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 :)

Well - back from puppy class induction and she just snuggled on my lap the whole time whilst the other dogs got to know each other.

The trainer wasn't bothered though and just said by week 3 she will be joining in and the noisy ones will be quieter.

Hope so!

Spam and clam ... THANK YOU!!!! everything you said is what I was thinking!!!!!!! I don't know what he expects!!!!!

The early morning barking is driving me mad - I am so jealous of those pups that sleep until you get them up!

Ours is much better, and is quiet until she hears a noise in the house, but once she hears the slightest creak (DC going to the bathroom, for example) she will get going and not stop for ages.

DH had an early flight this morning - he got ready really quietly but as soon as she heard a creak on the stairs (at 4am!) she started barking. I put my earplugs in and slept until 7 but she was still barking then...no idea if she stopped in between or not!

I never get her up if she is barking, but she stops as soon as I go into the room...I make a cup of tea or whatever and she is quiet throughout, so I get her up then.

She honestly doesn't need anything - this morning she was up just after 7 but didn't go outside for a wee for at least 30 minutes.

What am I doing wrong? I thought she'd grow out of it if I ignored it, but it's been 9 weeks now and it's driving me mad! Any ideas?

Our pup starts barking when she hears us getting up. Great idea about the ear plugs! I'm not sure what advice to give but I'm sure ignoring will work eventually!

Stressed - How much easier would this all be with out DHs Perhaps train him like the pup? Ignore bad behaviour and reward the good?!?

We have come to the countryside for a few days and are staying with my parents who have 3 Cav spaniels, they have other friends staying also so in total there are SIX (heaven help me) DOGS in the house - all spaniels ranging in age from 4mths to 10 years.

Pup has settled in well and is playing with the 10minth old puppy who was classed as the boisterous one until our pup arrived

Morning all, bit more advice/thoughts, please. Tess the terror terrier is being quite aggressive still and oddly, since coming back from our failed few days away, has had a poop in the corner of the kitchen both mornings when we come downstairs since we've come back. Should we read anything into this? Stress? Unsettled? Or just us being too late to take her out?! DH being v firm yesterday with the biting and the growling, and it does make a difference for a bit. Also been crating her a bit more for some chill out time which definitely makes a difference to her behaviour when she comes out, but don't want to confine her in there for too long each time. Maybe 20 mins? She's curently asleep like an angel puppy. Today is her 9 week birthday, bless her. I've put (I hope) a few piccies of her up on my profile...Thanks all as ever for help!

alp we have a smiliar problem re: barking first thing. He tends to wake up round about 6am with a yap. If we ignore it, it progresses to full-scale barking and scrabbling at the stairgate/kitchen door. We take it in turns to go down to him and let him out for a wee (about half the time he's "dry"), feed him, let him out again for a poo, and then, depending on who it is, go back to bed for a bit. (We're all on holiday at the moment).

I'm not happy with this, as I feel we're rewarding him for barking, but we've come from a place (when we first got him) when he was barking for hours each night, so him waiting until 6 seemed like good progress at first. Once we're all back at school/work, we'll be getting up earlier anyway, but how do we train him to wait for us to go down to him, and not have him summoning us?

alp/clam - ah, it's not just us then...strangely, that makes me feel a bit better about it (although sorry you are suffering too!). I'm sure you're right - they will get the message eventually if they are ignored.

Claire - your post made me smile because it is the sort of thing I was posting a few weeks ago...I know it is no help whatsoever, but the pooing and nipping does sound normal and I am sure things will improve if you are consistent (and yes, probably a bit unsettled after your trip too).

The only thing I would say about the growling (and we had a behaviourist out about this when our pup was about 10wks) is that it should not be discouraged - growling is actually polite behaviour in doggy language, because it is a warning that she isn't happy about something. If you train your dog not to growl (eg. by shouting or smacking, as some people do) then one day your dog may bite without any warning at all.

The behaviourist told us to ignore it, so that puppy learns that there is no benefit or reward to growling, and no reason to do it in most normal situations either, and it worked for us.

HDJC, thanks so much! That's super-helpful and good to know re the growling. She doesn't do it all the time, and sometimes I do find it funny which probably doesn't help! Also good re the pooping which we've found a bit frustrating but hoping tha it will past as fast as it arrived. All fun and games! I do love her woofiness though, despite everything!

I remember feeling very intimidated by the growling, which is why we took it seriously enough to get a behaviourist in. Our pup did it all the time, to everybody, and sometimes I was scared even though she was quite little (although sometimes, as you say, it was just funny!).

I hope I've advised you correctly - I am a complete novice, so just repeating what we were told really. I suppose you might need different advice if your pup is growling for different reasons - guarding food, for example. But if she is growling at people then I hope it helps - ours is 18 weeks now and hasn't growled for weeks and weeks.

