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Old June 24th, 2006, 04:49 AM
Fused0ne Fused0ne is offline
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New Pup Questions

Hi, I am new to this board, this will be my 3rd post here on Pets.ca.

I just had some questions I wondered what some might think.

I recently a little over a week got a new puppy. His name is Nanook (does anyone know where I got the name from?) And I have a few questions regarding him. He is according to the 2 guys infront of a Walmart whom I got him from told me he is part Chow/Sharpai (sp?)/Beagle, although I see no beagle in him. About 6 days I noticed his stool seemed a bit soft, then noticed he may have worms. Now as I am not working (I do babysitte everyday but dont get paid-family *sigh*), and have been taking classes at my local community college in the afternoons (babysitting is in the day), so I never have alot of money. A 20 here and there, but yeah 20 is about the most I have at one time.

Anyways I did decide to take a stool sample to the vet to see if he had worms as I thought he did. He did, they said he tested positive for Roundworms. So he is on roundworm medicine, and he has had his first puppy shot as well (I gave him a 7 in 1 shot I got at my local Walgreen's pharmacy reccomended by a vet for owners low on money). So this is his situation so far.

Ok now the questions I had which I wasnt sure if this should go in the health section as there are other general questions too, sorry if I should have posted it in the health.

His stool is a soft, not watery, just soft yellow, is this from the worms? Should it start to change color after de-worming?

He is very active outside, except in the day (I am in Phx and its really REALLY hot here in the day when the sun is up), and he'll do his buisness and want right back into the house after he's done. But when he is active outside, he plays, runs, bites anything he see's amusing, but when he comes inside he'll just lay down somewhere and sleep. He sleeps most of the time inside, is this normal? And when he isnt sleeping he's eating or biting wires to like chargers, my pc, (annoying might I had lol), and a sometimes pee's inside, but that I chalk down to still trying to house train him.

How long should it take for him to start to learn his name? I dont know if he's not getting it, or he's just ignoring me. He respones better to "come on" in a cheery tone, then to his name.

How long til vaccines kick in? Would like to take him for leash walks.

And does anyone know of any vets in phoenix that have like payment plans? Every single vet I've called says no. One even said that most vets dont. Which I think is a real shame. Wether its wrong or not alot of people dont take their animals to the vet because they cant afford it. It costs more to take a pet to a vet then a child to the doctor now a days. Ive never taken any pets to a vet, never had any reason to. Wasnt brought up the way to take pets to the vet all the time. When I was little I dont even think any of our pets ever had any vaccines. And they lived long happy lives.

However since Nanook has started off with worms I would like to have him more vet-associated. But having a extremley difficult time finding a vet that has payment plans.

And does anyone have any suggestions on getting a cat to associate with a puppy? I have a 2 yr old male cat (not nutered) who is an indoor cat. Now he is a jealous type, as whenever any of the kids are playing with me, laying down watching tv with me he'll jump up and lay right with us, trying to get more attn then the kids.

Nanook has many times tried to play with my cat Travieso but to no avail. The cat runs, and Nanook has chased him a few times. When this happens I put Nanook in his kennel for a bit til he forgets about the cat, because the cat then gets nervous when being chased.

Thanks you.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 06:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fused0ne
His name is Nanook (does anyone know where I got the name from?)
The Lost Boys.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 07:09 AM
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Congrats on the new pup. Roundworms are to be expected in almost any puppy, especially one picked up for "free" in front of WalMart. If treated, they are not a big deal at all.

Puppies' stools can vary a lot. Make sure that you put him on the highest quality puppy food you can afford and keep him on that only. This will help to ease his digestive tract woes and keep him from having an upset tummy. It is better to decide how much you can spend on dog food up front than to switch back and forth between a higher end food, when you have extra money, and a bottom barrel food when you are broke. Don't buy a generic "storebrand" dog food, such as the Ol' Roy they sell at WalMart. I'd recommend sticking with plain old Puppy Chow, and then plain old Dog Chow as he gets older. They are affordable foods that will meet his basic nutritional needs. There are certainly much better foods, but if you can afford these on an ongoing basis, then I'd stick with them.

Sleeping most of the time when he's inside is normal behavior, but being able to chew on power cords, etc. when you aren't supervising him is dangerous--and could eventually be heartbreaking. Check your local Freecycle group online and see if anyone has a dog crate than they don't need anymore and have him sleep in the crate and stay there when you aren't able to directly supervise him. Please let me know if you need help on how to crate train. It will help him with learning to go potty outside as well, but depending on his age, he can only spend a few hours in the crate at a time. Plan on one hour in the crate for each month of age, and then add one hour. If he's 3 mos. old, he can spend four hours in a crate before he must be taken outside for exercise and attention. He is probably okay in the crate overnight for 8 hours at this point, but keep it near your bed so that if he whimpers, you can take him out to pee.

To get him used to his name, use it a LOT and associate it with praise. A dog's name is a command for them to "pay attention to you." If he's playing and turns his head toward you, say his name as soon as he makes eye contact. If he's not facing you, turn his head gently toward yours and give him a kiss on the nose and say his name. He will learn very quickly that when you say "Nanook," you want him to turn and look at you and wait for his next command, "Sit" "Come" etc.

He needs three more 7-Way shots, 3 to 4 weeks apart. They don't necessarily have to be given at the vet's office, as you well know--although I highly recommend trying to get him an office visit for at least one thorough physical examination to make sure everything is okay. He will also need a one year rabies vaccine at the time he receives the last combo vaccination. Also, most vets are more willing to help you out and possibly take payments if you establish a working relationship with them. If a vet has seen your puppy through all of his vaccinations, etc. then he will be more willing to take payments on his neuter surgery than he would be if he'd never seen you before.

When you take him to be neutered, check with your local SPCA because they probably have a low cost or no cost surgery center available to low income pet owners. My SPCA does free spaying and neutering for college students, for example. There are many options available to you (I can even help you find a sponsor), so you can afford to get your cat neutered at the same time. Sometimes these free spay/neuter clinics include a rabies vaccination as well.

Don't let Nanook be around the cat unsupervised for now. The cat can hurt him, and he could even hurt the cat. If they have negative interactions at this point, it can set a bad precedent for their relationship in the fifteen years to come that they're going to have to share you with each other. The cat was there first and Nanook needs to learn to respect his space. As he learns more commands from you, I'd teach him to sit when the cat comes around and not to approach the cat in a big hurry, as puppies will do!

Hope this is all helpful.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 05:05 PM
Fused0ne Fused0ne is offline
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Yes it is the Lost Boys. No one ever knows when I tell them his name lol.

Well he wasnt free, but almost lol. He was 15 dollars. He reminded me so much of a favorite dog of mine I use to have that dissapeared in his old age, and I never knew what happened to him, and when I saw Nanook I couldnt keep myself from not getting him.

Well right now he is eating Purina Puppy, I did not know that Ol' Roy wasnt good. I look at the bags and see what they say, Ol' Roy does say balanced nutrition, is it not?

I do have a crate, its just that sometimes I'll get distracted and then return my attention to him and he's chewing on something. My dad wasnt all to happy abuot him chewing up the camcorders charger (that I know have to look and see where a replacement can be found for the charger).

3 more 7 in 1 vaccined? I was told he'd need 3 total by the vet's secretary? Because I did call to ask.

Does anyone know if with 1 vaccine so far is it ok to try leash walks? I did one before I gave him a vaccine but didnt know til after the walk that I shouldnt have because he hasnt had any vaccines. But he has 1 so far, would walks be safe? Of course I wont let him near other dogs, or sniff any droppings we might encounter on our walk. I just think the sooner we start on leash walking the sooner he'll go along with it.

He is they said about 2 months and half by looking at his teeth when I dropped his stool off. I had bought him tapeworm medicine but couldnt get the nagging worry off my mind that what if I gave him tapeworm med and it was another kind. So I looked and called a number of vets to see who would charge the lowest for just a stool check. Imagine my surprise in the cost differences, it ranged from 35-15. But out of the 8 vets Ive called none have any payment plans. That is the most frusterating.

Thank you for the responses I appreciate that.

Also my cat I noticed the day I brought my dog home he had lost ALOT of weight. I then found out he wasnt eating. I thought someone else had been re-filling his bowl, I felt so bad when I realized that it wasnt that someone was re-filling his bowl, it was that he wasnt eating.

Took me a few days to see why. He eat Special Kitty. The kind in his bown was from the dark blue bag, he had been eating before from the yellow-green bag (and I use colors because I forgot what each one is suppose to be flavor wise), anyways I corrected the problem and he is eating fine now but still looks a bit thin. Could this be a complete bad luck scenerio that he wasnt eating because the food mix up, but even though I fixed the situation the puppy might be adding so discomfort or nervousness that is still fueling the wieght loss. Am I making sense? My cat has no signs of being sick, he's eating fine again, could it be stress and bad timing, that he isnt as fat as he use to be yet? Or does it take time to re-gain cat weight?

I know I might need to put that last thing into a new thread, but it does deal with Nanook as well so I just added it here.

Thanks.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 05:55 PM
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theplainsjane theplainsjane is offline
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I will dig up some more info on dog food brands for you. Ol' Roy offers a minimal level of nutrition. Plain old Purina Dog Chow isn't that fabulous, but it's definitely better than Ol' Roy. You want to choose a food for your dog that has as much meat as possible listed in the first several ingredient, as opposed to corn meal, etc. Dog food selection is a huge topic of conversation here, and I'm sure we could find a whole lot of info about it. I feed my own dogs ProPlan (also by Purina) and they do well on it. It is mid-priced food, available for $25/40 lbs. at PetsMart, give or take. Purina Dog Chow is probably closer to $17/40 lbs. or so and as I said, it's not fabulous food, but it's adequate and your dog will certainly do just fine on it, especially if cost is a concern.

It's easy to get distracted. I'm definitely not passing judgment about crating--if you had ANY idea how many pairs of flip flops I replace EACH WEEK because they get chewed. Just try to be as conscientious as possible and keep your baby safe, especially from electrical cords. It is a good idea to just keep things unplugged when you aren't using them, as much as you can. That way, even if he DOES by chance chew a cord, at least it won't be hot. My first puppy converted my hairdryer to a cordless model--thank God it wasn't plugged in.

I recommend 4 total 7in1 shots. The peace of mind is worth the extra ten bucks or so. Technically, he should have ALL four of those shots before you take him on a walk where he might encounter another dog or another dog's poop that might have bacteria in it. If you are near your own home and in your own yard, he can certainly start practicing leash walking. If you live on a street that has a sidewalk--dump a bucket of bleach water on the sidewalk along the front of your yard and practice there, but he shouldn't go to a dog park or to a petstore or obedience classes until he's had the entire series of them.

Cats can be finicky. It could be the change in food--he simply didn't like what you mistakenly offered him. Combined with the stress of a new "brother," he could have lost a little weight, but if you've had the puppy for only a week and a half and he's noticeably thinner in that time, it does sound to me like he needs to see a vet as soon as you are able to afford it. Some vets will offer Care Credit, which is a line of credit you can apply for and use to pay your vet bills, so that may be another option for you.

When do we get pictures of your wrinkly, furry boy? He must be wrinkly and furry if he is a chow-pei!
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Old June 24th, 2006, 06:08 PM
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Actually FusedOne, if you check the dog/cat food forums here on these boards, you'll find some really great product suggestions. Please ask your vet about a payment plan of some sort, many vets will do this for the health of the animal involved, and he can get the care he needs since in a few months, he'll need to be neutered.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 06:23 PM
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Pets.ca's dog food forum: Reading it is highly informational, but posting a Q there will get you better nutritional answers as a new post.
http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=53
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Old June 24th, 2006, 07:30 PM
Fused0ne Fused0ne is offline
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Well my cat is back on his normal food. The other food was the same brand and all, just a different kind, flavor I guess I should say. If he's laying down or sitting he dont look skinny. Its just when he's all standing up straight completley he looks thin towards the back.

What I am also now doing is fighting ticks. I go over him by hand all the time taking some off. Then when I think ok I got them all, the next day there are more. Now I know all the things on how people shouldnt touch them, but as a little girl I was always outside with my grandpa (who's past away now 10 years ago), and he always got ticks with his hand, and killed them with his nail. So ticks I guess dont gross me out, but I want them gone. I bought a Flea/Tick shampoo at Walmart, Herts I think, and he'll have a bath in that every Saturday. Does anyoen know if this will help? The Herts 2 in 1 shampoo?

As for a picture here is one of Nanook.
Attached Images
 

Last edited by Fused0ne; June 24th, 2006 at 07:34 PM.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 07:32 PM
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Very cute picture. Where did you get the Superman tag?
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Old June 24th, 2006, 07:42 PM
Fused0ne Fused0ne is offline
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The Pet ID machines in Walmart. My mother got it for him, 6 bucks.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 08:16 PM
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Please go to the vet for flea and tick preventative. If you mean hartz shampoo.. There products are not as pet friendly as one would like, and shampooing doesn't stop the problem. Only stops the current fleas and or ticks.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 08:30 PM
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Woah woah woah, what's with reccomending purina foods? If cost is an issue, I would reccomend going to Costco and getting Kirkland dog food. Purina is VERY low quality... and if you calculate the cost per day, it's more than the "more expensive" foods, because you have to feed way more. Just as an example, I saw a show where they priced out the cost to feed a dog Dog Chow, Iams, and Wellness, and Wellness was the cheapest per day, while Dog Chow was the most expensive, even though Wellness is more per bag, and a waaaaay better food.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 08:38 PM
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i know this should go in the "foods" section of the forum, but anyways here you go (from http://sequoiahumane.org/food_comparison/interpret.htm)

Quote:
General - This table helps you compare kibble ingredients. List the first 9 ingredients from the bag you're using or considering. Indicate unhealthy ingredients with red, healthy ingredients with green, and filler ingredients with blue.
Compare - See how your kibble compares. Avoid all kibble containing unhealthy ingredients. You're left with ones containing mostly healthy ingredients and filler ingredients. Now, minimize duplicate filler ingredients-especially wheat, corn, and soy.
Wisdom - Now that you know what to avoid, you can make wise food choices for your dog. You'll soon notice that the kibbles most widely advertised or sold by many veterinarians are not the best choices for your canine companion. Look to the Whole Dog Journal (see references) for their annual kibble rating.

Healthy Meat Ingredients (organic is better)
Turkey & Turkey meal
Chicken & Chicken meal
[Named] Fish & Fish meal (e.g.: mackerel)
Lamb & Lamb meal

Unhealthy Ingredients (just plain unhealthy)
By-products
Corn Gluten meal
(any) Digest
Glandular (anything)
Meat & Bone meal
Salt
Sugar
BHA & BHT (preservatives)
Ethoxyquin (preservative)
Non-specific meal-fat

Filler Ingredients (cheap, readily available, takes up space, poor nutrition source)
(* = frequent cause of allergies)
(any) bran, flour,
gluten meal
Cellulose
Oats
Peanut hulls
Soy*
Wheat*
Corn*

References: To Learn More
Animal Protection Institute
www.api4animals.org/
Whole Dog Journal
www.whole-dog-journal.com
American Holistic Veterinary Medicine Association
www.ahvma.org

Dog food Cost
Premium kibble is more expensive than kibble that contains cheap, nutritionally poor quality ingredients (this should not surprise you).
However, a $40 bag of premium kibble will typically be fed at considerably less than $1.00 per day. If that seems excessive, think about how much you spend a day for cable TV ($1.45), designer coffee ($2), etc. Please put the nutritional health of your canine companion in perspective.
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Old June 24th, 2006, 09:46 PM
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Nanook is such a cutie
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Old June 24th, 2006, 10:57 PM
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Such a sweet puppy! Nanooks eyes look so blue in the picture - matches his tag!
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Old June 27th, 2006, 08:08 AM
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I guess it's because I work in rescue and see so many dogs abused, neglected and abandoned for "personal reasons" that I am trying to give FusedOne some common sense advice. Of course there are way better foods than Dog Chow, or even ProPlan, and it is quite possibly cheaper to feed Wellness in the long run, but she is on a limited budget and says she rarely has more than twenty bucks at a time. That means, she will rarely have the money to buy a bag of Wellness, but will usually have enough money to afford Dog Chow, and won't be overwhelmed by the financial responsibilities of having a dog. I think it's better for a dog to have a stable diet than one that is occasionally good and occasionally middle of the road. I see dogs starving on the end of chains, with no dog houses. I just took a four month old pit bull puppy whose toenails are already starting to curl from malnutrition and came from this very same situation. She would have loved to be in Nanook's environment.

I would not deny Nanook a home simply because he's going to be fed Dog Chow, or even Ol' Roy. I would hate to see him end up euthanized in a shelter because his mom thinks she "can't afford" him. In an ideal world, all dogs would have a loving owner, a canine companion, daily visits to daycare and the best food money can buy. Nanook has a loving home that cares enough to ask strangers on the internet for help making sure he is healthy and safe. I hope, of course, that she has him neutered when the time is right. Unfortunately, I can't control that--I can only give her advice as to why it's so important.
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Old June 27th, 2006, 09:21 AM
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Good advice, theplainsjane 20 years ago I could not afford to pay out the same money I do now for petfood, people can still be wonderful owners even if they cannot afford a top of the line food, there is more important things than the pricetag of the food, I have seen rich people who go out and buy some rare breed paying $2000 plus for a pup, fancy furniture for it and high end food for them it is a showpiece to brag about but they make little to no time for it, it is just a piece of property they only time they acknowledge it is when they have guests over.

