Due to the conditions my pup was living in, I took him home at 5 1/2 weeks instead of waiting until 8 weeks.
[I do not believe he would have survived until the obligatory 8 week official release]
He had to be rushed to the vet ER Friday night due to explosive watery diarrhea, lack of appetite and refusal to drink water.
He came up clean for all parasites, [*that* shocked me] save "one small coccidia" [the vet's words] and was negative for Parvo although the test strip showed 2 *barely* discernible VERY pale "dots" that he attributed to a "false positive" from the puppy shot he'd just received that Wednesday.
He was given sub-q fluids, Amoxicillin and some kind of tummy medicine for the diarrhea.
He is eating his "bland diet" ravenously and I've started to re-add his puppy food to it, which he will also eat dry.
He *was* drinking a lot all the time and now just drinks occasionally.
[possibly "needed" the water before and now the rice/chicken contains enough moisture that's he's not always thirsty?]
The diagnosis was ~either~ Coronavirus *or* a reaction to the milk the "breeders" said to put on his food the first night, which he gorged himself on.
He seems to be getting better and his stools went from "chocolate pudding" to "firm, formed chocolate pudding" fairly quickly.
He is active and a little hellion but his gait seems "off" to me.
At 6 weeks, should he be still be sort of puppy-wobbly?
He can run and pounce but sometimes wavers or stumbles, especially when sleepy or having just awakened.
I have never had *any* pup this young before and have no idea how they should be moving at a given age.
Is 8.75 pounds a "normal weight" for 6 week + 2days old Doberman, considering the dehydration factor of Friday's ordeal?
He weighed 6.5 last Wednesday, prior to that.
The "breeders" [yes, there's a barely suppressed snarl of disgust behind that word] have me feeding him Purina One puppy chow.
I *want* to start him on Canine Caviar Chicken & Millet instead, ASAP.
Also, are they fairly flexible and sturdy?
My Portuguese Podengo Medio "dominates" with him by basically flattening him to the floor, sometimes.
[she mothers him and is teaching him bite inhibition, etc, since his own mother was taken from him at 4 weeks of age to "wean him"]
She cleans and tends to him which is amazing since he's decided her long, elegantly plumed tail was put on this earth solely for his amusement.
Sorry this is so long and rambling but I'm worried sick for him and not sleeping much due to my compulsion to watch over him every second of every day.
[crate training is a bust, so far....he SCREAMS and claws like he's suffering the tortures of the damned and I don't want to re-stress him back into the diarrhea phase]
I have fed him in it, put his water in it and a bunch of toys and he'll go in but as soon as that door closes.....the conniptions begin.
Basically, I just need advice and reassurance.
The youngest pup I ever had was my childhood Poodle who was 8 weeks old and already independent and of all the Dobermans I've ever had, the youngest was 10 months old.
This "puppy paranoia" is new to me................:lala:
[I do not believe he would have survived until the obligatory 8 week official release]
He had to be rushed to the vet ER Friday night due to explosive watery diarrhea, lack of appetite and refusal to drink water.
He came up clean for all parasites, [*that* shocked me] save "one small coccidia" [the vet's words] and was negative for Parvo although the test strip showed 2 *barely* discernible VERY pale "dots" that he attributed to a "false positive" from the puppy shot he'd just received that Wednesday.
He was given sub-q fluids, Amoxicillin and some kind of tummy medicine for the diarrhea.
He is eating his "bland diet" ravenously and I've started to re-add his puppy food to it, which he will also eat dry.
He *was* drinking a lot all the time and now just drinks occasionally.
[possibly "needed" the water before and now the rice/chicken contains enough moisture that's he's not always thirsty?]
The diagnosis was ~either~ Coronavirus *or* a reaction to the milk the "breeders" said to put on his food the first night, which he gorged himself on.
He seems to be getting better and his stools went from "chocolate pudding" to "firm, formed chocolate pudding" fairly quickly.
He is active and a little hellion but his gait seems "off" to me.
At 6 weeks, should he be still be sort of puppy-wobbly?
He can run and pounce but sometimes wavers or stumbles, especially when sleepy or having just awakened.
I have never had *any* pup this young before and have no idea how they should be moving at a given age.
Is 8.75 pounds a "normal weight" for 6 week + 2days old Doberman, considering the dehydration factor of Friday's ordeal?
He weighed 6.5 last Wednesday, prior to that.
The "breeders" [yes, there's a barely suppressed snarl of disgust behind that word] have me feeding him Purina One puppy chow.
I *want* to start him on Canine Caviar Chicken & Millet instead, ASAP.
Also, are they fairly flexible and sturdy?
My Portuguese Podengo Medio "dominates" with him by basically flattening him to the floor, sometimes.
[she mothers him and is teaching him bite inhibition, etc, since his own mother was taken from him at 4 weeks of age to "wean him"]
She cleans and tends to him which is amazing since he's decided her long, elegantly plumed tail was put on this earth solely for his amusement.
Sorry this is so long and rambling but I'm worried sick for him and not sleeping much due to my compulsion to watch over him every second of every day.
[crate training is a bust, so far....he SCREAMS and claws like he's suffering the tortures of the damned and I don't want to re-stress him back into the diarrhea phase]
I have fed him in it, put his water in it and a bunch of toys and he'll go in but as soon as that door closes.....the conniptions begin.
Basically, I just need advice and reassurance.
The youngest pup I ever had was my childhood Poodle who was 8 weeks old and already independent and of all the Dobermans I've ever had, the youngest was 10 months old.
This "puppy paranoia" is new to me................:lala: