Young Puppy Support Group

[DuchessDarty]

I’d been looking for one of these but the only puppy support thread currently running is for older puppies. I’ve seen a few threads recently from posters who have new puppies like me, and thought I’d start our own group as I’d love to compare notes. But all welcome!

To kick off -

My pup, DartyPup, is a female poodle cross who is nearly 11 weeks old. Very sweet, friendly, fairly calm, sleeps a good stretch at night in her crate no problem and is happy to play in the garden by herself if I’m in the kitchen/conservatory and we easily have eyes on each other. She has a lot of naps and is doing well with house training.

But- she has the usual puppy traits of being needy and nippy. She loves biting bare toes and has a witching hour in the evening (as another poster aptly describes it!).

I adore the bond we seem to have bit am finding it draining. My children are old enough to be hands on and are keen to be, but their periods of peak energy don’t always correspond with the Pup’s. And when it comes down to it, she often wants me and so will whine if left with them downstairs while I escape for a rest. If they mistakenly leave a door open giving her access to the stairs, she’ll leg it up to find me. A stair gate isn’t an option unfortunately due to the design of our stairs.

Both my kids have never been particularly early risers and I’ve always been secretly pleased about dodging 6am wake up calls ... until DartyPup.

[3teens2cats]

We have an 11 week old Cavalier. He came into our lives a little sooner than planned after losing our 15 Yr old Cavalier not long ago. We knew quite quickly we wanted another one so I contacted a few breeders hoping something might come up later in the year and to cut a long story short he had become available and it was just meant to be.

I am looking forward to him getting a bit bigger and being able to go for proper walks and getting out and about with him. As I mentioned on the other thread he doesn't like being alone at the moment which isn't a big problem but I want to make sure I am fostering that independence so he can be left for short periods in the near future.

He is beginning to recognise his bed as his space and responding well to rewards and treats. Toilet training is definitely heading in the right direction. The accidents he has had have all been because either I miss read the cues or we went outside and go so distracted by stuff that he forgot what he went out for, comes back in and then... Whoops.

[dgc4rter]

Have a Labradoodle pup just over 10 weeks old. Took to the crate almost instantly and had no problem with her settling down and seeing it as her personal space. She's really good at being left alone for short periods too. She'll generally just go to sleep in her crate when I do. Toilet training is making a little progress but still some work to do on this front. She heads for the door usually but accidents still happen when I don't catch her or I'm just not there. Very bitey at the moment - into chewing everything. Have to keep an eye on her in the garden as she tends to chew the plants too. I don't think I've got anything particular poisonous in the garden but better safe than sorry.

She's just had her second injection and the vet says I can start taking her for walks in a weeks time which I'm really looking forward to.

Like any puppy, she's hard work and, as I live on my own, it's all down to me so I'm feeling the strain a little at the moment. Very much looking forward to when she calms down a bit and she doesn't require so much full-on attention, not to mention the constant clearing up of pee and poo.

[MsMarvellous]

I'm following. Our puppy arrives home in 3 weeks so I think you'll be essential company!

[MrsEricBana]

Ooh can I join please! I have an 11 week old miniature poodle. He was very much wanted and I really love him but BOY am I finding it hard.
Sleeps through the night in his crate and toilet training is coming on. He eats well enough and we have started a few commands.
Things I am struggling with:

• early up and out into the garden which can be 6am if dh going off to work wakes pup or 7.30am if not. I am finding the enforced early up plus how do I get myself ready hard.
• walking on lead - not intuitive for him at all it seems.
• biting
• normal operations now I can't easily just go to a food shop etc.

Looking forward to hearing how others are getting on.

[Puddingmama2017]

MsMarvellous

So does mine!

[MsMarvellous]

@Puddingmama2017 oo. What sort of pup is joining you? Ours is a Dalmatian

[Puddingmama2017]

MsMarvelous mine is a gorgeous little mixed pup. Mum is mastiff/staff and dad is staff/lab. Puppy looks like a boxer (somehow!)

[3teens2cats]

I just tried to brush his teeth for the first time and he was so good! Granted he is pretty tired and sleepy but I'm still impressed.

[DuchessDarty]

Yay to you all being here!

DartyPup is a cavapoo, half Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, half poodle.

