New Puppy Owners

[kid]

I know there are a few of us that have recently picked up new pups.
Were your puppies lovely and calm when you first got them or were they mental straight away?

I can't believe how calm Teddy is being so far. He has slept a lot but even when he is awake, he just nibbles gently on your fingers or rolls his ball with his feet.

He has not had any accidents in the house yet which is a miracle.

I am wondering if this is the calm before the storm?

Poppy was clean all night last night and has started crying to go out when she needs to go. Albeit not every time she needs to go, but we're getting there.

Now if only I could sort out the chasing each other round like mad hatters I'd have two lovely, easy dogs

30 your pup will get there in time. They can be challenging, but it's worth it in the end. It's my older dog that is causing me problems. He wasn't socialised or trained at all before we got him and it's proving hard work to retrain all his bad habits, but we are making progress slowly.

30 - I feel for you, I also broke down a couple of weeks as it was all getting too much. The late nights and early mornings were killing me, I also was on wee watch all the time. My evenings were no longer my own, I spent most of it following Belle every time she got up from the sitting room to go to the kitchen. The one time I didn't immediately follow she peed on the kitchen floor. There is light at the end of the tunnel in that department, she is now soooo much better. The last time I said that on here she promptly peed on the floor, fingers crossed; not again! She will now sit by the door looking up at it and if I stand by her she will look from me to the door and wait. I am going to start trying to make a wait a few seconds longer each time in the hope that even if I don't get there immediately, that she will be able to hold it for a bit.

Our problem of nipping had eased off, but she is now growling and trying to bite, this is driving me mad. If I could sort this, then she would be well on the way. Let's see how this week goes.....

Don't lose heart, it does get easier. My dh also gets very frustrated, but I try to dampen it down a bit.

I can sympathise with all of you that are having early mornings.... but things are gradually getting better here! I feel there is at last some light at the end of the tunnel.

I went downstairs at 6.50am this morning. Yes - 6.50am - a record! If it wasn't for the fact that dd is up at 7.00am on a schoolday I would have left him longer. Rory was most confused when I went down - I got a very puzzled look. It was almost as if he was saying "What are you doing here - I didn't call you?".

The last 3 times he got up before 5.30am he has been put back in his crate after a visit to the garden, and has gone back to sleep.

So last night he went from about 10.45pm to 6.50am without a wee - just over 8 hours. (He is now 17 weeks old, by the way.)

I hope this will continue as the clocks change in 3 weeks and I was dreading him waking even earlier after that!

Actually, I have noticed over the past few weeks that we are not having to go out for wees quite so often. He is definitely developing more bladder control.

As I posted yesterday, Belle actually bit and drew blood on Saturday evening. Luckily it was my husbands foot, not my daughters face. I know that puppies nip, but she growls, shows the white of her eye, and really goes for the bite. I have spoken to the vets and they say "this is not normal puppy behaviour" . They have given my details to a trainer to come and see what the situation is. I am quite shocked and thought they would just say, "oh, that's completely normal, just do such and such", but they didn't. Has anyone come across this. My daughters are 10 and 13, but I have lots of young children around and about and when we go to Ireland on holiday. Any advice?

Hopefully the dog trainer can offer some help and advice assumpta.
I just found this online and tought I would post it:
Signs of fear or concern: lowered stance, tail down or tucked under, tail wagging in a quick, frantic buzz; looking away or turning head away to look so that whites of eyes show ("whale eye"); dilated pupils. Dogs often bark out of fear, in an attempt to keep a distance between themselves and the Big Scary Thing, especially if they are cornered, fenced in, or on a leash.

Unfortunately, it doesn't advise on how to deal with it. I know that rubbing a dog between their front legs (on their chest) is a massage point for them so would calm a dog down. Its just a case of getting them into a position where they can't nip on you!

Hope the dog trainer gets in touch soon. It might be worth you contacting one yourself. I am a bit unsure of the vet contacting one on your behalf. I know our vet works with a dog trainer so could potentially put business there way. I have my own dog trainer.

