# New 6 week old puppy...questions!



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hi everyone,

I picked up my 6 wk foster pup today and have a few questions that I stupidly forgot to ask the rescue. :doh: I've had 8 week old pups, but not 6!

6 week old pups are ready to eat kibble, should I soften it with water first? Is there anything I should know about the care of approx. 6 week old as opposed to 8 week old or just do the same old, same old?

P.S Ranger and Blue have met her and she's a handful already! 5 minutes into meeting them and she's bossing them around. What a cutie pie!

Thanks!


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Pictures! About wetting the food...I still do that forLiza, a little. My breeder told me when I got her to wet it with warm water and let it soak for a few minutes.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Hank was 5.5 weeks when he was given to me. I reallly didn't do anything special other than add a little canned food to his kibble along with a little cottage cheese or yogurt. He wouldn't eat any food soaked with water.


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm not too helpful with your actual questions but - I want to see pictures!!!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hmm, I gave her teeny bit of tripe and she ate it but not interested in kibble or cookies. Not even the super stinky soft cookies that I broke up into little pieces. She tried to eat a crumb, then kept spitting it out. I guess I'll mix her kibble with something yummy tomorrow to try to get her to eat. 

Thanks for the help everyone! 

Pics are going to be posted in the fostering forum...I've got a thread started in there!


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Flem was quite able to eat dry kibble at six weeks. Most if not all of the puppy teeth should be in. However, it cannot hurt to wet the kibble a little before giving it; perhaps use low salt chicken broth to add some enticement. 

As far as the rest, the younger the pup the less control they have on their bladder and bowel so more bathroom times might be needed compared with an 8 weeks old. Where does she stand vaccination wise ? If she got her first vaccs at the rescue right before you got her, she will need other rounds every four weeks (so at 10 weeks and 14 weeks). 

I am on my way to look at the pics. Enjoy the little bundle; I hope Ranger does too.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Oh yes, constant nightly pee breaks. I was anticipating that I'd be up more often. Though she seems to like her crate (knock on wood) so I'll probably get more sleep even with constant bathroom breaks than with my last foster pup who cried continually throughout the night for 3 weeks straight!  

I'll try the chicken broth, she's definitely going to need some enticement to eat her kibble tomorrow, I think!

She hasn't been vaccinated yet, I'm booking her first appt tomorrow and then consequent ones if she's not adopted by then. 

We're definitely enjoying her so far! She's already comfortable enough to play with the big dogs! Which means biting ranger's ears, face, chest, paws, feathers, and tail non-stop. Luckily he's got the patience of a saint...it's only a matter of time before she's crawling all over him and using him as her personal jungle gym!


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Warm the chicken broth a little in the microwave; they go by their nose, not by what the food tastes like so the smellier the better (tripe definitely qualifies as "the smellier", lol).

Flem never peeped in her crate at six weeks (not even to go pee which made for slow potty training). I wish you restful nights and interesting days.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I am guilty of putting pureed chicken and beef with broth in with puppy food when they are under 12 weeks but I had yorkie puppies most. Lucky ate his kibble straight up as a puppy- I got him at 6 weeks.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks everyone! Sahara is eating much better than the first night when she refused to eat at all. I'm thinking since she might have had a belly ache since she'd just been dewormed that day. 

I'm not sure if I fed her enough yesterday so I'm increasing her food a little today. Yesterday, she had 1/4 cup of food at 7am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and a handful of kibble at 8pm. Today I tried giving her 1/2 cup of kibble at 7am and she ate almost all of it so I think she'll be good at letting me know if she's had enough. It's a little tricky trying to figure out how much to feed little tiny puppies!

Bonus: she's starting to know her name...well, at least she's starting to associate coming to me when i say her name with getting liver snaps!


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