# 5 week old puppy



## saturns mommy

Hi everyone, I have a few questions. I just got a new puppy he is 5 weeks old today. His mom stopped feeding him so I had to take him early. He is eating soft food drinking water ect... but Im not sure if i should start taking him outside to go potty or continue to use the potty pads. Also where he is so young, he is nipping at us all the time and im not sure how to handle it. Does anyone have any suggestions?


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## all4thedogs

Oh dear, thats a shame you had to take him early. Its not the mother that is so important in these later weeks as his littermates. They are very good at teaching them not to nip. You will have some work ahead of you!

When he nips, yelp just like one of his littermates would and stop playing with him. Once he settles you can go back to playing. Just dont let him get to hyper, and do be sure he has plenty of toys to chew on. 

At 5 weeks, and in this cold weather I would continue with the puppy pads (although I am not a fan of them), when he is 7-9 weeks (depending on his breed) you can take him outside to potty, in a safe location. If he is a tiny breed you might put this off a little longer even. 

Once he has been vaccinated please be sure to socialize him like crazy. Puppies taken early seem to be more prone to emotional and socialization problems. They take a lot more work. It can be done, just harder!


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## DJEtzel

you need to socialize him with other safe, healthy dogs asap. since he was taken from his mom and littermates so young, he hasn't learned how he's supposed to interact with other dogs or as a dog and keeping him around other dogs would be the key to getting this behaviour taken care of.


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## saturns mommy

Thanks for the response. My neighbor does have his sister and we are scheduling "Play dates" so that they can interact with eachother. He is a bullmastif mix and I do have a sweater for him when i take him out with me because I am affraid of leaving him alone in the house because all he does is whine. I don't know what to do about that either.


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## rosemaryninja

Some helpful links:

http://diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html
http://diamondsintheruff.com/earlysocialization.html
http://diamondsintheruff.com/socialization.html

Does your puppy have a crate?


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## saturns mommy

yes he does, but he will not stay in it. All he does is whine and cry. And I feel so bad when he does where he is so young. I have put toys in there with him and his favorite towels.


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## rosemaryninja

The whining and crying is normal, especially for a 5 week old puppy. At such a young age, he's programmed to respond this way to being left alone. In the wild, a 5 week old pup out on his own would basically mean death. Unfortunately, you're just going to have to put up with the crying. I know it's tough, but don't give in. Potty-training a puppy that sleeps in bed with you is an entirely uphill battle. Place the crate next to your bed so he can see/smell/hear you, and drape a towel over it if it helps. After that, just bear with it... it'll be over soon.


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## saturns mommy

thanks for the advise. I will try it with him again tonight. That is if he will sleep....he does have a box that he loves to sleep in. I was thinking of putting the box in the crate sideways to see if that will help him with being in the crate.


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## DJEtzel

that sounds like a good idea. just make sure whenever you take him out of the crate that he's not whining. if you do he will learn that he can whine to get out. make sure he's quiet and preferably sitting before you let him out. sitting isn't a big thing with a pup so young, but he has to be quiet. period. and you can practice keeping him quiet in a few weeks when you can give him dog treats and put him in his crate, then leave the room, if he whines, stay out until he finishes whining, then go in (no matter how long you have to wait, he will stop) and praise and give him a treat for being quiet. if you work on this a few times a day, starting as soon as he'll quickly gobble up treats, he'll be quiet in no time.


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## didee

This will sound crazy but I had to deal with the impact of a puppy being taken away from its mom and littermates too soon. I will not go into detail right now, but it can result in HUGE problems.

*Can you and your neighbor possibly agree to keep the puppies together for a few weeks, either at their house or yours?* I realize you each love your puppies and want them with each of you, but it will benefit the dogs and possibly prevent biting and other problems in the future. They are already at a disadvantage not having their mother to teach this to them (by nipping them when they are 'inappropriate' with her), but without the other littermates, they are really at risk for not learning this. They need other dogs to learn bite inhibition. If you keep them together for just for a few more weeks, they may learn it from each other (but still may have bite issues). If one of your homes has a well behaved mature dog, that would be the best place to keep them, because that dog could possibly help as well. I can't tell you what heartbreak you may experience if your dog does not learn this *at this point *in its life. This is seriously important and the timing is critical. This is going to be one big dog...you need it to be well balanced.

The frustration with crate training will be the least of your worries if the dog isn't taught bite inhibition now.


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## Xeph

> I just got a new puppy he is 5 weeks old today. His mom stopped feeding him so I had to take him early.


That's because his mother was normal >.< The puppies were being weaned. *sigh*


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## pugmom

Xeph said:


> That's because his mother was normal >.< The puppies were being weaned. *sigh*


Agree 100% ....sounds like someone did not know what they were doing.


Lots of great advice above...I think it would be great to get your pup and your neighbors pup together for a few weeks


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## chul3l3ies1126

Xeph said:


> That's because his mother was normal >.< The puppies were being weaned. *sigh*





pugmom said:


> Agree 100% ....sounds like someone did not know what they were doing.


*BINGO!!!* ByB alert... sigh 
Nessa


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## Purley

I would say that "sigh" was a mild comment in the above case!!!!!


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