5 week Chihuahua

Question
Hi, this is my first with a 5 week old. she is waking every three hours to potty on the lawn, eat a few bites and than back to bed. I keep her with me in bed with my other dogs.  She screamed for 1 hour in the night and had to do something. So, I let her sleep with us. Is this normal behavior for a young puppy of this breed to need so much attention??  Signing off, TIRED

Answer
Five weeks old is far too young for a puppy to be away from its mother and litter mates.  you need to observe this puppy very carefully for signs of hypoglycemia.  How much she eats and drinks is very very important.  A dog can go down from hypoglycemia in an hour.  Do not expect this puppy to be even close to housetrained before 12 weeks of age, but the fact that she's pottying on the lawn routinely is absolutely terrific.  The screaming for an hour is plain fear; a pup this age needs the comfort of is "pack", and that's you.  let her sleep with you and keep an eye on her health.  Be sure she gets her puppy vaccinations!! THIS IS CRUCIAL!  Find a veterinarian who will give her ONLY what she needs (most likely, parvo, distemper and, at 4 months, rabies) rather than load her up with all sorts of vaccines she won't need (like Lymes, lepto, etc.)  GIVE THESE VACCINATIONS ONE AT A TIME, not all at once.  Allow one week in between the first puppy shots; at the booster shots, give them one month apart.  A small breed dog must be vaccinated quite differently from a larger dog.