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New Maltese Mom

1K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  docnascar 
#1 ·
Hi, I just got my first Maltese on Sunday. She is 11 weeks old. Her name is Lexi. She is so cute! I have a few questions:
- She is really into biting/chewing on hands, feet, etc . (basically anything she can reach). Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get her to stop doing this? I have tried telling her no bite, holding her mouth closed while saying no bite, ignoring her, etc. but nothing seems to really work.
- She is one Eukanuba. How much should I be feeding her? So far she does not seem to eat a lot. I tried putting her dish in her crate with her this morning. Boy was that a mistake! :lol: She tipped the dish and then pooped in it.

This is my first small dog so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Lexi's Mom
 
#2 ·
Hi Lexi's Mom and welcome!

You sure have a sweet looking baby there!

All puppies have the behaviors you are describing. Be consistent when she bites and eventually she will get the idea. You could try having something she is allowed to bite on handy at all times. My tiki chews all the time, but only on things he is supposed to chew on; his toys, nylabones, an empty cardboard roll from the toilet paper.... stuff like that. He is pretty picky about what he wants to chew on and when; he will actually walk around the house looking for just the toy/bone he wants
. Be careful not to give her something like an old sock; that will teach her it is ok to chew on socks :lol: When she bites on you or something she is not supposed to show disapproval (as you have been) and then give her what she can chew on, redirecting her attention to the new item and praising her for chewing/biting on her toy or bone.

Feeding is different for each puppy. Lexi is pretty young and I would follow the vet or breeders recommendation. If she is getting lots of training treats she may not be hungry at feeding time. As a puppy we would feed Tiki 3 times a day. Each time I would leave the food down for about 15 - 20 minuets and then pick it up whether he ate or not. I did this in the morning, afternoon and evening. This kept him on a good schedule for potty training. I was amazed (and still am) that sometimes he won't eat a thing all day. Now that he his older I leave his bowl down all day and he will nibble as he wants to. I give him more food each morning and evening as needed.

Hope this helps.
Good luck with Lexi and keep us posted!

Judi
 
#3 ·
welcome to the forum..you baby is adorable. i think tikismom answered you pretty well...but one thing..dont leave food in the crate..makes it harder to potty train if they are eating in their bed..it is a place to sleep and thats all. when parker was small i remember feeding him just 3 tablespoons of food...the bag should tell you what you should be feding your baby based on her weight. congratulations! :D
 
#5 ·
Because Pico had a bad hypoglycemic "event" with his previous owners, I was reluctant to try the "leave it for 15 minutes and if he doesn't eat take it up" because I was afraid of another event. So I always leave kibble out. I used to give him a little canned at night and in the morning but left kibble out all day. The he wouldn't eat the canned in the morning so I stopped that and just gave him canned at night. Then he wouldn't eat until 9 or 9:30 pm!

Now he eats his canned in the morning only.

What I am saying is that you may go through different versions of eating habits with your baby. Somedays, Pico eats very little and other days he gobbles everything I put out. It's mostly when they are very young, in the first 6 months to a year that the hypoglycemia can be an issue so I don't worry so much about it now that he is 3.

And your furbaby is just precious! Makes me want another one.
 
#6 ·
Congratulations on your new baby.....and welcome to the forum!!!!

Your baby looks so cute!!! :D
 
#7 ·
Welcome to the board.


Most dogs have the attention span of 3-5 seconds to remember things. With Noah we tell him No Bite! very sharp and not to loud with firmness then we pull our hand away and don't look at him for 5 seconds. Then after that put some kind of chew toy in his mouth to play with.

Never hold his mouth shut.

You are giving him attention when you do that and he can take it as you are playing. Noah is about 3 1/2 months old and occasionally he will nibble but its not so bad. It takes time and consistency.

From talking to our breeder, my experience with Noah, and reading about Maltese its best to just leave down something to eat 24/7 when they are pups. Its very easy for a Maltese pup to become Hypoglycemic. Buy some Nutra-cal. If he skips two meals give him a little bit as a supplement. Its not uncommon for a puppy to miss a meal or two. Noah goes through stages when and what times he wants to eat. We even tried taking his food up and putting it back down when we wanted him to eat but he still would not eat some days. Now we leave out dry kibble all of the time and just feed him 3 times a day his botanical (similar to red barn) and/or canned food.


Good luck.
 
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