QuestionHello, My name is Victoria. I tried searching through the other question and couldn't find one pertaining to this, so I just want to apologize ahead of time if I missed one.
My mother and I just bought a yorkie/pom mix about two weeks ago. When we bought her, the breeders said she was 8 weeks-but she clearly wasn't. We believe that she was about 6 weeks (maybe 5?) when we bought her making her 7-8 weeks now.
Anyway, to the point. Since we brought her home I have never seen her cleaning herself, and from the smell and look of things down there I don't believe she does when I'm not around. I've given her a couple baths since, and use a warm wet cloth every now and again to clean up her underside. Is this a habit she failed to develop because she was taken away from her mother too soon? Or will she catch on as she gets older?
If she doesn't catch on, is she at risk for an infection?
Thank you for any help!
AnswerVictoria,
You are correct in assuming that she is not cleaning herself because she was taken away from her mother too soon. Many people think that if a dog has been weaned then it is ok to remove them from their mothers. This is not correct for the very reasons you are inquiring about. The mothers function is not only to provide nourishment but also to teach them how to take care of themselves.
Since your baby girl did not learn this you will have to do your best to teach her. It sounds like you are already doing a good job of teaching her. The only other thing you can do is to have the hair around her bottom shaved close to the skin. If you do this she will be less likely to get feces caked to her bottom. What happens typically is that the feces gets caught in the hair and does not fall off like it is supposed too. With her being part Yorkie and part Pom I imagine she has a lot of hair.
You will not have to do this for her whole life, because I suspect that if she is taught that being clean is the way to be she will pick up on it and learn to clean herself in the future. Another thing that would help till she gets older is making sure that what you are feeding her is producing solid stools. People often make the mistake of feeding their puppies food that is too rich for their delicate digestive tracts which produces watery stools. If you notice that her stools are not solid then you will have to adjust her diet.
If you need an explanation on what to feed her and how long please write back to me and I will tell you how to do it. It is a rather lengthy response so I don't want to write it if it is not necessary. Keep doing what you are doing and just know that eventually she will be able to keep herself clean.