Good luck

Thanks kid, yes I believe that is true, but this happens sometimes out of the blue, for example, yesterday evening I was just sitting in the kitchen and she normally comes when I call her, even from a short distance, but yesterday she was about 4 foot away and she appeared as if she didn't even hear me, and then about a minute afterwards she just started growling and then barking. I usually treat when she comes, so it's not that she is being teased. The dog trainer called me last night and she is actually the lady from puppy class, I am going to speak to her in detail Wednesday evening. At the end of the day we cannot have a dog that shows aggression no matter how cute she is. I do of course realise that no dog can be trusted 100%. Let's hope we get it sorted as I have no idea what we would have to do.

assumpta - it is difficult to know what it is without seeing it happen. It is difficult to know if it is aggression or not. Rory went through a phase where he would grab at clothing and sometimes growl and shake it with the whites of his eyes showing. It was very much him playing... but sometimes he went too far and got hold of a bit of person inside the clothing. He has stopped doing this with people to a great extent, but still does it with toys. We are stopping playing when he growls, and he is getting a lot better at not growling.

When he thinks we are ignoring him and he wants to play he will stand in front of us and bark. This is sometimes accompanied by play bows and growling when he is over-excited....

assumpta I would be back to the vets for a thorough check over, I would be surprised if it was a behavioural problem at such a young age, though I am no expert.

Personally I would be concerned that there is something physically possibly mentally wrong with her, though again I could be totally wrong.

One of the problems of all the new 'designer' crossbreed dogs is that the puppy's personality and temperament is just so unpredictable.

Something that popped into my head that you may want to check out is something called 'Cocker Rage' (this is just an article that flagged up on google, it is old and all the dominance stuff is bollocks).

I am not trying to worry you and bear in mind that I could be totally wrong. But if it was me I would be doing a bit of research on the subject and talking to the breeder, the trainer and the vet.

All puppies nip and sometimes due to their razor sharp little teeth they do draw blood, but it usually obvious that is was only done in play/over excitement and it concerns me that it doesn't sound that way in the way you are talking about Belle.

[wats] I know, and this is my worry. If there is something not quite right I am left in a terrible position. She loves us, and we her. She has just nipped while playing with me now, which is totally normal and no problem whatsoever, but this is different. It's the wild white eye that really freaks us all out and a general uncertaintly. It is usually in the evening, so is it because she is tired? I have nothing to compare it to as we have never had dogs before or while growing up. Even if the trainer comes around, what happens then, she won't necessarily see it happen. I don't want to be over reacting unnecessarily. I really don't think it is our imagination, but the thought of anything having to happen to her is awful, and by that I mean even having to return her to the breeder. Surely if she could sort her out, I should be able to.

oh for gods sake I am sick to death of clearing up wee. He poos outside most of the time but wees EVERYWHERE. He was ok weeing on his mat when indorrs but now we have taken the wee mat away he wees everywhere! And it's turning my house into a wee infested swimming pool!. The carpet is dying a slow smelly death. And to top it off he always wants to go in the garden, not to do anything just to mess about and sit in the garden and chew things he shouldnt. And I mean every 2 minutes. Oh when will it end????

pink I hear you! Just thank your lucky stars that it's wee you have a problem with and not the other.

Yesterday the dog went out before breakfast, and after breakfast, then out for a walk, and then back in the garden after the walk as he rarely poos in the park (I'm working on it...). Yesterday he then went to sleep for HOURS afterwards, and the minute I crept upstairs to go to the loo myself he woke himself up and did a massive crap in his dog room.

So today, same routine. Still nothing after his post-walk trip to the garden, and by that stage he's running away from me, eating flowers, sunbathing, and generally not listening, so we pop back into the house. I leave him in his dog room for 2 MINUTES, haven't even taken my coat of - thinking yesterday he went for hours... must just remember to wake him myself later. Sudden barking, and incredible smell. More poo inside. ARRGH!

Pesty puppies!
I have to say teddy's toilet training is nothing short of a miracle. Don't take that as me boasting, take that as teddy can do it at 17ish weeks old, so your puppies will be doing it soon enough.
Teddy does have the annoying habit of pooing in the bathroom. The amount of poo he can produce is incredible!
But I am not making a fuss because moby used to eat his poo. Probably because I told him off for pooing in the house. It was so gross, he'd have it all stuck between his teeth pmsl.

Teddy is being adorable today, hardly any biting and no wees in the house for 2 weeks. I think I'll treat him to a bath tonight, he probably won't like that much lol

Kid, so is Teddy completely house trained, i was confused about pooing in the bathroom, or is he super trained and flushing? I thought belle was, we have had a couple of weeks with no accidents whatsoever, but then a poo on the kitchen floor last night. Very confused as to when we will have this cracked, if ever. Now 14 weeks, so not too bad I guess.

ugh so he spends ten minutes playing in the garden with a plastic bottle only to come inside and.....pee on the blooming carpet! Storm ate his poo the other day! yucky. kid you have every right to boast and be proud. must be something about the bathroom as Storm wees and poos outside the toilet.

