PITBULL Question about it!?

Question

I have a pitbull that was given to me by my girlfriend. i believe its only 6 weeks old. how old should it have been to be taken away from its mom..? Anyway i cant get her to drink but she will eat 9 llive cat food. any suggestions. I wanna raiser her and keep her forever!

Answer 1

Since everyone before me has already given you EXCELLENT advice regarding feeding & vaccinations, I'll just give you some insights / pointers into Pitbull ownership.

First of all, welcome to the wonderful world of Pitbull ownership !

Pitbulls can be the most amazingly loving and loyal of dogs - but ONLY if they're owned by the proper people.

At all times, you must be aware that your Pit will grow into a VERY powerful dog and that you have taken on a HUGE responsibility - to yourself, your family, your dog and society at large. You must NEVER allow yourself to forget the power of your dog and your responsbility to train, raise and provide for her properly.

A well trained, obedient and socialized Pitbull is a family's best friend. She will be loving and loyal to you and your family and friendly with your friends and visitors.

On the other hand, a non-socialized, un-trained, poorly housed Pitbull can be a distaster waiting to happen.

You must start training early; here are a few sites that address Pitbull puppy training :

http://www.pitbulllovers.com/training-articles/pitbull-puppy-training.html
http://www.http://dogsobediencetraining.com/dog_breed/american_pitbulls_dog_breed.htm
http://dogsobediencetraining.com/dog_training_tips.htm#essential_dog_training

Here are some sites regarding puppy feeding and care :

http://www.seefido.com/hunting-dogs/html/hand_feeding_a_puppy_.htm
http://www.nelsonvet.com/dog_puppyinfo.html
http://www.my-pet-medicine.com/2006/09/22/the-ultimate-guide-to-feeding-your-new-puppy/
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/feeding.htm
http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/index_my_puppy_pages.htm
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-34.html
http://www.articlemotron.com/Article/The-Ultimate-Guide-To-Feeding-Your-New-Puppy/23430
http://www.shadow-woodsams.com/puppyguide.html
http://www.willasark.com/puppyfeeding.cfm
http://www.leerburg.com/bottlefeeding.htm
http://www.shihtzu-by-burnwood.com/SHIHTZU/Feeding_Your_Puppy.html
http://www.aussiepuppys.com/feeding.html
http://us.merial.com/pet_owners/dogs/puppy_care.asp
http://www.fred.net/astarz/mnr/mnr_puppy.html

I hope these sites help. Most of all, I wish you and your new pup a loving companionship that is healthy and happy for many years to come !!

Best of Luck !!!

Answer 2

Hi!! First of all, let me say that 5 weeks is way to young for a pup to be taken from the mom. Yes, I think at 6 weeks old, your Pit Bull puppie a more than prepared for eating solid food. At 6 weeks your puppie a able to eat dry kibble. I always mix a little wet food a cooked egg or hamburger meat in with the kibble. Also rice, chicken breast and overcooked rice in with the kibble.. Most pups start eating solid food as young as 3-4 weeks old. You can also try canned puppy food with the dry. Do not overfeed he as puppie do not know when to stop. You would contact the vet, the vet could reccomend a good feeding scheduele for the pups.
Put your puppy on a balanced puppy food.
If you like giving human food, stick to healthy stuff like carrots or apple.Its very important for the puppy to get the nutrition it needs during puppyhood, hes growing alot ,and needs it. Feeding table scraps does not help because it does cause a puppy to grow into a picky eater.
Jason Homan

Answer 3

Ideally, a puppy should be left with its mother until it is 12 weeks of age. This is crucial for proper socialization. The puppy will do OK leaving the mother at 8 weeks of age, but will require a lot more care when it comes to socializing and acclimating to a life by itself (without its siblings/mother, rather).

So, no, the puppy should be with the mother til AT LEAST 8 weeks of age. At 6 weeks, the puppy is still in the process of being weaned from milk and is just now beginning to eat solids. Accompany the difficulties of weaning with the stress of no longer having siblings or a mother, and it spells disaster.

First off, don't feed her cat food. Cat food is not designed to offer the nutrition a puppy needs---it's designed to provide proper nutrition for cats (and even then 9 Lives is a sub-standard cat food).

Find a high quality puppy food. Blue Buffalo, Innova, Chicken Soup, Timerwolf Organics, Newman's Own Organics, ect. These are all top quality foods with great ingredients. Most make dry puppy foods and wet puppy foods. Don't feed foods you can find in your grocery store...this includes brands like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, ect. Read their ingredients and see for yourself---corn, by-products, wheat, and soy NONE of which are good for dogs.

