Random Puppy Questions

[Baxter Tiberius]

Couple of general questions for everyone:

1) Baxter laps up bath water like he's dying of thirst, and that water is full of soap. Of course I try to stop him repeatedly but no doubt he gets entire gulps of soap water down. After his bath he puked, and I know it was from the soapy water. How am I supposed to clean his face when his mouth is wide open ready to drink a gallon of soap water the entire time? How do you all do this? Im too afraid to get his eyes irritated, etc too.

2) He has begun biting skin now. For awhile he knew to stop when it was my skin. Its pointless to say "No". There's no reaction whatsoever to it. I have purposely avoided using my hands on his face or encouraging hand to "open mouth" action of any kind. Is there any trick to this? I don't want him in the habit of biting skin. I know dogs can tell the difference.

3) He is getting little red bumps in various places that he didn't originally have. He had a series of them on his lower belly which the Vet put Gold Bond medicated powder. But he's got a few larger pink bumps on his neck and side of his face now. How can you tell if its just heat rash or if its something else? The vet told me "They get these things all over, its nothing". I don't want to put powder on something that's an allergic reaction. That will just agitate won't it?

4) I used wet wipes on his face today for the first time. What a waste of effort LOL. He wouldn't let me do anything. Wanted the wipe in his mouth. Even after using it, I saw nothing on the wet wipe. It doesn't seem to do much for cleaning in my opinion (?). I expected to see some discoloration or something. He's got a slightly stained face from shoving his entire head in his wet food bowl. Arent wet wipes supposed to clean?

5) Its true you arent supposed to brush a bulldogs teeth until the adult teeth come in, correct? What about gum health?

6) What's a safe food treat for a puppy? The breeder told me to hold off on carrots and normal Bulldog treats because he's still so young. I dont want to give him processed treats in a bag. How about turkey ? Or chicken?

Im sure I'll have a million more. Six for now.

Thank you.

Kevin

 

[Scueva]

As far as the treats try dehydrated treats such as beef liver. All natural no additives , the biting I curbed with listerine for both of mine duke was a little more hard headed he seemed to like the taste. Run listerine on whatever he isn't suppose to chew such as your arm then on his tounge say no and redirect to a toy- kinda inconvenient cause you have to have listerine near by to catch him in the act but believe me it works. The bumps sound like an allergic reaction to something- I use to wipe duchess off with hypoallergenic baby wipes and they would give her bumps so I stopped using them and just use a damp washcloth. I start brushing from day one to get them use to it. Good luck getting him not to drink the bath water- lol.

 

[Lisabear123]

I use bitter apple spray to deter unwanted biting, along w a stern no. I also ignored Brie when she got to nippy...letting her know playtime is over if I disagree w what she is doing.
Puppy chew toys like nylabone and kong puppy chew toys helped keep her chewing less on me.


For treats, When she was younger i didn't give her a ton of treats, i did however give her a ton when i started training her which was at about 13 weeks or so..i gave her her dehydrated liver treats and for high value training, cheese. I'm thinking you can look at the ingredients of puppy treats and just make sure it doesn't have a lot if crap in them or words you can't pronounce..lol


Wipes in the beginning I used gentle hypo-allergenic wipes by natures miracle as well as gentle wipes made by kong. To wipe her face I also used just a warm wash cloth. If she has folds, make sure you dry them a bit after wiping. I'm not sure about using witch hazel so young, but I now use witch hazel 2x per week to clean her folds as it is self drying. Oh, plenty of times w wiping her, nothing was on the wipes by her face was cleaner.


The bumps sound like some kind of allergy issue? On his face as in chin area? If so that can just be growing puppy acne. The experts on crazy rasht bumpy things will post more here for you soon I'm sure! :D


My vet told me not to worry about tooth brushing til she was older, good chew toys will help gums in the meantime.

hope any of this helps! [MENTION=9462]Baxter Tiberius[/MENTION]

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi, here we go question 1: When you bath Baxter, do you keep the plug in the tub? So is it filling up a little and he's drinking this water? We don't put the plug in and we switched our old shower head with a hand held spray shower head that has different settings, this has made it a lot easier to bathe the dogs, it's easier to rinse them, and much easier on your back.

2: when our two were puppies they would nip at us, and I would say ouch really loud or use a jar of pennies, to divert their attention. How oldis Baxter? We also made our puppies bite proof since we have 6 kids under the age of 5 in our family, they are all cousins, and I didn't want them to nip the kids, so from day one I placed the side of my hand in their mouths, I gave them their toys and took them away from them, I did the same with their food, I have them their food, and as they were eating it, I took it away from them, same with their treats, I would make them sit for their treats, and keep my hand flat when giving them treats, and I taught my grandson to do the same thing. I handled their ears, and tail, cut their nails all from a very young age, so they would be used to it, and if the kids did take food or treats or gave them treats, they wouldn't nip them. They are really gentle with the kids, and have never bitten. I can put my Hands in their mouth and take away anything they are chewing on, and never a nip. They do eventually outgrow nipping anyway, but you can also divert them with the shaking of coins, or other loud noise, or diverting their chewing with a toy.

