Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?

[SkeletonSkins]

Just wondering whether anyone else has got a puppy recently and in the same boat as us? Interested to hear how how others are getting on.

We've had our 8 week old puppy for a few days now and things are okay... he's a complete cross of lots of different breeds so enjoying trying to work out what in him!

House training seems to go great and then at night he just sits there in the middle of the grass not wanting to even walk around! Never mind wee!

Our older dog isn't particularly impressed but has been good with him so far. Just looking forward to him sleeping through the night without needing a wee. Completely forgot how having a puppy completely takes over your life for a little while!

[BuffyChiro]

I would really like this!

We got an 8 week old puppy on Saturday. I knew it would be hard work but, as you say, what I didn't appreciate was how much my life would be revolving around the puppy.

She seems to be settling in well, toilet training is going well and she's obviously getting more comfortable every day. I think I made the mistake of reading too many different training guides and now I feel like I'm doing nothing right and that I'm going to create bad habits etc. Trying to just enjoy puppy time.

[SkeletonSkins]

I'm exactly the same - must admit we gave in with regards to sleeping in his own bed as I couldn't handle the crying. He's only a baby so hoping that was the right thing to do. I'm the same with leaving him alone - he cried so much when we even left him for one second and some guides say just ignore and they'll get over it, whereas others say build it up with rewards but how long des that take?? I needed to leave the house for about an hour today so ended up just putting him in his pen with some toys and a kong but now convincing myself I've guaranteed separation anxiety!!

What breed is your puppy?

[SkeletonSkins]

Well another night out of the way with our pup. Tried him in his own bed which lasted approx 4 hours haha then he was back in ours. However he did wake up and go for a wee outside which was good. He was awake at 7am wanting to play but back snoozing now.

Got a friend coming round with her young dog later as I'm worried about our pups only exposure to other dogs is our grumpy older dog.

[ladylunchalot]

We got a 9 week old Labradoodle pup on Saturday, she's gorgeous but a handful lol. Oh so cute but like a baby crocodile the next minute.

Bit nervous as dh is nightshift tonight so it'll be the first night and morning on my own with Silkie although the kids are helping out a bit. I'm loving having a puppy but the responsibility still scares the shit out of me, it really is like having another baby.

She got her vaccinations on Monday but I'm a bit unclear as to when she's due her next lot. The vet told dh it would be another 4 weeks but then told me it would be 3 weeks time. Any idea?

Glad I've found this thread........nice to know there are other people standing outside in the cold at all hours willing their pup to pee and poo 😁

[BiteyShark]

For the vaccinations our vet said 4 weeks after the first one which would have made him 12 weeks however I was tearing my hair out with him bouncing off the walks with energy so asked if they could be done sooner and he split them at 10 weeks old and 12 weeks so he could be let outside for walks 1 week after the one at 10 weeks just leaving the L4 vaccination at 12 weeks of age. Therefore do ask if your itching to take the puppy outside rather than carrying them everywhere in your arms.

[SkeletonSkins]

Oh those hours out in the cold! Our pup is much more interested in playing with leaves than doing any toilet activities to be honest! Toilet training has not gone well today after a good start previously - he has seemed to wait to be back inside to go! But then I decided to just put him outside on his own for a few minutes while I hoovered and he went for a wee and a poo, so perhaps my 'encouragement' when I go outside with him is just putting him off lol.

Vaccinations - our vet just said he must be over 10 weeks for the second lot, so we've left a 3 week gap so he'll be 11 weeks.

We had some friends round with their dog yesterday and he was great although did start trying to hump her didn't know 8 week old pups had it in them!! Anyone know how to discourage this behaviour?

[ladyface69]

Coming on board for this thread, we've got a 11 week old springer spaniel pup and we've never had a dog before! It is an eye opening experience and the first week was unbelievably stressful. I'm so glad I took a few days off work to get her settled in.
Re vaccinations, we got Boudicca's 1st ones on 3rd Feb when she was just over 9 weeks, then her second ones later today. Vet says one week after and she'll be fully protected.
There does seem to be a lot of discrepancy with the rules on vaccinations though.
Plus toilet training - seems to be going okay but we get a lot of excited wee's .
All the different advice is overwhelming and I felt initially that one wrong move would leave me with an anxious or aggressive dog. However I ended up rationalising this with the thought that humans and dogs have lived together for thousands of years so I just need to calm TF down

[BiteyShark]

ladyface I would view the advice in a similar manner to being a new mum. Everyone will have a strong opinion but just go with your gut feeling and be prepared to try different things if something is not working for you.

