# New Owner Advice - Feeding Schedule, Ex-Pen and Manhattan Referrals



## tikkipembo (Feb 25, 2007)

Hi everyone. I'm about to a new puppy owner... I'm very excited but also very nervous. I've been pestering the breeder with an inordinate amount of questions and she has kindly answered all of them.... but I was wondering if I could get your advice as well. 

Feeding schedule - My pup will be ~12 weeks old when he arrives. The breeder advised that I leave food and water out 24/7 since he's a growing boy. This seems contrary to what many others have said. Note that she has litter box trained all her pups.

Ex-Pen - I plan to set up a play pen area and was wondering how high of a pen should I get that will last him a lifetime?

City referrals - I live in Manhattan and was wondering if anyone could provide references for vets, groomers, walkers, overnight care and puppy classes.

Any other advice for a new owner would also be appreciated.

Many thanks. Liz


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Hi Liz and welcome to the forum. :wave:

I got Bugsy at 12 weeks as well and my his breeder recommended keeping the food and water 24/7. I also didn't like that, as the bathroom brakes are too hard to predict when food is available at all time. It also makes an already picky dog (my Bugs) even pickier. I immedieately put him on a three times feeding and had water available at all times. 

I used a baby playpen as his expen, so am not sure how high it was. I disassembled his playpen when he became fully potty trained/house broken at 6 months. 

I live in San Francisco, but we have a few members from New York who will chime in with groomers, vets, etc.

By the way, you may not be aware, but we require puppy pictures of all new forum members. :biggrin1:


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Welcome to the Forum Liz! 

These are my experiences with Dexter: 

When I first got Dexter, I started off with 3x day meals and after awhile, Dexter did not eat his lunch, so we went down to 2 x day, which is what we are still at. Dexter will be 11 months on the 18th. 

If the pup is fed all the time, that means poop all the time.

Lots of time, you will just have to experiment on the amount to feed your pup.

As for the ex-pen....I had an ex-pen between the living room and kitchen that was used as one long fence. One day I came one and Dexter was not in the kitchen and I could not figure out how he got out of the kitchen....I took the fence down. I really thought Dexter jumped over the fence. Dexter was maybe 4-5 months at the time.

Havs are very clever and can figure out things. 

Relax now....because you will be busy when the puppy arrives.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I disagree on free-feeding, especially if you want to work on potty training. At 10-12 weeks old, the puppy will easily schedule to three meals a day. He/she may wean him/herself to two meals a day within a few weeks.

Ex-pen height truly varies by puppy. Most are fine with a 24" pen, but if you are gone a lot and you have a climber, you better be prepared to get a snap-on roof or move up to a much taller ex-pen (which can be a danger when s/he gets to the top and decides to jump). Some of these little buggers are amazing escape artists.

Welcome to the forum. Julia's not kidding about photos being required either.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Hello and :welcome: to the forum!

I would not free feed if I were you. I think 3x a day for a small pup is good but you can switch to 2x a day once he is 14 weeks or so.

As far as recommendations, I lived on the UES (not sure where you are?) and I loved my vet, Dr. Miller at Carnegie Hill Vets. I would 100% recommend him, though I'd make sure to only see him if you decide to go that way. One of the other vets in his practice (there are 2 others) didn't work for me... though everyone is different! I did the Andrea Arden puppy classes and that worked out very well. It was a great class for us - though quite pricey! Sorry I can't comment on grooming as I do that myself nor on overnight places as I've never boarded my two.

Good luck and we do need pictures!!!


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## tikkipembo (Feb 25, 2007)

*Thanks!*

Thank you everyone for the advice. I think I'm going to put Gatsby on a feeding schedule vs. free feeding. I will definitely post pics once he arrives. Thanks again!


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