Need puppy advice

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I am thinking of adding another little Shih Tzu to our family. I am trying to figure out some things. Hopefully y'all can help.

We have a 10-year-old Shih Tzu named Abby who is on a special food diet (low- residue). How would I keep her from eating the puppy food and keep the puppy from eating the low-residue food?

I thought about crate training the puppy and keeping the puppy food in there but eventually she will be out running around the house and will have access to the low-residue food.

Another problem is that although husband works from home he does go on business trips. Obviously the puppy will need to go outside to potty more than Abby does (she waits a whole day until I get home from school). difficult child says that she will spend the day here with the puppy but I'm afraid she will sleep right through the time that the puppy needs to be taken outside.

So, do you guys think this is workable? Have you added a new puppy to an older dog household?

I could wait until July when I would be home at the beginning but the puppy that I have found online is calling my name . . .

~Kathy
 

klmno

Active Member
I added a puppy to a diabetic dog once. They had to eat different foods so I held one in my lap while the other ate, then reversed. It was hard, but worth it.
 

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
klmo ~ Thanks for your reply. The problem is that Abby is used to being fed a 1/2 cup of dry food in the morning and a 1/2 cup in the afternoon and eats whenever she feels like it so there is always food in the dish. I don't know if she would understand that she has to eat is all at one time so I could take the dish up.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.:rofl:

~Kathy
 

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Oh, don't worry. This is a breeder that lives near me. I will be going to her home and seeing the parents of the puppy. She also has references from other families that have bought puppies from her in the past.

I wouldn't dream of buying a dog online and having it shipped to me. I know that there are puppy mills out there that mistreat puppies.

~Kathy
 

klmno

Active Member
Sounds like you might need to keep them in separate parts of the house- at least part of the day. I have a friend who added a young rescue dog to a senior dog that she's had all the dog's life. She keeps them in separatae parts of the house when not at home. The younger one's energy is too much for the senior and it's only fair that the younger one get toys to romp around with, so it seems the dogs are happy each having some time in their own space.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
:whew: Good! You had me worried there for a minute!

Are you planning to crate train the puppy? Mine all eat the same thing - they get a big breakfast and then later in the day I keep a big bowl of dry food that they can have whenever they want it. For breakfast, they get their dry food topped with my homemade ground beef/rice/veggie/eggs concoction. But to avoid problems, they all eat their breakfast in their crates, right before I leave for work. This solves two problems - everybody eats only their own breakfast so there's no bickering - and they're all so busy eating, they don't care that I'm going out the door and leaving them!
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Well seeing as how we just had a puppy... but not with another dog.
You could put the little pup in a puppy gated area? That was blocked off from the food... If you are going to crate train, which I highly recommend!!! Puppy, could be in the crate while other dog is eating her main part of food, puppy could also be tethered which is also a great training tool far enough away from food, so he/she can not reach food!!! These tricks work great to avoid, chewing on, shoes, other things when you can't constantly watch puppy... they are just like babies!!! The crate is great because it teaches them to enjoy there alone time and time to themselves... they are not so dependant on you. Indy would go into his little crate... on his own and just lie in there with his little duck. :(
Good luck..


We are thinking of another... if we choose now... the pup would be ready by SUMMER!!!!
YES they do go potty a lot!!! I would say spring or summer is a great choice. But if you are in love....
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I would also talk to your vet... We now mix our cats food one needs a certain food and the other gets regular...
I know dogs are different... But they may have a solution?
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
We brought a puppy into the mix last summer. Our 10 year old dog Bubba was an "at will" eater. He never had a problem with over-eating dog food. We filled the bowl when it was empty.

Mandy, the puppy, is very "food motivated". She would eat herself sick if you let her. We fed them out of seperate bowls in the morning and evening. It didn't take Bubba more than a couple of days to figure out that if he didn't eat what was in the bowl before Mandy got to it, it would be a long time before there was more food in the bowl for him.


As for letting the puppy out, I don't know that I would trust your difficult child to do that, or to keep the older and newer dog from each other. If it were me, I would wait until summer. I totally forgot how much time and energy Bubba took when he was a puppy. Mandy was a real eye-opener. She did all of the things Bubba did, and I guess I just took it for granted that Bubba had stopped tearing things up, stealing food, making messes, etc...
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
Is "low residue" a euphemism for "small poops?" :rofl:

Heck, I have 2 old girls and introduced a pup. It's worked out very well. The baby drives the old girls nuts some times but if she gets really obnoxious I put her in her crate for a time out. Now she sometimes puts herself in the crate and gives herself a time out. lol

During the day Chloe is in her crate and the old girls are free. It gives them all a physical break from each other. They all stay in the same room and keep each other company though. I hired a neighbor girl to come over after school to let them all out. From the first day here, Chloe never messed in her crate and she housebroke quickly.