Also, make sure you take your puppy to the vet. Parvo is the number one killer of puppies and is preventable with proper vaccinations, ect.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Well puppies are supposed to stay with their parents for a MINIMUM of 6 weeks but 8 weeks is best for the puppy! Do not let your dog eat cat food it is not good for them! Although i did get my puppy at 5 weeks (she had lost her mother) i feed her replacement milk and then i got Purina puppy food and you soak it for about 1 minute in either water or replacement milk (you can get it at any Pet Store) It will make the food soggy and easy to eat and digest! Also you can get the canned puppy food! With the water bring her to the bowl, take a drip on your finger put it on her mouth and then direct her head towards the bowl! Praise her heavily for drinking if she does! If you try this a few times and it still does not work you will need to see your veterinarian! Good Luck and don't give up! It will all work out with your persistence!

Answer 5

Yes. I agree that an animal is only as good as its owner. The pitbull is known to be a loving dog, especially with children. The problem is, when they do bite it is much worse than a normal dog's bite because of their powerful locking jaws. This gives them a bad reputation along with the fact that so many people choose to breed them to fight and be violent. People are ignorant and only hear what they want to hear. If they knew the whole story these animals wouldn't have such a horrible reputation.

Answer 6

Puppies should stay with their litters (mom and siblings) until a minimum of 8 weeks of age. That socialization period helps your puppy develop its basic dog manners and bite inhibition. Bite inhibition refers to how much pressure a dog will use when it puts its mouth on something or someone.

When playing with mom and its siblings with those needle sharp teeth, it has the chance to learn not to press down, as Mom will give a correction and the siblings will yip and stop playing.

Feed your puppy a good quality puppy food, not cat food. Your puppy will not develop normally on a diet of cat food.

Answer 7

Try contacting the breeder & give the puppy back to it's mom for at least 2 weeks. If they are responsible breeders they will gladly take her back until she's old enough to be seperated. However, they did sell her at 6 weeks so the chances of them being reputable are slim. Take her to a vet & have all necessary tests, shots & wormer(for her age) and buy good puppy food.
Best of luck.

Answer 8

If she is not eating puppy food and drinking water, she is probably sick. If this persists into the morning, please take her into your vet so they can check her for any diseases or illnesses she may have. Also, since she is 6 weeks, she needs to begin her vaccinations to prevent serious illness.

Puppies should not be taken form their mother until they are 8 weeks old. I highly suggest that you see your vet, since she will need to go their for vaccinations anyways.

Take Care

Answer 9

well I start to wean my Jack Russell pups at 4wks if mum is staring to and are seperated from there mum by 5-6wks. They are fine but I do bring the other adult dogs into socialise them.
I would get some puppy millk and mix some weetbix into is to make a sludge makes sure it is warm, spoon in the mouth won't be to happy but will soon like it from there you can more on to other foods. Best of Luck

Answer 10

You have just run into a very common problem with irreputible breeders of American Pit Bull Terriers (APBT). These breeders purposefully seperate the puppy to soon to instill agression. It's horrific and to me should be considered abuse, but then if they are that kind of breeder it probably wouldn't have been good for the pups to stay with them either.

We recently went through this exact same thing. I would NEVER have bought Sasha, our APBT, pup from such a breeder. But an aquaintance of ours through a friend didn't know any better. So, she ended up with us.

First take her to the vet as soon as you can and see if they can make a guess as to her age. This will ensure that she isn't so young she still needs supplemental nursing with a bottle. You want to ensure her lifelong health. They will be able to determine if this is needed as well as give you all the information you need to know. Because you have a BIG job ahead of you because you are going to have to provide everything she needed to learn from her mother and littermates. A good Vet is not there just for medical issues, but for all advice.

If she is old enough not to need milk start slowly mixing a good nutrient enriched hard puppy food in with her soft food, see if you can switch her to canned puppy moist food. We exclusively use Eukenuba, Iams is good to.

She will need lots of care and attention and probably cuddling as well. It's different than having a dog that is ready to be taken away from her mother. Our vet recommended if she does undesirable behavior pick her up by her scruff the way her mother would. This worked well. She is more sensitive to scolding from me now that she is bigger. If I tell her no sternly she comes running for a cuddle.

You may want to give her plenty of time sleeping on your chest or up close to you as well, Sasha went to me for cuddles and my husband and our boys for play. She loved to cuddle up on my chest or dive her head between my stomach and the bed on my side almost like she would have with her mom.

There are lots of issues ahead and I would be happy to help in any way you need it. Feel free to email me anytime, there is also a great group of APBT owners in yahoo groups, one of the members had her APBT minutes after birth. You can find their link by going to my 360 page.