# New discoveries of Moonbow Calhoun



## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

Whew! This puppy raising stuff is tiring. Ok, so we started writing down everything the pup is doing in a journal. BRILLIANT! I can't tell you how good it is to have that info to look back on especially when it comes to potty times and training info and times. He did a little hump today, on my arm?? haha. It didn't last more than a couple seconds but it was funny. I think he was excited about playing with his frisbee. He can kinda catch it in his mouth and he's just so cute and such a cuddle monster too. He loves to be in your lap. I think if he could inhale me, he would, and the feeling is totally mutual. Right before he falls asleep, he gets very mouth-ie and needs a lot of redirecting, to not bite mommy or daddy. Takes a while to figure out what he'll want to chew instead because it's different every time. He'll want either a nylabone,kong, chew bone,raw bone, rope, Mr Lamberdinkle (his soft squeeky lamb) when all else fails Mr Lamberdinkle usually wins ;D I usually settle him down in my lap until he drifts off and then I put him in his bed (crate) or on his day-pad for a nap. He is holding his pee for about 3 or more hours, which I think is great! How often should they have a poo? According to my journal he poo'ed at 12:am,7:am,3:45pm and 9m he hasn't gone since then. It seems like he goes about every 7 hours or so. Does that sound normal? Feeding is another tricky issue. Today he is exactly 9 weeks old and 12.2 lbs I space his food out all throughout the day and feed him in all different ways. I give him stuffable toys, kong/buster cube and we also use kibble in training because he LOVES his kibble. Just LOVES it. I also have soft lamb jerky squares that he likes a lot. I hand feed him, I bowl feed him, I let friends feed him out of their hand. The amount is always like about a handfull. But he's always hungry. I don't want to under feed him, he's a big growing baby. He loves his sof-crate, it's like a tent for a dog. I think it's awesome, I would sleep in it myself if I could. Sometimes I try and lay my head in their with him and give him soft kisses while he sleeps. So he sleeps in that later in the evening and through the night, Zipped up inside. When I hear him stirring, he whimpers so softly.... (I love being able to peak in on him and tell him good boy) so he knows I'm not far when he wakes up. Then he never barks either. I've only heard him bark a few times in the last week just when he's excited to eat food. We've been practicing saying "sh" very softly and he stops and then we reward. Also we are slowly getting him to "stay" longer every time. Every time he wakes up from a nap, it's like a brand new dog and like a brand new day for him. He's bigger, he's smarter and he's got more confidence and energy. It seems as though he is processing all the lessons while he is asleep and then he wakes up and is better at everything but he is also more challenging to challenge... thanks for letting me share. Advice is always is welcome.


More later....Till soon

Moonbows Mommy 8)


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Aww... MM's in love  Isn;t that sweet! 

Now MM. you be very careful with the food now. Don't overfeed your puppy. I know it's hard, especially if they ask  But you need to ration out each days allowance and make sure he doesn't get more than that. Overfeeding is just as bad as underfeeding. Not suggesting you are, just encouraging you to measure out each days food and once it's gone, it's gone. 

Oh...... and where the **** are the pics you stingy girl.....you can't have a puppy and not share.


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## GoolsbyMD (Jan 29, 2012)

My Zoe is also just about 10 weeks and she weighs in at 12.5lbs. She is a very hyper puppy but loves to nap. She eats about 3 times a day, 7am, noon, and 5 pm. Each time little bit more than 1/4-1/2 cup. She poops only about three times a day for me. I'd say about 130am, 730am then sometime in the evening. She is 100% sofa dog and only uses the crate at night and while we are away. She is very mouthy not on us anymore as we carry a stuffed toy in our pocket and reward with cheerios when she does good things. We have been working on the leash and potty training along with no and and no bite. She is a handful but has more good days than bad.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

moonbowsmommy, your posts crack me up, they're so full of love and affection and humor. Keeping a journal is a wonderful thing and later on you can build on that with additional information to assess his temperament type and so on.

I have a question - do you play fetch/retrieve and, more specifically, when you throw a ball or a toy, does he pick it up and bring it back to you on his own? Or does he retrieve it and then runs around and plays with it? 

Either way, bringing it back and giving it to you would be a really good thing to play-train him, as it will keep strengthening the bond between you and lay a foundation for useful things you'll need in the future.

And please keep posting!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Moon get a bigger journal!(LOL) 14yrs later U will wonder how this great trip began


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## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

Ozkar said:


> Aww... MM's in love  Isn;t that sweet!
> 
> Now MM. you be very careful with the food now. Don't overfeed your puppy. I know it's hard, especially if they ask  But you need to ration out each days allowance and make sure he doesn't get more than that. Overfeeding is just as bad as underfeeding. Not suggesting you are, just encouraging you to measure out each days food and once it's gone, it's gone.
> 
> Oh...... and where the **** are the pics you stingy girl.....you can't have a puppy and not share.


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## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

I wrote a reply and added 6 photos but it wouldn't work. Just posted the quote that's it. Ughh Sorry folks, I have to go now. I guess I'll try again later

Waa waa. :-\


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## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

Here's a few pics from earlier I tried to post. He loves to eat leaves sticks dirt, anything he can get in his mouth. I'm always trying to redirect him but he adores leaves. haha.