Nope, super helpful, thanks. She doesn't growl at all when we feed her, and in fact, have been popping extra bits of kibble into her bowl whilst she eats so she doesn't guard etc. It's only when she gets v hyper and wants to play and goes over the top. Actually, bit better today when she's had some time out by herself in her crate, so I guess a pattern there! She also doesn't growl at visitors etc, so good to have that advice, many thanks. She's currently demolishing a cold carrot which she loves, bless her.

Good morning ladies I hope I can join you.

We brought our eight week old bundle of joy home last night, a Chow Chow/labrador cross called Monty. He's lovely, just like a teddy bear.

It's been 18 years since I've had a puppy, the last one lived for 16 years and it's taken us another couple of years to be ready to start again. I'm a bit rusty on my puppy training .

Monty has been brilliant, we brought him home and put him in the garden and he did a wee and a poo, he's been in a barn on a farm so not an indoor puppy yet. He wandered round the house last night just following us, he really didn't want to be apart from us at all. I put him in his crate at midnight and left him, but left the radio on quietly and the cats were sleeping in the room too. He barked for about 10 mins and then settled down. I heard a little yap again at 6.30 so nipped downstairs and let him out in the garden and another poo. He had been dry all night so no accidents indoors yet. I've left the back door open and he sits on the step looking at the big wide world, he's not very confident. He seems quite submissive too, he's been put in his place by the 10 week old kitten. Currently he's curled up on the living room floor snoozing while the DC's watch TV - they are on pocket money duties that as soon as Monty wakes up he gets taken out into the garden for a wee.

Is there anything else we should be doing that I'm missing out? He's off to the vet next week for his vaccinations.

I've started teaching him to sit, but at the moment he's so overwhelmed with everything that he's spending most of his time sitting on my feet anyhow. He doesn't have a collar yet so can't get him used to a lead. I think we'll just spend the weekend getting him acclimatised to us and the garden.

Can anyone recommend any treats that we can use for rewards for training in a puppy? I'm in France so some things aren't as easy to get hold of here as in the UK. I see some people use a clicker for training, I'll order one from Ebay and read up on how to use it. All tips gratefully received.

Hi there, fellow puppy owners. We've had our 11 week old Springer pup since Friday. Had some advice on another thread when I was feeling overwhelmed, but things are going well so far. He's happy in his crate to sleep and is currently using a playpen when total supervision isn't possible (have a toddler too). He's loving the garden and since one accident on day one (because I was faffing around and didn't get him out on time) has managed all toileting outside.

I've never had a tidy/ immaculate house. Have now realised (after puppy playtime in the rain) that I never will. Investing in a good mop when I go out later and plan to embrace the joys of mud.

Any tips on water? He just can't keep water in his crate - tips it over and splashes it around immediately, so soaking his bedding. He's drank lots of water outside.
Will be checking in when, no doubt, I'm in a less positive frame of mind!

Hello BelindaRose, I've seen online that there are special water bowls that clip-on to the side of a crate (or large parrot bowls). PetPlanet sell the clip-on bowls. I don't keep my puppy's water in her crate, but rather, as she's in and out a lot, leave her to drink when she wakes up.

AliciaFlorrick, I'm absolutely not an expert, having had our puppy for two weeks, but going on experience so far, our border terror terrier loves tiny cubes of cheese, bits of her kibble, special puppy treats that I get from Pets at Home that have creamy stuff in the centre and are for little puppies. I also made some dried out liver treats in the oven that go down v well (but which stink) and the BEST treat that I gave her this morning when sitting was a tiny piece of frankfurter sausage/hotdog. She was so excited about it that she continued to lick the floor long after she'd eaten it! V sweet! I've also given her tiny bits of toast with marmite on too which she also liked, but I did notice possibly a bit dry. Hope this helps....! Really nice to have this thread to talk about everything and get help etc.

Lots of dogs will do anything for chicken, so when we've had a roast or whatever, I usually keep some scraps back for him. We tried some bits of sausage, but the resulting poos were vile! Strangely, I opened a tin of tuna yesterday, to make sandwiches for lunch and he smelt it from afar (not hard, with tuna!) and went bananas for it.

Thanks, Claire. I'll look out for something like that if I think he needs water in his crate. He probably doesn't like you say. I have to say I'm a little envious of your border. We had one at home and she lived till she was 17! Mental, always, but lovely. Hoping my mum gets another when she retires next year.

So far I've been treating with kibble from the daily food ration. Is it okay at this age to introduce other things (higher value I suppose)? I do have hot dogs in the cupboard (our camping guilty pleasure breakfast, but no camping for a while now!).

Alicia, puppy AND a ten week kitten! Crazy?? I can't cope with kittens. Hope it continues to go well for you. I bet Monty looks so cute!

Hi, Can I join in too? I have a 16 week old male chihuahua puppy called Basil. We have had him a week today. He is being generally very good and poos and wees mainly on his paper, the main problem we are having is him crying (what seems like) all night long. I have just got my kids to sleep through so can't believe I am going through this again.

