New Puppy Mummies Part 2

[SallyBear]

Just thought I'd start the new thread!

Toby (foxy coloured yellow Labrador) is now 13 weeks old. Long, lean and lanky. Still wonderfully tempered and is sleeping through and no longer messing in the house.

Nearest Costco is in the centre of the big City, our local petshop does a - very rustic looking - big bag of them. Not sure how much they cost though.

Nope. She's brighter in herself, but couldn't even cope with our dog walk today. We're both coughing like a pair of 40 a day Grandads and the little madam has a tantrum if I try and do the percussive tapping on her. She seems to have stopped spiking temps though, which is a good sign - and more than can be said for me. I seem to feel ok-ish when sitting down doing nothing, then get covered in sweat the minute I move to try and do something. It's not funny anymore, between this and the migraines last week I'm boring myself with all this being ill business.

Poor old dd's really upset as well. Not only did she miss World Book Day dress-up on Friday, she's missing an outdoor activity and bulb planting day tomorrow. Might have helped if I'd thought about it beforehand and not read the letter out loud.

Thank goodness I was compos mentis enough to stop myself before reading the bit out about baking on Tuesday and Wednesday and the sponsored event on Thursday. At this rate she might not be going back until after half term.

Tempted to keep ds2 off as well. He can hardly speak his throat is so croaky and he's complaining he's tired and feels rough - but I'm not convinced he's that bad, as he managed to run around and tease his brother in the park well enough. It would mean dd and I won't have to do any school runs tomorrow though.

I have just despatched dh to the local shop for chocolate. I have viral munchies.

Dharma, my boy is a GR too & he often chooses the floorboards rather than the rug to sleep on in the day, plus I put an old duvet in his bed but he hated it & pushed it to one side so I swapped back to his thin blanket (which I think he only keeps in there to humour me). He is so fluffy I guess it works like his own special duvet:)

Whilst we're talking about pigs ears and so forth.......can I give my pup raw hide chews etc? I gave him a small one and he chewed it but kind of cried at the same time. I wondered whether it was hurting his teeth or gums or something? He kept going back to it, but I took it away in the end. He also went a bit nutty afterwards, a sort of frenzy, would that be connected?

I've never given rawhides because I was told they soften enough to be swallowed whole and cause choking or intestinal blockages. They also tend to be treated with chemical nasties such as formaldehyde and in some cases of imported chews, even arsenic.

Just been reading up on pigs' ears. Still not feeling 100% comfortable about giving them, but they seem to be more widely accepted than many dog chews. Some people say you must exchange the last bit for a different treat so they don't swallow a big piece whole and there are some warnings about possible salmonella contamination - but I'd guess that's do different than any chicken we feed, given that they found a massive % of chicken on UK supermarket shelves contained salmonella.

Just been reading that pigs ears can cause the same problems as rawhide, in terms of intestinal blockages and can cause diarrhoea and in some case pancreatitis due to the very high fat content. Am now thinking I may not give them to him after all.

Ultimately I think we're looking at only being able to leave him with large raw meaty bones and/or kongs.

I'm never gone very long, but I daren't leave him with something I don't feel is safe.

Moosemama, I originally thought I would leave the chews as something to do whilst I'm out, but after watching him eat one, I have changed my mind. Back to kongs as well. Haven't tried pigs ears though.

On the topic of pigs ears - I'm really unsure about giving minty them but can't quite put my finger on why- or rather I can work out why, but not if it's reasonable or just me being over precious.

So we have had 2 pigs ears - minty has gone mad for them, really stuck into them and the positive side is he's very happy, deeply engaged and not bothered what anyone else in the family is up to. So this worked for our first Sunday lunch with minty around - we needed peace for our roast & crumble and got about an hour! Fab. Second time me and boys wanted to watch our first ever episode of Strictly with pizzas on sofa as DH was away - big treat but not compatible with puppy around us, pigs ear worked wonders.

However minty is impossible to communicate with when he's got one - not even a flicker of his ears when you call his name. He is also loopy with it, flopping about, growling at it etc. then when you take it away from him, he continues with loopiness, and is hyper. He also sniffs like a demented thing near where he had it.

The state of the pigs ear is also a concern. I thought it was disappearing down mintys throat and it became a soft, white, long sticky thing which I then pulled out his mouth.

I'm just not sure about the safety of them and their effect on reinforcing calm, attentive behaviour. But as I say I tend to be a bit precious. Hated fruit shoots, that sort of precious! PITA at times!

Mintchoc, I think you and I think along very similar lines.

Seriously tempted to order a green feeder instead, but have already bought two more xl kongs today at a cost of £20 and dh will freak if I spend any more. So worried about how to keep him quiet if dd is back at school for this 'event' on Thursday though.

