One thing I would strongly suggest is that if you take the pup (any more thoughts on a name? ) that you ensure the pup is socialised to gentle adult dogs during the very early weeks with you - wait too long and you may have a problem on your hands, either because the dog will miss out on vital information from litter mates about bite inhibition and play, or because it may be uncertain about other dogs and become stressed/aggressive/fearful around them.

Considering the mix of breeds, staff/shar pei, I'd suggest getting on board a really good trainer/behaviourist who can help you with gentle early meetings with strange/new dogs.

If this isn't possible then do enure you enrol into a really good puppy class and get the pup into it asap, usually as soon as the injections have been had.

Be very wary as anyone can call themselves a trainer or behaviourist, so for the sake of your dog I'd suggest only contacting either www.apdt.co.uk or www.apbc.org.uk in London I can recommend Vera from the apdt.

Hth and good luck
Wys
x

Thanks for all the advice everybody. The pup's actually 4 weeks and 5 days old. This is my 3rd day with the dog. The first night, there were a few cries, I'm assuming because it was a totally new environment and all. He pee'd all over my room and pooped as well. I told him off (caught him in the act :P) and both yesterday and today, he's poop'ed outside the garden!

This one seems to be a very fast learner and has settled in nicely now. The only time he cries is at around 9oclock to wake me up. He's got a heap of teddy's, chew toys and all.

Oh, and I had a question. I was advised to feed him boiled chicken and told it's as pure as it is in the puppy meals (tripe for puppies, includes rice, chicken, herbs). I thought I'd ask just to make sure.

Anyway, here's a few pictures of him. I let him/he sleeps most of the day







Will have more pictures soon but just thought I'd show you all how he looks

Hi CM1, I personally think it is very wrong to remove a puppy from its dam and siblings at such a young age unless there is no other choice, if a bitch rejects a litter they should still stay together. You could have problems with dog/dog agression later because your puppy has not had chance to learn canine body language from its siblings.

Telling a puppy off for relieving itself can bring more problems, you could make it fearful of 'going' when you are around and it may even start to eat the evidence to get rid of it.

Have you spoken to a vet about early vaccination. Being weaned and removed early from the litter means your puppy will very quickly lose any residual passive immunity acquired from its mothers milk and it is very susceptible to infection. Everyone should wash their hands before touching it and shoes should be removed to prevent infections like Parvo Virus from being passed on to your puppy.

I would feed puppy porridge/puppy milk/eggs/scraped beef (buy stewing steak in a piece and scrape it with a knife to produce a gristle free paste)minced chicken/minced white fish.

Oh he's adorable.. But so tiny...

I still think you need to go to the pet store, or the vets and get some puppy formula... He's far too little to exist on just boiled chicken!

At the same age, Pharaoh was having 5 meals a day. 2 of puppy milk formula in a bowl, not bottle. Two of gruel, rice and chicken blended up mixed with a little puppy formula and one of puppy food. I bought James wellbeloved puppy kibble and soaked it in water to soften it, then put a few of the dry kibbles on as well for him to get used to the crunch.

In a week or so you could drop that to four meals a day and lose the just formula meals and the night feed.

Just pick him up and put him outside if you catch him messing in the house. He's too little to understand telling off and too small to have bladder control even if he wanted to. He'll do his best to get out, but don't punish him if he doesn't make it. Just clean up with nothing said and praise him up when he goes outside, he'll soon get the message. He sounds a bright wee thing and you'll have a better relationship with him if he's always looking for the things that will please you rather than worrying about the things that will make you angry with him.

I look forward to more pictures of him. Please see a vet as soon as possible and get a proper baby care regime started... He's really too little to be away from mum.

...continued.
I would be very wary of taking such a small vulnerable puppy outside to relive itself, any area used for this purpose should be well cleaned regularly with disinfectant and then rinsed clean. The puppy needs to be taken to the designated soiling spot at least once every hour/after food/play/sleep/excitement/when it circles and sniffs the ground and praised when it goes in the right place.
If it has an accident because you failed to take it to the correct spot in time the mess should be cleaned up thoroughly with no word or eye contact.

I always take puppies to bed with me in a box to begin with as described in the article below, allowing a puppy to grow in confidence before being left alone all night helps to prevent separation anxiety later on..
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8974

Thanks people

I'll be visiting the pet store either today or tomorrow and getting him some puppy milk to feed him. I didn't want to give him normal or soya milk just incase it was too strong for his system.

Usually I feed him "Natural lifestage, Puppy". It's made with chicken (45%), lamb(16%), tripe(10%), brown rice(12%), seaweed extract, herbs, minerals and vitamins. It's guaranteed of natural wholesome products from Forthglades.

I was also thinking of getting him vaccined early, once he hits 6 weeks but I'll go to the vet and see what they suggest.

Thanks

Poor wee thing.

Hi CM1 - what a cute wee pup but what a shame it has been taken away from his mum and littermates so quick. At least you are trying to do what you can for him, making sure you can provide most of what he needs. It will be nice to follow his progress

Hi there

Please, don't tell your pup off for making a mess. He is a tiny baby, has not been away from his litter before, has NO idea what to do or how to even ask to go out.

Would you punish a tiny child/baby for messing in his or her nappies? as that is exactly the same thing. Please do re think about this - human reactions can be punitive in nature but are not always logical

You can expect mess in all sorts of situations at this age
- PUPS THIS AGE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THEIR BLADDER/BOWEL.

Sorry to shout but it is very important

Dogs will also mess at times when stressed, change of environment, in season, etc.

During your life as a dog owner, you will be cleaning up after your dog many times

I'd recommend www.puppyschool.co.uk or www.apdt.co.uk for a few weeks time when the vaccinations have been done.

You may want to try reading a copy of Gwen Bailey's "The Perfect Puppy" as it explains lots about what puppies do and how they behave (and what you can expect in adolescence, and so on!)

Wys
x

He looks adorable. I'm sure he's worth all the work.
I'd check with the vet about when he can meet healthy vaccinated dogs . There are some things they have to learn from dogs at this age. Life can be so difficult later on if they don't learn to be dogs.