New Puppy Mummies, Part 3

[DharmaLovesDraco]

New thread, because quite frankly I can't do without you all :)

[NCISaddict]

Thanks Dharma My support network carries on.

[mintchocchick]

Thank you Dharma for the new thread!

Hope you've had a peaceful evening, ours was much better than last night though we just cannot figure out why! Was it the absence of an over stimulating walk today as both walks were peaceful with no small children, scooters or other puppies? Was it the little nap minty had while we were eating our tea at 6? Was it the fact we found his kong which had been lost under sofa for 2 weeks so he had that back at each meal? Or was it just random stuff? No idea so no certainty that the peaceful evening can be repeated!!

[NCISaddict]

We put Finn in his crate after his supper at 6 for an hour and then give him a pigs ear at 7.30. Seems to keep him calm.

[SallyBear]

I am looking at getting a bigger crate for Toby (labrador). He's in a medium sized one and is now looking a tad cramped. Weighing up if I should get a large or XL. Also thinking about getting a non spill water bowl for it.

Thanks for the new thread Dharma :)

[LoreleisSecret]

Just checking in.
Stanley HN slept another full night. Long May that continue, my old dog never slept more than 4 hours at a time as well as my children so I'm very impressed!

[basildonbond]

Mint - I remember when the dc were very small that sometimes we would have a perfect day when they'd all behave and the day just flowed iyswim - I wouldn't get derailed by anything any of them was doing, they all ended up having the right amount of food, entertainment and rest and I'd go to bed feeling pretty smug ... The next day, for no discernible reason, would be the day from hell (or sometimes not!) - and it seems to be v similar with puppies.

I'm feeling quite smug at the moment cos I've had a couple of people compliment me on Fitz's behaviour but I'm quite prepared to go downstairs in a moment and find poo all over the crate!

Thanks dharma for starting part 3 - these threads have been a sanity-saver at times

One of the cats has come in to sit on my chest and tell me it's time to get up and as I have all my family coming round for lunch he's probably right ...

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

That huge beef knuckle bone was not the right thing! Meg has had 48 hour trots (inside and out).
And she is nipping again.
And despite 2 hour walk this morning, climbing the walls.

And despite having every teething device I can think of, still prefers to munch on the coffee table.

Not a good day.

[Heifer]

Hi all.
Pepsi, English Springer Spaniel, 18 weeks (might be 19)

STILL having the same problems re jumping up, nipping and pulling on the lead.

I know this doesn't sound nice, but I'm so relieved that some of you are having similar problems. I don't mean to be horrible at all, but sometimes I just feel like we are getting it all wrong. It's so depressing at times. I wonder if we have That dog that can't be helped but I know that isn't true. She is lovely and intelligent but she can be very headstrong.

She is great during the night, goes in her crate (we cover with blanket till morning). House trained 99%. During training/playing she is good. Will even now leave her treats on the floor until I say take them. Will drop her toys when told (ish) and leave until told to take. BUT during her frantic stages she won't do anything we say. It's even getting hard to catch her to put her in her crate to quieten her down. Can be very stressful whilst she darts around thinking its all a game.

She is another puppy that won't seem to settle in the front room in the evening (or any time there is more than me in the room. We have baby gates on the kitchen and front room as open plan and no doors. She is having to spend far more time than I would like in the kitchen on her own because she is being too bitty in the front room. During the days I can manage it, but once DD is home from school it gets much harder.

Re Walks, DH takes her at 7.30, then I do at 2.00 then DH again at 8.00pm in the evening. Nothing too far, usually 1 off lead. She was brilliant off lead until recently when she has decided that she doesn't want to come back anymore but DH is working on that and she seems to be improving again.

Hope all the puppies are feeling well again.

Moose, I agree with others, it's so good to read your posts, it's a great help.

My plan this week is to work on 1 thing at a time. She is jumping up more now so think I will concentrate on that. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Heifer]

What do you all put in your Kongs? Pepsi loves her kibble with peanut butter but I am worried that I am using it too much as it def gives her runnier poos (not bad but not as usual).

I def need something for her to lick to keep the interest.

[JammyDodger1]

Any room for a newbie?

[LoreleisSecret]

Iam the newest newbie Jammy so you can take my crown :) Tell us about jammy pup !

[JammyDodger1]

Well, Jammypup is 11.5 weeks old, picture on profile, she is good I think, but only had experience of pups when I was a child, we are starting training on the lead, which is a bit like taking a spinning top out, feeding is weird, some times she eats it all, some time not, and I measure it all out as I think, using the instructions as a guide line!
She is lovely, but Jammycat not so happy!
I am so pleased we got her

[LoreleisSecret]

What breed is she Jammy? (Can't click on your profile as using phone all)

Stanley HN is currently sitting on my foot which is now numb but, he looks so comfortable I haven't got the heart to move.

