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Newb here, have an 8 week old and a few questions

2075 Views 20 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  Tricia
Hello all, my very first post.

I did a bad thing I realize now which is buy a Doberman about an hour from where I live from a "BYB" in Tucson, AZ. He's 8 weeks old today, I'll be taking him in to the town's favorite vet for a full physical, etc. I hope to post pictures soon. My kids come up with a name every hour and since I'll be spending more time with him than probably all 7 of my kids combined, I said I'll take my time naming him with their best ones.

My 5 year old is sticking with the one name he came up with that I like the most and he'll probably be named, "Diesel".

I've had him for a couple days now, I notice he sleeps A LOT. Is this pretty normal? Been a while since my last puppy... I just don't remember my old German Shepherd sleeping so much. He'll be up for an hour, sleep for an hour for the last two days. Very excited to be awake when he's awake and will play very hard with my wife's long haired chihuahua. Maybe he's expending so much energy that it's making him sleepy sooner, I wonder? It'll be my first question for my vet for sure. Just curious if this sounded familiar to the experience owner-types here. Around 9pm, he's ready to call it a night and we'll sleep together until 6am. Then he's up for 2 hours then he wants to nap again. Maybe I'm encouraging it and don't realize it as I'm constantly handling him. Always believed that the more you handle a puppy (hugs, holding, letting them rest on you, etc) the better it is for later in life for the dog.

I feed all of my other dogs Dinovite ever since I tried it and noticed that it's given them all more energy and just generally much happier than ever... I'm wondering if it's too early to give it to my new doberman pup? Typically, I'll mix the Dinovite with raw scrambled eggs and mix it into the kibble. The reason I ask is that the fella down the street has had Great Danes all of his life and says he doesn't supplement his Dane pups food because he doesn't want to encourage even faster growth in a fast growing breed. No idea about the merit behind that idea. I know Dobermans grow up pretty quickly and I'm thinking it's unlikely that too much nutrition is a bad thing. Then again, I'm no vet or dog nutrition expert.

So those are my two big questions for now. I'm so excited about my new best friend, my next Doberman will likely come from someone that is a member here after reading the wealth of knowledge here. Maybe this year! I haven't had so much fun with a pup in 2 days as I've had with my new Doberman, regardless of the toe-chomps he's already given me.
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Welcome to DT!!!!! We demand pictures of Diesel!!!!! Please.

At his age it is normal for them to nap inbetween play time. Not familiar with the brand of food you use, but, I always put my pups on adult food, the same food their Mom was fed. I feel a lot of so called puppy foods are way too 'rich' for my pups digestive system.
welcome to DT. Yeah pup's sleep a LOT. Wyatt at 8 weeks *before he came home* would eat and then nap... then get up and play for a little bit, eat and crash again...
Hello from CT. Hope you will post pictures soon.
Hi, and Welcome to DT, from Santa Cruz, California :wavey: I think we have another Diesel on DT, too! Great name! Looking forward to photos!:biggthump
Wow, what an active forum. 5 minutes later and several responses.

The adult food idea is something I totally forgot about. My wife suggested that I do that and I now remember that my last puppy did much better with adult food than puppy kibble (stool-wise anyway). I think I'll get rid of the puppy food and get him on the Nutro adult food my other dogs eat.

Thanks for all the replies, the "Diesel" name is growing on me...will be cool to name him after my son's idea (Thomas and Friends, Diesel is the naughty train car lol)
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You'll find this forum to be a very active one indeed; with a variety of members.
Welcome to the forums from Chicago! I hope you stay and learn, teach and add to our community.
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Welcom to DT

Welcome to DT and welcome to Diesel. Yes puppies are babies and they expend tons of energy then need to recoup. I do not recommend any puppy food or additivies at this age except for Vitamin C and fish oil definitely no calcium for a young growing puppy. Because they do grow so fast anything that accelerates that grow can create problems later in both bones and joints. So just a good quality food with a minimum of corn (brown rice is better) and he should do fine.