All the best everyone with your new puppies. Mine is 5 months old and he has changed so much and so quickly so make the most (or grit your teeth and think this time will pass ) of the early weeks.

[Wolfiefan]

Ha to needing to calm TF down and the anxiety! I hardly ate for over a month when we got our pup!
She's now 21 weeks. Toilet training is fine and we have completed a 6 week puppy class. Training obviously ongoing. Shall continue with same training.
The teething. Good lord. Mind you mine is a giant pup so it's a bit ouch! Much better now.
Separation anxiety. Working on it.
She sleeps through the night in her pen (indoors obviously!). Can't crate a wolfhound!!
Lovely to hear other people had similar feelings as I have had. Thanks.

[Bluebell9]

I really need this thread!

We've got a 12 week old Lab x springer. I love him to bits but he drives me nuts some days with biting.

He been really good with toilet training, he's never poo'd inside and now, nearly all of his wees are outside too. He's really good to ask to go outside for the toilet.

He's in a crate at night, but it's an XL one with a puppy pad area and a sleeping area, but he hardly ever wees during the night.

My issue is getting him to settle when he's really tired. He's got a bed in the lounge and he's allowed up on the sofa but when he's in the naughty tired stage, he wont settle unless I put him in his crate, then he falls straight to sleep. I just feel bad that he's in his crate in the evening to sleep and then back in the crate for the night. He gets a 15 min walk twice a day and training to tire him out but it's like he's overtired in the evening and can't calm himself down.

He's really good at being left, although he's never been left for more than 2 hours apart from at night.

[BiteyShark]

Bluebell9 I still have to do enforced sleeps with my 5 month old. If I didn't he would tear around at full speed crashing into things or get really bitey as he can't control himself. I would not worry puppies need lots of sleep so if he is sleeping when you put him in it he probably needs it.

[SkeletonSkins]

Great to see some others on the thread, all puppies welcome young and old! Think it would be good to have the input of those with pups that bit older as they have been there done that ha!

Our boy is sleeping pretty much through the night now which is definitely making me feel more human! Toilet training is okay until it gets dark, at which point it suddenly doesn't appeal anymore ha! We had a bad day toilet training wise yesterday as I think I got over confident and was leaving him without my constant eye on him while I got things done (still in the same room though) and he took his opportunity to wee inside! To be honest this was one of the things I have read lots of different opinions on - big fb group said not to use treats for toilet training but since I have taken some sausage outside with us, he's got so much better at going outside so I'm going to stick with what works.

Today's trauma was walking on a lead (in the garden of course). Not impressed! Our pup is only little so think I'm going to try and harness instead as it seemed to weigh down his little neck.

He's a bright little thing though and is getting there with sit and touch my hand on conman with his nose - very sweet.

[SkeletonSkins]

Re - enforced sleep, I've heard that a lot, I think it's totally normal and obviously shows your puppy is comfortable and feels safe in his crate which has to be a good thing?

[BiteyShark]

SkeletonSkins hope you have better luck walking on the lead that I did at that age. I read that you should dangle the lead near them to get used to it but my little terror just decided to chew threw it so that was the end of that . Fortunately the outside world was more exciting than the lead once we tried outside of the garden.

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

I suspect there are a lot of us in the doghouse with puppies. I am obsessed with any piece of information about dogs I can get and have been lurking in here since September . Pup is now 5 months and we are surviving. To be honest she has given us a pretty easy time so far-I was expecting much worse- so I'm wondering if she is storing it all up for her adolescent months.

[ScarletPower]

Hi all

First time dog owner here and we jumped straight in at the deep end and bought a puppy. He's nearly 13 weeks and we've had him for four weeks now.

We started puppy classes three weeks ago, started off in the shy guy corner but now we're firmly in the naughty corner (Mine was caught humping a smaller pup!).

He did sleep downstairs for the first three weeks but unfortunately a week ago he worked out how to open the door to upstairs and he now sleeps in our room (uh-oh).

We tried to crate train him but it's been really unsuccessful and he was getting really distressed by it so we just leave him in the living room when we are out. He has lots of things that he is allowed to chew and touch wood so far hasn't been destructive.

Toilet training - we are still having accidents but they're less frequent now he's able to hold his bladder for longer.

We have almost combatted the biting - by yelping very loudly and turning our backs on him when he's bitten and it is actually working :-)

He had his second lot of injections and the vet told us to leave it two weeks before taking him on walks and the two weeks is up tomorrow (yay)..but I am very nervous about trusting him off the lead, I hope that recall is something that puppy class covers.

He's pretty clever and has learnt to sit, lie down, shake paws, high five and ring a bell to go to the toilet (still hit and miss). He knows a few words such as wee-wee (going out), cheese (all food).