Hi Pippi! Know what you mean about the nights. Puppy is doing okay with sleeping, but obviously up early. Just when DD had started sleeping till around 7am, I'm up well before!

My 4.5 year old has only just started sleeping through and we still co-sleep, so I am trying to be more firm with the puppy! He's asleep in his crate quite happily now, the little bugger.

Wow lots of new puppies joining us how exciting!

Bit of advice I can pass on that was given to me is don't overstimulate your pups. Let them chill in the first few weeks as much as possible, I know it's tempting to start training straight away and then of course there is the real desire to get them socialised quickly so you want to take them everywhere at first but be mindful that 10 mins training is as energetic for a pup as an hour's walk. They need so much sleep and better quality sleep during the day certainly makes for an calmer night's sleep. A lot of us on here have made the mistake of thinking that a worn out puppy is a tired one and therefore will sleep better at night but this has not been the case at all and if you follow the thread from the beginning you tend to see a theme with puppies calming down once the level of activity is cut down. I know the thread is long but it really is worth reading through and picking up on DaisyDotandGertie telling us all off a few pages back she gives some very good advice!

One thing I found with my pup is anything pork related doesn't really agree with her and we have had diarrhoea, she also got diarrhoea from the puppy kong filler's that they sell at pets at home. I would just say be careful with overloading them with too many things on their tummies as they won't be used to it and believe me when they have an indoors accident in your daughters bedroom which makes you physically sick trying to clean up you will understand why I said this!!!

One other thing I found was that when I changed my pup's food at about 14 weeks the pooing cut right down from 6 a day to three, they also don't smell too bad and are easy to pick up as are hard. In addition is it much easier to know when to expect one!! Again read through the thread though as King's is our resident expert on puppy food and is the only person I know prepared to eat some before giving it to her pup - what a mum!

belinda I am a springer owner too! We find ours drinks loads almost in big bursts si nothing for a while and then huge drink. We have a big heavy bowl that we use for water and so far she hasn't tipped it over.

For treats we use a mixture of things. Started off with kibble or some puppy training treats from the pet shop. Have started using dried sausage that I can cut into small pieces but is a bit greasy on hands. I guess it's important not to have high value treats too often as the pups will expect it all the time.

You can buy fishy treats too which our pup loves like the poster (sorry typing on iPhone so can't look back at names!) who said their pup likes tuna. Our puppy trainers made liver cake with tuna instead and I thought pup was going too so the highland fling she loved it soo much!

Our pup is 17 weeks now (perhaps nearly 18) and she has calmed down so much I know how overwhelming it is - consistency is the key!!

Helpful advice, Spam, thanks. I'm noticing he settles down quickly after a play in the garden if we put him in his crate. If we don't, he remains manic so obviously doesn't realise how tired he is! Think I'll hold off on tasty treats for a while then as don't want the horrid diarrhoea he had (outside) on the first day again.

New 'issue' that's pretty urgent. He's in love with my wellies (and it's wet today) and really wants to attack and bite them. What's best to do? I'm teaching 'drop it' (as he picks up stones and DD's toys, obviously), but it's early days. What's the best way to teach 'leave'? Still waitin for my puppy book!

X post. Thanks Alp too. Yes, he drinks loads when he does. Suppose that's okay?

Belinda - Yes I am assuming thats OK too! Im sure it is - surprisingly my daughter is the same, drinks nothing al day then can give your average bloke a run for his money when it comes to downing drinks

As for 'leave' we were taught the following:
show pup you have a treat
close hand around treat and say 'leave' only once
when pup moves nose even slightly away, open hand and give treat.
Don't move hand away as this could encouage the pup to snap

it takes a while and I can't say she will leave everytime i ask her to when it comes to nicking a toy but she is getting better.

Agree with Spam about resting - think of it like a hyped up kid, scream and scream then konk out.

A little bit of training does go a long way - I'm spending time with dogs that have had none and its hard work! Pup on the other hand is behaving angelic-ly

Good tip re leave training, might start that a bit later on. Tess is a NIGHTMARE for anything foot related (including actual feet) and wellies are almost her favourite. Tis a nightmare trying to get anywhere so we just stop stock still and ignore her when she tries to attack them. Doesn't always work, but she does lose interst fairly quickly when we do that.

Definitely a good read too about overstimulation, as have certainly found she's in a much better temper and less nippy and growly and bonkers if she rests (ie put into crate after a wee, drink, treat etc). More often than not, she snuggles down and goes to sleep as she does like her crate. I've not experienced the delights of hotdog poo result yet, but do know that pork products aren't meant to be very good for dogs, so will bear that in mind and not give her it too often. Yes, forgot about chicken which she ADORES. The liver bits I made were also chicken livers and a bit hit too (plus only 49p from Tesco in their frozen section).

Alicia, V jealous about the kitten too ;) I love cats as well and grew up with lots, but DH is super-allergic to them, so until we get a house that's big enough for a cat to have space, it's no go. But I do love them!