Help with Mishka!

[Mishkas2Dads 0]

Introduction thread HERE

Question 1:

Sleeping - he's been doing much better lately. However, sometimes when he's sleeping his face or throat makes noises. Kind of like he's snoring but can't tell. Wanted to make sure this sounded normal.

Question 2:

Hiccups - OMG he's been having on and off again hiccups all day yesterday and today and I'm not sure if it's normal It's kind of freaking me out. It occurs when he's not eating/drinking and sometimes when he's sleeping.

Question 3:

Home Arrangements - I've got a two story home with the bedrooms being upstairs. I'm going to put up baby gates for the stairs because of his short legs - I don't want him to get hurt even when he's older. Right now we moved into the spare bedroom because the bed is closer to the floor; we can easily comfort him when he wakes up at night. He's currently using pads but am taking him outside to go at the same time. He only gets a treat when he goes outside. My concern is this, when he's older and more trained how should we modify our living arrangements for him? If we switch to him being downstairs how would we know when he needs to go outside in the middle of the night? Also, if he stays upstairs would it be bothersome for a dog to be carried downstairs each time he needs to go for a midnight potty?

Question 4:

Grooming, Maintenance, and Care - He's five weeks old was told by the vet he appears to be in good shape. He hasn't been given a bath yet, hasn't had his teeth brushed, and hasn't been having his ears cleaned. The reason being is because while reading threads about these maintenance procedures I haven't really read much about doing them on puppies. If someone could reference some safety tips such as if I need to avoid getting water in his ears, etc that would be greatly appreciated. Safety is the up-most importance.

Question 5:

Eating - The vet said he should be eating 5 times a day! Does that sound right to all of you??? Also, should I ALWAYS have water available 24/7 for him to drink freely? I'm managing the food but not sure about the water.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Mishkas2Dads

[Shredder 4]

I'm no expert but I can tell you what Shredder did as a pup...

#1- sleeping , Shredder did the same thing ... he snored for awhile .. not constant, just every so often .. now that he's 1 1/2yrs old, I haven't heard him do that anymore...

#2- hiccups- again, I think it's quite normal. Shredder had hiccups on occasion when he was a pup, he still does once in awhile...

#3- potty training is NOT my area. I potty trained Shredder ALL WRONG! ... I never did potty pads, I always took him outside. Once he became old enough to hold it longer we don't have accidents in the house anymore. We just leave the sliding door open and he has a doggy door in the screen to come and go as he pleases. I make sure he goes around 9:30pm then that's it till morning. If Mishka is going to be sleeping downstairs, once he get old enough to hold it that shouldn't be a problem, he will just go when you go downstairs in the morning to let him out.

#4- grooming- I didn't do any grooming on Shredder till he was about 4 months old. I took him in for a puppy grooming bath to start getting him use to being groomed. (probably should start before that) Are you planning on grooming yourself?

#5- eating- water should be available from a water bottle 24/7 as much as he wants. Food as a pup I think is at least 3x a day till about 6mos, then 2x a day. If he is on a schedule then it's much easier to know when he most likely has to go potty.

Like I said, I'm no expert, but this is what I have learned and what I do now ...

Edited September 17, 2011 by Shredder

[Mishkas2Dads 0]

That really does make me feel better. I'll have a professional groomer do his grooming once he gets his hair grown out more. Just want to make sure I get an experienced one that won't have any accidents with him! Didn't know about the water bottle thing, will definitely invest in one on the next paycheck next week. Every little noise he makes I tend to run to him to make sure he's okay. Now still wondering about the living arrangements... hmmm can't let him out no dog door, this place is really nice for the price >_< i dunno

[TillyMaeTinkles 0]

Snoring and hiccups are normal.

I don't have much advice on potty training because I messed up big time in that field. We used to have a fake grass potty and she did her thing on her own until I started taking her to day camp where she used to go anytime, anywhere. Potty pads didn't work. Now we do outside but we still have accidents. I do know that when they are older they won't have to go in the middle of the night, they'll be able to hold it. Just take them right out before bed time, crate them, and out in the morning.