The opposite a homeless man had found an lame abandoned dog that was half starved , it became his constant companion he share his meals or did without to ensure the ate he was meticulous in keeping the pup clean, he panhandled so he could give the dog special treats, the dog was the joy of his life, one night the building they were in caught fire, both he and the dog recieved burns, he was not worried for himself but wanted vet care for the dog, approached a vet for help but they would not treat the dog sionce he had no money so went back out on the street, begging and crying to passerbys asking for money to he could dog taken care of, someone called the police, he was taken to jail but what money he had he handed over the money had manged to collect and begged that it be used for the dog to the animal control officer , when he was released he went to animal control to get his dog but they refused to give his dog back to him, their reason was they felt because he was homeless he could not adequately care for the dog.


To me the homeless man was much more deserving of his dog than the wealthy owner who has no time for their dog or the owner that leaves their dog chained up in the yard. To the dog it does not know a left over sandwich is not better than Timberwolf dog food, it is content to have its belly full and far richer by the love and care it recieved, the story about the homeless man was an actual true story it happened approximately 4 years ago, a woman on another forum had gotten to know him when out on her walks with her dogs, and she knew how much he love the dog, when she learn what had happened, she adopted the dog and returned it to him.
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Old June 27th, 2006, 09:30 AM
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Quote:
The opposite a homeless man had found an lame abandoned dog that was half starved , it became his constant companion he share his meals or did without to ensure the ate he was meticulous in keeping the pup clean, he panhandled so he could give the dog special treats, the dog was the joy of his life, one night the building they were in caught fire, both he and the dog recieved burns, he was not worried for himself but wanted vet care for the dog, approached a vet for help but they would not treat the dog sionce he had no money so went back out on the street, begging and crying to passerbys asking for money to he could dog taken care of, someone called the police, he was taken to jail but what money he had he handed over the money had manged to collect and begged that it be used for the dog to the animal control officer , when he was released he went to animal control to get his dog but they refused to give his dog back to him, their reason was they felt because he was homeless he could not adequately care for the dog.

the story about the homeless man was an actual true story it happened approximately 4 years ago, a woman on another forum had gotten to know him when out on her walks with her dogs, and she knew how much he love the dog, when she learn what had happened, she adopted the dog and returned it to him.
oh, great. now you've gone and made me cry, i have mascara leaking and it's only 10:30am!! and i'm at work! ... but it was worth the read, if only for the ending... what an angel that woman was.
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Old June 27th, 2006, 10:39 AM
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Frontline can be a little pricey, but it works great for fleas and ticks and it lasts! Good luck with that cutey!
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Old June 27th, 2006, 11:04 AM
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I'm crying too. That poor man, and poor pup ! About 5 years ago I was in Philadelphia on a bitterly cold night. There was a young couple huddled against a lamp post on the street with their two dogs. They were homeless and abaolutely refused to go to a shelter because the shelter would not take the dogs. They were so afraid that if they were separated from the dogs that they wouldn't have gotten them back. I gave them money but have always regretted not having done more. :sad:
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Old June 27th, 2006, 04:56 PM
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Fused - first of all, Kudos to you for rescuing this pup from
the guys in front of walmart and giving him a good home.
He definitely looks like he might have some chow in him,
but also looks like he might be part newfie?
What color is his tongue? Thatll tell you if hes got chow.
I dont see any beagle either.
He is adorable whatever he is.
As for foods, being a University student myself, I dont have much
money either, and I have found some pet foods to be better than
others.
Purina One - while not a super high quality food, is higher quality than
most "grocery store brands", and is fairly cheap. Also, if you go to their
website, you can get coupons, sign up for the Purina One Puppy Challenge,
and they give you a big bag for like a massive discount, or a small
bag free. And the first ingredient in the puppy food, is of course,
Lamb. Purina Beneful looks decent too, but I dont know if it comes in
a puppy food.

Heres their website:
http://www.purinaone.com/products_main_dog.asp

Also, some wet canned foods are quite good as well, and reasonably affordable. I am not big on canned foods myself for my dog as they
always give her the runs, but others on here can post some
good quality brands for you.
I would avoid food like Ol Roy ....the first 4 ingredients or so are fillers.

