pit-bull puppy

Question
QUESTION: Hello!

Me and my husband we'v just got a 7 weeks pitbull puppy and we have no experience with dogs(but we do have good experience with cats)!

We was wondering if you can help with advice about what and especially how much we should feed our MAYA!

At the moment we feed he 3 times /day with Royal Canine dry and can weed food for puppies ,
at 8am/2pm/8pm and some small puppy treats  or small pieces of hotdogs in our few minutes of training per day.We feed her 225g of dry biscuits /day mixed with 3/4 of a can of wed food!

We also wish to ask advice from you regarding how to tech her to ask for toilet as she is going in the house everywhere....!

And at last  please , when we can start training her (teach her things)?Are they able to learn from this small age?

thank you very much for your time!
katy & vali L

ANSWER: Hello Katy and Vali,,
I hope you can read this cause it sure is small at my end. I have a new MacBook pro and am struggling mightily to learn how to manipulate things. This is my first time on this site with this computer and this font I am looking at as I type is so tiny. I HOPE you can read.

I have to ask you why you didn't do some research before getting, of all breeds for your first, a pit bull. They are a handful and grow to be very, very strong. You will need to take Maya to puppy kindergarten classes as soon as she is six months old and then you MUST get serious about training her if you want the best pet you can have. There is no age that is too young to begin some sort of training. At a very young age it won't be as formal as at a later age but certainly, even right now, you can start telling her things like, "good sit" or "good down" whenever she does these things naturally. In other words you wait for behaviors you really like, use the words, praise her and that's that. You can start outside training her IMMEDIATELY. TAKE HER OUT OFTEN..and keep her confined in whatever way works for you, when she is in the house. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE with house training/bathroom problems GIVES THEIR NEW PUPPY WAY TOO MUCH SPACE AND FREEDOM AND THIS CONFUSES THE DOG TO NO END. It also does not teach bladder control and believe it or not, toilet training a puppy means bladder training. By small increments you train the bladder to hold longer until finally the dog can be trusted with more space in the house. If you are giving Maya free run, at this time, you will NEVER HOUSE TRAIN HER and you will always have a mess. Some people use crates for this purpose and this NOT CRUEL. If you want to do this right, and right from the beginning, confine her when she is in the house and get her out every two hours..with treats and huge praise if she piddles or poops outside. If you have paper or wee wee pads in the house right now, praise her for using these too. But don't use them too long as with a dog her size, she needs to learn to be potty trained OUTSIDE. DO NOT GIVE HER TOO MUCH FREEDOM IN THE HOUSE...THIS IS THE KEY. AND I MEAN KEEP HER CONFINED IN A RATHER SMALL SPACE LIKE A KITCHEN OR BATH OR CRATE. Do not feel sorry for her. Because if you do feel sorry for her, she will continually make a mess and then you will feel sorry for her when you give her up. Train her, starting now..gently, firmly and consistently.

You didn't ask me about WHAT you are feeding her but it's awful food. Since you didn't ask I will not address this. Hot dogs, dry treats, vaccines and the whole nine yards are already a bad beginning. You MUST LEARN ABOUT NUTRITION AND HOW TO VACCINATE PROPERLY OR YOU ARE RISKING HAVING A DOG WITH MANY ALLERGIES AND DIGESTION PROBLEMS. Again, you didn't ask about this so let me say this.

You should be feeding her 3x a day (not dead food like you are feeding now) and should NOT BE GIVING HER THOSE CARDBOARD SNACKS. So, if her energy is good, her weight is appropriate etc. then you are feeding enough. I am sad about how you are feeding this new dog but that is your choice. I wish you had researched about how to bring up and feed a new pup but it's not too late.

If you want more info, healthy info about everything, write back.  My dogs haven't been vaccinated in six years and all are legal and immune. I take them to an alternative vet plus my traditional vet when needed. I learned by researching and talking to people (as you are doing with me) and by spending thousands of dollars in vet bills because of the rot gut I had been feeding them and because I did not understand what vaccinations were doing to them. I learned most of this from my mentor and now friend. And if you like, I will put you in touch with this Master/mistress of nutrition and you will feel much better. Of course, I can help you too.

Sounds like you are feeding Maya enough food. Now change what you are putting into her and you will have a truly health dog for life. Maya is learning now so she is never too young. YOu start easily as I said above and you teach her NOW what you want her to do or not do. If you wait she will already have bad habits by the time she is six months old. Young dogs are sponges so praise her for doing all the things you like and do not expect her to understand English. Use the words now that you want her to learn.

Hope this helped. Sue

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your strength answer!
I have researched(but not enough) about Royal Canine and i was told it is a caring good company(not like Iams,Purina or others)But again.....the source its most important!
Again another sources on the net are saying about the raw diet being the best diet for any dog!
we will love to get it touch with the nutritionist for animals (as i also have 4 cats that are feed with Royal Canine)

Sorry ...Maya it is not a purchase ( i strongly disagree with buying any living creature)- but she is a gift....not very  much wanted  at the beginning but surly a lovely one now!

we very much appreciate your dedication in giving us the best answer for the dog sake !
Please help us to feed them right and rise them well!!
We are waiting for your answer about  getting in touch with the specialist for  nutrition and we will follow your advise as per your answer!

Thank you very much....your writing was just the right size:)

Answer
Hi there,
PLEASE SEND ME YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS AND I WILL SEND YOU THE ADDRESS OF THE WOMAN WHO WILL REALLY HELP YOU WITH YOUR PUP. I credit her with saving my Yorkies digestive life...she's amazing and she will not charge you BECAUSE SHE ADORES AND LOVES DOGS. Her own two dogs lived to be 19 with her care. This should tell you how great she is with diets and care. Write to me at:
DazzlinDaawg@aol.com and I will send the information, ok? In the meantime, I will alert Donia that you will be writing to her. Sue