ATOT Puppy Experts! Help Needed!

[SirStev0]

So through a series of events and my girlfriends sentimentalism and good samaritan nature, we are now taking care of an approximately 4 week old puppy either pure or atleast mostly Rottweiler.

The How and Why we ended up with it is complicated, but to summarize (since I know someone will ask), the puppy was either sold or given to someone they abandoned it, it was rescued by some friends of ours who are not allowed to have any pets but we are so now we are going to take care of it.

We have gotten a lot of good information so far from our friends and especially from the local humane shelter. After speaking with them (the shelter), we decided to keep it since they were very frank about the fact that such a young dog in a shelter doesn't have as good of a chance as it would with us. They have helped us out with a small cage and some puppy food and some other supplies and have been very nice.

I am just looking around for some suggestions and general help. I had a dog as a kid but we got it when it was nearly 4 years old and I have never really had to deal with all the fun projects involved with puppies. The young age of this one, makes it even more fun.

We have had it all weekend and this is the info I can give you on her:
-We named her Pygmy (short for Pygmalyon) and she is about the size of my size 10.5 Vans shoes (so really small).
-She does eat solid food but seems to have a little trouble lapping water. The shelter and us tried bottle feeding but it was a no go.
-She is very playful and in the few days we have had her has gotten much more coordinated and playful.
-Her eyes are open but vision doesn't seem to be the best.
-The first day at our place and out of the cage she went over to a pile of my school papers and pee'd. The first and only time. We have tons of newspaper and we have been trying to aim her in the right direction.
-Her poop is kinda watery but sometimes comes out somewhat solid(ish). She goes every time she wakes up right before she plays for a while.
-She sleeps a ton.
-The shelter is getting us some worm medication and we are trying to plan her shots.


So with all that said, what can you tell me? what things should I know? what tricks would be helpful? Any help at all is appreciated.

 

[bignateyk]

I can't answer without pics.

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
I can't answer without pics.

Damn it. I was going to say pics will be up soon in my OP and forgot. Gotta wait for the GF to come home and take some snap shots of the puppy.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Do you plan on keeping her? If not, I would suggest contacting a rescue group that might have more experience people that can foster her.

I would take her to a vet for a check-up to ensure that she doesn't have any illnesses.

Are you feeding dry or wet food? If dry, I would soften it with warm water to make it more easily to digest since she has just been weened. Also, if she's not drinking water easily, this will help her not get dehydrated.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
I can't answer without pics.

Keep anything you don't want chewed up out of her reach.
Take her outside every time she wakes up.
Make sure she has chew toys.
Make sure to give her lots of love and make a website dedicated to updated pics of her. Put link to said website in your sig.

 

[Patt]

I have a Rottie/Black Lab cross ... who I got as a puppy ... if you keep her long term ... be prepared for the 'chewing' phase! Ours got into everything, but once past that stage, he has been an absolute dream dog.

Ensure you and your SO are consistent in how you apply any training you try to apply, that burned us a few times

Good luck, and yeah ... I've marked for pics too

 

[OrByte]

4 weeks is so young!

crate train her.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The puppy is most likely missing nutrients due to being separated from 'mom' at such a young age. The vet is the best resource for getting the pup on the right track. Unfortunately, missing the antibodies and nutrients from the mother means a greater likelihood of disease and health problems down the road. Love and good food go a long way though.

 

[SirStev0]

We are not going to keep it, and we discussed this with the shelter. They are trying to find a place for it and are contacting Rottweiler rescues in the general area. They had a vet at the shelter take a look at her and overall she is healthy.

The chewing has already started but luckily the brunt of her effort has been focused on a small stuffed hedgehog, which is comically larger than her head and causes here to fall over every time she tries to shake it violently. The shelter said to hold off on rubber chew toys for the time being.

We are using wet food and it is a mix made specifically for puppies.

Just as a side note, if we found out it was a boy we were going to name it Rhomberg for the cerebellar test of balance, because she has a tendency to fall over.