He is housetrained wee wise. He just holds on to it until we let him out in the garden or take him for a walk. When he goes out, I tell him 'go toilet' and he squats and wees!
We have a separate toilet and bathroom. He chooses to poo in the bathroom within 10 minutes after eating. As it's lino, I don't mind as it's very quick and easy to clean. I'd prefer him not to poo in the house, he doesn't all the time but it is a bad habit he had got into.

I realised today that he has been lovely hand calm for the last few days, I wonder if the change of food has anything to do with it?

Those puppies that are not quite house trained will get there, just stick with it and it will
be worth it in the end.

Can I join. We got our lovely lab puppy on sunday. He's 8 weeks and lovely but to be honest the responsibility has just hit me. I thought about this sooooo much before we got one but it's a bit like a baby isn't it: you can't imagine what it will be like until it happens. Our decision to get a dog was sound ... I work from home and my husband is about to be retired off due to ill health so we have the time and the dog will be a good focus and therapy for my husband both mentally and physically. And I know it is early days but oh my god!

For example: I always just assumed I'd find a nice kennels to put him in when we went on holiday but now I've read some awful things on the internet. Surely there must be nice ones out there and the dogs are ok??? Will I ever have a holiday again?!

On other note: house training going ok. DD1 (nearly 8) is great with him. DD2 (4) is OK but not so sure with the jumping and the licking. Will start puppy socialisation/training classes soon. I think the whole concept of behavioural training is just so daunting and the books are panicking me ... everything seems to have to be done by the time they're 4 months old otherwise "you may cause irreversible problems". Plus he woke me at 5am this morning whereupon I stood outside with him for half an hour waiting for him to wee until I realised he had already done it in his crate clearly just upon waking. Not sure how to get that one sorted ... I was out of bed on the first whimper!

Please tell me it will be worth it!

IT WILL BE WORTH IT!
It may take a few months to feel worth it, but when you reach there, you will be so besotted by him you won't mind not having holidays or getting much sleep

I arranged for my dog to do homeboarding rather than kennels. Price difference wasn't much and I felt happier knowing that my dog would be in a house rather than kennels.
I got to meet the lady who would have him and we planned for him to spend 1 night there just as a trial. I was impressed by how thorough she was. My dog passed away before he got to stay there, but we will use her when we next go on holiday.

I have spoken to the training lady and she has suggested taking belle to the vet for a thorough examination tomorrow to see if anything is physically wrong. If not, she is saying that it is a behavioural problem, but I honestly don't know what we are doing wrong when she starts to really bark strongly at us when absolutely nothing is happening. We are neither ignoring her or showing her too much attention. She never barks at any other time except when she hears next doors dog bark, which is completely normal. Every now and again she may bark with excitement at seeing her food bowl. I will of course see her tomorrow and see what they say. This is a well respected lady, who does seem to know her stuff and she said she came across something like this before, and that dog turned out to have a virus of some sort. Bottom line is that we cannot have her like this, so we have to sort out something.

How soon can the vet see belle?
Hope the vet or behaviourist can shed some light on it for you. It's really good that you are taking action rather than assume it's a puppy thing that she will grow out of. Fingers crossed for some answers soon.

After me saying how great teddy has been with his toilet training, he had to prove me wrong so he did a wee in the bathroom. He also cheekily asked for more dinner tonight by eating what I gave him and then pushing his bowl towards me. He is so cute and I really live hom and his silly ways. Even though the little rat had me up at 5:30 this morning and wouldn't go back to sleep afterwards. I didn't go to bed till 1am and went on a school trip today so I am totally shattered now. Dd has to be in school by 7:50 tomorrow, hurry up weekend, I need you!

The vet will see her tomorrow. Maybe I just don't know enough to deal with this, we'll have to see.

Assumpta do not beat yourself up about this situation. Some behaviour just happens, or may be for a medical reason. You have done the best for you puppy from day 1. A different puppy may have responded very differently to the same situation. I do hope things work out ok. Get those professionals to do their job and get it sorted for you!