Anyone feel like a puppy support thread?

[MightyMug]

Our puppy is fourteen weeks now - it's still a bit three steps forward, one hundred and sixteen steps backwards! Anyone else finding this?

[DramaAlpaca]

Well mine is now nearly 8 months and the worst is over, but yes at 14 weeks I sometimes wanted to send him back!

He's lovely, currently tired out after a long run & fast asleep next to me on the couch, upside down with all four legs in the air making cute little snuffly noises.

[nowtygaffer]

Ours is 11 weeks. Gorgeous but driving us a bit mad with nipping!

[BackInTheRealWorld]

Ours is 13 weeks, really nailing sit, lie down, recall and stops biting if we object...so it's all going pretty smoothly. The pooing is pretty much all out doors, but that's luck rather than judgement I feel. Piss though, piss everywhere. 😫

[SilverLining]

Great thread! Ours is 14 weeks and doing great - fab addition to our family! Cracked the toilet which is just fantastic but loves to nip and refuses to walk outside the house.....!! Not quite what I thought would happen but hoping it's just a phase.....??!

[theoldlocket]

I feel your pain, dh and I honestly discussed rehoming our 17 week old this afternoon
Clicker training has gone well we've got sit, lie down, stay, get down (when jumping up) and a few tricks thrown into the mix, all great until there's the tiniest distraction or we venture outside then it all goes to pot!

But will stick with it a while longer as i really think she'll be a great dog once the biting/chewing/general destroying stops!

[tinafaith]

Our pup is 10 weeks old. He's been great so far but I look forward to getting the nipping stage out of the way. It all goes a bit mental in the evenings with the kids and an over tired pup.

I had to persuade DH that a pup was a good idea so it's a bit stressy sometimes when he gets over excited with the kids and gets nippy.

[MightyMug]

Glad we're all in the same boat! It's hard work, but will hopefully be worth it (?)

[Pippin8]

Mine is 13 weeks, she's just about toilet trained, but still nippy & very strong willed. She loves going out but pulls on the lead. I have had days when I wished we'd got a rescue dog that was older & trained, but there's no guarantees.

We started puppy class yesterday & she was very good, got all of the commands & was generally very well behaved. I think the recent weather is making things worse as our garden is a swamp so we're having to mop floors day in day out.

[alleypalley]

Our puppy is 10 weeks old today, at the moment I'm spending more time trying to train the dc (11 & 5 yrs old) to give puppy some space and stop picking her up all the time.

We're starting puppy classes next week which I'm looking forward to as I've never had a dog before so winging it so far.

[Runawayandjointhecircus]

Hello! We have a 4 month old puppy who is lovely but hard work. She is now fully house trained and good with lots of commands. She's also pretty calm and settled of an evening now which I'm so glad of! Her main pitfalls are jumping up on anyone who comes near her and she is quite bad at pulling on her lead. Love the little scruff bag though!

[ImBrian]

Hi, I have a 17 week old. He's doing really well, I've just started clicker training and we know, sit, down, roll over and paw. Recall is good as long as there are no people or dogs near and he thinks his name is 'what's this'!

I thought toilet training was pretty much sorted till he brought a lump of his own poo into the living room earlier for a snack!

He bites and chews everything and howls if I dare lock him in the kitchen while I have a bath though if I put him in his crate with the door shut he's happy as larry.

How much exercise is everyone giving them?

[foofooyeah]

Ours is 5 months old. Gorgeous. But was not prepared for the nipping! Like others could have sent him back on occasion!

Walking him is a delight, got recall sorted at training classes.

House training easier than I thought it would be but still not 100%

[Pippin8]

Arghh, nightmare morning. Puppy has been out & came back being a whirlwind as she does. She jumped up & knocked a cup of tea off the table. I've just spent 30 mins scrubbing the floor, sofa & table aswell as cleaning up the broken mug!

