# New Pupper



## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

*Belka Thread - Updated*

*Update Page 2: 5 months and 31.6 lbs​*
Well, after trying to talk the owners into keeping my Belka a little longer - they didn't. So - Belka is now home ^_^

When we got him we thought he was an Ivory color - kind of light brown like all the other pups in the litter. After good scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and warm water.... Belka's bright white. And sleeps.... A LOT. My only concern is that he has some little circles that kind of look like little scabs, possibly from flea bites. He goes to the vet next week. EDIT//: after calling the vet again this morning we now have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, especially when I mentioned he has a severe case of worms. 

So of course I buy toys and spoil him rotten. He has two collars, both in the teal color and in two sizes for when he grows into them. He also went to work with me today ^^;


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## Francl27 (May 4, 2017)

Is there any way you can take him to the vet sooner? That seems like a long wait to take such a young covered with fleas puppy to the vet. He's really cute though!


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Unfortunately Monday was the earliest they had but, we did get a flea comb and have brushed him throughout the day removing any fleas we saw. I'm really wanting to get him dewormed soon because I know he has them. At this point in the day, I have only seen one flea on him in the last two hours and it was promptly removed. My other pup is also on frontline plus and rarely has fleas. So I'm hoping it's enough to last until Monday but I will call back tomorrow and see if they had a cancelation. 

He gets tired so easily! Which I think is a side effect of the fleas and worms.... I'm also wondering if it's okay to put coconut oil on his tummy since it seems rather sensitive


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## Alisa♥ (Mar 9, 2017)

Baby puppies sleep a lot when they are healthy too, so that alone probably isn't something to worry about...I'm nervous about the fleas, but not sure what the best course of action would be. Monday can't come soon enough, I'm sure the vet will have suggestions!


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

He is adorable! <3 congratulations


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

Just so cute; love the little spots on the nose!! Good luck at the vet; Oh have them clip the nails-they look very long and curved in the pictures this could cause scratches to Belka when she scratches.


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Sydneyrocky said:


> Just so cute; love the little spots on the nose!! Good luck at the vet; Oh have them clip the nails-they look very long and curved in the pictures this could cause scratches to Belka when she scratches.


Thank you! I hadn't noticed the nails beyond the "ouch" when he would cuddle. I'll definitely have the vet look at them today.


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Moar Pictures ^_^ He's had a nail trim and a vet visit and is A LOT more active since starting a dewormer. He's also developed a cute little pudge.


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

He looks so good!! Extra cute, growing fast.


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## Alisa♥ (Mar 9, 2017)

Awww I love the side-eye he's giving in the first picture! Such a cute boy, he's so unique being so light-colored with very few markings, from the looks of things!


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Alisa♥;5171274 said:


> Awww I love the side-eye he's giving in the first picture! Such a cute boy, he's so unique being so light-colored with very few markings, from the looks of things!


He has a few spots on his nose, a giant spot on his shoulder, and a few on his ears. And A LOT on his belly. While grooming him we can see a few random little circle under his white fur on his back that we think will show up as he gets older but not many at all. I just adore his nose! And his belly spots! He's just too adorable! And already hating that I take so many pictures


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Weekly Pictures!


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

Growing so fast !! Looks happy with his new friend.


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Sydneyrocky said:


> Growing so fast !! Looks happy with his new friend.


He's putting on more weight now that he's fully transitioned to actual puppy food and doesn't have worms. Before if he hadn't eaten you could see his ribs and hips and now he's got a nice little pudge and his feet have gotten bulkier. 

We were actually really worried about our Chihuahua mix not liking him (because he's such a grumpy old man) but he's so friendly with him! As you can see he's super over dramatic when the pup has him "pinned" and he rarely uses his teeth but rather kind of head butts him or just flops on top of him when he's done playing. And last night Belka whimpered in his sleep and Charlie was right there sniffing him and bumping his nose against his belly until he woke up.


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## Alisa♥ (Mar 9, 2017)

I love that Charlie is helping to take care of him! That is so sweet, and glad to hear that he's putting on a little weight for growing.


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Exactly 7 weeks today!


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

He is getting so cute, love the spots!!


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Weekly pictures - I was out of town for the weekend and left him with my mom and he changed SO much. AND SPOTS. Oh my gosh he gained spots. Is this normal? The vet commented that she thought he was part dalmatian.


