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PoodleCoco Jan 26, 2007 11:51 AM

I adopted a miniature poodle, will be getting her today. Looks like she had a litter and they abonded her afterwards. I have never had a dog before hope you guys will help me with questions in the future.
Thank you in advance.
Nancy

Replies (19)

Skaket Jan 26, 2007 07:31 PM

>>I adopted a miniature poodle, will be getting her today. Looks like she had a litter and they abonded her afterwards. I have never had a dog before hope you guys will help me with questions in the future.
>>Thank you in advance.
>>Nancy

Hi Nancy,
I don't have a poodle but would like to welcome you to the boards. I think it's wonderful that you're giving this poor little one a chance at a wonderul life. Hope we'll be hearing all about her and when things settle down and you have a chance to take some pictures, we would love to see them.

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Mary Lou & Katie

Shboom Jan 26, 2007 09:56 PM

Hi Nancy and welcome to the DogHobbyist. I thinks great your giving this little a new forever home. I don't have a poodle either but don't let that stop you from asking questions about them.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

PoodleCoco Jan 27, 2007 10:10 AM

Thank you for welcoming me to the forum.
I brought her home yesterday, she is adorable, it looks like she is housebreak. But I bought her food(Evo Evolutionary Diet, all natural) but I think she doesn't like it. I want to buy her the best food, any suggestion so she could eat this food?

Shboom Jan 27, 2007 03:49 PM

Nancy I don't think you mentioned how old your new Poodle is? What is her name? When you can you'll have to post a picture or two... it's really easy if you have pictures on your computer. As to the food, Evo is a good choice for food. I use Wellness Simple Solution with my Shiba Inus because of allergies that my female Shiba has. Changing foods can be a trial and error adventure. If you know what food she was eating before you got her the best way would be to mix 2 parts old food to 1 part new food. Do this for a few days and then increase the amount of new food and decrease the amount of old food. Do this over a period of a couple of weeks until you have made the complete changeover to the new food. If she still doesn't eat don't force her and try not to make another food change to quickly. Changing surroundings can be traumatic for a dog and she needs time to adjust to the new home. Once settled in she may feel more like eating.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

PoodleCoco Jan 27, 2007 05:33 PM

Thanks Shboom for replying. My poodle's name is Coco, at the shelter they told me that it looks like she is 3 years old, she just had a litter and looks like she was left behind. At the shelter they don't give the best food and they could not give me any not even the name. But I think the previous owner used to give her human food because she is always waiting to see if I give her something(I don't think that's a good idea). The good think is that she already ate some of the Evo food this morning. Today she had her shots, have an appt. for grooming for next Saturday, since she was spayed and can't get wet yet.
Thanks again,
Nancy

Skaket Jan 27, 2007 09:25 PM

Nancy, shelters often feed food that is donated to them. The previous owner may have given her human food but even my Katie is looking for some of my food. Sometimes I can't resist those big round eyes looking up and me and I give in. I always make a point of feeding her before I eat so she'll eat her food and not fill up on mine. Sounds like Coco is going to be all set and real pretty looking after her visit to the groomer. Don't forget those pictures. I feel like I know Coco already.
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Mary Lou & Katie

Shboom Jan 28, 2007 12:09 AM

Nancy... sorry you can call me Bob I should add that to my signature..lol

Usually at a shelter they will use supermarket food like Purina Dog Chow or anything that is donated so I agree it might be difficult to know what she was eating. I would stick with the EVO for now. After reading this message Coco has a lot going on in her life... a litter... a spay... a new home. This would make any dog feel a little out of sorts. It's a good sign that she did eat some of the food. I'm thinking once she sees that she isn't going anywhere anytime soon the food won't be an issue in the future. Giving a dog people food depending on what it is would be okay as long as it was done as a reward and in moderation. It should never exceed 10% of the dogs food intake.
BTW... what color is Coco and what size is she? While I have Shiba Inus now... Years ago growing up we always had Poodles as my aunt raised them . My favorite was a Silver/Grey called Peppy. He was a miniature Poodle.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

PoodleCoco Jan 28, 2007 12:29 PM

Sorry I forgot to give out more details,Coco is a miniature poodle, she is white, yesterday she weight 6.6 she looks skinny, she ate twice her food, 1/4 cup each time and thats what the package says she should eat, I put more just to see if she would eat it. She will see the vet on Tuesday hope she gains some weight. I looked up inf. about dog food where a vet says that they should eat 30% or more of crude protein(Evo have 42%) 18% of Crude Fat(Evo have 22%) a & should have Vit E, Vit. C & Omega-3 Fatty acids. I will be asking the vet about her food. This is my first time we(Hubby, 2 boys 11 & 14 years old) have a dog.
I will try to post pictures of her after I groom her.

Shboom Jan 28, 2007 01:38 PM

Nancy... Coco sounds like a great little Poodle. Of the three sizes available I've always been a little partial to the miniature. To me they just seem a little sturdier. I agree Coco needs to put some weight on her. A 3 year old Miniature Poodle should be at about 16 pounds or so. Now that she has a good home and will be getting a proper diet this shouldn't be hard to do. Please continue to post updates about Coco and let us know what the vet says of her food. When you are ready to post some pictures of Coco let me know and I can help you with that.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Skaket Jan 27, 2007 09:15 PM

Thank you for welcoming me to the forum.
I brought her home yesterday, she is adorable, it looks like she is housebreak. But I bought her food(Evo Evolutionary Diet, all natural) but I think she doesn't like it. I want to buy her the best food, any suggestion so she could eat this food?

