About Weims:A Puppy Story
Solo's Tale
This is a true account of my experience with our new Weimaraner puppy. It is written in a weekly format, my puppy was 9 weeks old when he came home, most are 8 weeks, so your experience may be off by a few days. Also, Solo is training to be a show dog, so his training will be just a little different from that of a family companion. Solo's story goes from 9 weeks to 6 months old. Solo has grown up into a very nice Weimaraner, and is now a little shy about everyone hearing his weekly story, so it ends at 6 months!
-Jennifer Marple
Under 9 Weeks
9 Weeks
10 Weeks
11 Weeks
12 Weeks
13 Weeks
14 Weeks
4-5 months
5-6 months
Under 9 Weeks
Background – before the puppy came home
Our puppy came from a litter of one. Thus, we named him Solo. Normally this is not an advisable situation, because lonely puppies can have socialization problems because they haven’t had brothers and sisters to play with and learn when they’ve gone too far in their play. However, in our situation, there was another littler born at our breeder’s house just a week and a half later, so Solo was able to play with and live with those puppies, once they’d started to be weaned.
The good thing about this situation is that Solo became extremely accustomed to human companionship, because for the first few weeks, he got our breeder’s full attention. She would always check in on him and play with him, when he got a little bigger, he was able to go out of the whelping box and watch TV with her (she says that Solo really liked watching cooking shows).
Now, we had the intention of showing Solo, and if you do want to show, you may also be better off looking in a larger litter, because your breeder will have the puppies rated for show quality. We weren’t too hung up on the showing issue, we want to show him, but if for some reason that doesn’t work out, that’s ok, we’ll still do obedience and/or agility, and have a wonderful family companion.
One note, if you don’t want to show your dog in conformation showing, please have him neutered, because there are many unwanted Weimaraners that come through rescue, and there is no need to contribute to that by breeding even more puppies that may not contribute to the quality of breed standard. We will neuter Solo if he does not end up showing well.
9 Weeks
Week 1 (9 weeks old)
** TIP: Do not get a puppy when you have just moved and are still unpacking, I learned this the hard way.
We moved on a Friday, but our belongings were not delivered to the new house that day, they would come on Monday. So, we went and bought the guest bed we needed anyway, and used the guest room for a few days. We brought our two cats over on Friday with us, to let them get used to the house.
We thought we had the best plan, we’d bring the puppy home right after we moved (that’s why we waited until he was 9 weeks old), so that our cats would get the new house and the puppy at the same time, and maybe they’d adjust to the puppy better that way. Well, we went and picked Solo up on Saturday, and brought him home.
The Ride Home
Solo was very nervous on the way home; my car is too small to fit his crate in, so he was in a doggie seat belt to start off. The drive was about an hour and a half long, and he drooled very badly. (We’ve not had a problem with drooling since; don’t let this scare you off) I ended up taking the seatbelt off of him and setting him on my lap after a few minutes, as I was in the backseat with him, while my husband drove.
Now here’s where I didn’t follow my own advice. I created a list of supplies you should already have at home before you bring the puppy home, I had only the crate off of that list. Because of this, we had to go to the pet store the first day we brought him home. To get a second crate, food dishes, dog food, and some toys.
To keep Solo company, we brought home a toy we had given the breeder when he was just 4 weeks old. It smelled really bad, but we kept from washing it until he was comfortable in our house. It did seem to provide some comfort to him when left in the crate.
Sleeping
The first night, Solo slept really well in the crate. He got up once and whined to use the bathroom, so I took him out, and he went back to sleep in the crate. It went downhill from there. The problem was that since we were sleeping in the guest room, there wasn’t room in there for the crate, and it was in the hallway. Solo felt lonely away from us. So for the next two nights, after he went out in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t go back to sleep in the crate, and my husband ended up bringing him into the bed, which you should not do, or the dog will expect it all the time.
We were lucky, though, because we weren’t in our real bed. Once our furniture was delivered and we set up our bed, Solo’s crate was moved into our bedroom, right beside the bed, so that I could stick my fingers in the crate and let him know I was still there if he whined. Once we moved to that room, he never even whined in the middle of the night to go out.
Eating & Health
Solo didn’t eat the first two days we had him. But, on the third day, he was chowing down, so we figured he was just getting settled from all the changes.
