# Questions on Charlie (toy poo mix)



## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

You say he's 4 months old and out grew his crate? It sounds like it's time for a bigger crate. Keep him in the crate all night and when you can't supervise him, Vegas had a excited pee problem for a bit, but I would take him out of his crate and literally RUN him to the door and got him outside.

I also taught him to potty on command, saying 'Go potty!' when he went and he got so good at that, that unless we're in our yard he won't go unless being told to unless its urgent. Boy do I feel like a jerk when we go on a couple hour hike and I forget to tell my dog to potty himelf!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

He is probably smelling where other dogs have peed and pooped outside, and is following suit - tell him how brilliantly clever he is, and don't forget to carry poo bags!

On the peeing inside - the first thing I would do is make sure there is nothing physically wrong. If he is peeing more than usual, or more frequently than usual, he could have a mild urinary infection which would be quickly sorted by your vet. Otherwise it sounds to me as if it could be excitement, or submissive urination. At 4 months a puppy has only partial control over his bladder - if he is very excited, he may simply forget that he is meant to go to the pad. And in dog etiquette peeing is the ultimate politeness - "I am just a helpless little puppy, and you are much bigger than me, please don't hurt me!" Either way, you are doing the right thing by being calm and unfussed by it. Check there is no physical cause, keep on praising and rewarding him for using the pad or going outside and remind him where to go when he is excited or distracted, and I am sure he will improve as he gets older and gains more control.

Sleeping on your bed - your bed is comfy, and he gets to snuggle all night with his family. Crying gets him up to sleep with you. If you don't want him sleeping with you, don't give in. If you don't mind, lift him up before he cries, or ask him for a polite "Please!" behaviour like a Sit or a Down, to avoid teaching him that making a fuss gets him what he wants. Both of my dogs have slept on my bed since they were pups - it was so much easier to wake up and get them outside when they needed to pee, and saved sleepless nights trying to settle them elsewhere! 

I personally would not do Rabies and neuter so close together - in fact there is a lot of evidence now that delaying neutering until the dog is fully adult is better for them. The decision will depend upon your circumstances, though - useful summary of the research here: Long-Term Health Risks and Benefits Associated with Spay / Neuter in Dogs


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Fluffyspoos said:


> You say he's 4 months old and out grew his crate? It sounds like it's time for a bigger crate. Keep him in the crate all night and when you can't supervise him, Vegas had a excited pee problem for a bit, but I would take him out of his crate and literally RUN him to the door and got him outside.
> 
> I also taught him to potty on command, saying 'Go potty!' when he went and he got so good at that, that unless we're in our yard he won't go unless being told to unless its urgent. Boy do I feel like a jerk when we go on a couple hour hike and I forget to tell my dog to potty himelf!


What I mean by "outgrew his crate" is that he is not interested in sleeping there anymore, he is more interested in sleeping either in his own bed or our bed.

I will copy your "go potty" command from now on. Thanks so much for the suggestions.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

This morning he pees on the floor and I think this is because just like fjm said, he has no control over his bladder yet, plus the fact that he slept in our bed and he couldn't get to his pad to do his morning routine (pees/poos) as usual when he sleeps in his own bed. It is our fault. Tonite I will encourage Charlie to sleep in his own bed.

Another problem that I forgot to mention, Charlie has no appetite lately for his usual meals. We fed him kibble (BilJac) mix with Innova canned food mix with Stella Chewy Duck. Usually he loves this and will finish it. Since Saturday night, he hasn't been finishing his food. Last night, he only finish a quarter of his usual portion. Since DH made hotdog and Charlie loves the sausage so I cut them in pieces and mix it with his usual food and he finished them last night. DH not sure about this though. I read here somewhere that sausage is ok to give to the dog but DH is uncertain about it and now I'm uncertain about it too. Please advise us.

This morning he doesn't touch his food. I plan to take him for a rabies shot today but I won't do that since he hasn't eat. Should I take him to the vet and have them check on Charlie? This is due to he is not eating and I will ask him to check for the urination infection too. Please advise.

Thanks so so much!!!


Kind regards,
Charlie and Joelly


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

Joelly said:


> What I mean by "outgrew his crate" is that he is not interested in sleeping there anymore, he is more interested in sleeping either in his own bed or our bed..


Who is in charge here, you or the poodle puppy? I might sound funny, but you should really be making the decisions and rules, not him. Otherwise, he might turn into a little tyrant. If you want him to sleep in his crate (and I highly suggest it at this young age), then he should sleep in his crate. You could always start out in bed, then move him to the crate at some point in the night. This way, YOU decide when it's time to get out of bed, not him. He might whine a little in the beginning, but if you ignore it he will soon learn that this is the routine.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

Joelly said:


> This morning he pees on the floor and I think this is because just like fjm said, he has no control over his bladder yet, plus the fact that he slept in our bed and he couldn't get to his pad to do his morning routine (pees/poos) as usual when he sleeps in his own bed. It is our fault. Tonite I will encourage Charlie to sleep in his own bed.
> 
> Another problem that I forgot to mention, Charlie has no appetite lately for his usual meals. We fed him kibble (BilJac) mix with Innova canned food mix with Stella Chewy Duck. Usually he loves this and will finish it. Since Saturday night, he hasn't been finishing his food. Last night, he only finish a quarter of his usual portion. Since DH made hotdog and Charlie loves the sausage so I cut them in pieces and mix it with his usual food and he finished them last night. DH not sure about this though. I read here somewhere that sausage is ok to give to the dog but DH is uncertain about it and now I'm uncertain about it too. Please advise us.
> 
> ...


