The new Wheaten continued, we're doing ok

[Notonaschoolnight]

Nights 5 and 6 I got sensible amounts to sleep, she's much more settled, is happy in her crate and loves her grandad coming to visit mid morn while I work 9-12( and I have a sneaky suspicion the feelings mutual) currently I'd say 70% of her toileting is outside so pretty good, I can't complain at all really I just hope she's not like a newborn baby who often lull you into a false sense of security the first week then the shit hits the fan after.

Don't get me wrong though its still hard work particularly during really busy times like before school and tea time where there's so much you have to do you think your heads going to explode. I'm also finding the 9pm to 11pm difficult, trying to stay awake after a really tiring day of working and cleaning cos you don't want downstairs to smell like one great big dog, I can see why so many posters try to steer people away from puppies now.

It's a massive learning curve for me as well understanding the best way to have a pup with my 10&8 dd. I realise now that for a happy house I need to keep pup velcrod to me until we can have supervised play all together, if I so much as answer the phone my younger dd gets a bit stressed out and she's petrified the dogs going to eat a poisonous plant in the garden ( she's pretty highly strung, worse than me and that's saying something)

I have a couple of questions I'd be interested in a general consensus;

How old was your puppy when it had its first bath?
What week did you start training puppy and what was your treat of choice, did anyone give their pup a dicky tum with certain treats?

So glad to hear things progressing. Have never bathed pooch but am sure others do. I sort of wipe him down if he gets v muddy but that's it. He sort of self cleans. You can use ordinary food as treats. I use cheap turkey bits chopped up but that's because anything with wheat gives him dodgy tummy. Lots use bits of sausage or cheese. Or carrot. Anything they Like really.

Have a look at kikopup on YouTube for training tips. Wonderful.

For a while monster puppy was getting a bath about once a week, he was constantly covered in sticky stuff and kept rolling outside, lol.

I started training him when I got him, you can use their normal food - but I've had issues with him not liking food, so anything else worked better, his most exciting are bits of chicken, hotdog or cheese - but he'll work for anything now.

Glad to hear things are improving.

I tend to wipe him down when wet and muddy. I have a border and have found wiry terrier hair self cleaning. He has had 2 baths within a few days of each other only. These were recently and he is 6 months. Even then it was only due to rolling in poo!

I use chicken or cheese for training and even then in has to be sparingly as everything gives him a dicky tum. Sausage was the worst, it took me about two weeks to sort him. We started puppy class at 14 weeks but I'd been teaching him odd things forna few weeks by then.

I've never bathed my dog, luckily he doesn't roll in stinky stuff. Most days he swims in the river and gets dried with a super absorbent dog towel. If he's muddy he's wiped down with a damp towel and sleeps in the utility room or in the garden for a couple of hours until the mud's dried and fallen off.
Treats used to be difficult because most things gave him to runs, chicken was OK but not very convenient in dog training class. Now, at 2 yrs old, he can eat anything. He's on his best behaviour when he knows I've got cocktail sausages

Thank for your replies I've just carried her to kids school and back bloody hell this is the second time and last I forget how slow the kids are esp when they havent got access to their pack horse it should only take 12 min but with them its 20m and pup hated being carried. I totally get socialisation in theory, but in practise the next 4 weeks are going to be interesting.

I also tried a lead on her earlier just for less than a min she went nuts and just wanted to bite it off, at some point though I will want to try to train her to do her business in one area of the garden certainly by Easter when the girls will want to play out there more but god know how Ill do that I've got to be grateful when I'm only on day 6 that she's going outside at all

You may be best using either cheese or chicken for training as these agree with most tummies. I don't know about the bath thing as we got ours at 15 weeks and he had kennel cough so didnt get bathed for months. If you plan on taking her to a groomers perhaps you could get some local recommendations and then ask the groomer . I would imagine that the younger they start going the better it would be .

Quick tip as I have to dash. Spray the lead with anti chew spray. I did this once with our puppy and he hasn't done it again. Now the lead means walk and that means fun and sniffs and doggy mates etc....

