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.

Better night last night (not thinking about poo on carpet). Thanks to you all for your advice. I think he is quite a stubborn wee thing - we went out in the garden for toileting about 30minutes after his breakfast and were out there an hour with no result! Then went for short walk to local shop and he did a poo on the way. I think he prefers to do his poos anywhere other than in the garden! Good luck with your new pup today, vicar, hope all goes well.

He's fine this morning had solid poo, wolfed down rice and fish and is full of beans!

God they put you through the wringer don't they?

Spending lots of time this weekend doing our puppy class homework! Getting Finn to look at us and then treating him so that he gets used to focusing on us. I'm adding the command 'watch me' into it. Also we spend about 20 minutes a day 'examining 'him, so looking at his teeth, paws, ears etc and treating him.

Good Luck with your puppy today Vicar.

Hello hello! This week has just been such a whirlwind since picking up puppy last Friday. He's been a joy, he seems to be in a routine, has got the hang of a few basic commands (sit/down/off/no etc) and will ask (most of the time) to go outside when he needs to poop. Wee'ing however he prefers to do in the house! He's mostly doing solid poop's too although has the odd bout of the runs. Took him for his first jab today and they've said he may have some worms to come out, he has a pot belly and he has been scooting his bum along the floor He also has scurvy so he was doused with frontline and will go back for the next set of jabs in two weeks and another douse of frontline if its needs. I felt really bad that basically at the first appointment she said he has some skin mite and worms but the vet said it's not uncommon in young pups who have come from a farm

Glad your pup is feeling better today Dharma, it's horrible when you don't know quite what's wrong isn't it.

NCI, what did they do at the first puppy class?

Has anyone been to a puppy party? Can't wait to get Jack to one, he likes watching puppies playing on youtube but tries to join in. He's also fascinated by the Despicable Me minions. Strange dog :)

Temple dogs - Shitzu and Lhasa Apso, mine,- are bred to be independant and confident but they are also stubborn, and is in the breed standard. But they are so sweet and cute.

We had a chat about the responsibilities of owning a dog, collars and tags when in a public place and the legal requirement to keep your dog under control etc. Types of collars and leads they recommend (they don't advise extender leads and ban them from the class), then we did some work on getting the pups to focus on our faces and being able to look at their teeth, ears and paws without them wriggling away. Supposed to do 20 minutes of handling each day, treating them when they're still.
He really enjoyed it and was very tired at the end.

Dharma, so glad to hear he's ok.

Vicar - good luck today .... and tonight!

Sally, poorl girl. Lurcherboy is getting a bit grumpy with Pip now that he's older and doesn't have the excuse of being a tiny pup. I think adult dogs tolerate rude demands for play up until 5/6 months and then start disciplining and we're definitely seeing a touch of that at the moment.

Basildon, what a clever boy you have. He's going to ace his puppy class! We were actually looking for a Whippet x Terrier when we ended up with great big lankly ol' Pip - they call them Whirriers, I love that!

We very nearly went for this Whirrier girl and it's amazing how much she looks like Pip, just a different colour.

Well, I am up and feeling a lot better today. Even managed to go for a walk with dh, ds2, dd and the dogs.

I was a bit actually as, as soon as we got our dogs out of the car, some sort of hound came hurtling up and starting baying at them both aggressively with it's blooming hackles up. Owner didn't apologise, just called him then let him hurtle off towards the childrens' play area. Not a good start.

Start walking up the path, two huge (as in very fat) black labs, refusing to recall, start having a go at Lurcherboy - who just stood there looking at them with a confused look on his face.

Poor old Pip, he needs good examples of dog interaction not poorly socialised, badly trained dogs that are probably only walked at weekends coming up and mouthing off with their hackles up.

Anyway, the rest of the walk was nice. A rather stubborn - and very fat Beagle decided to adopt us. I was a bit worried at first, as he had his hackles up and his tail bolt upright. His owners had two other Beagles with them, but walked off into the woods calling him. Being a Beagle, he completely ignored them and eventually the man came back, but after a game of dodge the owner, couldn't catch him so just left again without him. Fortunately, by this time he had decided my two were quite nice and just wanted to play. So Pip got some nice 1:1 interaction and Lurcherboy completely ignored him in favour of his tennis ball. In the end I had to get both mine into a down, with their attention on me, so they were boring enough for him to give up and trundle off.

