New puppy thread, where new puppy owners can come for help and advice and hopefully clever people like minimu, midori et al will check regularly (please) to help us...

[Happymm]

Exactly what it says on the tin really. Kings idea, that we have a thread where we can all come and ask for help, advice, support or just to vent and that the much more experienced people will come and help us out :)

Does anyone elses puppy stalk them mine is getting worse...I do tend to do everything for her, I feed her, I carry the treats on walks, I tend to do all the taking out to toilet and I will walk her when no-one else wants to and I also tend to do all the training. It doesn't matter who else is in the house she has to be with me, I do send her to the others for a cuddle which she enjoys and if I go out she is fine with them, in fact she absolutely adores them both, however I have really noticed lately that she prefers to follow me about!

She tends to spend most of her day with me in the dining room whilst I am working, I get up to go outside on a conference call she comes out, I come back in, she comes in, I go to the kitchen she follows me, I go to the loo she follows me!

She doesn't have separation anxiety I don't think as she will be quiet in her crate if I want to get on and do something, she is also fine if left on her own when we all go out. I am not particularly worried about it, think it's quite sweet really

Spam my puppy hardly leaves my side if he is out of his crate. I quite like it to be honest and it has certainly made housetraining him easier. Also when out on walks he just trots along next to the pushchair, either on or off lead and it doesn't even occur to him (yet) to wander off.

I met someone else yesterday who is dog sitting a 4-5 month old shih tzu for two weeks while her daughter is on holiday. Apparently it's a nightmare, poos multiple times a day, all day, every day, anywhere it fancies...the lady had slipped up on it twice already! It has no concept of toileting outside at all. They have a crate for it but puppy cries in it so it isn't used. It also barks and yaps a lot and jumps and nips to be carried.

I told her that I think part of the reason the puppy poos so much is it is free fed, and they have food down for her all the time. The poor woman was at the end of her tether and said she hadn't had so little sleep for years. I feel a bit sorry for the puppy to be honest as it's left alone all day while she works and I think she was hinting for me to offer to help. NO WAY JOSE!

It's because puppy loves you.

My dogs aren't puppies anymore :( but they follow me around all day from room to room. I have a little line of them behind me the whole time. It's the doggy choo choo train.

I'm hoping to use a crate for puppy....any top tips on how to settle puppy, especially during those first few nights when separation anxiety may be an issue?

Our pup is due to come home on August 13th, she will actually be 12 weeks old by then! We are having to wait due to holiday. There will still be other pups with mum so we aren't the last pup to leave mum. Getting excited now and buying bits.

We covered our crate with a blanket to make it more den-like and dark, and I made it cosy inside with a fleece, heat pad and soft toy.

Earlier in the day we introduced her to it for short periods, allowing her to find toys and little treats, so that she would associate it with nice things.

I have heard other people recommend having a ticking clock nearby (reminds them of a heartbeat), a quietly playing radio (so they don't realise they are alone) and also a DAP diffuser plugged in next to the crate (releases calming pheromones apparently) but we didn't do any of that.

Forgot to say that our pup settled straight away, but I was prepared to let her cry/bark for as long as it took.

There are two schools of thought on this I think; the alternative to ignoring would be to have the crate in your bedroom and gradually move it away over a period of days/weeks as pup gets more used to it. I have also heard of people sleeping downstairs next to the crate.

Could your breeder be persuaded to get pup used to the crate before you collect?

Mary you must be getting excited! Not long now! We were lucky with our pup, she howled all night the first night - we got up once to find she had messed in her bed. The next night she didn't howl too much bit again mess on her bed. The crate was divided as there is a theory they wont mess in their beds so this will help them learn to go out for the loo but the other theory is not to return to them at night as they will learn howling gets you down there with them.

I decided to make the crate bigger and put a puppy pad down. Then all I needed to do was clear the pad away not wash everything. From that point on she didn't howl and sometimes the crate is clean and dry, sometimes not - I'd rather my sleep and cleaning a pad than howling and getting up loads

By 12 weeks pup should be able to go through the night so you shouldnt have too much bother.

We cover the crate in a blanket and leave the radio on for company. She is in our
Utility room.

HTH

I have bought a fleecy 'pillow' from Pets at Home so hoping that will make the crate cosy for her and she has some toys. I have bought some treats so I will definitely put a couple in the crate to entice her.
Thanks for the information! Its all very useful

greetings from the US ... This forum is so nice! I read so many condescending comments from snooty dog owners that it frightens me to even contemplate posting.

We've had our adorable golden was 2 weeks and 2 days. he's 10 weeks old. I'm a stay at home mother of 3 humans (11, 9 & 6), 3 felines and Puppy. I have no idea if I'm doing anything right as this is our first dog. he abhors his kitchen crate ...I use it when I need to get chores done. he's content to play roadkill dog on my marble floor so his belly can be cool. it's cute, but not conducive to cleaning. He tolerates his bedroom crate. he also hates his leash. he's great as long as he's doing his wee-poo, but going for walks ... Forget it!!!

