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?

Last night was Night 9 with puppy.

Crying/howling.barking at bedime has subsided to about 5 mins now. The last couple of nights she has woken at anytime between 12-12.30am and 4am - 5am , barking , when she has quieten down we let her out in garden , she does a wee (poo for DH at 4.30am this morning ), put her back and then after about 5 mins she is quiet .

No wee or poo where she is sleeping now !

Sh then woke at 6 am this morning, I then got up and chille dout with her in front room whilst I watched TV.

I hope we are getting there . Have not left her alone in house yet , will do that this week and break her in gently !

Does any one else puppy have weepy eyes , no puss or anything, have jsut been wiping them down with cooled boiled water . Off to vet tomorrow re jabs so can have a chat then about it.

Am getting so used to puuting my hand in her mouth now to retrieve things that she shouldn't have , peebles and empty snail shells !

Have aslo started to use whistle to train her ,all very basic at momemt .Saw the breeder use whistle with her mother as mum is a working gun dog.

Purplefrog good question ,I am watching the replies here too re feeding space. Getting up about 6.30 now to get Lola outside - she wants breakfast NOW and is frantic/excited/mad till she gets it. The f/e/m for the next 30 mins too, her worst time for launchin, nipping etc. Should I be making her wait?? She acts STARVING...

Still feeding four meals a day at the mo: 7ish, 12ish, 4.30ish and 8.30 or so. Down to 3/day in a week or so I guess.

Oh, WTWTW great post on Sat (how do you keep up?) re walking time etc etc. We're trying hard to limit Lola to 15 mins gentle stroll twice/day but it is so hard, as it calms her down beautifully. Now taking her to local park as well (3rd outing) to meet a dog or two, without doing much walking. Let her off lead today!!! She rushed straight back to us. Terrified (me, not her)!

No tips on washing poop covered puppies, but we have an old baby bath which we have a vague plan to use in garden on warm day at some point..

I agree with others, great to have this thread even if I don't manage to do more than use it as a therapeutic outpouring. I am v grateful to those who can also actually provide answers!

kid sorry about teddy's wasp sting. Poor thing.

Teddy seems fine thank God, I was so worried. I told DH about it when he phoned up and he was also worried, glad its not just me!

Teddy did his first poo in the house today, lucky we have no carpets as I wouldn't have been impressed with that! I just cleaned it up while cursing him in my head lol
The last thing I want is for him to start trying to hide the evidence by eating it. Something Moby did quite often!

Teddys lead walking is coming along nicely. He does pull but isn't too strong at the moment. When he does pull, I turn and walk the other way and call him to me. As soon as he reaches me, I tell him good boy and start back in the direction we were going. I do look like a loon but my puppy will be trained, eventually!

He will be fine kid. Fwiw dora has been stung twice. The second time not so badly, but aside from swelling and feeling sorry for herself she was fine. Hopefully one day she will realise trying to eat bees or wasps is a bad idea!

I usually feed Teddy at 7, 1 and 7.
I can see that changing slightly when I go back to work this week (sob) but he isn' a greedy dog. I fed him at lunchtime but he hasn't finished it. I assume he is feeling a bit sorry for himself after being stung, but I'm equally sure he won't starve.

I'm going to pick the food up, not that he has shown any interest in eating it anyway. But i don't want him snacking between meals otherwise I won't know when to feed him or when to walk him!

Thanks for the advice about his sting. I was so worried but am relaxed now as I can see he is his usual self.

WTWTW yes Storm's poos are still a bit runny and he does it on the paper in his cage but then goes mad and jumps in it and then spreads it all over the cage!!!

I know he doesn't like being in his cage but he has to get used to it, I daren't leave him out as he rushes into things and is likely to hurt himself.

The only time he howls or barks is when he is left in his cage. At night he still howls for a while and then quietens down, each night gets better. I just wish I didn't have to clean up the cage and dog every morning! I dunno how I'm going to find the time to do it as well as the school run.
To assumpta from the owner of a POO PUPPY what we did this morning was got a blanket, opened the cage and threw the cage over him and carried him upstairs to the bath. We bathed him in the bath with the shower hose and then towel dried and hairdryed him so he was dry and warm. We have shampooed him both times to get the poo smell off! Hope this helps.

I meant throw the blanket over him not the cage!!! of course I didn't throw the cage over him!!! Oh I almost forgot, yes I think he may be distressed but I don't know how to tackle it. I do the comfort blanket thing, he has his bolt on water bowl. Earlier I put him in his crate for 5 mins while I put washing out and when I came back in he had pooed. Does this mean he freaks out and then poops? If so what do I do???

i knew that you meant you threw the blanket over him!

i don't know about the distress thing. Does he ever go into the crate on his own? He needs to know its a safe place rather than a place to feel scared.

Pups are such hard work, aren't they?

lol thanks.

He does but to poop or wee so we have to keep the crate shut. I really don't know what to do. maybe minimu may be able to help????

Yes they are, I love him to bits but sometimes I wonder what the hell I've got myself into!

I've got no self control - I am meant to be writing up behavioural reports just thought I would pop onto MN!

OK pinkanimal does the puppy go into the crate in the day?
How big is the crate?
What is he like if you leave the room at any time?
Do you put newspaper into the crate?

He would go into it to wee or poo so we started shutting the door during the day. Obviously a bad move.