Agree re socialisation, I just carried ours round the block a few times (probably every other day) but it did help hugely with traffic. Such a small thing but now he doesn't bat an eye at anything, even buses when they let of that loud hissing sound. Probably worth the hassle. I was very naughty and took him out a few days before I was allegedly supposed to.. he is still alive!

Mine will do anything for liver, chicken or hotdog sausages, clicker training is brilliant fun. Plus training only needs to be short 5 minute bursts when you have time.

Tips - put a few bits of food in an egg box, plastic box, snowball whatever, takes them ages to figure out. I coat a chew toy in liver sometimes and he spends ages licking that off. Raw chicken wings take an age for a puppy to eat, as do bones (lovely butcher saves me one each week, last one MUST have been from a dinosaur I swear, puppy thought all his birthdays had come at once ). Plastic bottles make good toys, plastic bottles filled with screws make especially good toys, if bloody noisy, margarine tubs etc too. There's a toy called Tug a Jug which he still hasn't figured out. Old cuddly toys rock too. Get the kids to play 'piggy in the middle' with puppy in the middle (we do this in the kitchen, try not to let puppy jump up), that uses some energy and shares the game.

Our puppy has been bathed a few times, athough he is a Springer and a mud magnet.

I need to chill about cleaning the floor if I am being honest but I don't seem to be able to, it's a new house that we have exactly as we want it for the very first time in our married life, having made do for years and years etc. Confining to the kitchen helps and I bought a steam cleaner that was mentioned here in the Doghouse for a daily once over but, if I am being really honest, that for me is the hardest bit, not the training, time or anything else.

That's my problem not his though and I would change him for the world

I wouldn't change him for the world, unless he miraculously shed the mud at the door, that would be good!

Phone typos as per usual, off not of too

Blimey make it easy for yourself put her to bed when you go to bed and do not go down again until 6.00am

She may surprise you - many/most puppies can go through the night. If she does wee and poo the first night clean up without saying a thing. I would try for a couple of nights unless I really did hear her banging about.

Re busy house times give her a bit of time before this eg a game of tuggy and some clicker training then pop her into her crate for a chill whilst the house is chaotic.

Training treats for a puppy bits of cheese, shicken, hotdog weeny little pieces also I always use their meal time food for training sessions. Throw away the dog bowl a piece of equipment you don' t need.

Just want to say how much i appreciate all your help, I don't know what id do without the doghouse

Regarding sleep unless something drastic happens she's been consistent 11-6 girl last few nights so I'm happy

Love the anti chew idea I was going to get some this weekend as she's too into my door frames

Did anyone else struggle with finding people with friendly dogs to play with your dog while the jabs are kicking in, I don't know a soul so had every intention of taking her to classes after jabs but beforehand god knows

I didn't know I was allowed to do that at the time. Stupidly I thought he must be protected from all dogs and it never occured to me what you were supposed to do if you already had a dog!

Mine at 6 months is still stupidly overfriendly so the only harm it possibly did was delaying learning doggy manners!

Easier than bathing is brushing. I bought a soft rubber bristle brush which is pleasant for the dog. Put newspaper on table/kitchen island/outdoor table and lift her onto table for grooming (this is important as she cant run away and learns to relax and submit) Keep her lead on and use treats until she gets used to it. This way if she is filthy and you don't have time for bathing, you can clean her. In any case they say not to bathe too often as it affects the oils in their coat but when needs must we do our dogs in the shower (clean freaks watch out!)
I grill a few sausages and chop them into tiny bits and keep them in a tub in fridge for a few days. Dog will do anything for sausages.
I never give bones since one splintered and got lodged in dog's tummy. He survived but not pleasant and vet said NEVER give bones (raw bones in particular). Rawhide ones will give them the same chewing time without the danger.
I think everyone goes through a period of "what have we done" remorse with a puppy. It will pass and you'll wonder how you ever did without her, good luck!

Hi OP,

Our PuppyMonster didn't do too much socialising before jabs kicked in, same as you couldn't find many people to socialise her with. Once the jabs did kick in our local vets did puppy socialisation classes (just 4 1hr sessions) that were quite good and our closest massive Pets at Home had a dogs trust bit attached and you could bring pups to play there.

