So I purchased a miniature poodle from a couple today that say the puppy is 8 weeks old. In feeling in his mouth, I noticed he only has teeth on the top front, with some maybe breaking through soon on bottom back. I've only had large Golden and pugs my whole life, but I swear that all of them had a full set of teeth at that age, or close. I was bringing this puppy home regardless because they were feeding it (and has only been fed) Ol'Roy canned dog food. Who on earth feeds a puppy canned OlRoy. A couple other questionable things about them too that I will be addressing at a later time. I saw both parents and they're small, about 8 pounds. Any advice or info is much appreciated. I will be going to vet Monday.
Is He Really 8 weeks Old??
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Sounds like he might be under 8 weeks. Since he's so small, please make sure he stays warm. My little guy (who came home at 8 weeks, but was very small) had to stay next to a puppy safe hot water bottle to stay warm enough. Also, please make sure to look up hypoglycemia so you know the signs and what to do in case this happens. Very small puppies need a lot of care and attention, especially if he is under 8 weeks.
Hope everything checks out at the vet!
Hope everything checks out at the vet!
Thank you. I will definitely keep him warm and read more on the hypoglycemia!
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Hi and Welcome!
He's certainly a little cutie. I found this, still looking for a medical site online to verify, but it doesn't seem that he could be 8 weeks.
Puppy “Milk” Teeth
Your puppy’s first set of teeth are called Milk Teeth – so named because he begins teething while he is still nursing from his mother (at about 2-3 weeks).
Milk Teeth appear in this order:
This first set of 28 puppy teeth will have all come through by about 8 weeks of age. Just like with human babies, the teething process can be painful. Your puppy will want to chew on everything with those tiny, sharp teeth and may drool a lot.
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Definitely a vet visit asap, to establish his age and health status. Given just the little bit you've mentioned so far, I'd have the vet check for parvo, internal and external parasites and everything else they can think of. It seems unlikely that starting vac's have been done either. It sounds like you may have saved his life.
Until you can get some Nutrical in case of a hypoglycemic episode, honey or karo syrup can be used to rub on his gums if he seems to have an episode
www.poodleforum.com
It sounds like you have experience, but jic, a reminder to stay with canned until the vet says kibble is ok (it may be now but ??), and transition slowly to a puppy formula. He's going to need the nutritional support.
Keep him crated by your bed in case he becomes unwell and as D4L said, make sure he keeps warm, but not too warm either. He may be too small or young to regulate his own body temp.
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Poundage isn't the determiner for toy vs miniature but 8lbs for adult miniatures is on the very low side.
He's certainly a little cutie. I found this, still looking for a medical site online to verify, but it doesn't seem that he could be 8 weeks.
Puppy “Milk” Teeth
Your puppy’s first set of teeth are called Milk Teeth – so named because he begins teething while he is still nursing from his mother (at about 2-3 weeks).
Milk Teeth appear in this order:
- Incisors – 12 total (6 upper and 6 lower) at about 2-3 weeks
- Canines – 4 total (2 upper and 2 lower) at about 4 weeks
- Premolars – 12 total (6 upper and 6 lower) at about 3-6 weeks
This first set of 28 puppy teeth will have all come through by about 8 weeks of age. Just like with human babies, the teething process can be painful. Your puppy will want to chew on everything with those tiny, sharp teeth and may drool a lot.
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Definitely a vet visit asap, to establish his age and health status. Given just the little bit you've mentioned so far, I'd have the vet check for parvo, internal and external parasites and everything else they can think of. It seems unlikely that starting vac's have been done either. It sounds like you may have saved his life.
Until you can get some Nutrical in case of a hypoglycemic episode, honey or karo syrup can be used to rub on his gums if he seems to have an episode
Hypoglycemia Requires Quick Intervention in Toy Breeds
Toy-breed dogs are not only at risk for hypoglycemia, they can die from the low blood sugar disorder if they do not receive prompt treatment. When a dog’s blood sugar, or glucose, level drops, it can affect neurological function. Disorientation, tremors and coma may occur. Normally, hormones...
www.poodleforum.com
It sounds like you have experience, but jic, a reminder to stay with canned until the vet says kibble is ok (it may be now but ??), and transition slowly to a puppy formula. He's going to need the nutritional support.
Keep him crated by your bed in case he becomes unwell and as D4L said, make sure he keeps warm, but not too warm either. He may be too small or young to regulate his own body temp.
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Poundage isn't the determiner for toy vs miniature but 8lbs for adult miniatures is on the very low side.