We are being careful with the food. It's confusing because our breeder and the vet said not to limit his food and just let him eat as much as he can right now. I have just been trying to space it out. He's probably somewhere between a 1 1/2 to 2 cups of food a day. 

We do play fetch and he's ok with it. He understands "GO GET IT" as long as I don't throw it too far. (too far is like 4 ft ;D) Otherwise he gets confused and becomes distracted by me or my robe. 

He met 20 ppl today and loved everybody. He is very popular. We got a doggie front back pack carrier by outward bound. So we can take him out without him having to walk since he's not fully vaccinated. He loves to socialize. I can tell he's going to have a lot of friends. 

More to come....


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

hi MM-

congrats on your red bundle of joy! it's a lot, i know! hang in there and enjoy that puppy breath while you can!

i just wanted to chime in to say i agree with your breeder and vet -
i think it's impossible to over-feed at this age... unless it's wet food or treats or you're shoving it down their throat.
if anything, i've found i have to encourage my v to eat! a problem i haven't ever encountered with a dog til now! (former GSP owner)

penny is about to turn 5 months and there have been a handful of days since i got her that she DOUBLED her food intake. it made me pause ... but i swear, within the following 2-5 days it seemed like she doubled in size (growth wise, not plump-ness - she's always been somewhere between underweight - the perfect weight, never even slightly over)

i think they/nature knows how much they need now, when they are doing SO MUCH growing, better than we do.

just my opinion though.

_*when/if i get her fixed, i believe THEN is the only time i will have to monitor her intake (it messes with their natural metabolism)_


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## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks Anne, I really appreciate the insight. I think you are right. 

Each day is so radical. I'm getting a new look at life every day watching my vizsla experience the world through his eyes. I think Ian Dunbar said it best when he said something like: "Raising puppies is just like raising a baby... and it some ways, it's even better because it's a different species!" It's true! How cool to be so up close and personal with another species and to take on the mother role for it. It's a tremendous experience one can not even know until they have their own. 

Moonbow's Mommy

"6 days and head over heels in love with my Moonbow."


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

While I understand the huge amount of experience Anne has, I disagree entirely and I will repeat my comment. Do not overfeed your puppy. It can cause digestive tract issues as well as diarrhoea. None of my V's have any eating issues or weight issues either high or low and they all were on a set amount of food from when they came home. 

You really need to think about how these animals would live without us and while not mirroring this exactly, getting closer to it is better. A dog in the wild will not eat every day either, let alone two, three or four times a day. So it's OK to also skip meals here and there. Matter of fact, it's good for them.

Do some research before making a final decision on it. I would encourage you to consider this carefully. 

Thanks for sharing the pics too MM. God puppies are so gorgeous!!! Especially a V puppy!!


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## kristen (Oct 18, 2011)

Odin has no concept of when he's full. When Odin was about 3-4 months the vet was on our case that he was too thin. He was already eating almost twice as much as the chart on his dry food recommended for him, and over twice the calories and fat intake the vet mandated. 

Our vet however was very adamant that he was too skinny, and to feed him more. So we gave him an extra cup of food. He wolfed it down and proceeded to throw it all back up (sometimes hours later). 
His little stomach couldn't take it all in at once. He had no concept of when he was full, he just kept eating untill it made him sick. He did this a couple times until we went back to what we were feeding him before. 

On a side note, our little guy is now a whopping 41 lbs, 22" high at 5.5 months old....however, you can still see his ribs!


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

SOOooo cute.
love those giant ears and gravity wrinkles!


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

We were measuring out Riley's food for a while per the bag's instructions, but she was looking WAY too thin. If you *are* going to measure the food, make sure you figure out the appropriate amount for a Vizsla puppy and don't use the recommendations on the bag. She has eaten too much and that resulted in some pretty nasty (and GIANT poops). It's all trial and error when they are puppies.


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## moonbowsmommy (Dec 14, 2011)

Trial and error is right. Whew. I'm realizing that. Thanks guys. I'm being mindful, I'm not shoveling loads and loads of food down him. I'm just trying to space it out and feed him often. Sometimes I use it in training because he loves it so much. I was reading about freeze dried liver being the best. He could care less about it, I mean he'll eat it, but it's not like the way he acts when it's kibble. He adores his kibble. It's so cute and funny. Anyway, other times I'll give him a handful in a bowl and out of my hands. 

He also has an obsession with eating leaves, twigs, and spiderwebs outside dirt and stuff. He loves to go really close to our fence and try to bite the spiderwebs and chew grass or leaves or anything he can get his mouth on. I worry about him eating everything and the spiders especially. My boyfriend is going to try and wash our fence with the hose to clear away as much as we can... but I also don't like being a worry-wart or having to be on him- fishing it out of his mouth all the time. Any advice on that would be helpful.

Sleepy Moonbow's Mommy :-*


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## GoolsbyMD (Jan 29, 2012)

Zoe is the same. Cannot get enough food. She also goes right for sticks, grass and leaves. Maybe it's a puppy thing. Interesting to see how much a like they are at 10 weeks


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

It does get better, but not for a few more weeks.  Riley used to try to eat everything she could get her little mouth on (including my mom's ROSE bushes... thorns and all). The commands "leave it" and "drop it" are going to be your best friends. There are plenty of tutorials on how to train both if you search the internet.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

So come on MM, how's little Moonbow doing? Got any more cute pics to share?


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