[JammyDodger1]

Weimaraner, dd2 is so in love and they play all the time, she met a couple of dogs yesterday and today and did really well

[JammyDodger1]

Going walking now will call back later

[PinkFairyArmadillo]

I can officially join this thread now, my next puppy-to-be was born in the early hours of Thursday morning

Jammy It can take a while for puppies to really get the hang of eating in their new homes. Our last pup wasn't eating his entire meals eagerly until he'd been with us nearly a month. I wouldn't worry about her eating being a bit inconsistent as long as she's happy, bouncy and a decent weight.

[JammyDodger1]

Aw congrats Pink what kind is it?

[sweetkitty]

Hello new thread, I have Nala a 16 week old female Rhodesian Ridgeback.

I think we have reached a low point here apologies for bringing thread down.

Nala was jumping on the table during lunch and DP grabbed her and dragged her by the pillar outside I has a go at him then he had a massive rant about how the dog never listens to him, doesn't do a thing she's told, still poos and pees in the house (only occasionally), still jumps and bites the DC, barks at the cat, can't leave the playroom door open as she bites the toys and then he said if he had known how much hassle she was he would never have agreed to get the bloody dog

He did say he knows I am doing my best reading up on dog training and behaviour, I do 99% of the feeding/walking/training. He's never had a go before, I keep telling him she's only a baby and consistency is the key. Oh he likes to rough play with her and wind her up and shout at her (playfully). He doesn't get that you cannot just shout off and expect her to do it. One of the worst things is we are constantly shouting at DS to leave the dog alone.

Anyway I'm a bit down and a bit fed up

[haggisaggis]

Sweetkitty - my dh is a bit the same - he wants a dog but not a puppy (so do I really, but I knew there would be hard work getting through puppyhood). Angus was really annoying yesterday - jumping up all the time and biting. He is not distracted by toys and can be a complete pain. Good thing is that he can be left for a bit in his pen with no problem - and will settle there when we eat dinner. Still wants to bark / chase the cat though (but cat is tolerating it better).
On a lighter note - Angus went into ds's room this morning and stole a plastic piece belonging to a game which was on the floor. ds has very wide window ledges in his room so I said "treat him like a toddler and put it on the window ledge". Went back out of the room and shouted back to him "I mean the toy, not the dog"...short pause then ds says "Oh...mum can you give me a hand please". Went back into his room and sure enough Angus was sitting on the window ledge with a bemused expression on his face...ds is meant to be smart too!

[mintchocchick]

Hello new people and puppies

Haggis - your DS sounds smart enough!

Sweetkitty - we have this too I'm afraid although my DH was the one who insisted on a puppy so he has less to moan about. I wanted a rescue older dog but DH was keen to not inherit problems that might be tricky so solve and preferred to cope with problems that we'd created ourselves! But he feels low at times about how much our family & couple life is dominated by the puppy.

Everyday we have issues - a beautiful, sunny walk through the woods yesterday had to stop after 15mins one direction because minty should only be walking 20-30mins a day - DH and DS were just getting into their stride!

DH can also be rough with minty if he's biting and tells me my treat based training method is not strict enough and I'm not in control. But then we battle it out and he can see my way is right - it's just heat of the moment frustration.

Does your DH need a bit of time away from Nala - like a Saturday off to do his own thing? The weekends are particularly intense. Conversely the other thing that helps us is when I take kids out leaving DH with puppy - they get on great together with no kids winding up & exciting minty. Would that work for you?

[NCISaddict]

My Dh is the same, he expects Finn to be perfectly trained instantly I think. With our previous puppies he wasn't around much but now id working from home a lot so sees the bad bits.
I keep telling him it took a lot of work on my part with the previous two to get them to the stage where their recall was faultless and walking on the lead was a pleasure, they were 6-8 months old before it happened. He seems to think it happens overnight and forgets that Finn is only 14 weeks old so still a baby and very good really.

[sweetkitty]

Thanks ladies it makes me I'm not the only one. I think DP is just getting frustrated about how much time the dog takes up, having 4DC as well time is something we have not enough of as it is. I thinks he expects training to be overnight.

That's so funny haggis

[LoreleisSecret]

Have just signed Stanley HN up for training classes, so shall be starting that in 3 weeks after his 2nd vaccination. Any one had success with a pup so young at training classes?

Really want to socialise Stanley, Vet told me he could socialise with other vaccined dogs now (after 1st vaccine) in home environments (so my parents dog!) but am still worried in doing this !

[basildonbond]

Hi lorelei

Fitz was 13 weeks when he started classes (remember you need to wait a further week after the second jab for the vaccination to take full effect). He's been fine but that's partly because we'd already been doing lots of clicker training starting from the week we got him

Sweet - your dp needs to remember she's just a baby - sounds like he's got rather unrealistic expectations ...

[JammyDodger1]

My dh and dd2 are just the same, fighting and rolling about with the puppy and then complaining when she bite!
I think I need to work on training them as well as the puppy!
She has just started going for walks, and I waited until 1.5 weeks after her last injections as the vet said there was an outbreak of parvo in the area, so I was really wary.

I am also thinking about training classes at the moment.