I wish my neighbours would go away on holiday, then it wouldn't matter so much! What's the betting they go away the same time as we do.

If you take him out for a walk just before the school event, would he not crash out in his crate and have a little sleep? I think minty does on reflex - walk & poo, then home & sleep! The sleep might last 40mins or so.

The grass feeders are fab - Christmas present definitely!

The other thing is sometimes they have to be left and if they bark, they bark. It's not as though you're doing it frequently or without attempting to address it. But sure Pip won't be harmed by half an hour of barking and the neighbours can turn up their radio.

Maybe if you have to do this on the odd occasion where there's an event, you shouldn't record what goes on at home as then it's worrying listening to it back. Just accept a level of uncertainty about what went on and reassure yourself that you're doing the best you can when you have to meet the needs of several different family members. Tough though I know I hate the odd occasion I've come home to find minty barking or the kitchen looking as though things have been moved meaning he was bored

Not sure mint, he might, but I'd feel I have to leave a kong for him and if he gets a whiff of one of those it overrides his desire for sleep. Then as soon as he's finished he starts yelling for me.

I've managed to get him to accept that I won't come straight away and can now leave him 10 minutes or so after he's finished chomping, but think half an hour would be pushing it - and he's not daft, he knows I'm not really in the living room with the door pulled to.

I don't know why it's such a huge thing for me and suspect I'm probably making the whole situation worse with my anxiety. He's only ever made enough noise to bother the neighbours once (that was ds2's assembly when he yelled really loudly for 45 minutes and he was in the living room - not the echoey kitchen back then) so they can't really complain and this time it will be mid afternoon, not first thing in the morning. I really don't think it's about them - it's my problem.

I am the same at night. I still have the baby monitor on, so I can intervene before he starts yelling if I hear him, because I'm so worried about him waking the neighbours at ridiculous o'clock. Thing is, I'm hypervigilant about it now and find myself hearing things even when he's asleep and keeping myself awake.

Don't think I could be brave enough not to record him. It's better knowing - even if it's bad news, as at least I'm forewarned if the neighbours are p'd off.

I'm really looking forward to going to Ireland, as we have a big detached house with no neighbours there, so I can actually leave the monitor off, ignore him and sleeeep.

I think it's all just tied up with the loss of Oldgirl and Lurcherboy's separation anxiety. I really need to untangle it all and try to get over it.

... I caved in and bought the green feeder from Viovet, as it was so much cheaper than everywhere else. Dh will be furious though.

I've given Jarvis 2 pigs ears. They are just horrid looking things though. He loved them both and they dont smell as bad as the fish things. He likes his antler bone best though, chews on that for aaaaaages.

Pip has a split fallow antler that's been a godsend with teething, but it's not attractive enough to hold his attention in his crate. It's more of a lie spreadeagled on the living room floor and chomp kinda thing for him.

I was surprised at the pigs ears. I thought they'd look more, well, eary - but they're a lot thinner than I expected and not very ear-like at all really.

hello,
I can join? We brought home an 8 week old chocolate/white cocker spaniel on Friday morning. He is our first puppy but we were brought up with dogs and looking forward to getting him out walking/running/training. All has gone really well, he's really cuddly and playful, picking things up quickly and just generally a joy. He slept through the night on Friday, DH had to wake him and take him out in the night and he carried him back in after his wee as he was sat in the grass falling asleep. Last night he woke and cried for 30 minutes and that was it. He's sleeping in his crate, cries for a few minutes when he's left alone then sleeps and in the evening we have an hr together snoozing on the sofa before he has a manic 30 minutes (currently shredding paperer by DH's feet) before his last toilet at 11 then bed. He really is a superstar. He's met loads of people this weekend and had cuddles, games and snoozes on them.

Just one thing I wanted to ask - he's not eating a huge amount although the breeder did warn he wasn't that fussed on food at the moment but he doesn't drink much either it seems, just a couple of big glugs every few hrs. He hasn't once just been to his bowl to have a drink, only after food when he has a huge drink. Today we put it up on the side and offered it to him every hr in case he just wasn't noticing it so made a point of taking him to it, he really wasn't bothered. Is this normal? He only really had 1/4 pint today and the bowl is by the back door so he went by it every time he went for a wee in the garden which is frequently! It doesn't seem very much! I'm probably overly worrying but he's so cute I couldn't stand to think we were getting something wrong!

