Toys, Housetrain, & Nails
by Daniel & Cooper
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Hi everyone! My Cooper came back from the vet two days ago and weighs a hearty 5.something pounds for a barely 4 month old pup. Vet says he may grow to 10 pounds, a little more, or a little less. Cooper also was very quiet during his shots. Well I have three concerns with Cooper now. First off, I bought him a dog safe doll to keep him company but he seems to be nippling on him? Is that normal? Also now about housetraining, he has had about atleast one accident in each of the past two days and another one this morning. It is hard more me to tell if he pees outside cause I can't see or hear it being he does it on the grass. I usually have to pick him up to see if a strand of hair is yellow and wet. Should he be having more time in his crate? We keep him out of his crate as much as possible when we are around but maybe the crate will teach him to hold it longer or for outside? Well on to another topic. His nails beginning to scratch me. Do pet supply stores sell little dog nail clippers? It will make it much easier to handle him.
DISCUSSION:
The petstores sell nail clippers. But don't kid yourself, they have a tendency to scratch more when the nails have been freshly clipped. Try to use a nail file.Alex nibbles and chews on his toys. Everything that sticks out he tries to bite off. He already bit off the nose and one eye of his bear. I don't remember how many plastic toys I already put in the garbage because he was tearing them apart. All puppies do that.
Janine
Daniel, hard to tell about the housebreaking accidents. How long have you had Cooper and what type of training has he had? Re the dog toy, unsure what you meant by "nippling." Did you just mean nipping at it? If so, my Angel's favorite pastime with his multitude of toys is to tear the squeakies to shreds (he adores them but rips them apart and then can't understand why they don't work anymore!) and basically take any toy in his teeth and furiously shake it from side to side...like a cat with its kill sometimes! Despite this habit, he has never once attached any of my shoes, furniture, carpets and such. It's as if he understands what's his and limits his destructive tendencies only to his own belongings! Lastly, when I first got him, I bought a commercial clipper but then was told by more than one groomer that these clippers are often too large for such small dogs (mine's 6-1/2 lbs. at 23 months) and recommended using human nail clippers. Either way, the nails are very sharp unless you blunt them with a file. Good luck!
Siobhan
| Please bear in mind when reading topics pertaining to health issues, that most of these questions were answered by helpful Maltese owners with no formal education in veterinary medicine. When in doubt seek a professionals advise. |
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