So all in all it's not been as bad as I expected it to be

[BiteyShark]

ScarletPower I made the mistake of not letting my puppy off the lead initially fearing he would run off until a one to one trainer showed me that he would not run off whilst he was still young and totally dependant on you.

Put him on a long lead if it makes you feel better but I just found a quiet place and he never really went far always looking back to see if I was still there. It is only now at 5 months that I have to be on my guard as he is getting braver and thus recall can be hit and miss if he spots a dog in the distance.

[Jenny70]

I'll join for a bit of sanity etc.

We got our labradoodle 2 weeks ago, so she's 10 weeks old now... she has such a great personality, but agree with ladylunchalot that she can be a crocodile snapping at everything when excited.

Toilet training not going great, which frustrates me, even though I know it's not deliberate... but sometimes it feels it! We take her outside, she'll maybe do wee, but as soon as she comes inside she will either wee or poo.

I guess I expected accidents, when you hadn't taken them out for a while, or when left alone and they couldn't hold etc. But to wee/poo when she's just been outside feels deliberate. We're doing lots of trips outside, lots of praise and treats for outside toileting, and hoping she "gets" it -soon!

The kids have been great with her, and aside from the snappy action when she is very excited, she has been very gentle with them.

What fun we're all having!

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

Scarlet, we didn't even try to resist pup sleeping with us, 3 months on and she is perfectly happy sleeping downstairs. In fact she takes herself off to bed in the kitchen then, ridiculously, we try to coax her out to come to bed with us I just feel bad about leaving her downstairs.
As for off lead, DS and I play a lot of hide and seek with pup so now she keeps a constant eye on us in case we try to run off and hide . She hasn't reached independence yet so she still sticks to us like glue, on or off lead.

[BuffyChiro]

We'll have had ours a week tomorrow. The first week has been mainly positive I think. Toilet training is going fairly well - she's good at going outside but if I don't think to take her out regularly enough (or as PP said - get a bit overconfident) then she will pee inside, but that's my fault not hers.

I've slept on a blow up mattress near her crate for the past week and am now trying to move the mattress further away. I'm up 2 or 3 times in the night with her and it's been the tiredness which I've found the most difficult.

We've been putting the lead on inside

[BuffyChiro]

Ooops posted accidently!

We've been putting her lead on inside and letting her run around with it on and distracting her if she starts to play with it.

She's quite fussy with her food and I'm hoping that's her still settling in and getting used to a routine.

Have any of you taken your pup out just carrying them? I'm very aware that she needs to be socialised and I though I could just go round the block or something holding her.

[SkeletonSkins]

BiteyShark (very fitting name for this thread!!!) well our first attempt with the lead today did not go well - he just sat down and looked traumatised!!! Thanks for idea of leaving it on him - will definitely try that.

Jenny totally agree about the accidents after you've literally just spent 15 mins walking back and forth in the garden! So frustrating. But then OH pointed out that ATM pup is only learning that if he wees in the garden it's a bonus - not necessarily that all wees should be in the garden. I kind of get what he means but still frustrating.

We seem to have made a bit of a break through with toilet training today and out of nowhere (and after a complete disaster with it all yesterday) he had started to go to the back door to be let out. This has been hugely influenced by me feeding him sausage when he goes to the toilet outside which I know not all recommend but has worked for us.

Buffy ours is fussy too and I keep worrying about him eating enough... not sure how to know either way!

I've taken our boy out in my arms to Pets at Home and also driven him round to my parents house. Also trying to make sure we have visitors here and asked a couple of friends with friendly, sensible dogs to pop round.

Our puppy seems to have slept an awful lot today but was a bit more lively this evening which put my mind at rest. Biggest achievement of the day was pup actually played with our older, very grumpy old man dog for the first time. Normally older dog very much just tolerates pup!

Wishing a peaceful night to all those with little puppies without too much time out in the cold!!

[BuffyChiro]

Just put ours to bed and this is the first night I'm not sleeping in the same room as her (just around the corner though) and she's gone down without a peep - success!

Btw what's everyone chosen for their puppy's name? We went through several different choices and it was so hard to pick! Ours is Rosie.

[Jenny70]

Ours is Molly - kids named her within an hour of us telling them we were getting a puppy - after Molly Weasley of Harry Potter! I'm trying to put in pic, never done it before, hopefully it works.

[BiteyShark]

SkeletonSkins I choose my mn name in honour of DDog as he was very bitey and god those puppy teeth blood hurt .

He is much better now but still has his moments as he is teething so can't wait for all his puppy teeth to be replaced as it must be painful for him as several have come out all at once