I made the error of posting this on the intro page, apologies for that - I believe this post belongs here, please correct me if I am wrong. I am rather sleep deprived right now. We have had our new male Labrador puppy a week today, he is now 9 weeks old. We got him from a reputable breeder and watched him grow on a puppy cam at their home. Since getting him home he has never had a solid bowel movement and as of yesterday we had to take him to the vet as he was obviously sick. The vet has given him medication for his watery diarrhea and some probiotics. He is still having watery stools today and having to go out every 30 minutes, day and night. We are watching him closely for dehydration etc and are in contact with our vet. We as a family are now seriously sleep deprived, and the puppy has demanded a lot of attention due to being sick. It has thrown a curve ball into our training ideas, and now he already seems dependent on us more than he should be. We have a crate and a fenced in area in the house for him to be safe in, but he screams now if left for even a few minutes. We know he is unwell, but how do we cope with this without going mad. Having so little sleep is also taking its toll on us. He seems to be needing attention every minute of the day now. How do we get over this hurdle and get him back on track to be alone for short periods without going insane with the screaming and yowling? I am worried we are going to create a pup with separation anxiety, but we are lost in how to deal with this. I am so thankful for this website and now this forum. Hope someone with more experience can help us out. He is a dear little chap and deserves the best, but this was not what we expected when we brought puppy home.
I think you have a few different problems going on there, not necessarily related either... What medication has the vet given you/him? Is it antibiotics? Panacur/fenbendazole? Has the vet run a faecal to test the stool and see exactly what's wrong? It's hard to know what to suggest without knowing what has already been tried. My guess is it's something like giardia or coccidia or campylobacter - because these are very common in young puppies. And my guess is also that he left the breeder with this and the breeder knew about it - but hey... As a first thing to try, I always recommend people use Panacur 10% (which is fenbendazole) at the giardia dosage (which you'll find on the leaflet it comes with - it is a longer course, but a reduced dosage). This is non-prescription and a gentle 'normal' wormer for puppies, which is also a treatment for giardia. It rules out one thing and people can then go to the vet and say 'I've already tried Panacur' and it's a step that can then be skipped. It's also not an antibiotic so it can help you avoid giving antibiotics to young puppies. However, if you don't already have any Panacur in your 1st aid box (and you always should!) it's going to be hard to get it instantly because you'll need to order it online from a pet pharmacy and wait days for it to arrive. When you find a medication which works, it will work within 24 hours - so if you are not seeing an improvement within 24 hours, you need to reevaluate. (Sadly I have had a lot of experience with runny poo and puppies!!) This is really tough - you have my sympathies. I do know what this is like, and it's frustrating, depressing and sucks - especially with a new puppy. You need to go back to your vet and explain the impact this is having on your life and family. There are runny poops (like 2 a day) and then there are runny poops (like every 30mins) and you need to stress you're getting the latter and it cannot continue... I would not jump to this conclusion. The majority of puppies with runny poops act perfectly fine in themselves, even when what's coming out the other end is quite astonishing. It's more likely that this is just a new puppy, settling into a new home - behaviourally. Don't chalk his behaviour up to him being ill. Treat it as the behavioural issue it more likely is. Having a crate and using a crate properly are two very different things. Many times I have clients who 'have' a crate - which remains open in the room it's in and is nothing more than a glorified bed for the puppy. This is not 'using' a crate or 'crate training'. Follow a structured crate training plan - the first step of which, is sitting next to the crate whilst the pup is closed inside it - crate training is the first stage of 'alone training': https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ You should not be moving anywhere away from the puppy or the crate, until you've achieved that stage. It might take a day, it might take a few days. The puppy should be sleeping by your bed at night, in another crate - smaller if necessary. OR you should be sleeping by the puppy's crate - either way, the pup should not be alone. He's never been away from mother or littermates before, he's only been with you for 1 week - and it's not realistic to expect him to be able to be left alone. 8 week old puppies are equivalent to babies - you wouldn't leave a baby alone and unattended... Puppies are hard work!