I'm just hoping that this puppy stuff gets easier. Sorry to whine, but my kids aren't as thrilled with actually having a puppy as they were obsessively talking about it for a year. we haven't been able to do a whole lot of anything for a couple weeks now ... We normally love going to the pool, we missed our county fair ... I know ...shut up and stop whining ... Ugh.

The walking thing makes you want to tear you hair out. I've been there with previous dogs. I had a collie who I used to literally drag the whole way round the block. Don't give up, they do learn.

The breeder I got one of my current dogs from suggest taking a feather dust out and waving it on the floor to get the dog to chase it. Then once the dog is fascinated, use it like a carrot to entice the dog along.

Don't stress too much about the crate thing. I know it's the best and quickest way to get them house trained but it's not the end of the world if you don't use it in the prescribed manner. My westie boy hated it and capturing him to put him in it was a nightmare. He was so small and quick that we ended up chasing him round the house with brooms trying to pin him to the floor. In the end we gave up. We did have quite a few puddles to clean up, but he got there in the end.

The female westie we used training mats instead. Work beautifully. The problem is that despite being house trained for 6 years she still thinks that if we put any mat or rug down then thats where we want her to go.

No kidding. I swear I am getting sick and tired of everyone looking at me when I talk about my crate woes ... I feel like I'm the only puppy mom who's dog doesn't happily march into their crate and sit nicely until it's time to come out. I also feel like my dog is the only one who twists and turns, rolls around, bites his leash or sits in protest halfway through the walk ... Well, it's more like a drag ... He drags me or I drag him. I' paranoid that Victoria still well ismgoing to jump out of the bushes and chastise me ...

Thanks for letting me vent.

This is the place to vent!

My DD was also asking for a dog forever....now we have one, she is not that interested...mainly because pup is a jumpy nippy thing but I know in time they'll be buddies!

Our pup sometimes barks and howls when left in crate or utility room (this is her bedroom area we have a stair gate across) yesterday at kids dinner I put her in there and she howled because she wanted to come and sniffle/lick the floor and bits DS drops/throws - I have her a kong with peanut butter in it and it worked for all of 3 mins! Other times shell settle down quickly.

Is there a treat/chew pup really likes that you could only give to her in the crate? Perhaps pop pup on crate with that for 3-5mins a few times a day with it so you build up?

You'll get there!

My children have also wanted a puppy forever, and it's only been a week and they have already complained that he is boring and doesn't want to do anything because he doesn't run or chase or them when we take him out.

In the house he is a little more playful sometimes, but he just isn't the very bouncy, playful puppy that they had envisaged, but I bet if he was they'd be complaining about that too.

Hi,don't worry your puppies will soon become bouncy things.Ours has-although it took about 3 weeks!.He has become a bit too bouncy though as he nipped my youngest on the arm last night.Trying to explain to 5 year olds that if they squeal and dash about madly they will be nipped as they are being treated like litter mates.I asked him to freeze if puppy starts jumping about him-he says he can't,because he gets frightened!.Hurt feelings were repaired on a long walk/run afterwards with my youngest kids holding the lead and then feeding puppy in an attempt to establish pack order.Yes i have had problems with lead walking especially when i'm in a hurry to pick dc's up from school but offer him a run with my kids-he's up for it.I seem to have inadvertantly picked up the dominant cocker of the litter [he was the biggest one].

My middle child told me we should put puppy in a kennel so we could do things like we normally do during our summer break (we get 10 weeks off, too long in my opinion.)... I lost my temper like I had never before. And then things really came to a head yesterday because my2 youngest knew I was busy with puppy, so they took the opportunity to just take off on their rollerblades and bike!!! When DH got home there was some stern lecturing going on! My youngest is getting better about being a tree ... Puppy singles him out because of his size. he did wonderfully in his crate overnight, but his night night crate isn't the big problem ... It's the kitchen crate. we are thinking of just chucking it sice he enjoys laying on the marble foyer and ... So cute ... Our air conditioning vents in the floor!

I wish I could snap my fingers and he'd be 6 months old!!!!

I do know how you feel as my dc's used to go to an american school overseas.We used to break up mid-june but start in mid-august and the holidays seemed interminable.The puppy will get better and older and easier.Get your dh to look afer dc's and puppy and take off somewhere so you get a break away from responsabilities.

I went with puppy to dog training today. it was wonderful and the dog trainer said he would be a great candidate for service dog training! That's good, right? I told the trainer that my DH and I think we suck and that we are messing hi up and he laughed ... No, we seem to be doing great ... A big load off!