Wow, what an active forum. 5 minutes later and several responses.

The adult food idea is something I totally forgot about. My wife suggested that I do that and I now remember that my last puppy did much better with adult food than puppy kibble (stool-wise anyway). I think I'll get rid of the puppy food and get him on the Nutro adult food my other dogs eat.

Thanks for all the replies, the "Diesel" name is growing on me...will be cool to name him after my son's idea (Thomas and Friends, Diesel is the naughty train car lol)
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iF you decide to get rid of the food you already bought maybe you could donate it to a shelter or rescue organization near you! ANy little bit helps dogs in need.
Puppy

After much experience with human babies and puppies I can say they both spend most of their time sleeping, eating, and pooping.
Hi and welcome from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! Congrats on the new puppy!

It is typical for these guys to play hard and sleep alot - nothing unusual there. It's true you don't want to push the bigger breeds to grow too fast and some puppy foods are just too high in protein. I usually switch over to adult food when they're 5-6 months old. My guys have always gotten a spoonful of yogurt in their food and an occasional raw egg. For treats mine tend to like carrots and chunks of apples.

Again, welcome to the group!

Jan
Welcome from Dallas TX, puppies sleep a lot! They are just like babies, what do they do? Cry, eat, sleep, then repeat =) Diesel is a handsome name! I have never heard of Dinovite, but I would suggest that you not feed a lot of protien to such a young pup, I am not sure how much protien Dinovite has but I personally do not feed more than 28% protien with my 8 month. Also, I do not plan on switching mine to adult for perhaps another 6 months to year.
Hello and welcome from Ohio. Can't wait to see pictures of you boy.
Welcome from Tucson, AZ! There are a lot of crap breeders here. Now you know what to do.
Welcome from Tucson, AZ! There are a lot of crap breeders here. Now you know what to do.
I bet Erynn meant to say "There are a lot of crap breeders, out there." We have a lot of wonderful breeders, here. (Her being one.):biggthump
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Welcome from Indianapolis :wavey:

There is an active thread, http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-related-chat/15834-kibble-poll.html that has some great kibble suggestions.

Socialization is the key for a well rounded boy later in life. I suggest googling 'socialization checklist' and get started early.

Now that we've held up our end of the bargain, where's our pictures??? :cwmddd:
While the pup sleeps check for a good pro trainer in your area, so you can learn more about techniques and the pup gets a jump on socialization. Welcome from getting really hot Fla. feed him well & train em up. Von.
Welcome from Tucson, AZ! There are a lot of crap breeders here. Now you know what to do.
Just saw your website, you're close so I've bookmarked and hoping to one day visit and hopefully adopt one of your Doberman pups in the future. 2 days into this and I'm convinced that this isn't going to be my only one for the long run.
I bet Erynn meant to say "There are a lot of crap breeders, out there." We have a lot of wonderful breeders, here. (Her being one.):biggthump
I keep looking around here for all the Arizona dobie breeders for future reference. My wife said last night, "wow this guy is a handful check him out!" Of the 5 dogs I have, funny that only the chihuahua has the intestinal fortitude to wrestle around with him. Fun stuff.
I keep looking around here for all the Arizona dobie breeders for future reference. My wife said last night, "wow this guy is a handful check him out!" Of the 5 dogs I have, funny that only the chihuahua has the intestinal fortitude to wrestle around with him. Fun stuff.
Well you haven't seen anything yet.:thumbsup: There will be days you will wish you didn't have him. Doberman puppies are hell. The males take longer to "grow up". Don't spank but use distraction to train them with lots and lots of patience. They worship you, remember that.
I have a lot of dog food information down below you might want to check out. My breeder had me give my boy a boiled egg twice a week and vit c, work up to 500 mg twice a day, but start out with lower dosage and it can cause tummy upsets. I also give fish oil twice a day, 1200 mgs and vit e 100 mgs a day. It is all up to you to decide what additives you give because with a good high end premium dog food you shouldn't need additives. I would give vit c tho as it is supposed to help prevent pano.
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