He currently has a 30" but we have a 48" put away for when he is a bit bigger as it is HUGE, way too big for a little puppy.
If I leave him in his crate do you mean? Then he barks and howls till I come back or till he calms down. He follows me everywhere and sleeps in whatever room I am in during the day.
Yes I put newspaper in it and he does do it on the paper but he then jumps in it whilst having a tantrum and spreads it all over himself and the cage!
This afternoon we had the idea that we MUST leave the crate door open during the day , even if he does toilet in it. I sat there for ages throwing his toys into it and encouraging him to go in and out of it playing. He seemed ok with it, even laid down and chewed his toy

I think you have two issues here.

Take the paper out of the crate - I think the pup is still confused where he can poo and wee. Have you got cleaner from a pet shop to clean the crate. You must get rid of the wee smell and normal household cleaner does not do that for the dogs.

He also sounds a bit anxious when left so you will need to work on this in the day.
Leave the puppy in a room walk out and shut the door immediately return back to the room totally ignoring the dog when you leave and when you return. Do this loads and loads of time a day.

Gradually increase the time you can leave to a few minutes etc. This teaches the dog that it is fine to be left on his own.

Re the crate I would be very tempted to have the crate in my room with an anxious dog so he is comfortable in his crate and you will hear if he wakes up and needs a wee or poo. Once he is happy in his crate you can put in anywhere and he should be happy. (I personally do not let my dogs go upstairs so I would prefer to sleep with the dogs but I realise this is not for everyone!)

Always feed in his crate. Throw in treats throughout the day so he will wander into the crate and find yummy treats.

When he does not react when you walk out of a room pop him in the crate and then walk out and then come back really quickly before he can get in a state and let him out do this over and over again.

If he does fall asleep lift him into his comfy crate and let him sleep do not lok him in at this point.

Do not worry he will stop doing this you will not be in poo fest land for ever I promise!

Yes I have the special cleaner, have been using it too.

Our bedroom is just too small for the crate and like you upstairs is no go area.
Really do not want to sleep downstairs so hopefully he will get better with time, we will just have to ride it out I spose.

The other ideas we will start trying tomorrow. Any tips on training the kids on how to leave him when he is sleeping??? lol
WhenI feed him in his crate do I shut the door or not??
Thanks very much for this minimu, really appreciate the help.

Initially I would keep the door open when you feed in it - keep it all upbeat and matter of fact.

Now kids not so good with them as my lot will tell you!

Yes you will get there in time and I personally need an awful lot of trauma eg ill dog to sleep down with them! Build up the separation during the day and then the pup will be more confident to be left at night. It does get so much easier when you can get then out and exercising etc after all their jabs and burn off any anxiety through exercise.

ok thanks. maybe should put the kids in the crate!!! lol
Yes cant wait to get out and about with him. Will be good to enjoy the fun walking part of having a dog.

ffs we just caught eddie trying to finish off a slug

yuk!
I'm sure dogs can get lungworm from slugs and snails. Thats the only reason I will get them out of Teddys mouth even though I can't usually touch them.

I wonder how I can prevent them from going in my garden without causing any risk to Teddy? I reckon I just have to go out before him to do a quick look round for any.

yes they can

luckily he didnt get too far, we found the slug in question and washed his mouth and cleaned him up

little bugger

Teddy is always eating something off the floor. He doesn't seem to do it off lead but on lead I have to watch him like a hawk!

btw lou33, DH was is Godalming today but i didn't go with him.

Eddie is a walking dustbin

And wrt your dh, was he looking for me to pass on some amazing new gadget to try, by any chance?

Lol, afraid not. But they do sell some great new car cleaning things that he got. I'm just waiting for someone to offer to try them out while cleaning my monster of a car. Zafiras don't seem that big, until you have to wash them that is!

I may have started something I shouldn't have with teddy. I was just in the bathroom so he came in there and waited for me. I got in bed and he jumped up on the side of the bed waiting for me to pick him up fir a cuddle like I did this morning and yesterday morning. Oh and the morning before that too!
He soon got the hint though and is now laying down on his own bed.

Can't have done any worse than ds. I'm still shocked that he dud it and I'm assuming he won't be doing it again. He held teddy on his lap while he went to the toilet! Obsessed with the puppy or what pmsl

Guess what?? Last night was our first poo free night [does a victory dance in the manner of MC Hammer!!]
And to top it off as an awesome night, he also went in his crate on his own [with the coax of a treat] and didn't cry at all!! Just went straight to sleep. May have something to do with the kids and my Brother's girlfriend causing him to have a mad hour in the evening. But it did work!
I am so proud, it means I am finally doing something right.
And gross on the slugs thing, I haven't had the pleasure of that yet but I am sure I will eventually.
Big thanks to minimu for helping me in my dark time last night, am feeling much happier and more positive.

Yippee - pinkanimal!

I think I should stop posting here....

Last week I rejoiced that I had been woken up at 6.00am - a record. Since then, waking has been around 5.00am, with today at 5.30am being the best since then.

Then yesterday I was reckoning that Rory is waking me up for breakfast, not because he was desperate to go to the toilet. So, as I put my coat on and grabbed the lead this morning he disappeared under the kitchen table and did a wee. That is the first time he has not waited until he has got outside first thing in the morning. Sigh! Maybe he is desperate after all.....

So, I think I shall just keep quiet about any future successes to avoid tempting fate !

Lol @ going to the toilet!

My bf now wants me to keep chickens. He is turning us into the waltons!