Your Puppy: 13 Weeks Old
Mental and Physical Development
Exercise
Playing with a ball or chew toy and fetch games of any kind are great exercises for a 13-week-old puppy. However, this exercise should take place in a controlled environment such as a fenced-in backyard, screened-in porch or living room. If you live in a high-traffic area, try to find a quiet area nearby where you can walk your puppy.
Do not exercise your puppy in an area near traffic or a place where they could come into contact with other animals, such as public parks and dog parks. At 13 weeks, your puppy's vaccines may not have taken full effect, and a curious puppy could come into contact with animal feces contaminated with diseases.
Homemade Diets
Many people create homemade meals for their pets. But even if the ingredients you're using are safe for your puppy, there are several things to keep in mind.
Although most veterinarians don't discourage homemade foods, they caution that it requires careful research and consistency with ingredients. Just as people can't survive on only protein or carbohydrates, neither can puppies.
Your puppy's meals need to be well-balanced, including all required vitamins and minerals. Home-prepared puppy foods are frequently deficient in vitamin A, copper and calcium.
Consult with a veterinary nutritionist and your own vet before feeding your puppy homemade food.
Health and Veterinary Care: Rabies
Although local laws vary, all 50 states require rabies vaccinations. Puppies should get their vaccinations around 12 or 13 weeks, and receive yearly boosters thereafter.
Rabies, most commonly spread in the United States through the saliva of bats, skunks, raccoons, foxes and coyotes, is almost always fatal if untreated. If your puppy is bitten or scratched by a strange animal, it is best to consult your veterinarian immediately. Don't wait until symptoms appear.
Symptoms of the disease include lethargy, weakness in the limbs, paralysis of the throat and neck muscles, aggression and heightened sensitivity to stimulation.
Although mandatory vaccinations have virtually eliminated canine rabies in North America, you must still be careful when taking your puppy outdoors.
Training: Barking
A 13-week-old puppy that barks excessively is a lot like a baby that is constantly trying out new sounds and words. Barking is a form of communication, and now is the time to teach your puppy the right way to communicate.
Puppies bark for many reasons: to alert you to something out of the ordinary, to get attention, because they're bored or lonely, or because they're excited or scared. Barking for any reason should never be rewarded, because it gives your puppy mixed signals.
It is important to be consistent both with your reaction to barking and with the commands you give to stop it. If you ignore barking one time, reward it the next and punish it the next, your puppy will be confused and won't learn. Once a puppy forms an undesirable barking habit, it is very difficult to break.
The best way to teach your puppy not to bark is to ignore them whenever they do it. If that doesn't work, there are alternatives. Whenever your puppy starts to bark, make a loud noise near them to startle them into not barking. A soda can with a few pennies or pebbles inside usually does the trick (or you could lightly spray them with a water bottle).
As soon as the puppy stops barking, give a stern "Quiet!" or "Stop barking!" command, followed immediately by praise and petting. Continue this every time your puppy barks until they learn the command or stop barking altogether.
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Comments (12)
Alice June 5, 2009 9:50 PM
I am glad to have somewhere to ask questions and get valuable information. This new puppy comes after many years of being "dog-free". I cannot seem to train her.
cindy g June 7, 2009 10:03 PM
he is 13 wks. has sores on both his hind paws ,what to do?
aimee June 14, 2009 2:20 PM
my pup will lay on me no matter how i lay or how many times i put her beside me she still lays on me why!!
Lying on you June 14, 2009 3:07 PM
Sounds like your dog is making you part of her pack - she sees you as family now. Some breeds like to be close to their pack and will lie on you.
carol June 16, 2009 12:52 AM
shes 13 weeks old, she doesnt listen, she tries to bite anyone while eating, she she does her buisness in her cage right after we take her out, what do i do?
Anonymous June 27, 2009 9:42 PM
we need help with our puppy she is 13 weeks and we can not potty train her help
Lisa July 9, 2009 10:27 AM
We picked up our pup the day after she turned 9 weeks old. Just less then three weeks later someone had to give up one of her sisters, the breeder called me and asked if my neighbors still wanted a puppy and they went and got her. Within 30 seconds both puppies sniffed each other and started playing with each other. They love to wrestle and play now. We're wondering if they could still recognize each others scent after three weeks or if it is just a fluke that they love to play together. Anyone have experience with this?
shayla July 10, 2009 11:59 PM
i really want a puppy but i can't find 1 for free and close 2 my town
a person with answers July 22, 2009 3:40 PM
if you are trying to potty train your puppy you have to be on it. your can usually tell when they have to go by when they sniff around or when their buts get puffy and big take them outside with a couple treats and when they go give them a treat each time my thirteen week puppy is already potty trained
jessica August 14, 2009 3:53 PM
also about potty training, if they have a place inside that they usually go, it will help to block this area off so that they cannot enter it. that's what we've done and it's worked great. my puppy has the thinking that she can either go in the computer room or outside. i know that she needs to go when she's trying to get inside the computer room. since she can't go in there though she's been doing a lot better at holding it and going outside.
Cathy September 18, 2009 11:37 AM
We can't get the puppy (13week old schnoodle) to stop biting...tried yelping, no, squirt bottle, noisy cans, leaving room etc.
HELP
susan September 25, 2009 7:58 PM
Cathy, have you tried to quickly offer your puppy a toy that they can chew on? It helps if you distract them with an alternative to biting your sleeve, fingers, shoes, etc.
I have to keep reminding my 10 yr. old daughter not to play with the puppy using her fingers, because then the dog thinks fingers are something to chew on.
Dean January 2, 2010 7:53 PM
Flaghow long may a dog be outside in the winter if the dog is a cross breed with a husky and black lab???? Cause i have to roommates that tell me that my dog may not be outside no longer than 10 mins. Is that true please let me know like right away
Replyangie January 24, 2010 10:51 AM
Flagmy 13week old siberian husky cant stop biting on my clothes and hands, alot of times i go to pet him he gets to excitated and starts snapping at my hands and bites all over my clothes.i tell him "no bite" and it takes him a while to stop then later on continues again.wh
ReplyBrandi January 26, 2010 10:12 AM
FlagMy pug Boomer had a little blister pop up on the bottom part of his lip, it's been getting bigger each day. I'm for sure if he bit it or not does anyone have a clue for me?
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