New puppy, questions?

[Yorkie Girl]

(should this be in here with toy breeds or in the puppy forum?)

Hi, this will be me first post!!

I will be picking up my puppy in two and half weeks at 10 weeks old (she is around 7 1/2 weeks old now). She is a Yorkshire terrier puppy and the breeder feeds her pups Iams puppy food.

Ok some questions i would like to ask or just have commented on.

1. What do you feed your small dog/puppy or Yorkshire terrier? What is the best food for dogs/this breed/my puppy?
2. House training, potting training. I live in Canada, snow has not yet snowed and not melted within a day, but we usually get at least 5 solid months of cold snowy weather. We will be getting our puppy on Dec. 11 (or some time in that week) and there will definatly be snow by that time and the temp will be cold. My question is, should we just allow the puppy to use puppy pads and train her to go there untill the snow is gone and then start house potty training? Or should we start right away with the training and just maybe get a little doggie coat for her or allow her to realive herself on the deck right outside the door so she dosent have to walk down the steps each time in the cold and walk around in the snow?? I would really like to house/potty train her right away so that it wont be harder later on when she is older and already used to just going potty on the puppy pads. (i would also love any tips on the best way to go about training my puppy to let me know when she needs to go potty so i can take her out to go potty)
3. Grooming. I dont have time for alot of grooming, i plan on cutting her coat short and keeping it that way. how often do you get your small dog or Yorkie professionaly cut to keep grooming levels low and how much money can i expect to pay?
4. Simple comand training, sit, stay, quiet, down, drop it, and fetch!! Any comments on this would be great!! =)
5. Chew toys, know of any good chew toy ideas/brands?
6. Puppy supply!! I know i need the bed, chew toys, water/food dish, leash, creat, food, probably a brush, and some treats!! Did i miss anything?? Please let me know if i did!!

Well that is good for now, if i think of anything else ill be sure to ask!! Thanks in advance to anyone who posts any advice or comments!!

[Cassiepeia]

Welcome to Global Paw!

Well, although I own a small breed (chihuahua) I've never had a puppy and never seen snow (I live in Australia) so I can't help you with most of that but we do have an excellent thread in the health section..here's the link http://www.globalpaw.com/dog-health-...food-fido.html ... about choosing a commercial dog food for your furkid. If you want to look into a raw food diet try googling 'BARF diet' (Bones And Raw Food).

Cass.

[Yorkie Girl]

Thanks Cassiepeia i took a look at the thread before i posted and just thought to ask other owners of the small dog breed or yorkies about what kind of food they use or find best for their dogs. Royal Canin looks good, dose anyone use this brand of dog food?

[Novel]

Royal Canin is OK. I would suggest Solid Gold Wee Bits if you can find it.

As far as potty training in snow... You will want to shovel a small area where you can take her, but snow is great for potty training, because the shoveled patch is going to focus her as to what she is supposed to do there, and it's cold enough where she will potty as fast as possible instead of getting side tracked playing and exploring (not that won't happen sometimes anyways).

You could try having her wearing a sweater when outside, but don't try and put one on when you note she has to go potty, or she's going to pee on you. They simply can't hold it when young.

Most dogs that need grooming will need a clip about every 4 - 6 weeks, depending on their individual hair growth rate.

[Spiritus]

What part of Canada do you live in? Our country has a wide range of climates/temperatures in the winter. I'm in Saskatchewan, and I did take care of a dachsie puppy for a few weeks, and started her house training. It was January/February, when our temps can hover around the -20 to -30 mark (celcius) quite frequently. House training was going well while she was here - I took her outside, on leash, and stayed with her until she pee'd/poo'd (I teach a command for going potty, so I need to be with the dog outside during house training to teach that command and to ensure that they truly go). She managed the cold quite well, unless it dropped to -25 or so, or was windy. At those times she just couldn't handle the cold, so she was also paper trained.

[calgal]

I have two Yorkies. Zada will be 2 Dec. 5th and Azrael will be 2 Jan. 16th. They are first cousins. I first got Zada when she was three months old. I had a doggie fence that I put up in the breakfast room (no carpet) and attached the fence to the front of the wire crate (so the crate is on the outside of the fence) and then placed a wee-wee pad on the opposite end of the crate, then attached the water to the fence. (holders that go on crates). I also put a blanket over the crate so it was nice and dark and cozy. If she goes pee on the floor instead of the pad, then blot the pee with a kleenex then blot that on the pad where she can smell it. You don't need much at all. She did not have run of the house, and I put her outside every hour the first week, (first saying "lets go potty", put her down and say "go potty" in a very soft and friendly tone) every two hours the second week and so on. When she would potty I would praise her like it was the most wonderful thing in the world and say good potty. Even though we don't get snow, we do get rain in the winter months and I don't relish going out in the rain any more than most dogs do. We also like the pads for traveling with. I don't like to do an early morning or late night potty run at strange motels either. Now that the girls were trained this way I dont put pads down anymore unless I go someplace where I can't take them and I know I'll be gone for 4 hours or more (which is rarely) then I put them in the kitchen/breakfast area with a pad down. They are totally house trained. They go to the door when they want out, and now I have started sleeping with them finally, so I don't need a pad down.
Yes, get your baby some sweaters and some nice warm shirts for around the house.
I don't feed dog food and if you want to know why, then read these:

http://www.nexusmagazine.com//Petfood.html

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/foodbook.html

http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=79

http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/03.html

[k9hullio_sam]

hello! I know I am a little late but..

1. I have spent a LONG time at the store looking at dog foods. The best one I could find inmy area was the premium dog food put out by Wal-Mart, "Maximum." Mandi actually likes it a lot better than any other food too.
2. I just cleared a spot in the snow and Mandi went there. She didn't like it at first, but she couldn't hold it forever.
3. Mandi gets cut every few months, but about half way through I have to start brushing her again. I guess 4-6 weeks sounds right if you don't want to brush your puppy. I pay $50 every visit (she is a maltese)
6. A CAMERA!!! You are going to want to capture ever minute!!!