I started grooming Tilly at 8 weeks when I got her, but that is also because I'm a groomer. I always recommend to people do it at home if you don't feel comfortable yet taking them somewhere. You need to desensitize them to certain things (water, brushing/combing, touching their feet, having things near their face, blow dryers). I got lucky, Tilly didn't fuss with me too much as a puppy but she never had a "full" haircut until she was about 6-7 months old. I wanted a long to the ground Shih Tzu, she wasn't growing out like other Tzu's I saw, so I gave in and cut it off lol.

Water should always be available I believe. This is where the potty fun comes in. You have to monitor how much they drink so you can time it so they can go potty. I've never been 100% sure about it at night...but I always had Tilly in an x-pen with a bowl, potty pads, and her bed at night incase she had to go to the bathroom. I did water bowls in the beginning, but now we have a water bottle in my room hanging from the crate and a bowl downstairs. I prefer the bottles because it makes less of a messy face, but when she's run around a lot or it's hot she definitely needs to gulp down from a bowl. As far as food, puppies eat a lot. Break them up into mini meals. Listen to the vet as far as how many times...I've never dealt with a puppy younger than 8 weeks and you're saying he's 5 weeks. At 8 weeks I had Tilly eating 3 times a day whatever the amount of daily food was...it was just split into 3 meals. At almost 2 years old now I feed her once at night because it keeps the potty schedule much easier. But for almost a year and a little more she was still eating twice a day.

[ShihTzuholic 0]

Does he sleep in a crate in your room or his bed is just there with no crate? If he sleeps in a crate, once he gets older, he'll be able to hold it all night, so you won't have to worry about midnight potty breaks. When I was potty training gizmo, I would set my alarm for around 2am and take him to his puppy pad to pee, then I woke up at 5:30 and took him to his pad again. When I transitioned him to going potty outside, I sat a soiled pad outside so he got the idea. I(or whoever is here) still take him out regularly through the day, roughly 6:30AM, 12PM, 5PM, 10PM. I don't know if he would "tell" me when he has to go, so I just do it at a regular interval to avoid accidents.

If you are not crate training, I would highly recommend it for night time and for any time he will be home alone. This keeps them from getting into anything while you're gone. I still put giz in his cage when he is going to be home alone, but he sleeps in my bed now. I wish I had just kept crating him at night, he was doing fine with it, but now that he sleeps in my bed, he would need to be trained all over again. He had to sleep in a crate when we went to a family members house for vacation. He was in a crate right next to the bed, but still whined all night.

I agree about the water, I believe it is supposed to be available 24/7. Water bottles are great, because you can attach them right to a crate, and avoid drippy beards.

[Mishkas2Dads 0]

He sleeps in the room but not in bed with us. He sleeps in his little corner with a pillow, a crate, and a little dog bed. He tends to switch it up between the dog bed and pillow. Occasionally he's been sleeping on top of the vent which is on the floor upstairs (air conditioner even though it's pretty cold in the home).

Okay didn't know about the water thing now we're leaving it out 24/7 and will invest in a bottle later on.

[Luna 8,676]

Start grooming TODAY! It doesn't take long when they're babies and they get used to it quickly. I always use a table because obviously my show dogs have to get used to the table from the beginning, but you could also just put her on your lap. Gently brush the entire head, body and legs with a soft brush and follow with a comb. Turn puppy on her back: if she fights just gently hold her in place until she calms down. Brush/comb the tummy, rub belly, play with each little foot for a few seconds, handle the entire head including exposing the bite. This should take 5 minutes max. Do it daily and you will have a dog that's used to being groomed and handled and will tolerate it even if she doesn't exactly enjoy it, lol. A couple of mine sleep while being brushed. I also start the weekly bath/blow dry the first week puppy comes home.

[Brandi 0]

I am no expert either, but can tell you what I am doing with 3 shih-tzu's (ages 12 weeks for the 2 girls and almost 6 mo for my boy and I have a 5 yr old spaniel).

