I have a few questions. First, you all know we rescued 2 pups at 4 weeks old from a bad situation. That said, the questions are:
They will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. When can I start leash training them? When can I start weaning them off of the canned blue buffalo canned puppy food mixed with milk replacer, and how do I do it, and what should I switch them to?
When can I start kennel training them?
When can I start potty training them, and how do I do that, considering that I don't want them to go outside unless they are in our arms until they have had their second puppy shot? I don't want to take a chance on parvo.
Thanks for your all's help.
I'm fostering six week old puppies(had them a week so got them at 5 weeks) right now and have raised a litter of pups since birth, no expert, but have had great results in the past. I would start everything right now! Leash training: put the leash around their neck and start letting them get used to feeling it. Let them run around with it in on a few minutes a day throughout the day. That's the first step.
I brought these guys in at five weeks and never used any milk replacement... chemically made milk in a can isn't going to be anything like the real stuff so I never bothered... mine eat MEAT so I'm sure yours are ready for for food easy peasy. I started my litter who had their mom on food around six weeks also. So again, the answer is now! You don't have to wean them off fake milk...
Kennel train NOW! All of this will be so much easier on your if you start is this second, today! My pups, five weeks old, slept through the night in the crate starting on day three. The first nights they whined a little, but still didn't get to get out. I stop all water around 8pm and they go out last at 12-1am. Right now, they're holding it through the night IF I take the water up. If you're not comfortable doing that, start feeding them in their crate (mine eat all meals in crate) and then putting them in their for naps throughout the day. I feed mine four times a day and their last meal is at 6pm... mine only poop once a day luckily b/c they eat raw so they've never pooped in their crate!
If you wait until the second shot to take begin potty training, you're really gonna mess yourself up. 33% of all dogs who get Parvo had the vaccines so the vaccine isn't a miracle worker for sure. Also, you walk around outside, you come inside, your feet are just as likely to bring in parvo as they are getting it from the yard, right? I would assume you're looking at 10 weeks or later for a second vaccine and that's a long, long time to be waiting around on training and the more accidents they have in the house, the harder it will be to train them. I take my guys outside about twice an hour and they actually spend hours outside b/c we leave the patio door open and they go in and out of the kitchen.. my pups at five weeks will be asleep in their crate in the kitchen with the door open, run out of the crate, go outside potty and come back in to play and see us. If they're busy playing with each other or something, they might pee, but they already know where they're supposed to pee... I'm betting they'll be mostly trained by eight weeks... not 100% of course but they already make it through the night and know where they should/shouldn't go.
Don't underestimate your pups. The benefit of getting one so young is that you can mold it from a young age. I kept two from the first litter and never had to crate or leash train them b/c it's all they ever knew...they never had to get used to a crate or a leash b/c i introduced it as soon as they were able to be introduced to it...
