Puppy survival thread! June 2020

[Juiceey]

Hello, anyone around to join me?

We've got our first puppy, a miniature poodle, yesterday. So far so good apart from the incessant humping!

He's VERY bitey, which doesn't hurt yet but no doubt will soon. He's massively attached to DW already and cries if she leaves the room. He loves DS but I think he played with him too much yesterday and overtired him, hence the humping?!

Crate training isn't easy and he cried for half an hour last night but then slept through til 5. Which is horribly early but I was ready for that!

[Juiceey]

Oh. Sleep deprivation already. Just realised it's still May!

[OwlInAnOakTree]

We also got our first puppy yesterday, so I'm happy to join you! Our's is a border collie, not too bitey yet...but I don't suppose that will last long.

He had an amazing first night, took himself off to the crate around 9pm, slept until midnight but then I thought he sounded a bit pant-y so I checked on him and he was awake or I woke him up, so I took him out for a wee. He didn't do one, so back in the crate and then I didn't hear anything from him until we got up at 6am. Surprised and relieved.

Toileting is a whole other issue though. Failing massively on that front.

[Lovelylurcher]

I’m here to join! Day 5 with our lovely lurcher pup. She’s wonderful but I’m finding it a bit tougher than I anticipated...particularly the mouthing/biting - she’s like a small shark!

I’m learning that if she starts seeming wild and hectic she just urgently needs to sleep. Rather like having another toddler

[Wagsandclaws]

Our girl arrived the day before yesterday. She's a miniature goldendoodle ( or mongrel for those that don't hold with cross breeds ) and she's so very sweet.

Last two nights in her crate next to me have gone well, she cried a tiny bit first night but nothing since and she goes from approx 10.30 till 5/5.30 ish which is great!

1st accident today but that wasn't really her fault as she'd fallen asleep under our kitchen chair and neither DH or I noticed when she woke up so she just wee'd where she'd woken up next to the chair. So far so good on everything else though.

[Juiceey]

hello everyone!

@OwlInAnOakTree I'm jealous of your first night. Dpup cried his eyes out being in the crate, even though he was exhausted and just kept leaping out. He would not stay in there so we shut the door and sat outside with our hands in the cage comforting him. He cried for half an hour straight. We went to brush our teeth and he went to sleep.

@Lovelylurcher same here but we still don't know how to put him to sleep. We just ignore him sort of (not really) and give him no attention and he curls up on someones feet and goes to sleep, which isn't ideal cos then that person is trapped.

@Wagsandclaws she's gorgeous! Toilet training is 50/50 for us.

[Juiceey]

Here's our scamp

[Wagsandclaws]

Juiceey I think it helps that we've got bi-fold doors and they have been constantly open and she seems to know to go outside ( apart from her one accident today ).

He's gorgeous! What a little cutie. This is definitely the best time of year for housetraining puppies.

[OwlInAnOakTree]

@Juiceey, we have a soft toy with a pretend heart beat and pouch for a heat bag which I left in the crate with our puppy last night. I don't know for sure that that helped him feel settled, but he snuggled up to it as soon as I put it in there so maybe it was? I didn't use the heat pack last night though as it was pretty warm. I'm hoping for a similar night tonight...the pattern is the same so far, pup falling asleep on the floor at 8...last night he woke up briefly at 9 and took himself off to the crate...fingers crossed he does the same tonight...

Our first full wee outside this evening! And I'm really kicking myself because as soon as we came back in, he started yelping at the door. I thought he just wanted to stay outside playing so I tried to distract him only for him to disappear into the kitchen and, yep, you guessed it, did a poo there. I need to get better at this!

Such lovely puppy pics. I'll see if I can post one.

How old is your DS Juiceey? Mine's just turned 7 and he's really a bit too full on for poor pup, but no amount of telling him will make him tone it down.

[OwlInAnOakTree]

Here's our bundle of energy.

[Eckhart]

@Juiceey Sorry, I know you're new to this, but you do realise they've actually given you a bear cub and not a dog, don't you?

[Rowdythree]

Can I join, we've had our 12 week old Bernese mountain dog for a week now. He's gorgeous and like a big cuddly teddy bear when he's not in a bitey mood. @Lovelylurcher you say you'd is like a small shark, mine is like a crocodile snapping around 😂 luckily he is easily distracted by a chew toy, he loves chewing his buffalo horn.

Sleep wise, he usually wakes up between 5 and 6 am! I haven't been up that early for quite some time

[PharmaLama]

We’ve had our little puppy for one week. She is a Cocker Spaniel cross, 10 weeks, and absolutely adorable.

[Lovelylurcher]

Hi again everyone,

What gorgeous puppies! They all look adorable! I'll try to work out how to upload a picture of ours...