On Wednesday, solo was scratching his ear, and whining in pain, so we made an appointment to see the veterinarian to see if something was wrong. When we took him in, it turned out that his ear was fine, but he did have worms. Worms are pretty common in puppies, don’t think it means that your breeder did anything wrong or that your puppy has serious issues. My vet gave Solo an oral creamy fluid for roundworms, and a 12-day supply of pills for coccidia. He will have to go back in 3 weeks to retest and get one more roundworm treatment.
Housebreaking
Solo has been pretty good at not having accidents in the house, we take him outside and he goes. He’s so good at staying by us outside that we’ve not been taking him out on leash.
Socialization
I’ve made a point to be sure to play with Solo’s feet, put my hands in his mouth to remove things, and touch his food while he’s eating. This will help to make him a lot less aggressive as he gets older. The only thing he has a bit of a problem with is when I put my hands in his mouth to take something away. He tries to make a game of tug-of-war out of it by clamping down harder. I’ve just been firm and not pulled, but sternly said “drop it” while holding the item, and he usually loosens his grip enough for me to take it. Back to the top
10 Weeks
Week 2 (10 weeks old)
Solo has obviously gotten comfortable with us, as his true personality has come out. We’ve taken to calling him “monster” instead of Solo.
Cats
Solo has met the cats; they’ve finally come out of hiding from the stress after the move. He really wants to play with them, but is also scared of them. He’ll jump and lower the front half of his body, inviting them to play, but then back off when they look at him.
He tries to eat the cat food and drink all of their water, which they don’t appreciate much. The cats don’t seem to be afraid of him, though, just not interested in being friends.
Rocks
Weimaraners love to eat rocks, from what I’ve heard from other Weim owners. And Solo is no exception. Every time I take him out, he wants to eat rocks, mulch, or anything else he can get. He’s pretty good about letting me take things out of his mouth.
Health
Solo had to go to the vet this week for a vaccine, per my breeder’s instructions. Be sure to follow your breeder’s directions as there are always new developments in the best protocol for vaccinating Weimaraners. They can be prone to have reactions to vaccines, and it’s better to be safe than to end up with a very sick puppy.
When I took him to the vet, Solo was seat belted into the front seat. When we got there and I opened his door and released the seatbelt, Solo jumped out. It was a little too high of a jump and he twisted his leg. He yelped with pain and held up the injured leg. I got very scared that he’d seriously hurt himself, but he put it down and started walking, without a limp.
Once he’d been taken back and given his shot, we were standing waiting to pay the bill when he all of a sudden started screaming in pain and holding that same leg up. The doctor and I rushed him back to an examining table, and she could not feel any problems, but he wouldn’t stop screaming. We decided to do an x-ray, but the doctor had to finish up with one last patient first. So Solo and I waited back out front. While we were waiting, he again started walking on the leg with no obvious discomfort.
When the doctor came back out to see us, Solo was putting full weight on his leg, and the doctor decided that like many puppies do, Solo had just scared himself badly when he twisted his leg, and that I should keep an eye on him for pain, but not worry about the x-ray at this time.
Over the next few days, he was fine, no pain with his leg at all.
Gracefulness
Weimaraner puppies, and maybe adults, though I don’t have experience with them yet, are not graceful. Solo is a huge klutz. When going down the stairs, he goes too fast and falls face first into the linoleum at the bottom, sliding into the wall. When he runs to get food, he slides all over the place again.
Housebreaking
Solo had a lot of accidents this week. He knows to scratch when he has to have a bowel movement, but not if he has to pee. He just goes.
Socialization
Solo got to have his first real pet store experience. He went on his first day home, but had to sit in the cart, so it wasn’t the same. He got to walk around this time, meeting other people and other dogs. He really enjoyed it, and loves strangers (it usually seems that he loves strangers more than his own family).
Back to the top
11 Weeks
Week 3 (11 weeks old)
I’m sorry, I’m writing this two weeks late and things are all starting to run together. Here’s what I can remember from this week:
Cats
Solo has learned that the cats are pretty fun to chase. The cats just avoid him when he’s in this kind of a mood. He has also learned the joys of “Kitty Krunchies” as I’ve started to call his favorite treat, used cat litter. We’ve had to start toilet training our cats just so that there will be no more litter around.
Health
Solo was pretty healthy this week, no problems at all.
Training
Solo is starting to learn to walk on lead better. He’s gotten brave so that he wanders when outside, so I had to start using a leash every time he goes out. He is learning to walk on it, though he does have some pulling problems. He went for his first real walk this week, around the block and through the neighborhood. It was pretty cold, as it’s mid-December now, but he did all right.
