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Advice on keeping a puppy entertained.

14 replies

ElleGrace · 13/09/2015 22:13

Hi everyone,
I recently adopted a 12 week old samoyed puppy. I know they are very active dogs and that my pup will require a lot of both mental and physical situation. My boyfriend and I live a very active lifestyle, and can't wait to be able to take him with us on hiking trips/ daily runs/ forest walks etc.
The probably is that when we adopted him he hadn't received any of his vaccinations, as they were concerned about the first and second injection not being done by the same vet (apparently an issue?) and wanted to rehome him as quickly as possible.
We booked his first vaccination straight away, so he had his first one at 13 weeks. He will have another at 15 weeks, and then we have to wait two more weeks until we can take him outside anywhere where other animals may have been. He is currently 14 weeks old, so we have another 3 weeks before we can take him out.
In the meantime, he is becoming very restless. We are moving into a house with a large garden in just over a month, but until then he has to make do with the 2 x 2 garden we currently have. He seems bored the majority of the time, and requires our attention almost constantly to keep him entertained because he never seems to get tired out.
Some things we are doing at the moment to keep the boredom at bay:

  • Taking him out on trips to the pet store every few days (carrying him around) as he likes seeing other dogs and we pick out treats for him.
  • Training him for about an hour a day (straight after training, we get about half an hours peace)
-Playing with him in half an hour intervals 3-4 times a day.

In general, he is a very well behaved dog, however once he gets bored he begins to mouth on things (usually us) and bark and howl persistently. To begin with, we totally ignored this behaviour but due to the close proximity of neighbours (apartment building) we can't really let the barking continue for more than about 10 minutes.
Any tips on what we can do are much appreciated.. sorry this is so long winded!

OP posts:
ElleGrace · 13/09/2015 22:15

stimulation*
problem*
woops!

OP posts:
Pixa · 13/09/2015 22:17

Treat toys are quite handy. Scent work also helps with our puppy.

I love samoyeds! Have fun. smile

lighteningirl · 13/09/2015 22:19

Take him out keep him on a lead just don't let him lick or spend to long on lampposts or anywhere other dogs have weed.

Pixa · 13/09/2015 22:22

Our puppy also loves bubbles, they keep her busy for a small amount of time. We have a battery powered bubble machine that she loves.

BirdyArms · 13/09/2015 22:41

I took mine around everywhere in a backpack worn on my front. Took him on buses and trains, everywhere, for up to about an hour. Think this was good for general socialisation, particularly because your will be getting older when he's allowed to go for a walk. Don;t know if yours is too heavy for this, but I could carry mine in a backpack when he'd got too heavy to carry far in my arms.

Mine likes playing with ice cubes. Have you tried a kong with some frozen food inside - lots of suggestions online what to fill them with. I also put some dry food inside a plastic water bottle which he could bash around the floor to get it out, though he got very good at that and didn't keep him occupied for long.

Have you got any friends with vaccinated dogs that you could take him to play with? Older dogs are generally very patient with young puppies and nothing like playing with another dog to tire them out.

ElleGrace · 13/09/2015 22:54

The plastic bottle with food inside is an excellent idea... he adores plastic!
I also love the idea of carrying him around in a backpack but he gets very hot so I'd have to give it a go and see.
My best friend has two vaccinated dogs, one who is 6 years old and really, really dislikes my pup (and all other dogs for that matter) and the other who is a newfoundland so very heavy and clumsy and often falls on or knocks over my pup so I'm worried letting them play will result in my pup's first experience of big dogs being a bad one.
I've just given him an ice cube now and he is trying to eat it! Maybe he'll get the picture soon!
Thank you very much for the advice... I think I'll buy some bottled water tomorrow to fill the bottles for him!

OP posts:
ElleGrace · 13/09/2015 23:02

A bubble machine sounds like an excellent idea too!
He's very inquisitive so I'm sure he'd love that.
This is a prime example of what I mean by pestering.
This is him, right now:

FYI I am currently in the process of unpacking... my home is not always usually this messy...

Advice on keeping a puppy entertained.
Advice on keeping a puppy entertained.
OP posts:
TrionicLettuce · 13/09/2015 23:11

Are you carrying him out and about to places other than the pet shop?

As his vaccinations are being done so late (obviously no fault of yours) it'll be harder than usual to make as much as possible of the socialisation window. Ideally you want to be taking him out to lots of different places, even though in your situation you'll have to carry him.

There's lots of great information about puppy development and what you should be aiming to do socialisation wise here.

ElleGrace · 13/09/2015 23:19

Thanks TrionicLettuce, that is a really useful site! I have been taking him just to the pet shop, my friends houses and my family members but I see now that I should be taking him out more often to more places. He is very well socialised with other people, but not so much with other dogs for the reasons outlined above. I don't know for definite that any other dogs are vaccinated, so a bit unsure on how to solve this.

OP posts:
MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 13/09/2015 23:34

You're not overstimulating him are you? Puppies need a lot of sleep! Don't think you've got to keep him active every minute of the day, he's only a baby and he needs his rest. Do you have a crate? They are invaluable for giving puppy a safe secure place to rest.

He is very cute though. Smile

WhoAteMyToast · 13/09/2015 23:54

Oh he is gorgeous! Send him around to me when you need some respite!

ElleGrace · 14/09/2015 14:00

I hope I'm not overstimulating him! Hmm
I do try and ignore him, but usually he doesn't relent.
We don't have a crate but he does have a bed in a corner, between the wall and wardrobe which is similar. The door to that room gets shut whilst we/him are sleeping.
and WhoAteMyToast... he's on the way!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 14/09/2015 14:20

I really like this guy's training and dog behaviour videos, this one is on barking but he has loads - look at his channel.

BertieBotts · 14/09/2015 14:20

He's positive BTW and doesn't use punishment based training.

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