Suggestions or advice for a rescue puppy please.  

I make their food with oats. I haven't seen anything like what you mention around here. I wonder if I can find a recipe online?

She's a little sweety of a pup, very loving and gentle.

critters and people arent much different really. they made need different things to get same problems taken care of.. but what it boils down to really.. is everyonem critter or human, gotta eat and gotta poop to be healthy. with people its easier to retrain yer body, we are more intelligent in some aspects that we can be told something and understand what needs doing.. and do it. you cant tell the mutt that shes gotta get more fiber and should try to go at same time everyday to retrain her system back to rights. but you CAN observe her actions, as youve been doing, and you CAN try to systematically get her on a schedule to well-being. feed her foods you KNOW she will scarf down.. and mix in some fiberish stuffs with it to get her system cleaning out. im sure they have recipes online for them biscuits.. really not sure if it was the oatmeal or the peanutbutter or something else in them that made mine go like crazy.. but something did. i found them at a cumberland farms.. dunno if you have them where you are. worse comes to worse? i pick you up a few and ship em out cant hurt to try either way

I'm travelling to see Dad in a few weeks and I always visit this huge pet store for supplies...I'll see what they have. She ended up eating her food a little while after I posted the discussion, then about 3 minutes later she went to the door so I let her out. She did her business and she obviously felt much better. I was making her up a small amount of peanut butter, rolled oats and olive oil at the time but she hasn't eaten it.

When I got her, she didn't behave like an animal who had gone hungry. She was just very skittish. She's a lot happier now but still tends to be easily jumpy. She eats regular food at regular times ...sometimes she eats, sometimes she waits till the others are finished. Sometimes she will barely nibble at her food then an hour later when I look the bowl is clean...the other dogs are not around when this happens so I know it's her eating it. I read up a bit and she gets plenty of fluid within the food I make her. When I give her dry food only, half the time I wet it.

I'm beginning to think it is her early conditioning that's causing her to be this way. It's just a matter of time I reckon till we get things sorted and on an even keel. Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness. .

i hope she continually gets better and more at ease with you. as atentive and loving as you are, im sure she will thrive in no time

Hi Tess, just thought I'd let you know...shortly after this discussion we got things sorted pretty quickly. She won't eat until the other dogs are fed. She doesn't eat all her food in one go. We've only had one accidental little dump on the carpet because she either goes out or if the door is shut she lets me know she needs to go out.

She's still really jumpy and fearful with sudden movements and loud noises and the training to obey a command is barely happening but there is a glimmer of hope and the realisation has finally come to me that it not gonna happen overnight.

I don't give my dogs sweet treats as it is bad for them and rots their teeth. I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean when you say "does like that" what are you referring to?

Constipating! That's what I mean. You don't need to be afraid sugar i only a medicine for constipation for dogs. If you want, after you give him sugar you brush his teeth. :)

She did a poo within half an hour of me posting the discussion. Her stools may be too hard because she doesn't drink. I'm guessing she cried because the too dry stools were moving inside her. It's possible that she is unaccustomed to drinking because water has never been readily available. I don't know of anyone handy who has diabetes, but I will check online for other symptoms.

Thanks Opal honey. Roxy is a darling lil baby and she's very sweet with a lovely nature. I have been reading responses and thinking and I have come down to the fact that Roxy doesn't drink enough. This may be the crux of the matter. I'm hoping I can fix things soon before Winter sets in so that she can dash outside and go and dash back inside where it's warm.

She is a lot more sure of herself than she was and a lot less skittish and she gets very excited when things happen which was not the case at first. But - she still gets scared very easily when she's not sure of something. Like a sudden move or sound. I'm confident that all that will change though. Thanks for those lovely words of encouragement and support.

coco wasnt trained when i got her. but luckily i had a doggy door and another dog that showed her how it worked. plus my son said to clean any mess with vinegar. they wont go back there then. of course now she hates any smell of vinegar but it all together worked and i never had to yell at her just say quitely bad girl, go outside.

Yes, I think they learn from older dogs but mine don't drink the water inside very often...cos they are mainly outside for one thing.

I wonder if sprinkling vinegar on my rug will work?? The only thing is, I don't particularly want my lounge room top smell of vinegar

after a few minutes the smell usually goes away for us. but they can still smell it. i would just wipe up where she did it. i hope your puppy is doing better these days. ?