As for feeding, Abby isn't that old and she really can learn new things. After a few days of picking her food up and making her wait until her next meal to eat, she will learn. I have Chloe eating in the kitchen while the old girls eat in the den. When Chloe is done she likes to bully the old girls into sharing their food. That's not acceptable so she either has to sit with me or go in her crate. I don't make a big deal of it so it isn't a big deal to them.

Suz
 

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Suz ~ Poor Miss Abby has irritable bowel syndrome. The vet suggested putting her on a maintenance medication to keep her bowel from getting inflamed and put her on low residue food that is supposed to be easier on the digestive system.

I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and ask if it would hurt the puppy if she got into Abby's food. I have a feeling with all the due diligence in the world it will still happen from time to time.

Abby has always been a food hoarder. From the time we first brought her home, she has had a habit of taking a mouthful of food and running into other parts of the house and stashing it and eating later. We find little piles of dry dog food in all sorts of strange places. I'm sure the puppy would find it, too.

I have wanted a puppy for a long time but was always waiting for just the right time. I'm not sure if that time will ever come so I'm ready to get my little Gracie girl now.

husband said to do what makes me happy but I wouldn't say he is enthusiastic about a new puppy. That's another concern.

~Kathy
 

klmno

Active Member
A little off-topic but wanted to tell you- we have 2 lhasa apsos right now. one male, one female, one we had since 8 wks old and one was a rescue. Our male rescue (neutered) is just in love with a little female shih tzu who live a couple of blocks away. Our male is mostly black with a little white and gray; our female is 99% white with one brown/black strand of hair on one ear. This shih tzu is white and black and her "mama" walks her through the neighborhood with a little bow in her hair. My little boy has been known to sneak away from home and be found walking behind them, strutting like he has everything to offer!!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Kathy

As most here know, thanks to Nichole, I have a revolving door as far as bringing in young animals. (although no more)

We don't have an older dog on a special diet, but our method might help you. When a new pup arrives, older dogs and pup don't eat together. Older dogs eat in the kitchen as normal and pup eats in the livingroom. There is a gate seperating the rooms. We have reversed it with messy pups, but I prefer our normal set up as it also lets me scoop pup up and take out to potty right away.

We came up with the above method because while our dog Molly would snub her nose at puppy chow as a puppy, bring a new pup in and suddenly she thinks its gourmet dog food. lol And Betsy will just plain eat anything. So if we didn't seperate them, puppy wouldn't get a bite of her own food.

If you use a crate, puppy should have no trouble with you being at work. Although at first their might be a few surprises til pup learns to hold it well. However, you won't be able to dawdle to take it out as soon as you get home. Because for a while, it'll have to go BAD once you get home.

I don't recommend placing pup's food into the crate. Bad habits and causes accidents. Feed/potty/play with pup before you leave, maybe someone could stop in to feed/play/potty pup at noon, and then you can take over when you get home. Nichole did this exact routine for boyfriend's Mom when she got their new puppy. Worked wonderfully.

Our foster pup Grace learned right away to hold it in the crate. We only had one mess, and I guess that was enough for her. lol But she was older, 3 mos when she came. She does well in her crate while we're at school or gone from the house, or even if we're studying and can't watch her.

New pups are fun. (when you're not already over crowded) I hope you decide to bring a new baby home. Of course we have to see pics of the new baby when you do.:D

Hugs
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Mandy had super poop powers, too. We went to the holistic pet food shop and got her "california naturals" which is just rice and lamb and no additives. We put a spoonful of plain pumpkin on her food, which tightens up the bowel movement, and we put a botanical powder on it in the morning to tighten up her bowel movements. Bubba eats the same dog food sans pumpkin and powder, and they both have much smaller poop.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I grew up with dogs, my parents were small-time breeders and we lived next door to big-time breeders. But husband & I have never had a carnivorous pet. Not for more than a week, anyway.

