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The doghouse

How do I stop my 8 week old puppy

18 replies

lulu2 · 19/02/2013 13:02

from eating everything and anything in the garden, including gravel? I end up chasing him round the garden.

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Branleuse · 19/02/2013 13:02

8 weeks? Shouldnt he still be with his mum?

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mycatoscar · 19/02/2013 13:09

Our puppy was 8 weeks when we brought her home. For a long time I couldn't let her in the garden by herself. At least at that she you can scoop them up and out of trouble quite easily.

What breed is she?

My pup is now 19 weeks and much better. Although yesterday she dug up my daffodils and ate a bulb - I've now had to dig up all my bulbs and get rid, I couldn't risk her being ill.

The only thing you can do is either be with her or have a safe area she can be left in when you can't watch her. Does she have a crate or enclosed area?

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lulu2 · 19/02/2013 13:09

No he shouldn't.

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mycatoscar · 19/02/2013 13:12

Oops sorry your pup is a boy!

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lulu2 · 19/02/2013 13:14

I do always go out with him but spend all my time taking leaves etc away from him.
I have checked the garden for plants and bulbs which could be harmful to him and we have fenced off the veg patch completely.
He is a labrador and is simply beautiful.

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mycatoscar · 19/02/2013 13:17

Awe they are gorgeous aren't they mine is collie x lab. Can you try to distract him with toys etc? Labs can be very food orientated I think and at his age he is simply exploring everything new he sees.

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Floralnomad · 19/02/2013 13:31

You could try putting him on a lead . Ours was a nightmare and eventually we fenced off the patio ,which is quite large ,with an ornamental metal fence as he was just trashing the whole garden ,digging up plants and digging huge holes. He now has a sand pit on the patio to dig in and my garden looks better than ever .

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mycatoscar · 19/02/2013 13:33

Flora that is a brilliant idea! Wish I'd thought of that

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Floralnomad · 19/02/2013 13:36

What the fence or the lead ?

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mycatoscar · 19/02/2013 13:38

The fence and my dh is a carpenter lol so would have solved the problem, I like the idea of a sand pit too, mine would love that!

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needastrongone · 19/02/2013 13:42

I have a 17 week old springer who doesn't go into the garden alone either. I sort of assess how much damage the thing in his mouth can do to him, iyswim?

Stones, plastic, plants etc get extracted, the odd leaf, twig, grass etc I leave him with, which probably isn't the correct thing to do but, it's like when your DC are little and you give them all manner of toys but they want your keys or whatever!

He can spend a long time arguing with the watering can but generally just sits and watches me! If I throw a toy or ball he either isn't interested or will get it and run off, ending the game. I need to teach him to bring it back as i would happily play with him for ages!!

It's hard to find stuff to do at this time of year, today I swept up, did some weeding, filled the bird feeders up again. Otherwise I stand there and he sits there and watches me! I wave all manner of toys and things around and jump around like a loon, as soon as I stop, he just goes back to watching me, sat near me. DH says just let him and get on with your stuff, if he's not interested in playing with you or his toys!!

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Floralnomad · 19/02/2013 13:56

It's also good for the grass as there's no wee stains or poo . TBH I wouldn't be able to trust him in the garden without the fence as he digs so fast he'd be under a fence in no time . The sand pit is great ,I bury little bones in it and he digs them up and then reburies them . He also has a bubble blower which is quite entertaining .

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lulu2 · 19/02/2013 14:08

Thanks for the ideas. I think the lead is the way to go, especially at night.
Only problem I can see is that he is hardly used to his collar yet!

It's like having a baby all over again, and dd is now 9.

If I take toys in the garden he just ignores them. He looks at me as much to say "what are you doing?"

I was discussing with dd this morning that if he could talk what his voice would sound like, madness!

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portraitoftheartist · 19/02/2013 20:32

My new pup tasted everything in the garden. She soon grew out of it and nothing she'd eaten ever affected her at all.

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lulu2 · 20/02/2013 09:21

Thanks portrait.
Today is a "tell me again why we got a dog" day. Having been brilliant at house training yesterday, lulusdog has weeed on both door mats and also pooped so far.
Dd suggested a reward chart for the dog!

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PurpleFrog · 20/02/2013 09:44

I'm afraid our lab who is 2.5yrs old is almost always on the lead in the garden. The very first day we got him at 8 weeks old he squeezed under a hedge and a fence into next door's garden! He is far too big to do that now but he will eat anything he can get his paws on. He seems to have grown out of eating gravel, thank goodness, but anything vaguely organic is fair game - twigs, leaves, cat poo - the list goes on! DD had him off lead in the woods yesterday so I was woken this morning by him sicking up bits of rotten wood in the corner of his crate at 5.00am. Sigh!

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littlewhitebag · 20/02/2013 11:03

Our 10 mth old lab likes to 'prune' the bushes in the garden - much to DH annoyance. He also likes to remove potted plants and 'kill' them on the lawn. Our garden looks like Beirut.

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lulu2 · 20/02/2013 15:47

Lots to look forward then.
The lab we had when growing up used to roll in anything remotely smelly, especially badger poo. (Although how my mum knew the specific poo I don't know)