penguinpie
New member
Hello! This is my first post and I’m not too sure if I did this right but here we go.
We’re first time dog owners and recently got 2 puppies (chihuahua mix littermates). We’ve had a lot of different opinions on a lot of their daily life and behaviors.
Basics:
They’re 3 months old and sleep in the same crate. They’re current schedule is in the crate every two hours with a potty break (outside or in pen area) until playtime.
We recently started to feed them 3x a day per vets recommendation. They’re both eating dry food but (m) is eating it dry while (f) is soaked in some rice water (has some constipation or won’t poop all day).
They have about 6hrs to play and be trained in the afternoon. Currently we’re training them separately and slowly moving to having separate walks to avoid separation anxiety from each other.
When out of the crate, (f) tends to go to the bathroom wherever convenient inside and often doesn’t go when she’s outside. We’ve tried putting a barrier as a “potty zone” [hit or miss], stimulating her anus with a wipe, even offering rewards after going potty. She often walks away when she’s done and sniffs around even with a treat in her face. (M) seems to have figured it out, even doing little tinkles to get an extra treat.
So here are some of the questions I have:
1. How often should they be fed?
(vet: 3x 1/4 cup each) (others: 2x 1/4 cup each or less)
We’re first time dog owners and recently got 2 puppies (chihuahua mix littermates). We’ve had a lot of different opinions on a lot of their daily life and behaviors.
Basics:
They’re 3 months old and sleep in the same crate. They’re current schedule is in the crate every two hours with a potty break (outside or in pen area) until playtime.
We recently started to feed them 3x a day per vets recommendation. They’re both eating dry food but (m) is eating it dry while (f) is soaked in some rice water (has some constipation or won’t poop all day).
They have about 6hrs to play and be trained in the afternoon. Currently we’re training them separately and slowly moving to having separate walks to avoid separation anxiety from each other.
When out of the crate, (f) tends to go to the bathroom wherever convenient inside and often doesn’t go when she’s outside. We’ve tried putting a barrier as a “potty zone” [hit or miss], stimulating her anus with a wipe, even offering rewards after going potty. She often walks away when she’s done and sniffs around even with a treat in her face. (M) seems to have figured it out, even doing little tinkles to get an extra treat.
So here are some of the questions I have:
1. How often should they be fed?
(vet: 3x 1/4 cup each) (others: 2x 1/4 cup each or less)
- Is Beneful dog food good for small dogs? (Specifically the wet food to mix with current dry food)
- Should they sleep separately?
- Any advice to get (f) to go to the bathroom and in the right places?