Solo has known “fetch” and “sit” for sometime. He is starting to understand “down” and definitely knows “no” and “off”, though he chooses to ignore them most of the time. He really has to work on “come”. He doesn’t get it yet.
Housebreaking
Solo’s done a lot better this week, except he’s gotten to where he scratches at the door just to go play, not to use the bathroom, and we’re stuck outside freezing waiting on him, as we don’t have a fence yet.
Back to the top
12 Weeks
Week 4 (12 weeks old)
This week was Christmas, so Solo has had a lot of exciting events happening. He’s had several visitors, and lots of new things in the house.
Cats
The cats have learned to stick up for themselves. They’re both front declawed, but when Solo bothers them; they bat him around until he calms down. He just thinks they’re the best playmates, and he loves their toys even better than his. I think I’ll have to use a little fuzzy mouse as his bait in the show ring.
Health
Solo had a few problems this week. After we got our Christmas tree and set it up, he kept trying to drink the tree water, which had preservative in it. I had to gate him off from that room, but it was too late. He was pretty sick that night; he kept trying to throw up. I got up and lay with him, and he felt a lot better.
Next, he had some diarrhea later in the week, followed by constipation. I told him to blame it on his mouth for getting into all the tree branches we trimmed off the tree.
Solo went to the vet for his follow-up on his roundworms, he got his second treatment, and his sample was all clear. We’re through one infestation.
Training
I bought a book on show training for beginners, and have been reading it. I’ve started using some of the recommendations in my every-day activities with Solo. Such as getting him used to having his mouth and testicles handled, for the judge’s examination. This weekend we’re going to start working on stacking and gaiting.
Housebreaking
Solo knows to scratch to go out whatever he has to do. He only had one accident this week, which is pretty good. We purchased a line to tie from a few trees so that if Solo wants to stay out and play outside he can, without us freezing or him having the chance to run away.
Socialization
Solo had a lot of opportunity to be socialized this week. My parents stayed with us for two days, so he got to have strange people in his house at night. Then, we had some friends’ children over, and they tired him out playing. He’s very good with children, though he doesn’t understand the power of his little teeth or his full body jump just yet.
Solo also met some dogs at the vet and at the pet store. At the vet he all of a sudden started barking, which he usually reserves for the cats. It was just at a person, not even a dog, and since he now knows he can do it, he has barked a lot more lately. He terrified some Yorkshire terriers at the doctor’s office, then he got to meet a big Weimie at the store. He wasn’t so brave in the face of a large dog.
Sleeping
My husband decided to have the dog sleep in the bed on Christmas Eve, as a present to him, bad idea. Since then, Solo’s been a lot whinier when in his crate at night. One night he started whining immediately after I lay down, and when I went to see if he had to go out, he wouldn’t come out of his crate. Then he woke me up at 2am, I took him out, again, he didn’t want to come out of the crate, I had to make him, but he only had to pee just a tiny bit. Then he woke me up a few minutes before 6, I let my husband deal with him this time, since he’s to blame.
I’m not positive that Solo’s problem is due to being let on the bed one night, especially since the above incident was several nights later, but it does seem like he’d been doing so well and is now going backwards.
Back to the top
13 Weeks
Week 5 (13 weeks old)
This week Solo’s training was forgotten. We had visitors for a good portion of the week, my sister and two friends, all around 19 years old. Tip, don’t bend your rules just because you have visitors, I made that mistake.
Training
Remember last week how I said I was going to start on stacking, well, that didn’t happen. I guess we got caught up with the visitors, but Solo is no closer to being show trained than last week.
Housebreaking
There were no accidents this week, cross your fingers!
Socialization
Solo had some more socialization this week. My sister and her two friends gave him lots of love and exercise.
Sleeping
The nighttime rules were gone this week, as the three girls stayed up later than we did, Solo would whine and bark to be out of the cage, because he knew someone was up. So he slept in the bed while they were here.
14 Weeks
Week 6 (14 weeks old)
More visitors this week, my husband’s parents came to visit. It was quite an eventful weekend.
Cats
Well, our house was pretty stressed, because one of the kitties was pretty sick this week. He had to be locked into the master bathroom for 3 days until his digestive system settled down. The change of this stressed the dog out, too.
Health
Solo also had some digestive problems this week. My mother in law brought him some toys, ones he could specifically tear up. And he did, the problem is that in doing so, he swallowed a lot of the cotton filling in the toy. I woke up the next morning to him trying to throw it up. He got it out, there was a lot of cotton in his stomach, and it had prevented his food from getting digested.