Nancy, there are many good dog foods out there. I feed my Shih Tzu Nutro Ultra Senior since she's ten years old. She has eaten other foods and did fine with them but finally decided on the Nutro. She may be a picky eater at first. If they make a wet food, you might want to try mixing just a little of that in with the dry. She may pick out the wet food at first but if she's hungry, she'll finish the dry as well. My Katie sometimes picks out the wet but eventually, will go back and finish the kibble.
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Mary Lou & Katie

PoodleCoco Jan 31, 2007 08:12 PM

I took Coco to the vet, she weight 6.12 & the vet says he wants to see her get to 7.5 lbs. She's eating her food now. She has adjusted to us very well. Coco is a nice poodle.
Thanks to all,
Nancy

Shboom Feb 01, 2007 06:05 PM

Nancy that's great that Coco is eating her food now and getting more comfortable with her surroundings... I knew she would come around. I'm sort of guessing now by the vet visit and his assesment that Coco is a Toy Poodle and not a Miniature? Poodles come in three sizes... Standard(large size) Miniature(medium size) and Toy(small size). Continued success to you and to Coco!
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

PoodleCoco Feb 02, 2007 09:19 PM

The vet didn't mention her to be a toy, I beleive she is a miniature. Can you help with this dought that I have, Coco was spayed last Thursday and now she's in heat, how can that be?
I called the shelter & this lady told me that she was in heat when they spayed her & since it last three weeks, thats why she is still in heat. I was not sure this was true so I call the vet & said the same, but I have look-up inf. & says that it could probably be that they left a part of her ovary in. She has bleed a little bit and whines a lot when she heres a dog. What do you think?

Shboom Feb 03, 2007 05:13 AM

Nancy the reason I think she is a toy Poodle is this statement you mentioned from your vet, "I took Coco to the vet, she weight 6.12 & the vet says he wants to see her get to 7.5 lbs. " That would be the right weight for a Toy. A Miniature Poodle would weigh in at around 15 to 16 pounds. As for Coco being spayed and in heat, I'm guessing the spay was done while she was in the shelter? The shelter is right in that a heat cycle can last up to three weeks but that may vary from breed to breed. I find it a little irresponsible of both the shelter and the vet that performed the spay if it was done while she was in heat. This can be done during heat, but it's always best to wait until the heat cycle is over to decrease the chance of any complications. Many veterinarians will refuse to spay a dog in heat because the blood vessels, ovaries and uterus are enlarged, can be easily torn and there tends to be more bleeding which may be the case with Coco. What I would recommend would be to make an appointment with your own vet and let him check Coco out. It's also not uncommon for a little bleeding or leaking of fluids after surgery but I would at least eliminate the possibility that they left part of the ovaries inside her. If she is a Toy she is very small and has tiny organs, it may have easily been missed.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

PoodleCoco Feb 03, 2007 09:35 AM

Thanks Bob for your reply.
Yes, at the shelter they told me she was in heat when they perform the surgery. But after her ovaries and uterus has been removed will she still be whinning when she heres a dog?

Shboom Feb 03, 2007 11:12 PM

Nancy much like an older male dog being neutered it will take a while for the testosterone to leave his system and I suspect it may be the same with a female. Once she is through this heat cycle and her female hormones have decreased she will most likely stop whining and getting excited when hearing another dog.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

sdtodd Feb 05, 2007 01:33 PM

Hi, Nancy. I have two poodles with all kinds of personality quirks and tummy troubles, so I thought I would chime in. If you measure her, measure from the shoulders.

I actually have two toys; one is a couple of inches taller than then other but still right at 10 inches at the withers, and the other is about 8 inches. The biggest difference is the weight. My six-year old weighs 11 lbs and my two-year old weighs 6.5 lbs. The younger one is all legs and is still skinny no matter what he eats. He is hyperactive though.

Neither of mine can tolerate ANY people food. They only eat Lamb and Rice, usually IAMS, dry dog food. Anything else causes a colitis attack complete with bloody stool. They have both done it at the kennel where they are rarely left, due to stress, even though I took their food for them. They have to take medication (Flagyl) to stop it.

The first time it happened, I thought my older one had eaten glass or something and I rushed him to the pet hospital thinking they were going to have to put him to sleep! I was relieved it was just the food.

I give them either IAMS hard biscuits or organic dog treats (still hard) only as rewards too or they get sick.

Just thought I would throw that in there in case she has a problem with any of the food.

Good Luck!

Diane

I love my poodles, frogs....oh and my kids!

Windspirit Feb 03, 2007 07:08 PM

Another way to see if she is a Mini or a Toy is measure her height. 10 inches or under is a Toy. Or she could be an oversized toy. 10-15 is a miniature.

Skaket Feb 01, 2007 08:49 PM

>>I took Coco to the vet, she weight 6.12 & the vet says he wants to see her get to 7.5 lbs. She's eating her food now. She has adjusted to us very well. Coco is a nice poodle.
>>Thanks to all,
>>Nancy

That's wonderful news, Nancy! Perhaps you would like to join us some Thursday night at ten o'clock ET for Small Dog Chat.
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Mary Lou & Katie

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