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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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...

1000 replies

Happymm · 13/06/2011 16:41

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 :)

OP posts:
Verahaspurpletwuntypants · 11/08/2011 14:03

Hi all. Had my choc lab puppy since Saturday. He had his first injections yesterday. He's 8 weeks.

Had a worrying night as he's had loose poos for a few days, and seriously runny ones since late evening. Tmi sorry. And was off his food last night. But still drinking and playing. But to be safe i took him back to the vet this morning, he's now got some pro-kolin paste to help him back to normal.
He is eating again now. but on little and often. And hopefully he'll be back to normal soon.

Up until last night he'd been very good at toileting outside, Although still a few wee accidents.
been working on teaching him he's name, and come.
Puppy training booked for September.

Spamspamspam · 11/08/2011 14:24

Claire, I do think training is essential at this age and should be regularly re-enforced, however just bear in mind the amount of time you take doing it as it is really tempting to overload them as their brains are working really hard even if they are not running about.

We taught ours off the same way alp describes, she picked this up in a few days. We the moved onto sit, come and down all in the garden. We would stand in a three in the garden and call her to one of us, give her lots of treat and praise then ask her to sit, and down, then onto the next person in the ring!

"Come" was the most important one for us as we have masses and masses of open countryside and I wanted her to be really established with recall so we wouldn't have to worry about it when we started going out. She is great but we have worked and worked and worked at it. Day one we took her to a park and she was straight off lead and exploring but not too far away from us so we started splitting up and called her from me to my husband and treating/praising her everytime she came back. Since then we re-enforce on every walk, we hide behind trees, hide in the woods and call her from one to the other, daughter runs off deep into the woods and calls her and then we call her back etc and I have to say at 23 weeks she is brilliant. Occasionally loses her way a bit and forgets if there is something more interesting but it doesn't last long before she gets the message that actually the squeaky I have and the fantastic cheese is much more interesting (disclaimer on the rabbit holes!) 98% of the time she is fantastic.

Oh and mine has just wandered out into the garden carrying what looks like one of my bras!

Kingsroadie · 11/08/2011 15:15

Hi everyone and welcome to all the new puppies and owners! It does get easier although takes a good few weeks - well it did with ours...

Vera - I know you have paste from the vets but another tip which you may have tried/already know is to give chicken and rice if your puppy has an upset tummy. We have had several spells of this probably due to eating things in park or too many treats (he is a bit sensitive) and I immediately give him chicken and rice for his next meal and it stops straight away. Then add a bit of kibble in etc. Anyway he is a bit squidgy again today (nice) so am doing that again tonight...

Claire - I just keep everything I don't want him to chew out of reach - up on desk / table etc. Makes the house look a bit crap but it's easier than running around like a loon all day! I taught leave (we use "off) with the treat as above but then moved to putting a treat on floor and saying off. Then if he moved towards it to get it I covered it or picked it up. Repeat. Now he sits and waits for me to say "go on". Same with stay/coming out of crate/playpen etc.

Some of you may have seen my other thread re recall. As we live in London in busy parks he meets lots of dogs and it's nearly impossible to get him to come back if playing, for obv reasons. Using amazing treats is working better but he sometimes gets an upset tummy which is annoying. Have bought some rabbit fur and sheepskin toys for the park only which hopefully he will love - they haven't arrived yet. Anyway he will come back from a person but not a dog!

And he does still nip occasionally if excited and will def try and jump up a lot in excitement. With adults we just turn away and he sits immediately and is very good. Not so with kids as you can't get them to do that. He usually doesn't jump up much (although am still on tenterhooks in the park) but if they have food or a stick or toy then it's awful. Not sure how to train it out of him but when my toddler had some food the other day and he was about to jump I said off then gave him a treat and almost tempted him away with treats, basically like: if you don't try and get her thing you can have something even better! We'll see. He is much calmer though than he was and definitely noticeably calmed down at about 14/15/16ish weeks I think (can't remember exactly but around then - he must now be 18 I think. Just over 4 months anyway.)