Training
We started puppy kindergarten this week. We are supposed to work on sit, down, stand and walking on lead. Solo’s got sit pretty good, and he’s working on down, but I still have to bait him down. I think stand will be the hardest for him, but the most beneficial when we start showing.
Don’t expect your dog to be well behaved in class, at least at first. Solo’s pretty mellow, for a Weim, at home, he has his run around the house like a fool moments, but pretty much, he just lays near us. At class, forget it. He pulled on the lead the entire time, which made me decide to get a leather lead instead of the nylon one, as it’ll be easier on my hands. He did find a girlfriend at class, her name is Angel, and she’s a Great Dane. We’ll have to watch those two, they would make pretty funny looking puppies.
Housebreaking
Solo had a few accidents while my inlaws were here. We think he was just too excited with all the visitors we’ve been having.
4-5 Months
Weeks 7-11 (4-5 months old)
Quite a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Solo really has grown and is showing his “weimeyness” quite a lot more.
Health
Solo has been very healthy for the past few weeks. He is a bit of a klutz, and unfortunately keeps tripping and hurting his leg. I’m really trying to watch this, because large dogs can have a lot of leg and hip problems, and I want to prevent any additional problems that he could develop as he ages.
Solo has officially started teething. About three weeks ago, as he was chewing on a rawhide, it got all bloody. At first, my husband thought he had a cut on his chin where there had appeared to be a pimple earlier. When we looked in his mouth, sure enough, he had lost a tooth, and the new one was starting to cut through his gums. He hasn’t been acting too moody about the teething process, though by now, he’s lost at least eight teeth, perhaps more.
Training
Solo’s been doing well in Puppy Kindergarten, even though I’m lacking in spending enough time practicing with him. He gets a lot of work on the weekends, but I kind of slack off during the week. We only have two weeks left in this session, so I need to try and spend a lot of time working with him.
We have started show training, and are working on stacking currently. I’ve found that placing a set of yoga bricks (they’re firm foam blocks) on top of Solo’s travel crate and covering them with a bathmat works well for a place to work with him. I haven’t got him to where he’ll stand still enough on the ground yet, but have some nice pictures of him stacked on the crate. We need to spend a lot of time on this, too, as Solo can start showing in about a month and a half, and we’re going to try to take him to the WCA nationals in May.
Housebreaking
Solo has only had one accident since the last report, and that’s not his fault. We go home at lunch time during weekdays to let Solo out to use the bathroom, and one day we were not able to leave, so he just couldn’t hold it long enough and used his crate. Like I said, that’s not his fault, so he didn’t get yelled at.
Maturity
Solo is becoming a man. I don’t mean that he’s lifting his leg to pee, either. We bought him a new blanket the other day, canvas on one side and fleece on the other. He was laying on it, suckling the fabric, as Weimaraners often do, even when full grown, when he decided his surrogate “mother” blanket was pretty attractive. He scrunched that blanket up as high as he could and, well, I’m sure you can imagine what I’m trying to say, he started to try to mate the blanket. We didn’t stop him because I figure it’s a natural reflex for him, and he is not neutered, and probably won’t be for a while. As long as he’s not trying it on people, I can’t really expect him to understand. I figure if I teach him that it’s bad, then, if he becomes a champion and eventually a stud dog, he won’t want to breed a female dog, as he’ll have been punished for similar behaviors before.
Sleeping
I think I mentioned in my last report that Solo kept waking up between 3 and 4am every night and whining in his crate. He didn’t need to use the bathroom, I know, I tried that solution. He just wanted to be out with us.
So, we started leaving him out of the crate, just confined to the bedroom with us, but not on the bed. This worked for a while, but then he started scratching at the door all night. After a few days of this, I took him downstairs to his daytime crate and put him in it for the remainder of the night. He only whined for a moment. The next night, I tried putting him right into his nighttime crate, in our room, and he was fine. He hasn’t been waking up in the middle of the night or anything.
Other News
This is sort of Solo related, but not truly. As we will be traveling, at least within the state, quite often for shows, we’ve been trying to acquire some sort of trailer. We were looking at a pull trailer, but our truck is only big enough to pull the smallest (except the pop-up tent trailers, which I didn’t want). So, we drove to Indiana to a big RV dealer, and found a used motor home, one of the smaller ones, and just brought it home this week. We took Solo in to check it out, and he liked it, he was up on the couch and on the seats for the dinette.