She was allowed out on walks post-vaccinations for the first time yesterday and we've just returned from a walk at the dog park. She's been a bit scared of other dogs when she's seen them out and about and was scared off at the dog park yesterday by an enthusiastic corgi. But I was so proud of her today; I asked two owners before going in if it would be ok to join them and their three gorgeous adult dogs and they both said their dogs would be find with DartyPup. One of them, a Springer Spaniel, was interested in sniffy her and she was moving away and hiding behind adult legs, but I didn't pick her up and kept my cool and soon she was happy sitting near the Springer spaniel and sniffing its tail. I kept her on the lead.

Dc2 and I had a friendly chat with the two owners, one of whom is a neighbour I've been on polite nodding terms with but have never had a proper conversation with him before tonight.

So that was a positive step forward.

3teens you've reminded me I need to brush DartyPup's teeth! Dc1 has done it before and she was good.

MsMarvellous and Pudding how exciting, both your puppies sound gorgeous. We'll have to do a round of pics in the near future.

MsEricBana yep those are the things I'm struggling with too, although on the flip side as someone who works from home and is recovering from a longterm illness, I'm finding that DartyPup is giving me some much needed structure and motivation to get moving.

dgc Great news at your pup being fine with being left for a short while. Would you mind saying how you've done it, i.e. for how long, how often? I've got to start doing this and I know 3teens is struggling with this a bit too.

[DuchessDarty]

Great, Dc2 has just found a stealth poo DartyPup did in his room

[dgc4rter]

DuchessDarty I couldn't be absolutely sure that it's entirely through what I've done as it was never really an issue from the get go. The only thing I can say is that I made sure that Milly (that's the pup's name) was left alone for a short periods right from the start and I didn't make any fuss of her when leaving or returning so she just, kind of, accepted it. She does tend to have a little cry for a very short time initially but that's when she's up and about and maybe wanting some attention. If she's lying down or in her crate, she doesn't seem bothered at all when I leave the room. I left her for about two and a half hours last week as I had a band rehearsal and she was as cool as a cucumber when I got back.

[SophyStantonLacy]

we have an 11 week old pointer/labrador who has been with us for 2 weeks. we are excellent on sit, a bit hazy on everything else including toilet training! my biggest struggle is his nipping my kids, & them inadvertently encouraging it with their tendencies towards rough play...

i haven’t really left him, he goes into other rooms/garden happily on his own, & doesn’t mind being left downstairs etc, but i’ve never actually gone out of the house for an hour without him...

[DuchessDarty]

dgc4rter thanks, how great Millie is so at ease with being left. When you left her for 2.5 hrs did you crate her or did she have the run of a room or playpen?

Welcome Sophie! Oh gawd I hear you on the dc winding up pup with rough play front. I’ve booked us into puppy classes and told dc2 he’s coming with me for the first one as it’s specifically about handling your puppy and touching with consent, and session 4 on you play

[DuchessDarty]

Toy play. Not you play.

[Retreatbynameretreatbynature]

We’ve got an 8 week old puppy here and I’m exhausted already. It’s only been a few days but the constant vigilance as well as cleaning up little “accidents” is draining. Our newest addition is gorgeous and I know things will get easier but it’s quite tiring right now.
One thing that the puppy does is knock the water bowl over when we put him in his crate so water goes everywhere!!! I’m not sure how to avoid this as he obviously needs water available to him at all times but his bedding, toys, himself all get completely soaked. But he’s only 8 weeks, I tell myself, and things will improve. Right now I’ve had 3 hours sleep as puppy wouldn’t settle last night and DH up very early for work this morning so he inevitably disturbed the puppy who’s ready to start the day then!

[MsMarvellous]

@Retreatbynameretreatbynature when we went to pick up a couple of bits the lady in the shop mentioned that water problem it's really common. You can buy a water bowl with a clip that attaches to the crate wires so you raise it of the floor a little (or buy one with slip and use a wire coat hanger or similar).

Apparently they get so used to jumping in water sharing a big bowl! So raising it above par height helps

[3teens2cats]

Morning everyone. These early mornings are killing me and I am naturally an early riser. 5am this morning! I should be thankful he sleeps silently until that point. I figure it's light and he can't tell the time and of course will need the toilet probably so nothing can be done at this stage. I have been keeping things really boring and quiet until 6/6:30. Today we snuggled up on the sofa and next thing I know it's 7:30!

Yay to those finally able to go to the park, so jealous. Going for lovely dog walks was what I missed so much when our old girl was old and poorly. Unfortunately we have a problem with his vaccines. The breeder had his first jab done at 10 weeks, just a few days before we brought him home. Great we thought but when I called our vet to book him in they told me they use a different brand and we will probably have to start again. Gutted. Called all the vets within a 30 min drive and literally no one uses it either! It is just not practical to drive down to the breeder's vet so we will have to suck it up.

