My rotten bottle baby :)

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fld20

fld20

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Found this little girl on a for sale giveaway group mom stopped taking care of them so they were looking for people to take & bottle feed them . :) Picked her up on June 18th and I was quickly reminded what it was like to have a baby again lol . 1 week old puppy's eat a lot . She's now 3 1/2 weeks & we're getting ready to start puppy food :)


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Thanks Marinea we're pretty in love with her :) .

Sagebrush you'd be correct :)
 
She is too cute! :D

I've hand raised kittens before, but never a puppy! It is a lot of work, but worth the effort for the wonderful bond that is formed.
 
MamaSheepdog":2cgsahgn said:
It is a lot of work, but worth the effort for the wonderful bond that is formed.
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Actually, bottle fed dogs and those taken from their mothers and litter mates before 6 weeks tend to be the most obnoxious dogs to deal with from a veterinarians, trainers, groomers and sitters perspective :(

It really frustrates me when people think that bottle feeding an animal is the ONLY way to form a close bond - BALDERDASH !!! bottle feeding an animal can be one of the easiest ways to create a little monster that no one wants to deal with.

That "close bond" often turns into severe seperation anxiety making boarding and stays at the groomer or animal hospital a nightmare for the dog and the staff.

Many times they do not learn proper dog language and other canines get frustrated with them, often aggressivly, so I highly recommend lots of socialization with well behaved and tolerant dogs as well as puppy play group sessions.

Since they don't think like typical dogs who were raised by dogs and had dog siblings during critical developmental periods, professional trainers can find them a challenge, coupling this with seperation anxiety and anti social behaviour can lead them to be booted out of group classes.

I understand that under your circumstances there really was no choice but to bottle feed but please keep in mind the possible problems that can develop
 
Dood, I know it is different with puppies (and large livestock) than kittens. I tried googling "Behavioral issues with hand fed pups" but didn't find anything with good advice.

The best seems to be to make sure to set boundaries like the mother would and hopefully have interaction with other dogs as early as possible. Pure common sense, but I found nothing more detailed.

I think bite inhibition is just as easy for a human to teach as other dogs (I just depress my thumb gently on the tongue so they want to "spit you out") so that isn't a big deal in my opinion.
 
I agree with Dood, most of the time bottle fed pups are not very pleasant to be around. In nice terms :lol:

I don't want to spoil the OP's joy of getting a new pup, but that was a horrible thing the person (breeder) did! Even if mom couldn't feed the pup she should have still stayed with mom until she is 8 weeks old. Was there more pups in the litter or was she a singleton, being kept with the rest of the litter would have been better for her than being alone.
 
Dood I've read that I've seen a few good stories but any info on socializing bottle fed puppies is few & far between all the infos on bottle feeding only. I'm hoping our corgis might help with the socialization some . Our younger male is in love with her & our older guy's kind of like a grumpy mom he tolerates her but I'm sure will gladly put her in her place when the time comes lol .

JessicaR from the info I gathered ( the people that had the pups weren't the breeder ) the breeder was a rancher that couldn't even give the exact date of birth mom was a working dog so my guess they didnt want to deal with the headache of pups . There's more not sure anyone took more than one pup I debated it so she'd have someone to socialize with but I wasnt sure I could handle to so for now herr sibling is our corgi pup <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:55 am __________ <br /><br /> Oh & I should ask since there seems to be some knowledgeable people here :) Any good tips on keeping her from getting separation anxiety when she get's older ?
 
You have other dogs?!? :p excellent! :bouncy:

To avoid her developing separation anxiety, I would have her spend plenty of time away from you. In her pen or kennel, in the yard with the other dogs, etc. Start now so that she gets used to not having people around constantly.
 
Crate training is going to be your best friend. Periodically put her in her crate with something yummy to eat (a frozen kong stuffed with plain yogurt works wonders) and leave the room for a few minutes at a time. You will get back before she notices you are gone and it wasn't a bad thing. Then just build up the time you are away from her. That is what I did with mine that had separation anxiety because I got them too young as well.
 