Oh, and as Spam says - any food questions do ask - I spent hours looking into it and I might even taste it for you (or have tasted it already - there have been a few...) Grin

Pisky · 11/08/2011 15:42

Kings - have changed pup over to Burns and she seems to love it - so much so that she wants to eat more than their recommendations...

Should I just feed till full or limit her?

DogMatic · 11/08/2011 15:55

PippiLongBottom - I wondered if you might turn up on here I have you on Facebook so noticed that we've both got new puppies. Ours was crying like a loon a few nights ago, but has calmed right down ever since we started leaving Radio 4 on at a low level.

All going fairly well here, a few accidents so I wouldn't say he's housetrained yet but he does prefer to poo in the flower beds and not on the grass. He's being collected tomorrow by the rspca to have his next vacination.

Is there a logical training order? We've started to do 'sit', which is going well so far, but I wonder if there's any kind of sensible order.

Kingsroadie · 11/08/2011 15:55

Pisky - assume Burns puppy food? Ours was originally on that but he had toothpaste poo so we changed off it. I know lots of people who thinks it's fab! Just didn't agree with ours. Nor did JWB. Anyway - our puppy would eat and eat and eat. Dogs cannot self-regulate and seem hungry all the time. Mine certainly does. So stick to the recommended amounts I would say as otherwise she could end up rather fat! That's what seems to happen - people have fat dogs and claim they are always hungry - well yes, they are dogs - they will always eat! Grin Well, most will anyway. Especially spaniels or labs...

Must add I am not a real expert - just an loser who does lots of research!

PippiLongBottom · 11/08/2011 16:25

DogMatic, are you MR? Confused. How did you know I was pippi now? Double Confused.

Pisky · 11/08/2011 17:16

Yes - Burns mini bites (puppy).

She is a spaniel - she sits by where we feed her and just looks at you with big eyes saying feed me!

My sisters is a vet and just said feed to appetite but pup's appetite is huge!

aliciaflorrick · 11/08/2011 17:58

Well our first day with Monty seems to have gone quite well. Fortunately it's been a lovely day so he's spent a lot of it pottering in and out of the garden which is pretty fortunate because he has absolutely no bladder control and doesn't even seem to realise when he needs a wee. Saying that though, only three accidents in the house and all poos (so far) outdoors.

He's a really sweet little chap, very chilled, I think he's going to look like a chow chow but have the temperament of a lab. He and the kitten have got on famously, they spent all morning chasing each other round the garden. He then had a nice snooze after lunch and then spent this afternoon playing dens underneath the trampoline with DS2, which basically meant him lounging around and trying to catch crickets.

All we've done with regard to training is call his name a lot so that he gets used to it and us. He automatically sits when he comes to us so you find yourself saying sit and he's beaten you to it, and we use sit and wait at his meal times but that is a habit I got from our old dog.

I think he came with fleas though, so I've had to Frontline him which I was concerned about - he's about the same size as the cat but weights twice as much, so I gave him the same dose that I would give her and hopefully that's killed them.

We're just settling down to a quiet evening and hopefully he'll go to bed with no fuss tonight.

We're so happy with our little boy, we can't wait for his vaccinations as we've got long walks long the canal and in the woods planned.

DogMatic · 11/08/2011 18:53

Pippi - oh God, didn't mean to come across all stalkery of course I may be wrong, but it's the dogs name that makes me think I 'know' you. I am AJ.

PippiLongBottom · 11/08/2011 20:42

Noooooo its fine, Dogmatic, don't worry! I have placed you now. I was stupid to have not realised his name and breed were a slight giveaway to my FB friends!

It just shows what you reveal about yourself without even thinking.

DogMatic · 12/08/2011 12:50

Well we've now had two nights in a row where our puppy has stopped crying after about 10 mins at night and no accidents either - fingers crossed that we've cracked it now. I've been introducing him to his collar over the last few day, so tried putting him on the lead in the garden with zero sucess. He just stayed put and wouldn't move, not even for cheese. I've had a look at a few you tube videos but they all use treats and it just diddnt work (he loves cheese btw). So would love some advice on getting him to walk. He's going for second vaccination today.