It's only by accident I found this bunny...there was no alert for it. I have just given some feed back to the first responder, yes, things are much better. I'm hopeful that every day lets her feel safer and more loved and trusting I'm also hopeful that eventually we will get to her coming when called everytime, not just half the time and that we will be able to take happy walks on the lead. It's not going to happen quickly.

I guess the vets around here have people give their dogs canned pumpkin with their food. It does not hurt them, is very nutritious and is high in fiber.

Oh yes bunny, I praise her but she is obviously feeling really pleased with herself when she goes...she has this jaunty air about her. At least their is no blood in her stools so it is not terribly serious.

GG, I've offered her my roast pumpkin skin when I've finished my dinner and she's not fussed. She's not too keen on her veggies, she always leaves a few peas, pieces of corn and also pieces of carrot when she has her dinner...

i wonder if she would drink more if you put a touch of chicken broth or something like that in her own little water bowl?

It's only by accident I found this bunny...there was no alert for it. I have just given some feed back to the first responder, yes, things are much better. I'm hopeful that every day lets her feel safer and more loved and trusting I'm also hopeful that eventually we will get to her coming when called everytime, not just half the time and that we will be able to take happy walks on the lead. It's not going to happen quickly.

I'm taking more notice of the water bowls around the place and the one's she has sole access to are being used and I've seen her drinking from the house bowl. Things are moving slowly and we are both happy with that.

I make the dogs a mixture of meat, oats, barley, and vegetables with some concentrated soup for flavouring. There is about 4 litres of water in the mix and when I dish it up with the dry food I mix some water with it to bring it to room temperature. I think they still need water. Tess mentioned some oat and peanut butter dog biscuits which I've never seen and I've never seen canned pumpkin either. Or butternut squash soup. I could give it to them if I could make it fresh.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the dehydration...that's causing her stool to be dry and then it hurts her.

I mixed her up some peanut butter, oats and olive oil but she had just eaten her breakfast...then she went outside and did a poo.

I'm thinking I have to figure out a way to get her to drink fresh water...on its own, not mixed with anything.

My cats eat the fresh squash soup that I make for hubby and me. A little salt in her diet might make her crave fresh water.

I've done some reading GG and she is getting plenty of water in the food she eats...she is not dehydrated. She actually took a drink of water about 20 minutes ago, it was just 3 laps but it was something.

I think I'm back to trying to correct any abuse or inappropriate training she has received previously.

The way you described her food, it did sound like plenty of water. I am sure she will continue to settle down. I always forget that you are headed into winter as we get on towards summer.

Hi sweety. I've been reading too and I read about that stuff I can give her. However, she seems to be getting plenty of fluid in the food she eats.

I'm back to thinking I have to let her be outside more so she can go potty outside rather than in. I think I upset her when I shouted to her. We have winter coming though and I tend to let the animals be inside during really cold weather.

I'm just remembering...the other day she went to the closed door and looked over at me. I happened to glance up just at the right time and I let her out. She went round the corner and did her business and then looked real pleased with herself.

When she goes in the lounge room on the rug, she must be caught short and having to go suddenly. It fits in with being roused on for going in the wrong place in the past.

We'll get there. I'm just worrying like any Mum with a new baby...lol.

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions.

Hi nova 1945...I've reached a conclusion that she's getting enough fluids and that she's been conditioned to react to a tone of voice and also to hold her bladder etc. It's what I first thought and now I'm back to that idea.

However, it's one thing to be patient and another thing to get her potty trained as soon as possible.

My first inclination with a new pet is always to go straight to the vet. The last time I took my dog Lucy, she had cut one of her foot pads. It had stopped bleeding and the vet just cut the flap off...no dressing or bandage as I said I could do that as necessary but he charged me $50. I was in there for less than 5 minutes. Living nearly an hour out of town where the vet is, adds to the cost. That was about 2 years ago, imagine how much a visit costs these days?

Roxy is fine...she's become a plump little bundle of happiness and energy. I just worry about all my critters every now and then.

Glad to hear she is OK and getting fat and sassy like a puppy should.
Yes vet bills have gone up. I have a mobile vet who comes to the house and he gave all three of mine their anual shots and checkup. That ran me $247. Unreal!