Rescue boxer puppy & going potty (daschund, boxers, vet, breeding) - Dogs - - City-Data Forum

veggirll · 10-29-2016, 07:55 AM

My fiance showed up 3 days ago (Weds) with a boxer puppy (thought about 10 wks, vet says 7-8) who was rescued from a neglectful backyard breeding

situation. We took him to the vet the next day and they said he is dehydrated, quite underweight (he is very skinny, you can see every rib) and has a bit of a distended stomach, but otherwise in good health. He was given Rx wet food for us to mix with his dry to encourage his appetite.

Since then, he has been eating and drinking very well. He eats 2 big meals a day and 2 smaller. Right now we allow his dry food to be available at all times because he needs to gain weight (he needs to gain 3lbs and he is 6lbs).

My question is about him going potty. Obviously he is not trained yet but he doesn't seem to go very much at ALL. This is my first dog (I am a cat person) so my info is internet research. Everything I've read basically says he needs to go anytime he wakes up and anytime he eats or drinks. He doesn't seem to have any pattern to his potty needs.

For example, my fiance took him out at 1a last night and he went. I got up at 3a and took him out, he didn't go. I got up again at 5a and he didn't go. I gave him breakfast at 5:15 and he ate a large breakfast of wet food, dry food, and drank water. I took him out again and he didn't go. Now it is almost 7a and he still hasn't gone potty except a tiny tinkle (on the rug unfortunately). He played for about an hour (and I kept taking him out) and now he is napping in his bed.

Shouldn't he be going more? Is this maybe because he is underweight or something? Do I need to contact his vet or is this normal/okay sounding? He is in good spirits, loves to play and cuddle and doesn't seem in any way distressed.

My concern is two-fold - a) obviously his health, I want to know if this is normal and b) scheduling...if this was a work day, I'd be at my office right now and he still wouldn't have gone potty.

Katie1 · 10-29-2016, 08:07 AM

Well hes Dehydrated & Starving..... You really think he has anything left to poo or pee out? What his body is taking in its Using at this point in time.

veggirll · 10-29-2016, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katie1

Well hes Dehydrated & Starving..... You really think he has anything left to poo or pee out? What his body is taking in its Using at this point in time.

That was my thought as well, as a brand new doggie owner though I can use all the advice/validation I can get

He DOES go, I just thought it would be more but I guess that'll come soon enough.

Nlambert · 10-31-2016, 06:31 AM

The biggest thing to understand is that the puppy's body is going to hold and use any fluid and food that it needs to try to recover. So if he isn't going very much his body likely needs to hang on to as much as it can. Keep doing what you're doing and eventually it will change.

We have a 5 year old boxer (turned 5 this month) that we got when she was 9 weeks old. She really didn't have a pattern either until we trained her. She kind of just went when and where she needed to. Now she goes when it's time and where she has been trained to go. As a side note with a boxer, make sure he gets plenty of exercise and a good quality food with little filler. Otherwise down the road you'll begin to have shedding issues as boxers tend to shed a lot on a diet not suited for them. (They are EXCELLENT dogs though)

Our pit came from a similar situation as your boxer and we had a lot of the same issues at first. Eventually he got caught up on nutrition and fluids and when his body recovered he began peeing pretty much non-stop. We still took him out after every meal, when he woke up, when he played (puppies tend to pee when they chew on toys for a while), and before it was time for bed. When we got him he was 6 weeks old and weighed about 3 lbs. Wormy, bloated, and just not in good health. We took him for that very reason. Now he is 10 weeks old and weighs in at 11 lbs and gains about 2-3 lbs per week. He went from being about 2" shorter than our mini-daschund to towering over him already.

Rowan123 · 10-31-2016, 10:25 AM

First thank you for saving him.

For future reference (including anyone who pulls up this thread at a later date), if you have a severely underweight dog it's best to feed them several small meals a day. If you feed too much too fast it can cause big problems (google - refeeding syndrome). It sounds like your guy is underweight not starving. Still I would break the large meals into two smaller ones.

I'm assuming the vet wormed him as a distended belly can be a sign of worms.

He was lucky to have found you.

maggiekate · 10-31-2016, 06:10 PM

I agree it is better to feed him small meals 4 times than big ones. Boxers are really nice dogs had one when small-