New puppy questions!

I just picked up a Beagle puppy for a friend of mine, who wanted one. This puppy was the runt of the litter, she's 3 months and was brought up with many other Beagles (the rest of the litter and a couple of other Beagles). She doesn't seem to be used to humans as much.

She's very low-key and seems submissive. When she looks up at you and you look back at her, she'll turn her head right away. She only wags her tail when another dog is there. She hasn't walked (-virtually she has moved) since I brought her home or had anything to eat. She shakes every once in awhile and always seems a little nervous. I, personally - nor has my friend - ever owned a puppy. I'm not incredibly worried yet, but I was just wondering, this is all normal, correct - she's adjusting, new smells, new sounds, no dogs? When should my friend start worrying if she doesn't eat or want to walk around?

Any other info. would be great!

Here's a picture. Her name's Lucy.

Did you watch her interacting with the rest of the litter? Was she playful and running around while she was there, and is only displaying this behaviour since you've brought her home? She might just be scared and lonely. Your friend should be bringing her to the vet for a check-up ASAP anyway, so I'd make an apointment tomorrow, if possible. In the mean time, try to interact with her and comfort her as much as possible. :love:

Yep, I did see her interact with her littermates. She was biting one of the other puppies and running around. This might sound like a stupid question, but she won't get depressed or anything like that because she was so used to so many dogs and now she's not around them, will she? :o

She's UTD on all shots and had her last deworming (dewormer?) today.

And yes, we've been cuddling her and talking to her all afternoon in those annoying squeaky voices, haha! When she budge, we'd praise her.

By the way, does anyone know any good sites about puppies - what to do, when to do things...?

My boyfriend and I got our puppy when she was 6 months old from the Humane Society. When we brought her home, she had just been spayed and was probably a little traumatized from the whole experience. My guess your puppy is too. She just needed a couple weeks and attention, and she became more and more curious and active. She needed time to adjust. Now she's a bundle of energy and always willing to play and give as many kisses as possible. Since your puppy has just been to the vet and taken away to a new environment, I'm sure he's just frightened and unsure. Give me him some time to come out of his shell.

Any pup needs an appt with a vet asap
and I"m concerned about this statement
just picked up a Beagle puppy for a friend of mine, who wanted one
Pets should NEVER be given as gifts.

Oh, no! It's certainly not a gift! I would never do that.

She doesn't have a car and couldn't pick the puppy up herself and since I drive by there (where the pup was) I told her I would pick it up. Plus, I wanted to see this little puppy. ;) She also doesn't know what to ask or look for in a puppy, so I told her I would get her the puppy.

I was talking to my friend about an hour ago and I was informed Lucy's walking a bit more.

I just read,she's not eaten anything,is she drinking??? A pup has to eat and drink...or she will deterioate and get sick....at least that's how it is with kittens,I assume it's the same with puppys...

Update...I've visited little Lucy and she's doing much better. She wolfed down some food and had a little drink. I brought Levi to see her (although he doesn't pay any attention to her) and she followed him around everywhere. She even tried to play with him, but he's still a little too rough to play with her.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

One last picture. :)

I really suggest heading to the bookstore or the library to pick up some books. I read like 6 when I got Molly, and they were all very helpful. When you read a lot of different ones, you get a more general idea of what to do instead of one person's opinion. Check for the publish date on the library books to make sure they aren't too old-fashioned. The puppy is beautiful and I'm sure he'll bring your friend a lot of love.

She's very low-key and seems submissive. When she looks up at you and you look back at her, she'll turn her head right away. She only wags her tail when another dog is there. She hasn't walked (-virtually she has moved) since I brought her home or had anything to eat. She shakes every once in awhile and always seems a little nervous.

When we brought Monty home from the SPCA he would not look us in the eye. It was about a month or so before he would actually make direct eye contact. Also, it took about 2 weeks before we even heard him bark. Now, just about a year later, he will stare at us with his big bright eyes (and bark and anything that moves out the front window.)

A term you see in vet clinics a lot is BAR for bright, alert, responsive. A healthy animal should be bright, alert, and responsive - a puppy should DEFINITELY be! From your description, Lucy was none of these things. Your friend needs to get vaccines done anyway and if Lucy is/was this out of sorts she should get her in now.

Not sure why she decided to go with a puppy since it takes a lot of knowledge to raise a well-adjusted puppy - to be able to housetrain, crate-train, teach manners, raise a dog that's obedient but not fearful and bonded but not insecure, all at the same time...plus successfully make it through all the puppy stages of chewing, etc. I've found that new dog owners with puppies are high risk of the puppy ending up being given away or brought to the shelter at 7-12 months old when it's not fun to have an untrained young dog in the house anymore. It would be worth whatever it costs times ten for your friend to get her started on a puppy obedience class and continue with a basic obedience class as she gets a bit older. A good trainer will not only help you with training, but also to learn how to think like a dog does.

I don't know where Lucy came from but I have a feeling because of the circumstances it wasn't a reputable breeder. Puppies are susceptible to a number of diseases which might not kill an adult but which can be deadly to a younger dog. Myself I keep young pups away from dog parks or anywhere that dogs I don't know for sure have nothing to transmit to my puppy have been, til after their second vaccine. Socialization is important but her life is more important, so let her immune system develop and vaccines to kick in before you bring her around unknown dogs. This is such a common thing that people do who don't know dogs. Parvo is a disease that's really costly to treat and usually fatal, and it's out there.

Good luck.

Lucy is a doll.

One other seemingly small but very important thing to remember for someone who is new to puppies: puppies are babies.. and babies need lots of rest. It's easy to forget this and expect them to be little balls of energy all day long... but Lucy has a lot of growing to do so tell your friend to be sure she gets her quiet time and has a place to take undisturbed naps.