# Treats for a 7 week old puppy?



## bushbaby28 (24 October 2010)

Hiya, 

Does anybody have any recommendation of treats you can give to a 7 week old lab x collie for basic training e.g. learning to sit, praising for good behavious etc. All the puppy treats you can buy are usually for 4 months + .

I used to feed my other dogs liver cake but they were a couple of weeks older when we got them, and even that used to give them bad bellies. 

pup is on James Well Beloved puppy food at the moment and so i've been using the biscuits from that, but as its puppy food the biscuits are tiny and he doesn't really seem interested. 

Thanks for your help


----------



## NeverSayNever (24 October 2010)

really, he should still be with his mum. i do start very basic 'fun' training at about 10 weeks but i do as you are just now and use a portion of their own food, before meal times so they nice and hungry, later on i use little peices of cooked chicken, sometimes cooked with garlic. yours is really very very young though,and the first few weeks in a  new home they have a lot to take in.


----------



## Booboos (24 October 2010)

Sorry to disagree but I always try to get my puppies around 7-8 weeks and start training straight away. Jakey was doing sits and downs in his first week with us (week 7) and he would run to the cupboard I kept the clicker in and ask for it to come out and play. As long as you keep training fun, it's an excellent way of bonding with your pup. When I used to help out at my local training club, Guidedogs for the Blind puppies always started training (to include fun and socialising) at 6 weeks.

OP I would also try chicken or ham in very small quantities.


----------



## bushbaby28 (24 October 2010)

thanks neversaynever. I'm obviously not starting any actual training now, it was more of a fun reward whilst toilet training, general good behaviour as he's still settling in, but mostly I just work on praise and positive reward. He responds well to this. 

If it was my choice he would most certainly be with his mum still, but unfortunately its actually my housemates dog and she was misled by the breeder who told her that he would be 8 weeks on a certain date.  She arranged to collect him around that time, and when she got there she asked again how old he is (expecting the answer to be 8 1/2 weeks) but was told he was only 6 1/2!!!! 

I personally would have refused to take the pup at such a young age, or walked away but half the litter had already been sold and he would of most likely been sold on to somebody else or left by himself. 

Breeder was a chocolate lab breeder, but the collie from next door got in with her bitch, so I think she saw this litter as an inconvenience. 

I think its absolutely disgusting that the breeder would do this as my friend in my opinion did all the right things- went over when they were younger, checked the whole litter, saw the mum, and dad from next door and spent plenty of time with the pup. 

Luckily, he appears perfectly well and very very confident and is socialised daily with my housemates 2 dogs (is round there all day) so will hopefully learn to be a dog by spending time with them. 

sorry for the rant, I just wanted to explain the situation and still so disgusted at the breeder


----------



## bushbaby28 (24 October 2010)

and thanks booboos, shall try a bit of chicken. As above, i'm just trying to keep it fun and light at the moment (his attention span is all of 5 seconds anyway) but I do agree with you that its a great way to bond and have some fun. He has no idea its 'training'- he just see's it as another game!


----------



## NeverSayNever (24 October 2010)

ahh, ok, i understand. what a shame! Sounds like he has landed on his feet though  Reason i said what i did was that all the pups ive had that have 'done better' have come to me at 9-10 weeks. We had 2 that came younger, and we always felt they were just that bit too young and took longer for tummies to settle and really thrive. Id defo say bits of cooked chicken - i usually get a chicken breast and keep little tubs handy. Good luck, would love to see some photos btw.


----------



## bushbaby28 (24 October 2010)

aww thankyou  . He's a real sweetie. Absolute pickle but so are most aren't they!  

PIcs below!!!! Looks very lab like at the moment


----------



## echodomino (24 October 2010)

I've let puppies go at 6wks before and had puppies at 6wks before, no problems with tummies as by that age they should be fully weaned off of mum any way.

I'd use anything easily chewed, chicken or mild cheese, piece of ham etc


----------



## Patches (24 October 2010)

Years ago most puppies were sold at 6 weeks of age, not that I'm saying it's right or wrong. 

I had Harvey at a day under 8 weeks and he was the runt of the litter, still on four meals a day. So tiny. 

The training "treats" we used to start with were just little bits of his actual kibble from his daily allowance. Didn't affect him.


----------



## NeverSayNever (24 October 2010)

he is soooo cute


----------

