Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey folks,
First time poster - looking for some Lhasa Apso fellowship.

My wife and I just got a puppy named Copper on Friday. She is about 8 weeks old. She is great and we are having a great time with her. Just wanted to post a few comments and see if they are normal behavior.

Potty training is going well. I take her outside, and at first she wants to play, but if I stand there and ignore her for a few minutes then she usually gets to business. Do they ever get better at this? I set her in the same spot every time and tell her to "Go Potty", and really I only wait for 5 or 10 minutes, but it was raining this morning and not very fun...

We are also having a hard time getting her to eat. We got some of her old brand dog food from where we got her, and we mix it half and half with the new kind of dog food. We can get her to eat a few kibbles, but we wish she would eat more. She doesn't seem to like to eat out of the bowl, either. We have to set it on the floor kibble by kibble for her to eat it. We have tried to add some water and that helped a bit, but she is still not eating enough. I have heard about mixing cottage cheese or chicken broth with the food, but I have also heard that make finicky eaters. Any advice?

Thanks!

Hey folks,
First time poster - looking for some Lhasa Apso fellowship.

My wife and I just got a puppy named Copper on Friday. She is about 8 weeks old. She is great and we are having a great time with her. Just wanted to post a few comments and see if they are normal behavior.

Potty training is going well. I take her outside, and at first she wants to play, but if I stand there and ignore her for a few minutes then she usually gets to business. Do they ever get better at this? I set her in the same spot every time and tell her to "Go Potty", and really I only wait for 5 or 10 minutes, but it was raining this morning and not very fun...

We are also having a hard time getting her to eat. We got some of her old brand dog food from where we got her, and we mix it half and half with the new kind of dog food. We can get her to eat a few kibbles, but we wish she would eat more. She doesn't seem to like to eat out of the bowl, either. We have to set it on the floor kibble by kibble for her to eat it. We have tried to add some water and that helped a bit, but she is still not eating enough. I have heard about mixing cottage cheese or chicken broth with the food, but I have also heard that make finicky eaters. Any advice?
Thanks!

Hi and welcome to the boards. I don't have a Lhasa Apso but do have a Shih Tzu...also a small dog. Congratulations on your new little one, Copper. I'll bet she's a real cutie. At eight weeks she's still a little young to expect too much from her right now but it's great that she's doing well with the potting training. Sometimes the smaller breeds are more difficut to house train. Taking her to the same general spot and establishing a routine is very good.

There are good quality dog foods out there to choose from. If you start mixing people food with it now, you'll probably have to continue. She's also still very young. You might want to feed her very small amounts more often and see how that works. I was lucky with my Katie...she's was Miss Piggy...err I mean an eager eater from the start but she was twelve weeks old when I got her. LOL Also you haven't had her too long so she's probably still all excited and of course in new surroundings. I'm sure Copper will settle down soon. Good luck you to and your wife and hope we'll be seeing a picture of Copper soon. If you have any problems with showing a picture, just give a shout.

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Mary Lou & Katie

Yes, I really need to get some pics posted.

Thanks for the advice. My wife is staying home with her this week, and I will be staying home next week, and then she will need to adjust to our work schedules, so we are in kind of a rush to get her in a routine. She has been great with everything besides this eating problem.

Yes, I really need to get some pics posted.

Thanks for the advice. My wife is staying home with her this week, and I will be staying home next week, and then she will need to adjust to our work schedules, so we are in kind of a rush to get her in a routine. She has been great with everything besides this eating problem.

Great, we'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures. Having someone home for a couple of weeks should help to get her in a routine. Of course, she may stray a bit after you go back to work but will pick up a routine as she gets a little older.

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Mary Lou & Katie

Picky puppies sometimes are just not feeling well. I'd add some probiotics to the diet for a few days and see if that helps things out. Don't resort to coaxing too much to feed. Sometimes a brand change can help, but I'd stick to dog food until your pup is eating properly again.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

Thanks for the reply!

Actually, Copper had her first vet appointment today. The vet said that it's not unusual for a dog of Copper's size and age to not eat that much... he said he would expect probably around 10 kiblets a day. We are getting about 15-20 I would estimate, so we are doing pretty good!