Honestly, the whole park was full of dogs that were miles away from their owners today. Most of them were completely out of sight, with zero recall and for the most part, extremely poor social skills. When we arrived at the childrens' play area there was a Samoyed and Collie cross careering (and I mean careering) around the open section with no owner in sight. Turns out the owners were a good walk away towards the carpark, having just walked on with out them.

Then as we were walking back two more huge Labs, probably the biggest Labs I've ever seen, started stalking my two, who by this time were on lead. The bigger of the two was so dominant, tail bolt upright, full hackles up along his back and very jerky stalking gait. He was completely ignoring his owner, who was of course miles away and looked determined to start trouble. Dh and I just kept both of our dogs' focus completely on us and walked away and eventually he gave up and went back to his owner.

I guess the storm warning meant that everyone is giving their dogs a long walk today in anticipation of not being able to for the next couple of days - well that and the 'weekend dog walking brigade' whose dogs never get walked during the week and therefore go a bit loopy at the weekend.

I was so proud of my two. They were both so well behaved, recalled every time to the whistle, ignored bad mannered, rude dogs giving them 'come on then if you think you're hard enough' signals and interacted really nicely with the dogs I allowed them to meet.

I am so glad I put in all the hard work with Pip when he was younger though, as it made the difference between what could have been an awful walk puncutated with dog scraps and a pleasant walk with both my dogs comfortably under control.

That sounds stressful Moose, I think we're lucky in our area and can walk on huge commons/army land rather than parks with play areas so only seem to see serious dog walkers whose dogs either want to play or ignore, at least that's how it was last year with our old Springer, hopefully it hasn't changed since then. Virtually all the dogs seemed reasonably well trained.
Finn's first walk is tomorrow so we'll see how he behaves......

Evening all!
Moose, I must admit, I am pretty freaked out by the dog encounters we have had since having a pup. Before I was able to avoid scary looking or badly socialised dogs, but now they just come bounding over. We've had a big dog baring it's teeth at Legend and frightening him & also other large dogs which hare around the place & honestly I am scared of being knocked off my feet! I don't go to our local park now unless DH is with me & prefer places with more space. Is it ok for pups to play with adult dogs? I find I am starting to avoid other dogs, but that is no good as pup needs the social contact too.

Well first training class session, although our pup at 19 weeks has been put in the 'improver' course, not the puppy course. All the dogs are much further along than ours & quite honestly it was a bit embarrassing as Legend was all over the place with nervous excitement/stress. We had to do all his training in the corridor because being in the class area was too distracting for him. Not the best first session, but I did warn them he was an anxious puppy.

Have a good Saturday eve!

It wasn't our usual park. We went to one a couple of villages over for a change. Don' think we'll be doing that again, which is a shame, because it's down a long track and away from any roads, so really safe for off-lead romps.

Our local park is ok - just full of little-old ladies' dogs that pootle about on lead and the odd border collie or lab, all of whom seem very well socialised. We also have open fields that are owned by the highways agency at the end of our road. They have free access for the public, but only more serious dog people tend to bother, which generally means better behaved dogs and more sensible understanding owners - tends to be labs, springers and working cockers up there.

Picnic, yes absolutely if the adult dogs are friendly and well mannered. In fact they need that sort of interaction more than mixing with other pups, as the adults will teach them good canine communication skills, whereas pups tend to be in yer face norty and a bit ott with underdeveloped communication skills.

Don't be embarrassed, every dog in that class had to start somewhere and 19 weeks is still very young. They will all understand. It's a lot for them to take in on their first lesson as well. Pip spent half his first lesson either under or behind my chair! He will settle down and start to relax the more times you go.

I can't wait to get Jack to puppy classes and out walking. Tried him on his lead earlier and it was tug of war to star with but managed to get him to calm down by getting him to practise sitting/down and then he sort of forgot about it and followed us around. I might get going on the 'watch me' command and being inspected - he was a little bit freaked out by the vet doing it today.

