New Puppy Mommies in here *blerk*

[Awks]

Got our new puppy on Saturday. I was in tears this morning and I'm a pretty experienced dog owner. Its just so hard moaning cow that I am He is a 9 week old cocker and is a beautiful, cuddly boy but is a massive shitting machine. And not in the garden either.

So any new puppy owners want to weep in here then please do.

Oh yes, toothbrushing - that's the one we haven't managed to start yet. Keep meaning to buy him a toothbrush and forgetting and he can't share Lurcherboy's because a) it's too big for his little mouth and b) can't risk Lurcherboy picking up campylobacter from him.

(As an aside. Sally, have you tried a Collis Curve toothbrush with ds2. Ds2 was given one by the SN dentist, for his hypermobility and it's a revelation. She told me lots of children with ASD/ADHD etc use them as they are so much quicker and more effective at cleaning the teeth and if parents have to do it, it's just a quick in and out, yet still cleans all the teeth's surfaces effectively, unlike conventional brushes. We're getting one for ds1 now and I'm even tempted to get one each for Pip and Lurcherboy!

Happiness today is a liver pâté stuffed kong toy! I've told everyone that he's got an hour to get it all out and then it needs to be washed. I doubt he'll need an hour....

Sally have you just used normal liver pâté? Stanley's got a kong but he doesn't seem that bothered.

And moose thank you - I know deep down it'll all be worth it.

Thanks for that link sally I just had a sudden panic I'd be putting Fitz at risk - I do a 'poo sweep' anyway before anyone else goes out and there's very seldom fox poo there (but of course a puppy would be able to find any there was )

And moose I'm going to try one of those brushes for ds2 - I wish I'd found out about them earlier .. This thread not just a mine of info about puppies!! I registered for the Paws workshops but the next series nearest me is already booked up

Sally, Pip lurves his kong too. I have discovered I can stuff it with fresh chicken pieces and probiotic paste, which is fab as it means he gets his meds and I get 10 minutes peace.

Think I'll need to start stuffing one of our bigger kongs for the school run though, it's incredible how quickly he can empty it.

TMB, pate is good to get them interested, so's peanut butter, squeezy cheese, philadelphia, fresh meat, sardines - basically anything stinky and squishy.

Yes just normal pâté. I also put smooth peanut butter, he's not keen on crunchy. I'm thinking of putting in some ham hock and Philadelphia in there, to see what he thinks b

Ok he's in his cage with his kong stuffed with liver cake (bleurgh) Philadelphia and peanut butter...we'll see what he makes to that!

Not 100% sure but I think shop liver pâté is too fatty for whippety/lurcher types. I have always avoided it for my boy. But then whippety types are such martyrs to their stomaches .

TMB. That's certainly an interesting combo!

Sounds tasty, LostIn...

Callie has lost the power of lapping Don't know why, she just looks at the formula and then at me, with a bewildered look on her face...So, back to formula feeding her every few hours. Her sister looks very smug and proud of herself every time I get the bottle out.

Oh no! Do you think that she's ill?

TMB, every new puppy mum feels a bit overwhelmed at some point. There will suddenly be a lightbulb moment when you find they're suddenly sleeping through the night and not howling to go out or weeing inside.

Wispa's favourite kong stuffings include: peanut butter, frozen peas, cocktail sausages, and those meat paste sandwich fillings. You can get a bone-shaped kong with hollow ends that perfectly fits a cocktail sausage in each end. She can get them out in seconds now, but back when she was only little it would take her a while of chewing.

Also a tip with kongs is they'll last a good long time if you stuff it early and freeze it!

Loving the kong tips:) Roasted hope little Callie is ok.

I'm planning on giving Mabel a good check over a few times a week, and will get started with introducing teeth brushing after her vet check on Tuesday.

Luckily it has stopped raining this afternoon, so it has been nice to leave the doors open and let her wander in and out to pee. I say wander, more like a black thunderbolt with a touch of flop!

Moose how is Pips poo today?! (It is so much like being a new mum isn't it, discussing nappy contents.)

If you feed dry food, try soaking it in hot water, let it cool, stuff the Kong and freeze it. Even though it's boring old dog food it keeps our 2 year old dog happy so I'll be trying it with pup. It also works with the stuffed bones when they are empty. I try to have a few in the freezer for entertainment!

Sebastian, his poos are normal these days. Have been since the day after his first vet appointment, barring one episode where he stole PIL's cat's food before they had time to lift it. He's still a skinny so and so, but so much healthier and whilst still very thin, no longer emaciated looking, which is a vast improvement.

We've just got back from the car show, having bought the dses school shoes online instead. Thank heavens I bought that Startrite foot gauge a couple of years ago.

Bit of a drama on the way there. Off we went, with him yelling away in his crate in the boot as usual, got to the end of our road, when all of sudden he started doing a really bad screaming noise, so bad it was obvious something was seriously wrong. Ds1 looked over the back and the stupid puppy had got his jaws jammed around two sections of his crate bars trying to bite them. Dh slammed on the brakes and I ran round the back in a panic. He freed himself just as I opened the boot, but was a quivering wreck, so I got him out and brought him into the front with me to check his mouth out. Fortunately, no physical harm done, but the poor thing was terrified. Didn't want to put him straight back in the crate after an experience like that, so put him in the footwell in the front with me and did lots of click treating for sitting quietly while the car was moving and he was fine, not a squeak all the way there.

Show was quite big, really busy and noisy with crowds of people and hundreds of different dogs. He was duly cooed and fussed over, stuffed full of fresh chicken treats, met noisy car alarms, police sirens, traction and steam engine whistles, loudspeakers and even watched a double spitfire fly past at several times at low altitude (which was incredibly loud). Didn't bat an eyelid at any of it and in fact looked like he was loving every minute.

