[Phoebe's mom]

Hey guys! I just brought home my 3 month old female golden that we have named Phoebe. She is amazing, we just have a couple problens that I wanted to see if anyone has any feedback
She digs in her water, we correct her but sometimes when we cant catch her in the act she.does it. We have bought elevated bowls but we would like to fix the problem of course.
Also, it takes her forever to poo!!! Sometimes she goes in the morning then not till late evening and she is having her 3 meals a day.
Other then that she is an angel. We took her to doggy central for the puppy playdate and she loved it. She will be starting puppy classes soon!!!
Anywags any advice is appreciated!
Oh, I forgot she is a little over 3 months old and is 26lbs. Is that normal for a girl? She has giant paws!! We are excited for her to be huge!!

 

[Rainheart]

Welcome to you and Phoebe to the forum!

Beamer used to (and still sometimes does) dig in his water bowl... Just watch for signs if she is going to start and give her a 'ah ah' or something to stop it. I would not use elevated bowls just because they can contribute to bloat.

If you are taking her out and she doesn't pee/poo, then bring her back in and either keep her with you for 5 minutes (no playing, though) or put her in the crate for 5 minutes and take her back out until she goes.

Also, what is doggy central? Is it a dog park? I would not take a puppy there until at least 2 weeks after final vaccinations.

 

[nolefan]

First of all Welcome!!! Second, we will HAVE to have photos of Phoebe!!! You can't introduce a puppy with no pix!

For the digging in the water, please get out your video camera and make sure you get plenty of footage. She won't do this forever and it will be something you will want to remember from her puppyhood. Honestly, there is no real solution that I ever figured out. Make her bowl very small for now and clean up the mess, it's a pain but she won't do this forever.

Great idea on the puppy class! You will be so glad... just be very committed to practicing every day and you will be surprised at how quickly your girl will learn things. Don't forget to use really yummy training treats for her and as silly as you might feel, one of the hands free, clip to your belt loop treat dispensers is a good investment.

Have you discussed puppy playdates with your vet? I would. Mine was of the opinion that the benefit of early socializing outweighs the risk of catching disease. If this is through a place where the puppies who play are required to show proof of vaccinations and you have a couple rounds already done, I am one who is willing to take the risk. An indoor arena with rubber/plastic floor matting should provide proper cleaning solution and be kept very clean. I know plenty won't agree with me, but I feel very strongly about early socializing.

 

[Yuki]

For the digging in the water, please get out your video camera and make sure you get plenty of footage. She won't do this forever and it will be something you will want to remember from her puppyhood. Honestly, there is no real solution that I ever figured out. Make her bowl very small for now and clean up the mess, it's a pain but she won't do this forever.

Saya used to do that. i noticed that she loved playing in water. i used to say "no" at digging and letting her play in a kiddie pool filled with water once in a while. she stopped digging her bowl later.

 

[mylissyk]

Hey guys! I just brought home my 3 month old female golden that we have named Phoebe. She is amazing, we just have a couple problens that I wanted to see if anyone has any feedback
She digs in her water, we correct her but sometimes when we cant catch her in the act she.does it. We have bought elevated bowls but we would like to fix the problem of course.
Also, it takes her forever to poo!!! Sometimes she goes in the morning then not till late evening and she is having her 3 meals a day.
Other then that she is an angel. We took her to doggy central for the puppy playdate and she loved it. She will be starting puppy classes soon!!!
Anywags any advice is appreciated!
Oh, I forgot she is a little over 3 months old and is 26lbs. Is that normal for a girl? She has giant paws!! We are excited for her to be huge!!

She's playing with the water, it's not really a "problem" per se, she's just having fun. I know it makes a mess though. We put a cover on our LeBistro tank bowl with a nose hole cut into to keep Robbie from playing in the drink water.

If she is going poo at least once every day I don't think there is a problem there either.

 

[HiTideGoldens]

In our experience, with our Jack, correcting him never worked because he did it when we weren't around. We would come home and he would have gone swimming in his bowl on a daily basis. I understand the frustration. We use a small bucket connected to a crate or ex-pen with a snap hook for pups now. It prevents the digging and usually can hold more than a bowl. You can find them at some pet stores or online (amazon, etc). Just search for dog water bucket or something like that. We use the 2 quart buckets but have 1 quart as well. Either would work for a pup.

26 lbs at 3 months sounds a bit heavy to me, to be honest. Our 13 week old puppy (so almost 3 months old, she will be 3 months on the 21st) who has a lot of bone and substance was weighed yesterday and is 18 lbs. Adding 8 lbs to our pup would make her overweight. Can you feel your puppy's ribs easily when you touch her sides?