I remember my friend taking her husky to doggy park years ago, such a big powerful and over zealous dog, it was one of the weekend brigade dogs and got walked at most once a week and had no socialization at all as a pup. It was awful, attacked all the other dogs, frightened small children who were playing with their dogs and pushed people over bounding into them. It was so embarrassing and people actually had a go at my friend, the only response they got was 'well, she's a dog what do you expect, she's just playing'. I only ever went for a walk with her the once.

Picnic, doggy will be fine in a lesson or two, don't be embarrassed! I'm sure the trainers are used to it and at 19 weeks like moose says, he's still very very young. He'll love it in a few weeks :)

Sounds like you had a challenging walk Moose, but well done to your two, shows all the hard work can really reap rewards in situations like that.

I went out with DS2 with the intention of letting minty off the lead but I couldn't bring myself to. I get really nervous and have only done it twice both times with my DH there. I'm trying to work out why I'm being so wimpy about it - it's not fear of minty running off, we would only be in an enclosed field with the gate to the road shut. It's not really big dogs bounding over as I presume minty will come to me and we'll deal with it together. But it's more him seeing people, children or a dog and bounding over to them before I can grab him. He might bark at them or jump up, that's my main worry. He is so people orientated, really pulls on lead to get to people if we pass on the pavement.

Mint - I think you just have to let him off the lead and see what happens otherwise it'll develop into a Really Big Deal and he'll pick up on the tension

I've let Fitz off every walk - we've only gone to places where there are no roads and not too heaving with other dogs/people and I've made sure he knows I have really tasty treats - I've been calling him back several times, treating him and then sending him off to play or sniff again so he doesn't associate me calling him with playtime being over. So far it's gone very well and he's come back every time he's been called (although I'm v aware he's not hit puberty yet!)

BB - problem is it is a big deal to me now. I had every intention of letting him off the lead today, there were no dogs there, I'd shaken my treat tub and he knew it was cheese so big favourite, but I just hesitated and then my confidence evaporated! I then started telling myself he is too young really and he needs better recall first.

You let yours off on every walk? Oh dear I'm really not getting this right at all. I'm such a scaredy cat! I am worried that he'll bound over to someone and leap up at them, but maybe I just need to get over that and try it each time for a few minutes.

If you're in a doggy place, most people are sympathetic if your dog jumps up. My springer pup is v. jumpy, but the dog owners I meet all bend down and tell her gently to get down, basically reinforcing my training. People appreciate the training a dog takes time and are 99% of the time fully supportive. Just go for it

You're right, people at the place we go to mainly have dogs so would understand or know there are dogs there and it's very muddy so everyone's in jeans, wellies, walking boots etc so not exactly cashmere cardis getting wrecked!

I am very apologetic about my puppy and a bit anxious when out the house. I was outside our veg shop waiting for DS to buy some eggs and minty was leaping up barking, trying to follow DS. The elderly chap who runs it came out to see what the noise was so I apologised and said I was really sorry that minty wasn't very well behaved. I thought he'd tut a bit but he said "well, were you at that age? Course you weren't and why should he be?" Not what I expected.

Right I'll try tomorrow and try and relax and enjoy it!

Evening all, sounds so eventful moose poor Pip and Lurcherboy getting harassed by fat labs.

Well we've had a fab day first of all I was having moan on MN about Nalas biting and I got a PM from someone with a RR born on the same day, I said you didn't get her from this place, yes turns out it's Nalas sister and we went to a RR meet up today and I met her

So we had a meet up walk organised by the breeder, about 8 adult RRs and 4 pups was fab, Nala played with her sisters and brother the whole walk. The big dogs were great they ignored the mad puppies and it was great talking to RR owners. I had forgotten how big they get. Nala has slept non stop since she came back.

I let Nala off lead most walks but we mainly walk in a almost deserted playing field. I make sure there are no other people about. I'm not as worried about dog walkers as they are generally nice and can understand a puppy jumping. She will run up and jump at anyone she sees children too she chases after joggers and bikes. It's not malicious she's very friendly but still can't have her jumping. If she's on lead I will hold her down so children can pat her. She's been growled at a few times but most dogs either ignore her or play back.

Sounds a great meet up Sweetkitty.

So if you've got a puppy off lead for a few minutes and you see another dog do you automatically recall and put lead back on? Or do you wait and see whether the other dog is off lead too and then let them play?