But I get to pet-sit for friends who live nearby. Technically it's my kids doing the pet-sitting, but as t hey have no clue, I have to step in as the expert.
The neighbour's pets are a young terrier and a very old cat. They both eat cat food (I can't convince the neighbour that the dog needs DOG food, car food isn't balanced for a dog). All moist food. They keep bowls of water there for each animal, they each have their own food bowl but they fed them both at the same time. Cat gets fed twice a day, dog only once.

And of course, the first time I did this, I saw that dog eats EVERYTHING - all the cat's food as well as her own. I noticed the cat was very fussy and this allowed the dog to push her aside and eat her food. At first I though it was dirty food bowls, so I washed the food bowls until I would have been willing to feed difficult child 3 from them. Cat was more willing to eat but still too submissive to the dog.

When the owners came back I commented on how thin the cat was, but before I could finish they said, "And she's such a pig with her food, too - never leaves anything."
I told them that I had a hard time keeping the dog from eating all the cat's food as well as her own, and they said, "Well she would, wouldn't she? Especially if she's hungry because the cat ate all the dog's food."

I clearly couldn't get the message though; every time I've minded those animals the situation is exactly the same, so difficult child 3 & I are now into a routine - while the cat is being fed, the dog is playing outside and the door is shut. The cat has fifteen minutes to eat after which its bowl of food goes into the fridge. After all, the cat is getting another meal in twelve hours... and then I feed the dog, even with the cat hanging around, and there is no way that cat will get any of that dog's food, she wolfs the lot down fast (when her bowl is clean).
And I've found that the cat is NOT a pig, she eats a lot less than the owners were allowing for her. But when I'm minding the animals, that dog gets hungrier than she's used to.

The moral of the tale - feed animals the correct amount for that animal. And stay, and watch. Any food not eaten immediately, take away the bowl. Leaving it there increases the likelihood not only of hoarding (we had a dog do this once - she was a pest with it) but also of the food going bad. We get flies here, there is nothing worse than a bowl of fly-struck dog food to really put me off.

And keep the food bowls clean - some dogs will wait until they're ravenous to eat, because the stale food in the bottom of the bowl puts them off, too. You can see these dogs will sometimes take their food out of the bowl to eat it.

I don't think occasional access to low-res food would be a problem for the pup, but it sounds like it's not a good thing long-term for either dog, to be eating any of the other's food. Bad habits.

Watching the animals eat this way - because we tie it in with walking the dog, it takes little extra time at all. And whatever habits their owners have, the pets adapt to me and my habits very quickly, they know to not nag for more food. Either that, or they have no need.

Marg
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
Kathy, is Abby's IBS exacerbated by stress? If yes, adding a puppy is certainly stressful for awhile for everyone. You might want to ask the vet for suggestions to make the transition easier for Abby.

Suz
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Actually, the better the food, the smaller the poops! The cheaper brands are full of fillers, including some things you don't want to even think about. And they will actually eat LESS of a more nutritious food than they do a cheaper brand because their nutritional needs are met adequately with a smaller amount of food.

I've gotten to be a real "dog food snob" of late. I drive twenty miles once a month to buy my girls 30-pound bags of a super-expensive food from a pet shop. But I do it because what I get them has no fillers, no additives, and no artificial flavors or coloring. It's basically chicken meat, oatmeal, brown rice, and several fruits and veggies. I have one with food allergies and there is nothing in there that she can't eat.

There are some very good websites out there that analyze and rate dog foods - you might be very surprised to see how poorly rated some of the more popular grocery store brands are! You might get good and sick to read what goes in to some dog foods! Yuk!
 
K

Kjs

Guest
We added a puppy almost a year ago. Chloe (then 6) did not like her one bit. the food thing didn't work with us, they ate each others which was a problem since Chloe is overweight. They both leave the food all day and just nibble all day. Vet said that was ok, but they eat the same food.

Neighbor had good success with putting their food down for a certain time period then removing the dishes.

Another friend feeds each of her animals in a different room to avoid eating each others. She shuts the door and after a time period removes the dishes. They eat right away.

If I had to re-do this, I would not add a puppy yet. How old is Abbey?
 

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Abby is ten. I don't think that she will have a problem with the puppy because she likes other dogs. When we go on vacation she stays at our neighbors house and gets along fine with their dogs.

Suz ~ I don't know what caused the IBS. It started about a year ago with no known trigger. The medications and diet seem to control it.

Thanks for all of the replies! I'm still debating what to do. I am supposed to call the breeder on Tuesday to set a time to go see the puppy.

I'm not sure if I would be able to leave without it, though. :pet:

~Kathy
 
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