Hi Raspberry. My pup, Jarvis is an 18 week old cocker and we've had him since a little one like you. I remember fretting about him not drinking but as he seemed happy and was putting on weight and weeing loads the vet said not to worry. He's fine now, getting massive and still happy. Will he lick or crunch an ice cube if you are really woried?

oh that's a good idea, I might try that tomorrow. DH doesn't want anything left in his crate with him food or drink wise overnight in case it upsets him if he spils it or sits in it. I feel a bit mean about that but I got him up this morning and he wasn't the slightest bit fussed about a drink until he'd had his breakfast. He does drink, I just think it should be more. DH says it's fine, he has a tiny stomach and tiny bladder. We are back to work this week with various people popping in to visit at various points in the day so I think I might put 1/2 pint in a bowl and get them to offer it at visit times and see at the end of the day how much it is then ask the vet at his puppy intro/vaccination next Saturday. He's certainly weeing plenty. Generally we catch him but there have been quite a few accidents on the living room carpet! He doesn't like the patio or the kitchen tiles. Grass and carpet however seem perfect for him....

Morning everyone, hello Raspberry your pup sounds like a dream! Well Pixie slept all night, i heard her wimper once. We just didnt let her sleep much yesterday, everytime she got in her bed we let her snooze for a bit then woke her up playing with her in the garden. So im sure that when i put her to bed lsat night she was hanging!! Ha ha im an evil person but i was so desperate for sleep and didnt fancy sleeping in the kitchen!!

I will go get some pig ears at some point then over the next few days. We have started half term so im looking forward to the following week with the kids and puppy as long as she sleeps !!

Sallybear we took her up to the bedroom last night as we were all sat in bed watching Xfactor, dh looked at me like what are you doing so i gave him a look !! She just snuggled with us all ha ha

Moosemama put a link on that had a travel water bowl that doesn't spill to put in a crate. Looked good. She may remember where she saw it.

My dream puppy had a bit of a scream for nearly an hr at bed time last night. We knew he was storing it for when we went back to work! My fault though, we had cuddles for over an hr on the sofa last night because I felt guilty that today is the first time he will get a few hrs proper alone time. he was fast asleep on me cwtched in my arm :) so when it came to bed time he was ready to play. I hate hearing him cry but I guess he has to get used to it. I can totally see why they end up in people's beds with them, I was so tempted last night but it's not good for him to get spoilt so young.

Everything I keep reading seems to suggest that he would have found the crate horrible and be really stressed by it but to be honest, he has a good play for 30 mins or so, has a wee, gets a treat or kong in the crate, he'll finish with that, cry for about 15 mins then just fall asleep and doesn't tend to move unless he hears us. Even still I'm worrying about it. I'm Either worried he'll be upset when we are at work, worried he's not drinking enough, that he accidentally eats a slug in the garden, that his food will upset his tummy, that he has a flea etc. he's been a complete joy since we brought him home but that hasn't stopped me worrying. DH just looks at me and says 'it's a dog, he's asleep, he's happy' and 'no, he's not coming in the bed with us' :D he's such a meany.

They're called Road Refresher bowls, I bought mine off ebay. Can't remember where the link I put on before was but the manufacturer sells them direct here.

It's been great for Pip, even without the bracket it's impossible to spill.

I have two dcs off sick today, I have the same virus and it's throwing it down outside, so we're planning a snuggle on the sofa day. Neither dog wants to even go in the garden with it raining this heavily, so hoping it will stop later and dh can take them when he comes home from work.

Dh let Pip have a big long drink of water just before he put him in his crate last night. End result - Pip crying to be let out at 5.00 am instead of his usual 6.00/6.30 and dh sleeping through it. We'd already had both dd and ds2 awake poorly a couple of times each in the night, so between that and this blooming virus I'm a bit of a zombie today. I've also lost my voice, which is probably just as well, given how grumpy I am!

I did a week on the sofa when she first came him too the crate is supposed to be in the utility room but it's still in the living room, she goes in in fine and sleeps all night but much prefers sleeping in the sofa cuddled up, I've put a throw over out 2 seater and trying to call it hers, whilst the 6 of us share the corner sofa

Few accidents yday and she almost pooed this morning she seems no different from 5 weeks ago

Must sort out this jumping up and snapping though, was ironing last night and found another 2 tops with holes in them

She loves pigs ears I throw her out in the garden with one take it away when it's well chewed though.

Moosemama - hope you and your DCs are better soon I have DD1 at home today too :(

mintchocchic, I totally get what you mean about the loopy behaviour, Legend was the same after a raw hide chew, it sent him crazy, so I wont be giving him anything like that again. I'm a bit of the 'fruit shoot' precious type too:D

I have an ill DD too today, so our big day out (Mondays is the one day we are out all day, but I do get my sister to pop in for an hour) has turned into a day in. I'm relieved though, it means I don't have to worry about Legend as we'll be spending all day with him:)

What is a grass feeder?

Sorry, just checked back through the thread and its a GREEN FEEDER, so I've googled and found it now:) Don't think DH will be impressed if I buy that! He thinks I'm mad every time I get the pup a new toy, though I get most of it from charity shops anyway so I have plenty and can rotate them each day:)