Another question / observation... First couple of days he literally inhaled his food the second I put it down, now he is just not that bothered. He eats it eventually but over quite a while. I am guessing he was used to competition from litter mates but now has learnt it's OK no-one else will eat it ( cats are not brave enough to go in the pen yet). Not worried, our previous dog was quite chilled about food unless it was roast chicken or sausages!

[MrsEricBana]

Morning all.
Retreatbynameretreatbynature We have one of those bolt on water bowls and it works a treat. It's quite big and deep - small cereal bowl sized - and was in the small animal section not dog section but if you Google bolt on water bowl dog crate loads come up at Amazon, Argos etc. (Put it at the back of the crate or he'll jump up at it when he comes to the door)
3teens2cats our breeder warned us he'd really slow his eating after a couple of days and said it's normal and to encourage him make his regular dry food into a porridge with boiling water and cool it then offer so same taste but easier to eat. This worked for us.

[3teens2cats]

Thanks @mrseric. I also suspect he is not as hungry as he might have been because he is getting pieces of kibble or treats as rewards. I measure out his amount for the day and use it for both meals and rewards to save the proper good treats for extra good wow stuff. Obviously we praise as well but at this stage there seems so much which needs reinforcing.

[dgc4rter]

@DuchessDarty I've never closed the doors of the crate unless I just had to contain her whilst clearing up some mess. I don't really do that anymore as I just let her wander outside. She's always had free reign of the kitchen which is pretty puppy-proof (i.e. nothing she can really damage or injure herself on). I have bought a pen which is currently located on the patio just outside the kitchen and I want her to get used to that while I do things in the garden. It's impossible to do anything at the moment as she just wants to play, chew everything and get under your feet.

[CanoeDoYouThinkYouAre]

Can I join?

11 week old springer here. He's gorgeous and relatively relaxed but the biting is driving us bananas!

Potty training is going ok with weeing, he'll usually let us know he needs to go outside. The poo is a different story.....

[DuchessDarty]

Canoe of course! Pull up a chair (and raise your feet off the ground so as to not get bitten...).

yy to the poos being a different matter. DartyPup likes evading capture, running upstairs and pooing in bedrooms. Today she did two on the kitchen floor and DH, who is partially-sighted, and stepped in it. As he agreed to us getting a dog for the kids and me on the proviso he didn’t have to look after it much, this isn’t helping the puppy fully endear herself to him. Sigh.

dgc Thanks, that’s helpful.

[Nettleskeins]

hi, older poodle cross puppy owner here. With regards to the leaving, I established what could be regarded as a sleep routine after breakfast and after lunch, when he had a long sleep in his crate.
BUT I built this up over about two weeks by sitting next to his crate to start with so he was completely comfortable there, and then one day I think I just put him in his crate, covered it and left him to settle, whilst I was in the other room, and having observed he slept 2 hours without waking, made that a "routine". And used that time to go out (Albeit briefly)

So there wasn't any crying or howling...possibly 5 mins to settle in the early days, but as I was sitting next to him and reassuring him it wasn't really very traumatic.

Puppies get very overtired, and if you can identify their sleep patterns you can get a break...(it is like babies and naps...sometimes you have to engineer their sleep patterns by reassuring and positive affirmations.)

However, I think it is a mistake in the early days to sleep with the puppy in your lap or literally next to you, when you could get them used to the crate as a nice place to settle - and still sit next to them. or you are creating a problem that they will only settle snuggled up to you.

[Mouldiwarp1]

Can I join please? Not got pup yet - he’s coming in two weeks and DD and I are very excited! He’s a Cairn terrorist. Our previous dog died a couple of months ago - he was a great boy and I don’t remember him being much trouble as a pup. I have a feeling Mouldipup could be a very different kettle of fish! My main concern is that we’re largely open plan downstairs. It’s quite a big area, so I can see it being tricky to keep an eye on him all the time. I think I may be ordering a playpen from Amazon in the next couple of days ....

[CanoeDoYouThinkYouAre]

We've only got carpets upstairs so a stair gate has been fitted for easier poo clean up!

I'm struggling to find puppy training classes. The only one locally (that everyone keeps recommending) is a forever living seller. TDLR, nasty MLM/pyramid scheme that flogs aloe Vera as a cure for everything including terminal cancer and is extremely toxic to dogs. Doesn't stop her encouraging owners to buy it from her and feed it to their dogs