I recently purchased a shih...

Question
I recently purchased a shih tzu / pomeranian mix puppy. He's only 12 weeks old and just over 2 pounds right now.

Question #1- He drinks TONS of water, so much, and so fast that once finished, he'll shake ferociously for a good five minutes. Is this normal? I started regularing his water intake a little bit, but I don't want to dehydrate him or anything. Any suggestions?

Question #2- How can I teach the puppy not to bark and growl? He gets very loud and very aggressive when he is playing with my other dog (a full grown 8 pound pom a poo)and it seems that just saying "no bark", "no growl", or "quiet" is not going to get through to him. What would be the most effective way possibly to get him to not growel and bark?

Question #3- When left alone in a room, even if he can still see me and even if I am only gone for a few seconds, the puppy cries and whimpers like there is no tomorrow. Could he have a slight case of seperation anxiety? If so, is there anything that I could do for him to make him less upset when I leave the room for a few minutes?

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions, your help is greatly apprecaited.

Holly  

Answer
Hello, Holly, and thanks for asking! It's already been a crazy week, so I apologize for taking a couple of days to get back to you.

You may want to talk to your vet about the puppy's behavior when he drinks water. The shaking after he has finished drinking is not normal, and could be symptoms of a serious problem - though I don't know exactly what it could be.

For his barking and growling while playing with your other dog, I wouldn't worry too much about it right now. He is still a baby, and is still learning how to appropriately interact with other dogs, and what behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate during play. Don't scold him or punish him for the behavior right now. That would be like punishing a young child for squealing in delight as he comes down the twirly slide on the playground. As he gets older, your other dog will start to discipline him more and 'put him back in his place' with the aggression and noise. As long as you do not intervene when your older dog corrects the puppy, he should soon learn from your other dog what behaviors are appropriate and what behaviors will not be tolerated. Keep in mind though, that some dogs are just more vocal than others.


The whimpering when you leave the room is somewhat normal for a puppy his age. However, if you are not currently doing so, I would encourage you to crate train him. If he does have separation anxiety, crate training will be the best thing for you both, as it will provide for him a 'safe place' for when you are not home, and it will prevent him from being destructive when you are gone as well. Also, when he does the whining and whimpering, you should completely ignore him, and do not re-enter the room while he's doing it. Re-enter the room or show him attention ONLY when he STOPS the whining and whimpering. The first few times, it may take as long as 30 minutes, but he will quickly learn that whimpering doesn't get him anything.

Please, if there's anything else I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck,
Kristen


For more information on separation anxiety, try going to http://www.yahoo.com or http://www.google.com and doing a search for "separation anxiety dog" without the quotation marks. You'll get more information than you'll ever need on the subject that way. You can also do a search for "crate train" without the quotation marks and get lots of information on that as well.