The thing is, when you feed a dog low quality food, the dog must eat much more of it to meet its nutritional needs, espescially a growing puppy.
A higher quality food may seem more expensive at the start, but you
need to feed much much less of it.
This results in less poo, firmer poo, and less waste overall.
Id highly recommend going for a higher quality food, like the Kirkland Brand
that is sold at Costco....Unfortunately, you need a costco membership
to get in, or a guest pass, both of which may put the Kirkland out of the running for affordability.
If you were in Canada id suggest First Mate foods to you...high quality,
for low prices. Great food, its what I feed my pets.
A lot of people will suggest Mericks Wolf King....but its really expensive,
about 65 dollars a bag here....far out of my reach for pet food budget.
Also,
there is a diet called the BARF diet, Bones and Raw Foods, which consists of feeding your dog raw peices of meat, and I have heard it actually is just as affordable, if not more so, than feeding a high quality kibble. Someone here may know of someone in your area you could at least contact and ask about pricing.
Anyway, I had my ramble!
Again, Kudos to you giving Nanook a great home!
I look forward to seeing more pictures!
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  #22  
Old June 27th, 2006, 05:21 PM
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technodoll technodoll is offline
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Quote:
Purina Beneful looks decent too, but I dont know if it comes in
a puppy food.
oh no no no, NOTHING decent about this garbage... please stay away from it, whatever you do! if only they spent more money on the ingredients instead of the clever marketing and colorful bags!

ingredients: Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols

of course one could argue about which low-end food is better than the other but in the end, it's pretty much all the same: fillers, cheap low-quality ingredients, grains and by-products galore. anyways... i guess this is better than the dog starving to death but...
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  #23  
Old June 27th, 2006, 05:28 PM
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mafiaprincess mafiaprincess is offline
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A black pigmented tongue tells one nothing of heritage. There are more than a dozen breeds that commonly have black pigmented tongues. It's not limited to chows.

Beneful got a wonderful 17 out of a possible more than a hundred and a flunking F when compared to other foods on the market. It falls into the category with SD and other garbage foods.
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  #24  
Old June 27th, 2006, 06:05 PM
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LM1313 LM1313 is offline
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OMG, the poor homeless man! I'm crying too . . . I'm so glad he got his dog back in the end.

The most important things you can give your dog are love, together time, and training. A high-end food is great if you can afford it, but not necessary to a dog's happiness or even health. (Though of course it CAN be necessary for health in some cases, such as with food allergies to corn or chicken.) Some of the "crap" foods are apparently tasty, as I took Remy to visit my parents' house and he absolutely DEMOLISHED a bowl of Friskies my mom gave him. He usually eats Natural Balance in a casual, uninterested way, but he was facefirst in the Friskies like it was the greatest thing in the world and ate the whole bowl. I couldn't believe it.

Anyway! I'd concentrate on teaching Nanook not to chase the cat. And always have a place up high where the puppy can't reach where the cat can flee too. And whenever the cat and the puppy are in the same room and not bothering each other, give them both lots of treats so they get the idea that seeing the other animal is a GOOD thing.

It's too bad the vets around you don't accept payment plans! Can you set aside a little each month until you get enough for the shots? I'm not sure what the risks are of walking the puppy without them.

Sleeping a lot is normal, especially for a puppy. They play hard, then they sleep hard, LOL.

Also, you should start training your puppy; it will make it much easier to keep him calm around the cat once he learns sit and down. If you can't afford obedience lessons, go to the library and look for books on dog training. Use common sense and avoid any book that recommends hitting your dog or other rough treatment. Be enthused about teaching your puppy and he'll pick it up and like it too. And praise like crazy whenever he does something right. Feel free to start a thread asking about training techniques if you want, there are so many knowledgable people on the board!
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  #25  
Old June 27th, 2006, 11:27 PM
Fused0ne Fused0ne is offline
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Thanks for all the responses! My parents have a Costco membership so I can look into that, thanks for the info. Right now though as I mentioned before he has his purna puppy chow which I was amazed to see how many people dont like it. I had always thought it was a better brand. It was news to me that it wasnt.

Well Ive started to show him SIT which I think he's got already. Showed him a few times last night and I think he's got it. Though now if he see's a treat wether I say sit or not, he sits lol....
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