Also with people, do you put the lead straight back on or just try to distract and walk on by? I just need to get all scenarios straight in my head as I know I won't be able to think on my feet and I'll get in a flap!

Moose - you mentioned you were using your whistle today - how long did you train Pip with it in the house and garden before she started listening and responding outside?

I'm following the TOtal Recall book but only just got it in the post yesterday so on day two of blowing whistle during food times. So I imagine we're two weeks away from using it outside. The book makes it clear that you mustn't use it until you can guarantee it will work, so maybe longer than two weeks? I'm planning to train with it every day, every meal time and in between once we get onto exercise two.

I'm using total recall too but struggling to use it at meal times as Finn is on my case the moment I move so will be there before feed time. Am using it while throwing toys as I know he'll come back then. First walk tomorrow and planning to let him off, common land that is huge so should be fine.

Mint, I understand your worries. I was the same with Pip and kept him on a longline for quite a long time. My worries were more about him bolting if he was frightened of another dog.

I started whistle training almost as soon as we got him and have regularly used it in the house and garden to recall him. These days at home I tend to whistle then throw a huge handful of treats on the floor - so he gallops back and skids to a halt to scoff them.

If you want to increase the chances of Nala returning, only give super tasty treats for recalling to the whistle. I know in the book they recommend a whole pouch of cat or dog food to really reinforce how wonderful it is to respond to the whistle. I'm thinking about trying it out with something like Natural Instinct pouches, very intermittently to really ramp up his response.

I'm not really sure on timescales, as I did some of the training instinctively according to his responses, rather than following the book to the letter. (Naughty I know, but I have a fair amount of experience teaching recall and used the book more as a guide to reassure me I was doing the right things, iyswim.) He's never not responded to it, but I didn't use it in the park etc until he was literally throwing himself at me on the first of the three pips. Realistically, I suppose I've only been using it outside the home for a couple of weeks or so and we've had him for 11 weeks now.

Do you have a longline for him? I found it really helped having him on a longline to begin with, as he felt like he had freedom, but I still retained control just in case. I was also able to wait until I was sure he was recalling to the whistle out and about while on the long-line before letting him off.

You will be surprised how quickly he starts responding as you get into following the book. If I were you, I'd go for a longline out and about and carry on following the programme. That way you'll know when he's ready to finally come off his longline and he still gets some freedom in the meantime.

i brought my baby boy home today. He is an absolute star. he slept for the 2 hour car journey home.
he got in, and ate heartily.
he has asked to go out for wees and poos.
he seems to have a wonderful placid temperament.
i feel blessed! we all love him already. i did forgo my sleep today as went straight up for him from a night shift - but he has been absolutely worth it.
i love him.
he is the most beautiful thing ive seen in AGES.....he is a ball of fluff. we have the crate up and ready - its got a big bed in but a small space for newspaper and puppy pads just in case, and a small bowl of water. im going to put his toys in and cover it with a blanket....to make him feel cozy and safe.
he has just had his last feed (he refused his first feed this morning for the breeder - i think he knew it was his time to go to another family....he is amazing)
he is a beautiful black and gold long haired german shepherd. i am smitten. we all are.
we called him Barney. and i am in love. so is DH. he has a dog who plays! he has played with him tonight already and loves it. dd adores him. going to go to bed soon so just hoping he manages the night without too much angst.....my older spaniel is having nothing much to do with him! nor are my cats and he is just crying out for a pal to cuddle up to.....

Congratulations Vicar!

He sounds absolutely gorgeous. Don't forget, we love puppy photos.

Good luck tonight. Hopefully he'll sleep after his exciting day today and then the real fun starts ....

Moouse ...Yes had to think about how long since we first got her ,can't believe it is 2 and a half months !!!

I was abit worried about my pup off lead, more due to her size. Being so tiny. I usually put her on the the lead if big dogs come towards her. I just feel too worried about her getting something broken. Medium dogs and small dogs I would let her greet them then play if they was ok.

Think I need this book you guys are talking about totall recall? Who is it wrote by? As a few times resently she has run too far away for me to call her back. She is very quick and I am now keeping her on the lead until she learns not to escape! Which isn't good as she needs to get a good run.