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.

Toby is now 6.8kg! What a little Tubster! Had his jab, she checked him over thoroughly and asked me about the poo. The poo has been mucous and blood free for over 24 hours so she felt it was food related. He's now had 5 meals on the new food and had the shock of his life when he started doing big poos this afternoon . I'm going to get some probiotic paste for the future because no doubt we will have another dodgy Labrador tummy incident!

I should add that the advice on here is invaluable. Toby howled all the way to the vets in the back of the car. On the way home I put him in the front footwell and fed him treats saying 'good quiet', and then he was! He was asleep for the last two miles!

Phew! that's good to hear

glad he's on the mend :)

Poor Toby is feeling sorry for himself. DS4 has dripped Ribena on his back. Sigh...

Toby weighs more than Pip - and Pip will be 13 weeks old tomorrow! Mind you, he's pretty much all legs ... and ribs.

Glad his tum has settled down. Had to laugh at his surprise when he started doing big poos. Pip had the same reaction!

Why is he so bothered about the Ribena, is it somewhere he can't reach to lick it off?

Yes right where he couldn't reach. He got his own back and chomped on a discarded carton. DS4 is a nightmare for chucking his cartons on the floor

I cannot believe that Toby weighs more than Pip. I'm sure Pip must be taller and heavier. I love playing with Toby's paws. SallyBear's paws were very sensitive so I'm making sure that he's better about his feet than she was.

Pip is definitely taller, but he was still under 6kg at last week's vet appointment and we've struggled to get him to put any weight on this week.

There's something about their cute puppy paws isn't there. I love playing with Pip's as well. He's a total wuss when it comes to anything even remotely painful, so we're doing lots of handling with him. My Wheaten girl was similar and she was a nightmare if you had to trim her feet or clip her nails.

Just put some new pictures of Pip and Lurcherboy on my profile.

Moose Pip has a very kind face. He's too cute though and your cakes are brilliant

I love them both. Finn is so wise and Pip has that slightly naughty wild look in his eyes followed by intense exhaustion. Puppies......

I think they are Everlong. Jarvis has his moments of loonyness and he never tires of trying to get on the sofa but mostly he's good. And I guess if the vet said today then it should be ok but maybe just go to quiet places. Our vet told me 2 weeks and it's a bloody long drag to then - he's itching to get out and so am I.

This is day 5 with no indoor accidents (though it is only 8 am lol)

Bizarre re. The advice for outside. I wonder if its to do with the type of vaccine that they use? Toby had his first one at PAH and then my vet used the same type and said walkies in a week. That will be on my birthday next Friday. Slight pita as I will have dc still at home! Can't wait. Doing lots of heel training at home off a lead. He hates his collar - oops.

Sally Bear had her vaccine at 8 weeks and then 12 weeks but that was 14 years ago. By the time she was let out she was quite big and pulled a lot. Toby is much smaller at the moment.

Stanley had his 2nd vaccine yesterday and we were also told 2 weeks before he should go out...whether we make it that long is a different matter entirely!

I've actually threatened him that I'm going to turn him into a pair of mittens if he doesn't stop peeing in the house. This morning he was happily playing in the garden, came in and peed on the kitchen floor, paddled it into the living room then ran back outside. Aaaaaaargh!!!

I know TMB I don't know if I will - he's like a caged lion #slightexaggeration . The peeing thing stopped for us when we borrowed a VAX and shampooed the carpet and all the laminate downstairs, he obviously cant smell it as much now.

How do you heel train in the garden Sally, Jarvis just runs off and digs near the fence - is it treats next to his nose as you walk along?

Awks. That's exactly how you do it. A treat in your hand close to your kneel calling his name and good heel.

The Simply Solution stuff is good and you can use it in a carpet cleaning machine. Toby is still having the odd accident inside but not many. I don't feel like I'm shadowing him as much.

Awks are you saying my house smells of wee? . Downstairs is all laminate/vinyl so we are using the Simple Solution hard floor stuff. It's so frustrating because for the last 4 nights he's been dry from midnight until 7...yet he can pee 8 times in 3 minutes during the day.

Spoke too soon. Just peed on the sitting room rug. He must have done it while we were all in the room as he hasn't left my sight. Grrrr

Bloody dog

Morning folks

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my dogs. Awks you're right, he is a kind little thing - well with us and the dcs anyway, not so kind to poor old Lurcherboy. At the same time though, Sally is also right, because when he gets that look in his eye he's off for his mad half hour and there's no stopping him.

As for Lurcherboy - it's all a big con, he looks so sage with his big wolfy head and grizzled beard, but is actually very nice-but-dim. On the other hand, he has such an amazing heart, a beautiful soul and is such a solid calm boy, that I feel he's wise in other ways, rather than intelligence, iyswim. He can stand like a rock, without an ounce of tension in his body, with Pip jumping all over and nipping him, looking for all the world like a calm statue. Then the second Pip gives up he'll give him a little look or tail wag and have a little play. So brilliant at ignoring the bad behaviour and rewarding the good - much, much better at it than I am. He's a very special boy, just being around him makes you feel calm.

I've been doing similar to Sally with walking to heel off-lead and he seems to really be getting it now. Often if I just go up the garden to hang out the washing I realise he's suddenly walking close to my left leg! Good job I always have treats in my pocket.

One piece of advice is to only do a couple of lures with the treat close to your knee and gradually move it up, so that your treat hand is close to your left hip. If you don't do this they may become reliant on the treat as a lure and it will be difficult to fade, whereas by moving it up they will learn to give eye contact as well as walk nicely and you can eventually dispense with the treat and just get one out of your pocket every now and again. Other tip is to make sure you always treat with the left hand, as if you treat with your right the dog will start crossing in front of you in anticipation of the treat.

todays the day he can go for his first outing on foot! on a lead. I am excited and for the life of me cannot remember the 'rules of engagement'

I have fishy treats, lead... what else do I need?

Jax, sorry too late to offer any useful advice, but hope you had a fun day out.

We took Pip to the trading estate, where I walked him around while dh went to B&Q. Then we went to our local independent pet shop and he got lots of fuss from the owners and various customers. He took it all in his stride. We did keep him in the front footwell again today, but only because the boot was full. He was awake and relaxed on the way there and slept on the way back, so next trip out we'll be transferring him to the boot with Lurcherboy and seeing how that goes.

Now wondering if he does weigh more than Toby by now. My poor arm is killing me from carrying him. For some reason I can't carry him on my left arm, it just doesn't feel right or safe, so my right arm takes a bit of a battering whenever we go out for socialisation.

Hoping the vet will vax on Monday or Tuesday, as he seems 100% now. He has been tolerating the fish4dog treats, as well as the gradual building up of kibble in his diet with no problem at all, so I assume he's completely recovered now.

If she vaccinates on Mon/Tues and it's two weeks before he can go out he'll miss the first two puppy classes. If it's one week, like some of you have experienced, we could still make it to the second class.

I really want him to get started, as interaction with other dogs is a gaping hole in is socialisation and he's started running indoors whenever he hears a dog barking in the park. He has Lurcherboy, but I know from bitter experience that dogs can be fine with the dogs they live with and still develop fear aggression towards dogs they meet out and about.