It's possible that he is teething. Their teeth can really hurt when the permanent ones are coming in. When my mini was teething I fed him some softer foods like canned dog food, scrambled egg, etc. Or I soaked his kibble in water.

You are right to hold off on the rabies vaccine. Vaccines should never be given if there is a possibility the dog is sick. I would wait until he's feeling better. Actually, if it were me, I'd wait until he was 5 or 6 months old--that is what my breeder recommended. But it depeneds on your vet and where you live. My vet let me wait until my mini poodle was 5 months.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

PaddleAddict said:


> Who is in charge here, you or the poodle puppy? I might sound funny, but you should really be making the decisions and rules, not him. Otherwise, he might turn into a little tyrant. If you want him to sleep in his crate (and I highly suggest it at this young age), then he should sleep in his crate. You could always start out in bed, then move him to the crate at some point in the night. This way, YOU decide when it's time to get out of bed, not him. He might whine a little in the beginning, but if you ignore it he will soon learn that this is the routine.


Yes, I can't help smiling when I read this because you're right. It's true that lately we indulged him but he acts so different since last week. He used to be so cheerful and happy. Lately though he sleeps more often than playing. He even ignore his favorite toys. Instead of eating, he keeps chewing his bullstick. He is more clingy to us now more than ever. Clingy not to play but just to be pick up and lay his head on my shoulder. He is definitely not himself and we can't figure out why.

What to do?


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

You know, it could be teething, but I always like to be cautious. I would take him to the vet for a checkup and tell the vet about his recent behavior changes, not playing as much, sleeping a lot, etc. Just in case he might be sick.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Please don't feed your dog sausage! The high fat content could easily cause pancreatitis - it's extremely painful and often fatal.

Go to your vet. Something could be wrong if he's "not himself".

You're expecting a lot out of a baby. My dog is 8 months old. He was housetrained for overnight, but at about 6 months old he had three accidents in the house - each was in the morning just minutes before we got out of bed. We went back to crating at night to adjust his potty schedule to fit our sleep schedule! He has been crated at night ever since. Unless I'm up late and let him outside after 1:00. Then he can sleep loose in the house.

In another month or so he'll get another chance to be loose in the house at night. I hope he "gets" it. I sleep better when he is near me.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would definitely see your vet - but hold off on the vaccination and neutering. It could be something as simple as a sore mouth through teething, especially as he wants to chew his bully stick, but much better to check and be sure. You can make a salt free broth by simmering some chicken, and use that to moisten his kibble - with a few scraps of chicken to make it more interesting. But be aware that he could quickly have you poaching chicken in cream and wine with a hint of tarragon, with a side order of quail eggs in aspic, if you let him! As others have said, you need to decide the house rules and be consistent about them, or he will do the sensible thing and make up rules to suit himself!


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

tortoise said:


> Please don't feed your dog sausage! The high fat content could easily cause pancreatitis - it's extremely painful and often fatal.
> 
> Go to your vet. Something could be wrong if he's "not himself".
> 
> ...


About the sausage, got it!! I'm so sorry to Charlie, I hope he is ok. We never feed him this before, just one sausage yesterday mix with his kibble and canned food.

Definitely will go to the vet either today or Saturday.

Yes I realize that he is still a baby but he was so much wonderful without us even have to fuss too much. This is what confuse me.

We don't let Charlie loose in the house. He has a play pen plus his crate with the door open to this play pen. He is in there in the week days and he uses his pad when he is there. We lay a pad inside the play pen. Lately though, I find him squirt a bit here and there in his crate (especially when I pass by or when I said hi to him and tell him what a good boy he is from remain quiet in his crate chewing his bullstick). He would squirt even when the crate is open for him to go to the pad nearby. He never squirt before.

At night, he is usually in his crate in our bedroom but we left the crate door open so he has access to his pad. This works wonderfully well. Even when he no longer wants to sleep in his crate, he still using his pad in our room at night time. Only lately, he has been sleeping with us, he is asking this out of the ordinary, he never does this before. Usually we put him on his bed and he is fine and sleeps right away. Lately, when we put him on his bed, after awhile we thought he is asleep so we sleep too, then I guess he would crawl under our bed and cried and whined then if we let him be, he fell asleep then cried again when he wake at night or at dawn.

I'm worry sick and I'm at work. Feeling like I want to just go home and go to the vet straight away. :argh:


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

fjm said:


> But be aware that he could quickly have you poaching chicken in cream and wine with a hint of tarragon, with a side order of quail eggs in aspic, if you let him! As others have said, you need to decide the house rules and be consistent about them, or he will do the sensible thing and make up rules to suit himself!


Lol. So true. Definitely will enforce the house rules on him. It is tough to do when he looks like he is sick and I have no clue. Definitely today going to the vet.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

When I said sausage, I meant hotdog. Is it still okay or definitely not?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

A small quantity of hot dog should be OK as an occasional treat, although I avoid them because of the high salt/sugar/preservatives content they often have, but it is probably not a very good thing to give him as a major part of a meal. You would be safer with plain meat - no salt, no onion, no additives, and not too much cooked fat. But just once, mixed in with his usual food, it is unlikely to have done him any serious harm.


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