Just like when we had small babies, we all seem to be talking about sleeping/housetraining/behaviour...at least feeding is straightforward! .

For us the big struggle seems to be the biting at the moment. We met dpups parents and they were both extremely sweet natured and calm - so I'm trusting that she'll grow out of it. She's only 8 weeks so very young. It's tricky to keep the faith when she's sinking razor sharp teeth into your ankles though, and it makes my 3 DC (13,10, and 8) a bit nervous around her, but we're learning to manage it...! We keep distracting with chew toys, saying 'no' and if she continues yelping and clapping our hands loudly, which seems to stop her. If all of those fails it's usually because she's overtired so I put her in the crate and she settles down to sleep quickly.

Sleeping at night bit of a different story though! First night she howled in the crate, missing her siblings, so for the past few nights DH and I have been tag teaming on the sofa, while she sleeps on the floor next to us - all night without a peep, which is great. Obviously we ideally need to get her to do the same in her crate (though I'm wondering if she might be fine in her bed if we weren't in the same room!)

Housetraining seems to be going fairly well, though like a few of you we have our garden doors open all the time. Thank god it's the summer! How people do this in winter I have NO idea....

[muckandnettles]

Glad you have started this thread! My pup is now 11 weeks old and has been with us for 3 weeks. I'm not working so am with him 24/7 or that's what it seems like. He is lovely for 90% of the time but that other 10%...oh my word, he's a bitey monster who just keeps coming and barking at me to entertain him or tell me something. I think I've overtired him a few times so yesterday we didn't do much that was new or strenuous, but we still had a mad hour at the end of the day when nothing was right for him. He's also a terrible humper and attaches himself to my legs, although now we have got to the stage where he will drop off my leg if I look at him and say down. Just can't help himself it seems. He's adorable and very affectionate, but I can't believe what hard work it is. It almost seems worse than a baby! Am I going mad?

[muckandnettles]

Oh and crate training is a complete failure so far and he will only sleep in the crate if he feels like it, not if I put him there.

[Rowdythree]

Mines a humper too @muckandnettles the problem is he's so big his paws are on my waist! I'm just repeating down, and good down when he does it. It's hard and repetitive but has to be done. We're starting puppy training class next week so I'm looking forward to that!

Glad it's not just mine who's a bitey monster! On the plus side, he slept until 5.45am today

[Eckhart]

For the bitey ones, if you make out that it really hurts, say a big loud 'OW!!', and turn your back on them to 'tend your wound' for a minute, they learn really quickly not to use their teeth.

[muckandnettles]

@Eckhart I'm saying a big loud 'ow' believe me, plenty of times - so the next step is that I leave the room if he pays no attention, just for 15 or 20 seconds. That usually does the trick as he has found something else to mess with. But he's so cute when he comes for some fuss and a cuddle, so affectionate - then bites!

@Rowdythree I really hope puppy classes start up round us soon. Are you in the UK?

[Rowdythree]

Yes I'm in the UK, in the Midlands. Puppy classes are starting next week in an outdoor setting, they also offering online training too. Have a look around, hopefully others will start up too

[Lovelylurcher]

I'm finding the biting pretty exhausting too...I was ready for house training and sleep deprivation - but the teeth, no! So glad it's not only us.

Apparently puppies learn 'bite inhibition' in the first few months, so if they've already left their litters it's up to us to teach them it hurts. I find if I I make a big loud noise/clap my hands loudly she stops - but if she's over tired she might keep coming back for more, even with that. When this happens I put her in the crate and she usually falls asleep within seconds....xx

[Lovelylurcher]

ps - humping we don't have, but I think that might be a male dog thing? x

[totallydevoidofideas]

@lovelylurcher pup has learned quite a bit about the bite inhibition and when he's in a happy chilled out mood he will mouth gently now, so that's all fine. It's just when he is overtired and it all kicks off. I saw a brilliant video online from Austerlitz puppies about being 'nice' - she put food on the back of her hands and on her fingers for puppy to lick off to teach 'gentle' which I tried and it works brilliantly. As a start, anyway!

[totallydevoidofideas]

Also Austerlitz woman is brilliant on a video blog about biting as well. I think it's on YouTube or I just saw it on the FB page Pandemic Puppy Raising. Susanne Shelton I think? Anyway, it's pure gold, bit you have to watch it all and it's long and detailed, but she is the guru for me.

[totallydevoidofideas]

@Rowdythree I'm in the East Midlands sort of area, so that gives me some hope the puppy classes will start round here soon as well. So far all closed but I will keep an eye out. We still need the second injection, or do classes want all 3 injections?

[Juiceey]

[quote Eckhart]@Juiceey Sorry, I know you're new to this, but you do realise they've actually given you a bear cub and not a dog, don't you?[/quote]