It sounds like you want a big golden, but you need to remember that goldens are not giant breed dogs. Per the AKC breed standard, bitches should be 55-65 lbs as adults. All keeping your puppy heavy will do is increase the chance of developing health issues and joint issues.

 

[OutWest]

Hey guys! I just brought home my 3 month old female golden that we have named Phoebe. She is amazing, we just have a couple problens that I wanted to see if anyone has any feedback
She digs in her water, we correct her but sometimes when we cant catch her in the act she.does it. We have bought elevated bowls but we would like to fix the problem of course.
Also, it takes her forever to poo!!! Sometimes she goes in the morning then not till late evening and she is having her 3 meals a day.
Other then that she is an angel. We took her to doggy central for the puppy playdate and she loved it. She will be starting puppy classes soon!!!
Anywags any advice is appreciated!
Oh, I forgot she is a little over 3 months old and is 26lbs. Is that normal for a girl? She has giant paws!! We are excited for her to be huge!!

I've never seen a dog dig in water...I agree you should get some video footage! There is a puppy growth chart available if you google for it... Your puppy sounds big but she's only too big if you can't feel her ribs and you can't see a tuck between her belly and her thigh. It is important to keep them lean so as you feed her going forward, keep that in mind. There is a also a chart put out by Purina that shows how a healthy dog should appear.

Welcome! This is a great place to learn about Goldens. Tucker is our first and we are having a great time.

 

[rhondas]

Although my 15 week old puppy doesn't dig in the water, it is very common so don't worry about it.

My puppy was taking forever to poo (as you say) in the evening and I cured it. I changed is his "good potty" treat from a piece of his kibble to Fresh Bites Liver and he goes almost immediately. I changed it after I remember Ian Dunbar recommending Liver as a potty training treat. Try it!

She seems quite big for a 3 month old to me. My male was 16 lbs when he was weighed at three months.

 

[abowman]

Finn used to do this all the time, he no longer does, I miss it!

 

[Phoebe's mom]

Thanks for the replies! She is for sure not over weight we can feel her ribs she is just tall and big boned. I am going to try to upload pictures but I am on my phone. She has her second shots and her lepto and bordatella. At doggie central the puppy playdates are for puppies under 20 weeks but HAVE to have their second shots to partocipate.
She was in puddles all day today and it was a very cold day so i assume she will be a swimmer which is perfect!!!
We have done the ah ah when digging but she seems to understand she can't do it. We are going to set up a little paddling pool in our kitchen so she can go nuts!
Today I brought her to my work for a bath and she did very well in the bath but she didn't enjoy the blow dryer. I don't want her to be scared of it so i just did her back end on low ans she didn't seem to mind. I dont want to ruin the relationship between her and i though. Is there anything i can do or should i just wait till shr is older?

 

[Phoebe's mom]

Here are some pictures of Phoebe. She is adorable!

 

[OutWest]

She is adorable! What a sweet face. You're going to have a lot of fun with her I bet. I wouldn't push the hair dryer thing unless she HAS to get dried for some reason. Next time be sure to give treats every now and then as you dry her. She'll get used to it. Keep posting the pix.

 

[Yuki]

she is so cute and lovely <3 i think her weight is fine. my pup was also scared of the dryer at first. i placed the dryer close to him so he can investigate it. then turned it on and did the same. gave him treats and started using the dryer. he didnt get scared and kinda loves it now as he gets treats.

PS: more pics pweez

 

[Deb_Bayne]

Bayne did that too we got sick and tired of sopping up the water all over the kitchen floor, but he did grow out of it. Outside though is a different story, he will dig in his bowl out there so we installed a waterdog (water fountain for dogs) since I would fill his bowl 2 seconds later it was empty, he wouldn't get enough water if I kept that up. Unfortunately, he can't use it in the winter for obvious reasons. However, I'm glad he no longer digs in the house.

 

[nolefan]

Love the photos!!! She is precious!

 

[geenz]

Oh my goodness Murphy used to do this too! When he was a teeny pup and we were in our unit for the first week we had him, I would leave him in the lounge room when I went to work at 11, boyfriend would come home on his lunch break at 1 to let him out for a wee and a walk around, then I would come home for mine around 3, then he would get home from work around 5.30 and I swear EVERY single time one of us came home, we'd have a wet pup, wet kitchen and a dry water bowl Curiously, he hasn't done it since we moved into our house and he has his own kiddy pool out the back

 

[annef]

She will grow out of it...................................eventually!! Annef

 

[ferreira]

Welcome! and nice to see another Phoebe out there!

My Phoebe did the exact same thing. Sometimes she was being playful and other times I think it was to cool her off as she was trying to splash it on her belly

My Phoebe has grown out of this and I am sure yours will too!