Gamble
Novitiate
Hello!
I’m looking for advice/help with a Doberman pup I rescued. Pup was born on Jan 28 “supposedly” and does not appear to have any major issues as of yet.
Pretty long story but I will make it shorter by summarizing most of it. I came upon a post on Facebook about a guy that was trying to find a home for his litter of pups ASAP because he worked long hours and 4 pups had died already since the mom was not taking care of them and he didn’t have time, money etc... I had been looking to adopt a dog for sometime now so I decided I would try to adopt one.
When I got to his place I realized why 4 pups might have died since the room he had them was full of poop and the pups where covered in poop too. I was in shock and pretty annoyed at the conditions the pups were living in. At that point I told him that I did not think I could adopt one since they don’t even look close to 8 weeks old and appeared in very bad shape, the runt looked like she had less than an hour left and was not eating or drinking. The guy said that he had found homes for all of them except 2 of them, the runt and the one I was supposed to take. I felt guilty not taking him and leaving him behind covered in poop and dying. So after 15-20min of debating if I should risk spending thousands on vet bills if he was sick. I told the guy that if the puppy ate food and drank water I would take him, sure enough he brought a bowl of food and milk and he started eating it crazy fast. After my better judgement and with much fear of loving him and him dying due to being sick, I decided to adopt him.
As soon as I left with the pup, I took him to a vet that was close by and explained the situation. I had concerns that he might have a lot of worms since his stomach was pretty round, even before he ate. The vet dewormed him and told me that he looked good and the reason why his stomach was inflated was probably the milk the guy was giving him instead of water. either way she dewormed him just in case and I paid to have him bathed.
I got home and after examining the pup I found 3 ticks. One in his ear and the other two around his body. His right eye looks watery and a bit closed compared to his left eye. I am skeptical the vet examined the pup correctly since I paid for the bath and still found ticks.
Anyways, I would like to find out if he looks 5 weeks or looks younger? The guy told me they were born on Jan 28. He only woke me up 3 times last night and had to hold him like a baby in order for him to fall back to sleep.
Also, how many times should I feed him? Every how many hours? Do I throw away any left over food or do I just leave the bowl there until he finishes it? Do I leave a bowl of water or do I take the water bowl away until feeding time?
I got him eukanuba and I am adding water to the kibbles. I wish I had done more research about which food to get him but I was in a hurry to feed him and eukanuba was the best I could find at the time. He is pooping solid so I guess thats a good sign.
I read about the bite inhibition behavior and I plan to teach him that skill to the best of my ability.
The pups parents were super friendly and mellow which I guess that is a good sign of temperament given that the guy has them outside and not indoors like they are supposed to be.
Any tips or things I should do or look out for? I work from home so I will be with him basically 24/7 and can put in the time and work to raise a good pup.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!
I’m looking for advice/help with a Doberman pup I rescued. Pup was born on Jan 28 “supposedly” and does not appear to have any major issues as of yet.
Pretty long story but I will make it shorter by summarizing most of it. I came upon a post on Facebook about a guy that was trying to find a home for his litter of pups ASAP because he worked long hours and 4 pups had died already since the mom was not taking care of them and he didn’t have time, money etc... I had been looking to adopt a dog for sometime now so I decided I would try to adopt one.
When I got to his place I realized why 4 pups might have died since the room he had them was full of poop and the pups where covered in poop too. I was in shock and pretty annoyed at the conditions the pups were living in. At that point I told him that I did not think I could adopt one since they don’t even look close to 8 weeks old and appeared in very bad shape, the runt looked like she had less than an hour left and was not eating or drinking. The guy said that he had found homes for all of them except 2 of them, the runt and the one I was supposed to take. I felt guilty not taking him and leaving him behind covered in poop and dying. So after 15-20min of debating if I should risk spending thousands on vet bills if he was sick. I told the guy that if the puppy ate food and drank water I would take him, sure enough he brought a bowl of food and milk and he started eating it crazy fast. After my better judgement and with much fear of loving him and him dying due to being sick, I decided to adopt him.
As soon as I left with the pup, I took him to a vet that was close by and explained the situation. I had concerns that he might have a lot of worms since his stomach was pretty round, even before he ate. The vet dewormed him and told me that he looked good and the reason why his stomach was inflated was probably the milk the guy was giving him instead of water. either way she dewormed him just in case and I paid to have him bathed.
I got home and after examining the pup I found 3 ticks. One in his ear and the other two around his body. His right eye looks watery and a bit closed compared to his left eye. I am skeptical the vet examined the pup correctly since I paid for the bath and still found ticks.
Anyways, I would like to find out if he looks 5 weeks or looks younger? The guy told me they were born on Jan 28. He only woke me up 3 times last night and had to hold him like a baby in order for him to fall back to sleep.
Also, how many times should I feed him? Every how many hours? Do I throw away any left over food or do I just leave the bowl there until he finishes it? Do I leave a bowl of water or do I take the water bowl away until feeding time?
I got him eukanuba and I am adding water to the kibbles. I wish I had done more research about which food to get him but I was in a hurry to feed him and eukanuba was the best I could find at the time. He is pooping solid so I guess thats a good sign.
I read about the bite inhibition behavior and I plan to teach him that skill to the best of my ability.
The pups parents were super friendly and mellow which I guess that is a good sign of temperament given that the guy has them outside and not indoors like they are supposed to be.
Any tips or things I should do or look out for? I work from home so I will be with him basically 24/7 and can put in the time and work to raise a good pup.
Any tips are greatly appreciated!