Thank you all so very much. Your kindness with your time, information and advice is greatly appreciated. I'm going to do each and every thing you all have recommended. I'm on chewy ordering puppy wet food of the blue wilderness as no store near here seems to have any wet puppy food right now. I also have taste of the wild dry puppy food, but I will do as said and stick with straight wet food. I was going to puree it, not now. I have shut down big puppy mills before with a rescue so I'm pretty upset with these people. I normally wouldn't deal with let alone purchase a puppy seeing that it was probably too young, but they had already sold the litter mates and the thought of someone caring for them that may have zero experience with dogs and might not seek advice from experienced people scares me for the puppies health and life. When I bred Golden I went back generations on health and never let a puppy go until after 8 weeks old. None of our puppies Ever had hip or health issues in their lives, except a few 12 and olders with expected aging issues. Seeing people do these things to these puppies really ticks me off. Tail wasn't docked though I don't mind that at all. Feeding crap food to these babies ugh grrr. I'm going to take the best care possible of this baby. Thank you for welcoming me to the poodle world and with so much love and care.
I forgot to mention.....he's not as sure footed as an 8 week old should be I'd imagine. He gets around great no problem, But he walks and plays around like a younger puppy. If my memory serves me correctly, like a 4 or 5 week old. Again different breed experience, but that's the age it reminds me of.
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My boys are miniature poodles. Their dam is a small mpoo and their sire is an oversize toy. They came home to us at 8w 4d ( I think) and 2.3lbs and 2.8lbs respective to size, at their vet visit two days later (I think).
One started vomiting with diarrhea later in the evening we got home and the other started the next day. We got them to a vet before their scheduled look-see and they were diagnosed with a stress gastro something and ended up having to be tube fed for nutrition 2x in the next 2 days. They also had to start their vaccine series over since the breeder didn't have any documentation from a vet to certify.
Their movements reminded me of human toddlers. They were mostly upright, but we had plenty of cartoon falls if they tried to move quickly or in anything but a straight line.
One started vomiting with diarrhea later in the evening we got home and the other started the next day. We got them to a vet before their scheduled look-see and they were diagnosed with a stress gastro something and ended up having to be tube fed for nutrition 2x in the next 2 days. They also had to start their vaccine series over since the breeder didn't have any documentation from a vet to certify.
Their movements reminded me of human toddlers. They were mostly upright, but we had plenty of cartoon falls if they tried to move quickly or in anything but a straight line.
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Our most recent puppy, a shih tzu was definitely 8 weeks old. He did NOT have a lot of his milk teeth, many of the botton incisors were just not in yet. He was only 2.3 lbs. ( These itty bitty babies tend to cut their baby teeth in late and thus have trouble chewing kibbled foods. They also have difficulty maintaining body temperature which promotes listlessness as they get cold. Both these factors combine into reduced food intake and difficulty keeping up normal blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) creates even more listlessness. Because the brain cannot burn fat or protein and relies almost entirely on sugar, incoordination, loss of consciousness and even seizures can result. ) Ours was getting 4 health puppy kibble from his breeder, and since he has done well on it we re still using it. He is now 5 months old and is 7.6 lbs. IN the beginning we would soak his food in hot water until it expanded and cooled off. We fed him 3x a day and we also gave him some high calorie paste, Nutri-Cal in-between meals to keep his sugar level up. He also walked like a little clown but he also got sick with coccidia, so we then had to give him probiotic /antibitoic/and we cooked white rice and ground chicken or lean beef, gradually after about a week or two adding his kibble back by when all his teeth were in and he wanted some hard kibble which l slowly added until he scuffed it up. He is now well, potted trained and learning each day. I think sometimes in toy breeds they are small and prone to catching something or having some kind of digestive upset. Just keep a good eye on him that he is eating and gaining weight and that his stool is ok.
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At this age he is learning bite inhibition. He will be learning it on that cute little puppy in the green shirt. Teach your guy to squeal and immediately turn and walk away when he nips. No hitting. Pop him into the crate if he chases.
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I am more experienced with larger breeds, but I frequently hear from breeders of toy breeds that their puppies take longer to develop. Many only starting to have teeth at 5 weeks, and other developmental markers delayed as compared to medium and large breeds. It's why the good toy breeders often keep their pups until 10-12 weeks.
Just as an aside, there's nothing wrong with pureed dry food (moistened obvi) per se, after all canned food has a high percentage of moisture. What you want to compare is the amount of calories the puppy is able to eat of either food. The more calorie dense the better at this point.
Just as an aside, there's nothing wrong with pureed dry food (moistened obvi) per se, after all canned food has a high percentage of moisture. What you want to compare is the amount of calories the puppy is able to eat of either food. The more calorie dense the better at this point.