Have you got a collar on her yet? PuppyMonster hated t initially and spent ages trying to get it off but got used to it within a couple of days. It's also worth getting her used to the lead just around the house and garden now before you can take her out so she doesn't just spend all her walks going mental trying to chew it!

Also PM is blonde and curly with a great love for all things sticky, muddy and stinking! She's been having baths since about 12 weeks, initially in the sink with just a small amount of water. Initially hated them but now is very good with baths and showers!

Hi collar no bother at all today ill get some anti chew and this weeks mission will be v gradual car and lead practise. it looks like the weathers going to be fair so ill try her crate in the boot while she can see me potter in the garden getting rid of the dodgy plants then go from there. And try the lead a couple if times a day for a min

Just popping in to say I am so and this thread is making me nostalgic - not to mention really broody for a pup.

We had a gorgeous Wheaten girl for 13 fun years and they are the most fantastic dogs. Mine did heelwork to music, agility and obedience over the years and loved nothing more than a good fun training session. (She was a real show-off. ) She was really quick to catch on with training and responded really well to clicker training in particular.

Bearing in mind you have had plenty of advice already on this thread - my main bit of advice would be to try to relax a little and enjoy her. No doubt about it, having a pup is hard work. You sound very sensible and like you have carefully considered all the things you need to organise and teach her, but remember, it's supposed to be fun - for both of you.

Other than that, dependent on her coat (Irish or American/British) I wouldn't bother bathing her just yet. Their coats are incredibly clean, (assuming they haven't rolled in anything) but as you probably already know, you definitely need to start getting her used to grooming straight away. Once her coat grows, if it's the British soft silky coat it will easily knot and tangle and you need to stay on top of that or it will be painful for her. If you run a comb through her daily or at least every other day, it should avoid painful tangles. At this point, while her coat is at that lovely soft scrunchable stage just use a brush and comb and go over her gently every day, making sure you also handle her ears, paws and tail, so that she get's used to it. She will think it's a game at this age and that's fine, you want her to make positive associations with being groomed. You can move on to encouraging her to stand still for grooming gradually. As her coat grows, I'd recommend a wide toothed comb with really long teeth for staying on top of the tangles on a daily basis. Something like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1429&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=hX_Baz-K4S-bsM:&imgrefurl=www.rakuten.com/th/stainless-steel-comb.html%3Fid%3Drelevance%26action%3DSort%2BBy&docid=bP5MMJLJMN2D2M&imgurl=images.rakuten.com/PI/0/500/217749493.jpg&w=500&h=500&ei=8lofUfrMG4al4gT8_oCIDw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:95,s:0,i:376&iact=rc&dur=976&sig=106973108099843690726&page=4&tbnh=173&tbnw=150&start=78&ndsp=28&tx=66&ty=130" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this with good long wide-set teeth, preferable handled for better control.

The SCW society used to sell a video/dvd on grooming that I found really helpful, not sure if they still do, but might be worth finding out. I think that's where I got the advice to buy the long/wide-toothed comb.

Finally, good luck with her and I hope you get as much pleasure, fun and companionship from her over the years as we did with our girly.

Thanks for the lovely post moose your girl was amazing the breeder gave me a comb to start off with and my monkey so far loves being groomed, actually goes onto her back voluntarily while I do it! And its funny how as she gets more settled therefore I do too were having lovely times of kisses and cuddles but also just chilled times when she's happy sat on my knee while I flick through a paper

The breeder is on the club commitee so has got all us new owners a membership in the meantime gave us a lot of handouts, they also had me trimming round her ears and on her pads before I took her, can't say I'm looking forward to doing that again next month when she'll be a much feistier little bugger and totally grooming her myself Lordy ill def have to attend a few workshops before I get to that stage. I already went to some club meets while waiting for my pup and its lovely to feel part of a little family everyone happy to help you with anything

Aw, Wheaten kisses - has she tried cleaning your ears out for your yet?

Yip and checked me out I've managed to get a photo up

Can't see your profile.

Right if the photo thing isnt working now i give up up maybe it has to be done from a laptop which unfortunately is knackered at the minute

Ah, never mind. I can imagine what a cutie she must be.

Oh - it's working now.

She's gorgeous! (and she even has the same blanket as our girl did