Well done. See, it's not all doom and gloom just because you puppy doesn't want to go into doggy prison.:o

I'm afraid we had a horrible horrible day yesterday. I'm so frazzled that my stomach hurts and I didn't sleep at all. I was so confident when I came home from training too. the saddest part is that it's not the dogs. it's the kids and my DH that sent me over the cliff. we tell the kids over and over to stay still ... We tell them over and over to leave puppy alone if he's sleeping ... They won't listen. then our 6 year old takes advantage of the situation when we are tending to puppy and piles most of the sand from his sandbox onto our patio stairs, which sent my DH into a rage. I mean, why did he do that? he's never done anything like that before with the sand. then, when DS is in the house, he literally bounces off everything. Again, this is new ... It all came to a head last evening with DH completely out of his mind with the stress and I told him to call the breeder and take puppy back ... I cried most of the night and then this morning, DH, apologized for his behavior, to which I said that I don't know how many more days I can have like that ... Seriously, it was one of the worst days I've ever had.

I hate to say it, but this puppy, as sweet and adorable as he is has really caused a lot of strife with the kids. I don't know if they even like him because it seems like we are constantly telling them to stop this or stop that. I honestly think they thought they were getting a stuffed animal they could carry around and sleep with ... Reality stinks.

I think we all feel like prisoners right now.

Can you put the puppy in one room sometimes and confine him there, away from the kids? We have baby gates in most of our doorways so doggies can be easily confined anywhere in the house. You can even get huge doggy ones to go all the way across the room so they are confined to one end, but still in the same room with you.

Failing that, how about putting you kids in the crate? :o (joking)

(((hugs))) it's not nice when it's hard work.

Yea .. I know, but it just seems like the kids are realizing that having a puppy isn't like visiting friends with dogs. Bless them for wanting play with him all the time, but the have to realize if pup starts nipping, the need to leave him alone!

DH has been wonderful and supportive today :)

I just want to be able to sleep without a churning tummy.

Kids in the crates ...

OK Stressed...if you check out my posts from the beginning of this month, you'll see I was right there too. Was going to give my lab pup back, with £50 for their trouble!
How old are your DC's? Mine are 7,5,2. It's hard when they are young and don't understand. We did a lot of work, playing "dog". One was a dog and pretending to be puppy and jumping, biting. The ones being the DC had to act out what to do...:)
I think you need to timetable his days more strictly. Ours is just like an overtired toddler, if I don't force her to sleep, which she'll only do properly in her crate, so she goes in there during the day too, for sleeps. Sometimes takes herself, but if she didn't then I'd do it for her, as otherwise she will keep mooching, chewing etc and will finally get in a pickle, unable to control herself and would be jumping and biting. her crate has become her special place where the kids can't disturb her.
I also use a long lead in the house which is permanently attached to her, which I can step on or grab in a hurry if needed, but also so I can use it to tether her to a leg of a sofa, or a radiator etc. She has a soft beanbag thing which gets moved-kitchen most lof day, sitting room in the evening. I tie her to a sofa leg and give her a chew, else she is just so so demanding.
She doesn't get attention unless she's sitting. If she jumps, I just grab the lead with a little tug. When stroking her I have a thumb under her collar. If she bites I pull her away with a NO BITING, or I hold the lead up and away, again so that I can hold her away if she starts the biting.
I paid a behaviourist shed loads of cash for all this info :o
It has been a long hard slog, and not one I was really prepared for. Have had dogs all my life, but never one like this one...my heart is with you. I still have times when I wish we'd never had her, and days when I don't enjoy her. But....we now do have good days, when I can see in her the lovely family dog she will become.:)
PM me if you need. Will hold your hand with our crazy dogs. Mine's just chewed up 3cook books and strewn them around the kitchen whilst I was doing bedtime with the DC's
good luck. It does improve...:)

I took the kids to the pool today ... I needed to get away from the pup so badly, but all I did was stress for the 2 hours we were gone ... Kept looking at my watch ... Sigh. at least the kids could have some fun and boy did they. That made me happy because they haven't had too much fun lately And I fell horrible about that.

I do feel lucky that he's not chewing very much. I just wish the kids would stop tempting him to bite them. I mean really! my 9 year old stuck her foot in his face ...

we are taking the kids with us to training next weekend ... The trainer is great, but not warm and fuzzy. I hope he can tell it to the kids straight about how they need to act around him.

A quick question.....What is the best detergent to use for cleaning up wee and poo mishaps?

We went to see puppy on Saturday, she is now almost 6 weeks old and utterly adorable. I hope I am prepared as much as I can be but I am so very thankful for this thread as its providing me with an amazing amount of knowledge and insight!

We use a spray bought from Pets at Home that says it neutralises the odour. Can't remember how much it was, it wasn't expensive. We haven't had too many accidents luckily, and those we have had I can say are my fault for either not taking puppy out at the right time, or leaving him unattended.