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## Alisa♥ (Mar 9, 2017)

Aww, yes that's normal, especially if there is some Dalmatian in there! Although you saw the siblings, were they mostly white when they were tiny babies? I've only seen a few Dal mixes, but the ones I've seen had all of the physical build and shape of the other breeds in the mix, while the coat coloring was totally Dalmatian! Belka's spots could continue to pop up over the next few weeks (and Prinna even has some "new" ones in the last month or so, although they were there all along, just too tiny to really notice until now that she's larger ). The large spot (like the one on his neck) would be a "patch" assuming he was born with it, while the "spots" aren't there in the beginning and appear over the weeks after birth. ^_^


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Belka was the only completely white one in the litter. He had the spots on his nose and the patch at his neck and that was it. The others look like yellow or chocolate labs. We joke that we got the only one that looked like a pitbull. But then over the last week or two his spots have started showing up everywhere. He had some on his skin when we first got him but it seems suddenly he's popping up with more all over. I don't know if this is a pitbull thing or if it's just a "oopsie" of his mom or like a latent gene thing. lol 

Either way he's getting a lot of double takes. People see pitbull and then they're like "wait...dalmatian? Lab? What is he??" I've taken to shrugging and saying "spoiled rotten".


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Update!

*12 weeks old and now 19 lbs. *​

In the 8 weeks we have had him he's gained 17 pounds!

He has learned several commands: sit, stay, down, walk on a leash, etc. And had his first puppy class.

He has also gained a lot of spots! People keep mentioning he may be part dalmatian but honestly I think it's just the pit in him. 

His personality has also started to emerge - my lord is he a goofball! He LOVES to "help" with weeding and gardening. He loves cats, people, other dogs, and boxes. He's a little afraid of loud noises but loves car rides and water (thank goodness). He hates Peanut Butter. 

He also sucks at smelling something out - I mean it will be right under his nose and looking at it and he still won't find it. We plan to work on his sniffer later with some tracker training.

He sleeps on his back - feet up in the air and wakes up with his tail wagging.


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

He looks great so cute!!


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## Marvel (Sep 26, 2015)

I love his little nose! Such a cutie!

I will say, Quill also sucked at using his nose when he was young and it seemed to get better with age. We also did some work with the "find the treat!" game but, mostly, age seemed to improve his nose-use haha.


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## SaintDame (Sep 24, 2017)

He's sooo cute!!! squeeeee


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

Amatae said:


> Weekly pictures - I was out of town for the weekend and left him with my mom and he changed SO much. AND SPOTS. Oh my gosh he gained spots. Is this normal? The vet commented that she thought he was part dalmatian.


He's really cute!

Yes it's very normal for white dogs like Pits, Boxers, American Bulldogs, ect to have some pigment (spots). 
Do you know what the dad was? Can't remember if you said. Your vet like many seems to know zero about dog breeds, most Dalmatian mixes are black with white, some do have ticking but it's not in same form as Dalmatian.


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

To add photos no Dalmatians here 3 generations 

The black & white is my dog's great grand sire
The two white & brindle puppy photos are of her grand sire 
The other white & brindle is his son (my dogs Uncle).


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

I don't want to rock the boat because I love my vet practice and everyone else has been super nice and thorough and in the 6 years I've been going to them with my other dog they have been amazing. I just wonder if perhaps she's tired of me being a helicopter mom when it comes to my pup... I went in a couple Friday's ago for a routine check-up and was told his fecal was clear of worms. That Saturday he was very sick so we took him in as a way to ease my fears and it turns out he had a severe case of coccidia. I don't understand how a severe case was overlooked so badly....

I also went to petsmart this weekend, against my better judgement, but I was looking for some Bully Sticks and the other places didn't have them.... and one of the ladies there was very rude. I told her that Belka was part lab and part pitbull to which she responded "I'm going to venture and say there actually isn't any lab in him. He looks all pit. You need to get him to a trainer ASAP. We have puppy classes here and you should sign him up now." And when I told her he was already in a class somewhere else she grilled me on who and where and how long he had been going and then promptly spun around and refused to speak to me. 

I don't know if it was just a bad week for puppy experiences .... However, we went to Lowe's and he was super welcomed and everyone gave him pets and hugs and he took it all in stride. No nipping at anyone or jumping on anyone. We did put him in the cart after the initial few minutes of loves so as to give his joints and neck a rest.


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

I'm not sure that coccidia always shows up? I know it can be asymptamatic as well a dog can be ill then better then ill. I'm unsure if it is always shedding the parasite and would show up 100% of the time. Maybe they did miss it, but that would be a little worrisome. 

