as long as your pup is bright and lively and peeing and pooing normally then I wouldn't worry. I weighed Jura weekly to make sure her weight was increasing steadily as well. When taking Charlie out for the toilet do you have an area you could fence off to create a smaller toilet area for him? We used a large outdoor puppy pen for the first few weeks, which helped establish a toilet area, and lots of treats for peeing and pooing outside.
We were recommended to give him 67 g of his kibble per feed, which seems within the range for his age. We do 4 feeds at 6:30-7/11/3/7. He has playtime throughout the day, it seems after he wakes up each time he goes to the toilet, some playtime outside, some cuddle playtime inside and then rest. He seems to sleep quite a lot but he is only 7 weeks. He is alert and happy and playful when awake. He appears a bit sad at times and wants cuddles, he brings his toy and want to play on our lap or just cuddling beside us.
I got Molly at 7 weeks and I do think being that bit younger makes a difference to how much they sleep ( compared with my last dog who I got at 10 weeks.) I seem to remember Molly being awake and active for 1/2 hour and then sleeping for a couple of hours. I didn't use a crate so when she was awake my attention was on her and I remember dashing around to do essential things (like use the bathroom!) while she was asleep. I wonder when you say Charlie is sad, whether he is just sleepy? I was a softy and cuddled Molly to sleep in those early days, putting her in her bed when she'd dropped off. It won't last - the crocopup will arrive soon. As regards food intake, I think you need to judge it by whether he is putting on weight at the right rate. Have you had a vet check yet? I took Molly right away, as I think it's reassuring to know they're healthy, because then you can be a bit more relaxed about feeding etc.
We went to the vet this morning and she was happy with him. He got his first vaccination today, so we shall see how he gets on. The vet said to keep checking if he is putting on weight is best but she wasn't worried. so that's a relief.