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Oh and I should have mentioned, you probably already know this since you have some experience, but be sure to switch slowly off the Ol' Roy. As craptastic as it is, it's still better than that tiny fluff getting gastric upset from switching too quickly. They can go downhill so fast and so easily at that size!
(My two worst cases of tiniest like this: One puppy came in nearly comatose, super low blood sugar. Having trouble getting a vein since it was so tiny and dehydrated. Corn syrup on the gums perked it up, it then started wolfing down some canned food I mixed with more corn syrup. In less than an hour it was alert and perky. Found out the owner had only been offering kibble since she got it several days ago.
Another pup came in with hypoglycemic seizures. Had been having diarrhea since the previous day. By the next day it was obviously feeling much better and glucose levels had normalized, but it was wobbly and kept falling over. On questioning the owner more closely I found out that it had likely been having hypoglycemic seizures for nearly 12 hours before it came in!!! It took a few more days for the neurological side effects to subside. Not sure how much irreversible brain damage actually occured as I haven't seen it since.)
(My two worst cases of tiniest like this: One puppy came in nearly comatose, super low blood sugar. Having trouble getting a vein since it was so tiny and dehydrated. Corn syrup on the gums perked it up, it then started wolfing down some canned food I mixed with more corn syrup. In less than an hour it was alert and perky. Found out the owner had only been offering kibble since she got it several days ago.
Another pup came in with hypoglycemic seizures. Had been having diarrhea since the previous day. By the next day it was obviously feeling much better and glucose levels had normalized, but it was wobbly and kept falling over. On questioning the owner more closely I found out that it had likely been having hypoglycemic seizures for nearly 12 hours before it came in!!! It took a few more days for the neurological side effects to subside. Not sure how much irreversible brain damage actually occured as I haven't seen it since.)
Mufar...thank you for the information. I'm glad to hear your baby is doing better!!! I will definitely keep an eye on him. I didn't know some littles don't get teeth in as most do. He seems to be acting a bit older today as well but he sleeps a whole lot though I'm holding him most of the time when he sleeps. He sure played a lot today and was running around great. His poops are now normal and looking good. Hes eating little but often, probably has a little stomach. He slept with me last night all tucked in. I don't move hardly when sleeping (neck pain proves it haha) so I was woken up a lot to take him to potty on his pad and eat. On coccidia... American medicine doesn't completely rid it but on horserace , a Canada supplier, you can order the cure. I'd have to look up the name. I learned that one when 2 of our goldens had got it. The meds here and antibiotics help a ton and get them through to wear the parasite is in a manageable amount and the dog most likely won't get sick again from having it. Just putting it out there in case anyone needs it or breeds as its great to keep on hand.
They are adorable!!! Thank you for the video. I need to figure out how to post one. Sorry you and the babies had to go through a scare like that. I'm going to start the vax schedule over as well. You ever have them get a poop ball stuck on bottom? Mine had one this morning goodness haha. Anyone with some advice on that?
I will try to figure out how to post videos tonight or tomorrow. Yes, vet tomorrow or next 😊
Ok, so maybe just delayed some. He's doing very well today. Sure didn't like the vacuum even though I held him while vacuuming because he was crying in other room when he heard it. I do know about switching slowly over several weeks, but in my panic I bought only the blue wilderness canned (and the taste of wild puppy)with the rational of anything but ol roy and to give him only the healthiest high protein I could think of. So I switched him immediately over without thinking about the possible consequences. Ugh my brain fog thinking. So far so good though. Solid great poops, good appetite and energy. Now to hope a digestive problem doesn't show up in next few days. Everywhere here is out of canned puppy food so I did order the blue wilderness puppy on chewy. I'm glad those puppies had you and made it! How terrifying! I'm going to keep a good watch on this guy (no name yet) and make sure to stay ahead of anything. Would the corn syrup on gums o occasionally be a good preventative or no?
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Thanks, I'm partial to the little buggers
. To post a video, you'll need to upload to YouTube, possibly some others will work too, then use the Share link to post back here.
Two pieces of advice on the poop balls...
The first is that you just have to trim away the offending fur. I don't know if you have clippers or if the lil guy is ready for them (sooner than later tho...it's the life of a poodle), but round tip scissors will do. Just clear around the area.
Assuming he doesn't completely freak on you, or if you have a second pair of hands, take a comb (his forever now lol) and place it thru the fur parallel to the skin. You're using the comb as a guard. Then you can try trimming a bit.
The second is baby wipes. I keep a small pocket size on me when we go for our walks, and keep some in the house right by the in and out door.
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