I crate them all at night so that if there is an accident I know WHO did it I take them out every morning at 8 a.m and every night at 10 p.m and all my pups make it through the night without any accidents. (except one girl who has medical problems and can not help it).

I feed twice a day (once in the morning once in the evening) with water bottles available at all times and water dishes provided with meals. They do not get free roam of the house at the moment because of ages, however I do block them in my living room where there is hard wood when I am home. (when they are left alone they are crated).

I also take them all out to potty every hour ON THE HOUR (I set a timer). Luckily by keeping this schedule I have only had one accident with one girl and three with my boy. again my other girl has a medical condition and can not help it until after her surgery but even with her she has very few accidents in the day.

hiccups are normal just as with little babies

GROOMING IS A MUST FROM DAY ONE. even if they are in short coat they need to be brushed, nails done, ears cleaned as well as teeth. The younger they are when you begin this the more successful you will be.

My male had aggression issues with the brush in the beginning, but after a few weeks of daily grooming he is fine with it now.

I brush all three of my tzu's every morning after feeding and potty time.

Hope this helps.

[Chloe'sMom 0]

1. Get use to your little sound box! With their pushed in faces, Shih Tzus can make all kinds of snorkles and gruntles in their sleep.

2. Chloe had MAJOR hiccup problems as a puppy. She has totally outgrown it.

3. We have a two story and she sleeps in our room upstairs next to my side of the bed. We got an 8 panel ex pen and started by using 4 panels (so that it was the same size as her crate) and 1 pad at night. (3 pads and all 8 panels during the day). We took her downstairs to go out halfway through the night, but she usually would make it 6-8 hours (bladder of steel). We gradually increased a panel at a time until she was able to make it all night without potty. We increased to 2 pads when we got to 6 panels. Then we took out the pads when she was making it all night. We removed the pen at 7 months and just make sure our bedroom door is closed at night. She loves cuddling in her own little bed next to her water bottle stand. She really doesn't like sleeping with us because we shift positions too much for her taste! Annoying parents!

We tried the baby gate thing and removed it because I kept falling over it when bringing laundry up. We just put a couple of throw pillows on the first step. But, at five months she figured out how to pull them down and tripped me as I was coming down with laundry and I broke my toe and hurt my wrist trying not to land on her. Maybe we aren't the best example for that question.

We have a set of Poochie bells on our front door. Chloe is trained to ring them when she wants to go out. (Super easy... she started ringing them after three or four weeks of us ringing them each time we let her out at around four months old). If he can ring them loud enough, this works great! My step mom's sister even bought a wireless doorbell, stuck the button next to the back door and the chime in their hallway, and trained her hairless dog on that

4. We started introducing the comb immediately! We wiped out her ears with baby wipes daily at 12 weeks to get her use to us messing with them. We let her lick doggy toothpaste off a brush and looked at her teeth every other day at 16 weeks. At 16 weeks she got partial baths (wet in the sink and diluted tearless puppy shampoo- I prefer Petsilk but it can be pricey- from the neck down) just to get used to them. We fed her 1" of banana (in pieces), a tablespoon of fat free plain yogurt, or a slice of deli meat (in pieces) during the bath and blow dryer. Warning: too much banana or yogurt can cause diarrhea so start small with these. She got her nails done on one foot each bath (we keep a Chloe notebook with all of her records and kept notes of which paw).

Keep in mind to keep all groom sessions REALLY short. These are less about needing to be groomed and more about getting him to enjoy it.

5. We only fed three times a day. She gets Fromm's (it is an all stage holistic diet so puppies can eat the adult food). Because it is a high quality food, dogs need less of it. She eats 1/4 C three times a day and an extra scoop at dinner if she finishes the first. Puppies need more calories than adults.

Chloe is trained on a water bottle (like rabbits use- they make them specifically for dogs). This keeps her water clean and her face from getting messy (and my floors from being wet). Water should ALWAYS be available and clean. She has one on her crate downstairs and one freestanding upstairs (my husband made a cute stand from PVC pipe for less than $10). Shih Tzu should typically drink around 1 cup each day.