[Hoppinggreen]

10 week old ( very cute) nightmare pup here!!!
Just started sleeping through the night occasionally but does like to use the DC as chew toys.
We are doing clicker training and he has got " sit" "paw" and "fetch" really quickly but "no" isn't having much effect yet.
He's obsessed with the rUg in DD's room and is desperate to get in there to roll on it, chew it and poo on it give half a chance.
The cats have decided that he probably isn't dangerous but just very annoying.
Puppy classes start next week so hopefully the DC will stop getting so chewed.

[Dieu]

My Shih Tzu pup is now 8 1/2 months old. Toilet training was our biggest challenge, but is more or less now sorted. Separation anxiety is another, and that is ongoing. I PROMISE you all though, that it does get easier. I remember getting home one day (after leaving him for a very short time indeed) to poo smeared all over the room. I was in tears as I wiped it off the ipod and fabric sofa! That was probably my lowest point, but it does get easier!

[Dieu]

Oh, and we had the nipping phase too, but it does pass relatively quickly.

[Crumpet1]

Good idea op
Ours is 11 weeks now I think (not very good at remembering weeks!) and is doing fab with toilet training and walking on a lead. I'm too nervous to let him off yet though although I should really be working on that.
My 2 dcs are very boisterous but puppy is learning how to be around them.

I started click training yesterday and it's made a massive difference already. We were having a bit of a nightmare with him going crazy on an evening but he was really settled last night. Hope it continues!

He is a beagle X cockapoo.

What breed does everyone else have?

[Crumpet1]

Imbrian I've been going by the 5 minutes per month rule, so ours is getting a 15 minute walk. We took him out for 25 minutes the other day though and boy did he sleep! Hasn't needed a walk since bless him.

[Pippin8]

This is my minx. She is a dobermann (if you can't tell!)
I had a thread about exercise as she will just go & go & go. We've had to reign it in to 15 mins as it was creeping up. Puppy class really wore her out. She did so well in the commands & recall but was a bit wary at socialising with the other dogs at first. By the end she was best friends with a male spaniel.

[Runawayandjointhecircus]

I have an Australian labradoodle. I definitely need to reign it in as am walking her too much I think. I really wish I could get her to stop jumping up, especially on the kids as she is getting bigger now...

[theoldlocket]

Runaway I think we're walking ours too much as well, but she will literally walk for hours and still have energy left over to jump all over us or destroy the house including her own bed and toys! We don't really have a place to let her run off the lead and her recall is poor anyway once there are other people/dogs around
She's a collie cross breed

[Florin]

Our dog is 18 months now. I can admit it now but I could have easily have sent her back many times in the first 6 months. It was seriously hard work, she was completely mad and nippy and I had a completely bonkers 2 year old dc. However she hit 6 months old and became so much easier and calmed down. Now at 18 months she is wonderful. A bit nervous about going through it all over again in the summer!

[Caravanoflove]

11 week old lab here, sleeping all night alone, poos in the garden, amazing recall/sit/drop/down but like another poster, weed everywhere and anywhere. My house bloody stinks! Any advice?
Also has anyone got recommendations for pet insurance, was thinking of continuing with pet plan after the four free weeks that came with the breeder but at nearly £40 a month seems a lot.
I paid nearly £50 a month for 11 years with our last lab and then when he got ill and subsequently died they paid out bugger all, which makes me think is a savings plan a better bet?

[Puppynamechange]

Test post

[Puppynamechange]

This is Fred. He is about 19 weeks old, but we are not sure exactly because he came from a rescue centre. He is a sort of labrador cross, possibly with some terrier or lurcher.

He is doing well, and although he is difficult at times, I haven't wanted to send him back yet!

He is pretty good on the toilet training front, but we let him out very regularly, and he seems to have got the idea.

He has learnt sit and paw, and we are going to start puppy classes soon.

We've only been able to start walking him this week, and he really needs the exercise.

The hardest thing for us is that he grabs and chews everything, so we can't take our eyes off him for a second. He bites our fingers still, but is getting much better. He has lots of toys to chew, but doesn't want them!