3: you can try giving Baxter some Benadryl, to see if clears up, if it does it's probably an allergic reaction of some sort, that's what it sounds like, if it's a heat rash, the Gold Bond Powder will help clear it up, but either way if its allergy or heat rash related the powder will not irritate it or agitate it more, it will just help with the itchiness. I can't remember the formula for how much Benadryl to take, it goes by weight, so you should ask your vet before giving him any. There are some members that have posted the dose on here before, I can't remember who they were, but maybe somebody who does know will come along.

4: We do use unscented sensitive skin baby wipes on our guys, on their faces, eyes, and ears, and I find that they work, but you can also use a wet face cloth with a tiny little bit of soap on it, wring it out, and wipe his face. We bath our two once every two weeks.

5: I haven't heard that before that you can't brush a bulldogs teeth until they have their adult teeth, but it could be true, just not sure. I did start to brush their teeth just a few times when they were puppies, just to get them used to the idea, at that point they were much more interested in eating the beef flavoured toothpaste. They are 17 months old now, and I usually brush their teeth a couple of times a week, and I've had them done by my groomer once, she scales their teeth and brushes them, and I like her doing them because she does a good job, and I don't have to put them to sleep for her to do them, like the vet would do. My guys let the groomer clean their teeth, so it's easy.

6: for treats we give our guys natural snacks like strawberries, cut up apples, bananas, cheese strings, plain unsweetened yogurt, green beans, and sometimes cottage cheese, but be careful not to give too much dairy, as it can cause diarrhea. I used to give them baby carrots, but stopped because my guys don't chew their food, they tend to inhale it, and so the carrots were going in like carrots, and coming out like carrot bullets. Lol. I have given them cooked carrots though and they like that. I don't think there's too much bullies don't like. I also put 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar in their drinking water everyday, it has many benefits such as it is a natural anti inflammatory, and it kills the bad bacteria in the body, so it boosts the immune system, it helps with bad breath, and also balances the natural Ph levels in the body.

I hope this helps you, and good luck with Baxter, he's super cute.

 

[Marine91]

You have been give great info by those above me. You need to establish you are the leader with Baxter so he knows his place. For biting we use a firm no or ow and redirect to something that is acceptable to chew on. You can also use a spray bottle of water or a can or jug with some pennies in it to get his attention quickly. Most of all be persistent and consistent so he does not get confused. All bullies go through the shark baby phase and it does get better with work

As for the bumps it cod be caused by food or something I the environmentsuch as laundry detergent if you recenly washed bedding. A lot of bullies are allergice to belach as well.

 

[Lokismom]

You have some great advice here! Redirect his biting to a toy or let a higher pitched squeal when he gets you then say no. As the vet said it is something they get as far as the rash goes but to save you lots of time and money pay attention to what he is doing is is it soap, food, grass, heat that is giving him the rash?

 

[Lokismom]

Oh and stick with the wiping of the wrinkles touch his feet and ears often as well as his bum since your going to become very familiar with those areas makes life easy when they tough it out

 

[Ashleym]

The others gave you great advise.

When you give him a bath use a puppy or baby wash nothing harsh. Also you should only be bathing him once every 2 weeks at the most or you might irritate his skin causing dryness ect... Do a final vinegar rinse after you rinse off the shampoo. Do not rinse off the vinegar let rest for 5 mins then dry. It sounds weird but he will smell good longer and the coat will look great.

Benadryl 1 mg per pound for your baby at 8 wks is a bit young better to ask your Vet

Royal Canine is not a very good food for bullies. Please read the section in Food and Nutrition Royal Canine is a 2 star food (too much fillers dogs can be allergic too) causing lots of health issues. Most on this site will feed Fromm Puppy, Blue Buffalo, NVI, Earthborn,Ect 5 & 6 star food. Also bullies tends to be allergic to Chicken so stay away from that as a protein. All Bullies are different and will have different reaction to the ingredients. Once you find the right food Baxter should not smell, have tear stains or skin issues.

Only use hypoallergenic no scent baby wipes or wet towel gently wipe folds daily

 

[Baxter Tiberius]

Royal Canine is not a very good food for bullies. Please read the section in Food and Nutrition Royal Canine is a 2 star food (too much fillers dogs can be allergic too) causing lots of health issues.

Damn breeder....

Thanks everyone.

Kevin

 

[Ashleym]

Damn breeder....

Thanks everyone.

Kevin

Actually I think like 70% of the bulldogs on this forum was on Royal Canine from the breeder. Royal Canine actually give breeders a break in cost to feed their dogs their brand.

Fergus came home on Royal Canine and was stinky had yeast issues and runny poop once we changed he no longer stinks, solid nuggets and is gaining wait nicely.

 

[Lokismom]

Better food for sure might try and avoid chicken since it seems pretty common for food allergies in our bullies Loki is no exception

 

[Pati Robins]

As you recieved some great advice already i just want to add -regarding biting -dogs are not born with a knowledge of English language -hes a puppy therefore he will learn by constant repetition of the word -yes dogs know the difference -but when they are pups they usually want to chew everything -it will pass ,keep a toy handy and offer it to the pup when he starts biting you -if he start to chew on the toy praise him
If you wipe your boy folds daily they will stay clean-wet wipe don't have to be dirty once used ,if he have tear stains already keep at it few times a day -they will eventually go,also again please red up on food ratings as a good food its a must for bully (to ensure healthy growth skin etc )
It might sound silly but get yourself a "perfect puppy" book -it is a great book with loads of training , caring tips for a puppy owner -even tho we had dogs all my life i still like to read those books and this one is just great