Yes that lady was rude, must be a Pet smart thing. I know other with similar experience and 12 years ago I had the same. Whole story I did a champion to champion breeding, both parents fit the standard very well! The pups looked like pretty typical Pit pups (imo). I gave one female to my bitch's breeder so we both had our pups on a trip to Petsmart together. First I recall the lady asking the breed when told Pit Bulls she asked if mixed with mastiff (the female I gave to my bitches breeder was fawn with black mask) pfft okay I just thought she was an idiot and informed her NOT. But then she tried to sell the the training classes and talking about how they will grow up to be aggressive without the classes blah blah. How rude of a sales tactic. We were approached by yet another employee trying to get us to do the training classes. Couldn't even shop in peace. Also observing the ones at Petco (which I imagine to be similar) they are pretty basic classes. I have a family member who actually was a Petco instructor.


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## Marvel (Sep 26, 2015)

Ugh, not a fan of petsmart or petco. Before Quill's reactivity got so bad we would take him in and he had an awful experience. We were walking by a class in session and Quill was barked at, so he barked back. The trainer asked if he could use Quill and the other dog as demonstrations for how to work on this, and I said sure thinking hey. He's a trainer. I should have asked more, but I was still new to everything and figured it couldn't hurt. I was wrong! He basically used an air horn to scare the dogs back when they got worked up as the moved toward each other (I can't remember the "special" name had for this atrocious item, but it blew a lot of air and made a loud noise) and Quill was mid lunge when he blew it. Quill hit the linoleum floor so hard he split his nail and ran behind me. I was FURIOUS. And the jerk still had the gonads to give my BF a pamphlet to tell us to sign up for a class. He's lucky my BF was there -- I would have thrown the pamphlet in his face! 

They just want to sell the classes. I kind of assume they have a quota to meet (though could be wrong), but the way they push them it sure seems like it and they don't always use the best methods to try to get you to sign up. I've given up going there. I wouldn't stress about it! You seem like you're doing everything right for Belka and some people are just jerks/ignorant/misinformed. 

As for the vet, I do think Spicy1 is right about coccidia. A false negative is fairly common I think with them. And a good vet isn't going to be annoyed someone is caring about their dog so long as they are also not getting in the way of the vet doing their job, I would think. If you have doubts, you should always feel free to get a second opinion or visit another vet. Being comfortable with your vet is a huge deal!


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

I don't know why I keep trying to take my pup out in public around here.... I'm receiving so many negative remarks about everything. And he's actually insanely well behaved! He went to his first fall festival Saturday after going to a groomer (it wasn't really needed but I want him to get used to it now and they were super nice and spoiled him rotten). Everyone LOVED him. He handled every pet and hug like a champ and didn't attempt to nip at anyone. And there were lots and lots of stops for cuddles and pets. He had a big head by the end of the festival and was out cold on the drive home. 

BUT, taking him out Sunday was a different story. I don't know what it is about Sunday that makes people so onry. I was told by a lady that my current trainer (who uses very soft correction techniques and doesn't reprimand dogs harshly, and even trains dogs as service animals) was 'all hot air' and that I needed to take my pup to a real trainer like she did with her German Shepherd. She said that he needs to learn bite and attack commands. I was floored. She even went as far as to try to 'teach' my pup right there in lowes. I just politely called him to me and said we needed to go and that we were late for an appointment with a friend.... but DANG. 

I'm not one to brag but Belka has been doing amazingly well. He knows sit and stay and will even stay when provoked (ie, someone trying to call him to them) - he only leaves his stay when I give the release command... or if someone offers food.... 

We are working on his meeting of new dogs because he tends to overwhelm them with his 'happiness'. I wanted to try a dog park but I'm very very very afraid of that. 

And of course Update Pictures! He's almost 4 months now (a few weeks shy). In my opinion he looks more like a lab now.


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## Amatae (Jul 31, 2017)

Monthly Update:

Graduated from Puppy Kindergarten and now in "puppy beginner". He takes the AKC star puppy test in two weeks. He also weighs 31.6 pounds. He's still having some minor issues with nipping and is now attacking the leash when we walk but otherwise is taking the training well. We took a week "off" because - honestly I was tired lol 

So new photos including Halloween "costume"


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## Spicy1_VV (Jun 1, 2007)

He's coming along nicely


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## Sydneyrocky (Jul 16, 2017)

He looks great!!!


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## Sandakat (Mar 7, 2015)

He is adorable!


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## Wowlovely88 (Oct 20, 2017)

So cool to see his evolution


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