Two Questions

[~Jilly~]

We've had Bella nearly 6 days now and all is going well.

She doesn't really like being brushed very much but we're perservering with it and hopefully she will grow to like it

Anyway, the questions are - does anyone have a chart or rough guide list of puppy weight progress? I know all puppies will vary but there must be a rough guide of how much weight they should expect to put on each week for example? Bella is 10 weeks old tomorrow and she weighs just under 11 pounds.

Second question is how to stop her running full pelt into our patio door? She keeps doing it and she runs so fast all excited bless her, she hits it with some force and you can hear the bump and then she yelps and runs back to you, it then takes some encouragement to get her to go back through the door. Then just as she seems happy to go through it she has another running into it incident and the cycle begins again. I hate it when it happens, I don't like to hear her yelp but even though we call her to stop her she's normally running that fast I'm not sure she'd stop even if she understands why we're calling her back.

[Annette]

Could you try putting some stickers on the glass at around her eye level.

That's what my MIL did to stop her doing this (though not at full pelt, you understand!) and we have done it too for our son and his friends. It's easily done even when you understand the concept of glass etc.

You can get some really pretty stickers.

No help with the weight thing except that there has been some discussion about this recently. You could do a search. I think the outcome was that some pups are bigger than others, and there is no rough guide. Just go by appearance; if you can feel her ribs but not see them she is probably fine. though this may not apply to such young pups.

[PennyB]

Mine were both weighed regularly at the vets (and they recorded it each time), which is also a good way to socialize them to the vets---mine love the place because they have had good experiences there (they try to break in when the place is closed).

I think its a case of them gaining weight progressively (Wilf's was in small amounts and then when he hit 5-6 months he had a big spurt in weight and his legs!). As long as they are steadily gaining weight then there's nothing to worry about and all pups are different. My adult cockers are 10-11kg in weight and are fine.

[~Jilly~]

Could you try putting some stickers on the glass at around her eye level.

That's what my MIL did to stop her doing this (though not at full pelt, you understand!) and we have done it too for our son and his friends. It's easily done even when you understand the concept of glass etc.

You can get some really pretty stickers.

No help with the weight thing except that there has been some discussion about this recently. You could do a search. I think the outcome was that some pups are bigger than others, and there is no rough guide. Just go by appearance; if you can feel her ribs but not see them she is probably fine. though this may not apply to such young pups.

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I've got a vision of your MIL running full pelt into a patio door now

We did think of some stickers, hubby said he's seen them in people's houses before but we're not really sure where you'd buy them from? I know it's easy to walk into them, hubby has done it and one of our young nephews but no-one else does it so fast and she seems to do it over and over again bless her.

Do you know where your MIL got the stickers from?

On the weight issue, I know what they say about the ribs but I gather that's really for adult dogs. I find the food packaging guide a little confusing, they say for her age/size she should be eating 80-200 grams of food - well there's an awful lot of difference between 80 and 200 grams so I'm trying to fall somewhere in the middle it's all a little vague really.

[sarahb2206]

  Patio doors!!!!!  Bramble took quite a few whacks on the head to work out they were there, but after a few days, some rain and closing the doors on her to get her used to being outside for a minute or so, the windows turned a sort of smeary-brown colour, so the need for stickers never arose!!!!!    Now, everytime I clean the windows, Bramble seems to make a point of making them dirty again - even if the doors are open!!!!!!!

Its early days yet with Bella, just give her time and she will soon suddenly realise that you can't walk through glass.(or run!!)....... then she will spot the other puppy outside, who copies her every move...........!!!!!!!!    

With the brushing, with Bramble, we just slipped in the brush when she was dopey and having a stroke and tickle - she loves being groomed now - but we let her chew the comb - to stop her trying to get the brush - its a huge game to her!!!  

[~Jilly~]

Mine were both weighed regularly at the vets (and they recorded it each time), which is also a good way to socialize them to the vets---mine love the place because they have had good experiences there (they try to break in when the place is closed).

I think its a case of them gaining weight progressively (Wilf's was in small amounts and then when he hit 5-6 months he had a big spurt in weight and his legs!). As long as they are steadily gaining weight then there's nothing to worry about and all pups are different. My adult cockers are 10-11kg in weight and are fine.

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that's quite a good idea actually. I noted in the vet's the scales are in the waiting room and it said you are free to weigh them on there.

I guess that way, they're keeping an eye on the weight progress too and would be able to advise if she's eating too much/too little.

[Annette]

MIL bought them to stop HER bashing into the window!!! Buddy's never been to their house yet!

She bought some lovely ones from Lakeland, they are real (pink) flowers in clear plastic. Each about an inch in diameter. Think they might be made for card making, but they look quite nice on our windows!

By the way, Buddy at 4.5 months weighed 9Kg nearly 2 weeks ago, that's almost as much as some fully grown cockers. So you can see how much they can vary!!

[Sue H]

I despaired of finding a sticker for my patio doors, so I made one with the plastic coating that you can cover books with, and put some little glittery stars in in, cut it in a circle and clapped it on the door!  We have now got a craft shop in town, and they sell peel-off stickers which are nice, so low down on the doors (ie at Cocker eye-level) there are butterflies !!

Mind you, they blodge their noses on the glass so much when they are peering out at the garden that I fail to see how they can mistake an open window for a shut one, given how smeared they get !!