Mamasheepdog 3 other's my Akbash is terrified of her though so she's not much of a playmate or teacher lol

Oh cool I crate train all our dogs so that's good to know that'll help :) .Right now she spends a good bit of time in her pen (laundry basket ) & doesn't seem to mind . I need to wash up the other crate for her though she's learned to climb out of the pen by herself when she wants out .

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Having other dogs around to teach her is a huge plus.

Don't be over protective and let her learn from her mistakes so if the grouchy girl gets cross with her let her discipline the pup (within reason of course) and don't scold the older dog for doing so or console the puppy when the other dogs correct her.

Encourage the pup to be independant and adventuous so she builds self confidence and is not looking to people to solve her problems or to comfort her all the time.

Start crate training right away, place it next to the other dogs crates so she can see them, and put her, and the other dogs, in them for meals and treats, when your chilling and watching TV or doing laundry or whenever and not just when you leave the house. (Dont crate an adult dog near her who is going to make a fuss and whimper or tries to escape as she could pick up this bad habit)
 
Crate training is definitely a good thing! And for sure let the other dogs discipline within reason, with other dogs around I am betting she will turn out ok. :D

At almost 4 weeks give her lots of noisy toys and obstacles to deal with, make her think and every once in a while, partially block her way with stuff so she has to either go around or climb over. Bang pots and pans together or drop them near her, at this age fear hasn't developed yet so noises at this age they recover quickly and learn to ignore loud sounds. My gun dog friends say this is the perfect age to get them used to the sound of gunfire, if your family does any kind of shooting.

You can even begin basic training at this age, my sheltie pups were taught to sit and shake at 4 weeks old. :D Also house training can begin at this age, after eating, drinking and napping take her out!

I would also use a stuffed toy (not your hand) to imitate other puppies in the litter, IE gently knock her around a bit and rough house but if she gets to rough yelp and remove the toy for a bit.

That's all I can think of for now, if you can get the book I like "Another Piece Of The Puzzle" by Pat Hasting it has lots of good tips for puppies from birthand up, and even a section on singletons.
 
We got one of our dogs Sherlock at 5 weeks because he lost his mother. Up until that point he had been with his siblings and mom, and then came here and was raised with our pack of dogs.

He has no behavioral issues.
 
:D I've bottle raised a handful of pups and I don't have anything to add to what has been said. A good older dog is the best teacher hands down! Our Rottie I've had since she was 10ish days old and I reared her and two of her siblings until they were 8 weeks. The other two went back to the 'breeder' and I kept our Delhi Dog - She turned out to be the sweetest well mannered wigglebottom teacup (it's a joke - she is rather small) Rottweiler there is - was it the constant attention from my girls? nah it was our cranky ancient husky mix who kept her flying straight the first two years of her life!

enjoy your baby I hope she ends up half the dog we have.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone ! She seems to be training herself on the no bathroom breaks in her kennel so we'll be starting house training .She's started to roam around the living room more when she's out and is starting to interact with the other animals more. She barked for a good 5 minuets at the cat this morning he wasn't impressed but she seemed to enjoy herself lol . Also got a play date in the other day.My brother & his girlfriend brought down their yorkie pup she wasn't sure what to think at first but started to get the hang of it after a while :) . She's roughly 4 weeks today & we just started her on puppy food soaked in formula she loved it had that bowl scarfed in no time :) .

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She is just precious, if you want to keep fattening her with formula you can make a bit in the blender and add dog food until it turns into a slurry. I've thus far weaned three plump pups on such a diet. Because she has had contact with a puppy that has been travelling be aware that she may have come into contact with parvo. If she is kept well hydrated and well nourished she may be fine, just be on the look out for any sign of nausea or diarrhea.
 

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