Unfortunately, both dh and my arms are now several inches longer, after carrying him for miles, passing him between us as we went. Honestly, he weighs an absolute tonne now.

Lurcherboy came too and was really well behaved, showing Pip how it's done in fine style.

In fact our well behaved dogs showed up our distinctly whiney children this afternoon.

MOG I tried that with Lurcherboy, but he's too lazy to bother with a kong if it's any harder than the food literally falling out of it. He prefers the treat dispensing balls.

I have just bought Pip a small one of these as Lurcherboy loves his big one, but Pip's kibble is going to be tiny by comparison to his, so we need something that won't dispense them too easily.

Hello all! Hope all is well with the pups!

I am collecting out wheaten terrier pup on September 9 (will be 9 weeks old) and would love any advice you have!

Planning to crate train. currently on purina beta puppy food (but would like to switch to something better later - any Wheatie owners recommendations?)

How often did you start getting up during the night to let out for a pee? (We are in a flat so going to take him outside, downstairs - thinking every 3 hours?)

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice!

O xx

Callie seems constipated and unsteady- we booked a vet appointment a few hours ago for Tuesday (wanted it to be earlier) and have been advised to syringe feed, so she got some milk down, which is good as we were worried she was getting dehydrated

Roasted.

I was so sad and worried that the 2 pups were only 3 weeks-old as normally they are still with mum who licks , stimulates and cleans their runny bf poos. At that age they start to open their eyes and baby teeth appear.
At 4 weeks they begin to walk and are weaned gradually, when mum stops cleaning up the more solid poo and they do it away from their bed.

What hard work it must have been for you with 2 babies to be mum to.
At 2 weeks old they start to be de-wormed every 2 weeks.
Have they been de-wormed yet?

Hope Callie is soon on the mend.

Do they have an emergency service Roasted? If she seems to be deteriorating they will probably see her earlier if you are worried. She is so young bless her, 24 hours can be a long time for these tiny ones.

Sorry to hear that Roasted, keeping fingers crossed for Callie.

Go Pip! Sounds like he will be a really sociable pup after all!

Welcome Ohalvo, another terrier - yay!

There are lots of things that are going really well, but we also have a few worrying issues with Autumn at the moment. In summary:

Good things about Autumn: She's scrumptious, she sleeps through the night, she's toilet trained, she has a lovely belly and lets me kiss it, she knows sit, down, off, drop, fetch, sit and wait (for meal) and is mostly reliable at recall, she makes me feel 100% adored, she is good with children of all ages and responds well to all humans. She never mouths us even though I can tell she wants to. Her separation anxiety is loads better and she can be left for up to 20 minutes now.

Bad things about Autumn: when I park the car she goes into manic guard mode and barks at everything, cows, birds, people etc. On doggy walks, she spends the first 10 minutes barking at every little thing, including park benches, she is never really that friendly with dogs and tends to rush up to them barking, and then turn and leg it if they try to interact with her. She has growled a little bit 3 times when unfamiliar people have tried to lift her up. All of these things really worry me.

What I am doing: I am sitting in the car with her, and when she is quiet, I give her a treat, praise and say quiet. I am taking her out in the car a lot for practice. I am taking her on regular doggie walks, and treat her as soon as I see anyone approaching and try to keep her attention until they pass. I also try and stay really calm and let her explore, and tell owners she is just learning her manners. I don't know what to do about the unexpected growls as they seem random and I don't know why they happen as she is usually mega friendly and rolls on her back when she is petted. I'm worried she is going to be yappy and slightly aggressive if I don't get it right.

Ohalvo, sure the others will be able to recommend how often to get up at night! Mabel was already 12 weeks when she arrived, so we have been lucky that she seems able to get through the night. I think the general rule is an hour per month of age. I expect the puppy will guide you with how often he wants to go! Expect a newborn baby and you won't be disillusioned:)

Mabel was good again last night. I had let her sleep wherever she crashed out yesterday, and think I paid the price putting her in her crate last night. Back to a few naps in there today and am going to get some pate etc for her kongs to put in with her. Took her out for a wee, wandered round but no poo. Put her in crate, howled the house down. I gave her a few minutes but she wasn't going to stop, so went and sat with her until she settled down, half thinking I should take her out again but didn't - more fool me! Went to bed, and she started up again a few minutes later, so I decided to pull the crate into the living room, so that I could sleep in there with her for company. Let her out to move the crate through, and she promptly went and peed and pood on the floor. Silly, silly mummy.
Anyway i couldn't get the rate through the doorway as it is huge! So put her back in, laid with her for a while until she was asleep and crept out to the sofa. This was 11.30, and I got up at 5.30 to let her out. No wees or poos overnight:) Clever girl.

Ohalvo hello, how exciting, bet you can't wait! Jarvis was 10 weeks when we got him and I let him out for a couple of nights a couple of times but then he wasn't bothered so I put him to bed about midnight and got up at 6 when he cried. He's fine now and settles well.

What are you going to call your pup?

Sebastian we were completely pathetic about the barking/howling and Toby now sleeps in our room. We are now into week 2 of puppy ownership!

Ha Sally:) I am determined not to let her sleep with us! The cats are shut into the kitchen (they have a cat-flap) as they pester for food from about 4am otherwise. I'd feel guilty if she got to sleep with us when they are out there. Really want her used to her crate when I go on the school run etc too, she is such a chewer I wouldn't have anything left when I got home. Does Toby go in a crate in the day?