Puppy Weight

[jenkins]

I have a 5 week old female puppy named shatzie that is 7.5lbs. Im wondering if this is the correct weight.. She is also always biting are fingers when playing with her. This is from being taken away from its littermates and Mom to early I believe(bite inhibition). I need to know how to correct this,so it doesnt get out of hand when she is older. I dont know the proper way to do this with such a young puppy. SHe is also eating canidae dog food all stages. Is this the proper food for a puppy. My vet recommened eukanuba and never heard of canidae. I drove hour an a half to get this dog food because this is what everyone on this forum suggested. Any advice on these questions or just some on raising a young puppy would be great. Thanks:) :)

[Carina43]

Actually she seems maybe on the large side for 5 weeks...? I know that when I got Cooper & my friend got his litter-sister, they weighed 9 and 8lbs respectively at 8 weeks old.

Biting...always have a toy in your hand for her! Puppies bite, it's just what they do...if you do a search on puppy biting here there's sure to be a zillion discussions in the archives. When she bites your hand, YELP loudly and stop playing immediately...a loud screech or yelp will if you're lucky signal to her that she was biting too hard. That's what puppies do to each other, at any rate...do you have Rottweilers For Dummies? That's got lots of good info about basic puppy stuff.

I feed raw, so it's been 14 years since I raised a young puppy on actual dog food! I'll let someone answer that one, but my guess is, it's fine. :)

When are you going to post more pics? She sure is adorable.

[spidey]

There is no "right weight", it's entirely dependent on the individual dog. Hopefully a breeder can give you an idea if this is close to average weight, and I'm sure your vet would have mentioned if there was a problem. The jury is still out on whether puppies should eat puppy food or an all-stages food like Canidae. There isn't one right answer (no matter what you may hear), but plenty of dogs have been successfully raised on puppy food and plenty have been successfully raised on all-stages food so it really just boils down to what you decide to do, and how the puppy does. I'm of the opinion that you have to look at how the dog is doing on the food, and not marry yourself to a particular brand, not all dogs do well on all brands, no matter how good the brand is.

About the biting: make a loud yelp and withdraw your hands, ignoring the puppy for a few minutes. If the puppy bites again, yelp again and stand up and withdraw yourself from the puppy (walk away and turn your back in need be). Another puppy would do this (yelp and withdraw temporarily) if another puppy bit too hard. There's another thread going on about puppy biting, you may want to read that one too.

About the socializing: you could try and find someone with a friendly, fully-vaccinated older dog and set up play dates. The sooner the better.

Good luck! :)

[frontierrots]

My pups average 12-16lbs at 8 weeks. They have varied from 7-20lbs in the past. I'd say the pup was pretty average

Buy this book asap "After you get your puppy" by Ian Dunbar. It will help you socialize this little biting machine (and I mean that in loving terms!) and make up for the too early of a left home age.

[jenkins]

Carina43, Ill be posting pictures again this week. We have a 4 year old dog here, but she doesnt interact with it to much. She is a great dog though. She snaped at her once for biting her tail. So she is teaching her some things, but they dont play at all. I have Both books by New skete Monks. Also , should I startt putting a leash on her and letting her tow it around the house for awhile or is she still to young for that. Another thing is How do I let her know she is my dog? Thanks everyone for the responses

[frontierrots]

The Ian Dunbar book I listed is WAY WAY better than either New Skete book

It outlines what you need to do with your pup week by week and how

The New Skete stuff is geared towards a Shepherd's personality and is not geared towards all breed character and socializing as the Dunbar book is