We’re going to take it to Kentucky this weekend to visit my husband’s grandparents, so we’ll see how Solo does while we drive. It looks like we’ll be able to take Solo all over for shows, now
5-6 Months
Weeks 12-16 (5-6 months old)
We have a bit more to report on this month. About 5 weeks ago another dog came to live with us. His name is Lucky, and he’s a Weimaraner, as well. He is about 9 months old, so he is a puppy, as well. Lucky is a “rescue” dog, his previous family was unable to give him the attention and exercise that a Weimaraner needs, partly because their family was so young and it is difficult to have an 8-month old Weimaraner who is full of energy around twin 3-year old children without the children getting knocked down quite a bit.
So from here the story will involve both Lucky and Solo, to give you the perspective of two puppies a few months apart in age.
Introductions
Solo and Lucky have hit it off pretty well. Like male children, their favorite play activity is “fighting”. Just as young and adolescent boys like to wrestle and fight, without really intending harm, that’s how my two boys play. Sometimes they have to be yelled at because they get so into it that it sounds like they’re hurting one another, but to my knowledge they’ve not drawn blood yet.
Lucky established himself as alpha over Solo, and has tried to be alpha over my husband and myself as well (though he was only successful with Solo). I think that Lucky, like any adolescent child, was just testing the limits. At first, Lucky was able to have uncontested reign over Solo, I believe in part because Solo still had small teeth, and Lucky is older and more sexually mature.
In the past weeks the tables have begun to turn, and Solo has made himself very close to Lucky’s equal. He will no longer let Lucky take toys or bones from him if he wants to keep them. (Solo’s teeth have grown in a lot so he’s a better match for Lucky) Another thing that may add to this is that while Solo is going to show, so must remain “intact”, Lucky will be neutered as he has some disqualifying markings (white on the side of his neck and on his inner thighs). Lucky is scheduled for the big operation in a week.
I don’t care who is alpha between the two, but when Lucky first moved in, he was not a very kind leader to Solo, he would not allow Solo to have any bones, and would steal them from Solo, even if he already had his own. Solo just seems to be more of a sharing potential leader, and may make the house a little more peaceful.
Health
Solo has been pretty healthy this month, other than some minor bumps and bruises due to the wrestling with Lucky.
Lucky has a way to go to get up to Solo’s level. He’s pretty skinny, he actually weighs less than Solo. Solo weighs about 55 pounds, and Lucky only 47, even though he’s 3 ½ months older than Solo. Lucky had never been to a normal veterinarian, he had gone to a clinic in one of the pet stores, so we made sure to take him just for a checkup before the big operation was scheduled. He did have coccidia, a type of worm, which may be contributing to his low body weight. He’s over that and looks as if he may be gaining a little weight.
Training
Solo has taken a big step back since Lucky came to live with us. I wouldn’t blame it on Lucky, it’s just something that happened. I think the main reasons are that we’ve had to spend a lot of time working with Lucky, and that Solo picked up on some of Lucky’s bad habits. These include jumping and barking.
Solo is in the second Puppy Kindergarten class now, and is starting conformation class this week. We intend to take him to Nationals in May, so have a lot of work to do in order to catch up.
Lucky did not have much training when he came to us. He didn’t even know how to sit, though he was 8 months old. He has picked up pretty quickly, though, as he’s smart, like all Weims. He has pretty severe Separation Anxiety. He can’t stand when we leave for work. He is crated in an airline-style crate, which prevents him from destroying the house (one time we had him in a wire crate and he was able to move the tray at the bottom, so he chewed a hole in our carpet). The minute he’s put into that crate in the morning, though, he starts barking and whining and foaming at the mouth. We have to just start over, as if he was a new puppy and had not been crate trained previously. It’s going to be a pretty long process, but my vet does not want to use any medication to help, not with a dog so young still.
We love Lucky very much and want to help him, so please don’t think by all my complaints about him that we don’t love him. We do, and are working very hard to help him adjust to our family.
Housebreaking
Both Solo and Lucky have had a few accidents since Lucky came to live with us. I think it’s a male territorial thing. It’s gotten better, and Lucky has learned how to tell us that he needs to go out. Lucky marks in the house a fair amount, so we’re hoping the neutering will help with that some.
Sleeping
Solo has decided it’s pretty fun to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. He’s started whining and barking, because he wants to get up and play. We normally get up at 5:30, so this is pretty annoying because it’s almost pointless to go back to sleep for another hour. I’m not sure what we’re going to do about this one, but we do intend to get a water gun for all of our behavioral issues, maybe it’ll help. With my luck, Solo will try to catch the squirts and think they’re fun.