PippiLongBottom · 12/08/2011 13:44

Mine is walking fine. Still crying all bleeding night though.

belindarose · 12/08/2011 15:03

Hurray, my Gwen Bailey book arrived today. I've flicked through it and am pleased that, having followed advice on here and on Dogs Trust and Ian Dunbar's websites, I don't appear to have made any glaring errors so far! Going to work really hard on the 'off' command (although I've started saying 'leave' so will continue with that) as my biggest problem at the moment is the biting of my wells. I've had a couple of sharp nips as a result.

Found a few toys he's more interested in. A rope one with an elongated tennis ball on the end is favourite so far as he can chase it a bit then retrieve. Learning 'drop' nicely.

Can't believe I'm asking this, but any tips on making the poo clean up any easier? I'm picking up immediately (have toddler) using poo bags and a trowel when necessary. Today's are pretty runny again so I'm going back to scrambled egg, rice and chicken for a day or so. Perhaps I rushed the feeding a bit (wanted to get him off the stinky Bakers ASAP!).

And another question, while I have a few minutes. He's digging and pulling up little patches of turf today. It might just be because he wants to eat grass if his tummy is sore, but any ideas if it persists? I suppose learning to 'leave' and then distracting him with a game will work in the long run. Oh well, our 'lawn' was never up to much anyway. Might just annoy DH a bit though!

belindarose · 12/08/2011 15:04

Dogmatic, watch the Dogs Trust video on walking with a lead.

DogMatic · 12/08/2011 16:09

Bedlindarose mines been eating tufts of grass too and pigeon poo - nice. Will look at dogs trust.

belindarose · 12/08/2011 17:27

He found a delicious hidden pile of cat pop I'd missed too. Looked very pleased with himself. Bleugh!

Verahaspurpletwuntypants · 13/08/2011 12:56

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aliciaflorrick · 13/08/2011 17:52

vera I bet that keeps him amused for hours.

Does anyone else have a puppy that is just really chilled? My little chap is just so laid back. He's happy just lying around, sometimes playing with his toys, sometimes just sitting watching and that's about it. I tried to get him to come for a walk round the garden with me, he got as far as the veg patch and then turned round and walked back into the house. He does have a mad hour each day playing and chasing the kitten and that's about it. My last puppy (a long time ago) was a springer and I remember her bouncing round the house when she was awake Monty couldn't be more different.

Verahaspurpletwuntypants · 13/08/2011 17:58

My pup still sleeps a lot. But has a mad hour in the morning and again in the evening. In the day he lounges about.

PippiLongBottom · 13/08/2011 19:07

We're all booked in for puppy training starting next week. I hope the big dogs don't laugh us out of the room. Wink

Happymm · 13/08/2011 22:13

Ola ladies! Back from hols, had lovely relaxing time without devil pup!

Glad to see the thread going strong with lots of new puppies! Maybe I shouldn't be here now as devil pup now 20wks so no longer a new puppy owner! :o

Anyways, picked up devil pup from the breeders after her sojourn home with mummy, brother, another lab and a westie! She had a fabulous time, and was apparently the "perfect puppy" a la Gwen bleeding Bailey! Only showed herself up a couple of times by getting on the kitchen table and eating their son's dinner Blush I did warn them she could do that though!

So far so good though. She recognised me and was overjoyed at our reunion, which was nice. She's like a different dog though Shock Apart from being nearly twice the size! How do they grow so fast? Where did my puppy go? She looks like a dog!

But..............she's CALM! No jumping, no biting, no whining, no barking, no pulling on the lead, and no demanding behaviour as I sit here! She's lying down asleep Shock ShockShock Have no idea what they've done to her but it's brilliant. Completely in love with her :)

OP posts:
alp · 13/08/2011 22:46

Happymm you're back!

GrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrin news about devil pup becoming angelic!

belindarose · 13/08/2011 22:53

So glad, Happymm, to hear how things have improved for you as I am currently lying in bed sobbing about the idiotic decision I made and how we're going to have to rehome him. Maybe there is some hope. I'll reread the whole thread when I can to see if there's anything I can try.

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