New Puppy Mummies, Part 3

[DharmaLovesDraco]

New thread, because quite frankly I can't do without you all :)

I had a look at yours too, reup, what a sweetie!
I don't know about leads/harnesses either so I will watch to see what the other wise people say....

I use a harness with a front clip, mainly because I have sighthounds who are particularly vulnerable to neck injuries, especially when they shoot off at break-neck speed with a lead attached to a collar. They also slip their collars very easily, so it's added security there as well.

Most dogs don't need a collar and will be quite happy to learn loose lead walking on a normal, flat collar.

The only two exceptions would be:

1. If you are using one of the dreaded extending leads (they are the work of the devil imho) as they can lead to horrible neck injuries if used with a collar - same for long-lines and recall training.

1. If your dog is a strong puller, who is taking their time learning to walk on a loose lead. In which case, a harness with a front clip (rather than a clip between the shoulder blades) can help as a training tool until they have learned a nice solid loose lead walk.

Nigella, reup and Juice, your pups are gorgeous. All these cute puppy pics are making me quite broody!

Dh melted when he saw the picture of Alfie - we have a bit of a thing for scruffy beards in this house.

We are just back from the vets. Pip's leg is massively improved and the vet thinks he'll be fine to be off lead again by next weekend.

I'm quite proud of myself for taking both dogs to the vets at the same time with no mishaps. I usually book appointments with a short gap between them and just nip home to swap dogs inbetween, but we were at the main branch instead of the little one across the road today.

Given my thoughts that breeder was a bit blase I spoke to the vet earlier who said lets get him down for a check up. The good news is he's healthy and a good weight, the patch on the nose isn't ringworm and does look like a rub where he's been poking his nose through his crate in his old home, she tried it under a blue light and there was no reaction so all being well that should grow out soon.
It didn't come as much of a shock to find he had ear mites as well so he's started treatment for those, though to be fair he's not been especially itchy. He's had his first injections and is currently sulking on the rug.

Bought him a stag bar which he loves at present and seems to be his 'go to' thing for a chew now.

Toilet training isn't happening at the moment. He's pad trained, which is great, but he's very small and it's very wet and windy here so he gets outside and shivers in a corner. I asked the vet who said if he's using the pads and I'm happy with that for now leave him to it then move the pads outside when the weather changes a bit. If I can get a few solid dry days I'll try and get him outside again.

I think I forgot how much hard work this all is, but so worth it!

Can I ask, do you leave a lamp on for your dogs overnight? I've been leaving Alf a low light on so he can see for a drink etc but I'm wondering if I'm confusing him and he's not realising its 'sleep' time. He's sleeping through for all that.

I just looked up stag bar. Will try one as ours is not very interested in any of the chew toys, has enjoyed plugs, plastic cable covering and metal trampoline legs. I bought some little hide chews but I meant to ask the vet if they were OK for puppies but forgot!

Not sure about hide ones, I've never given them personally because I know of a puppy who choked on one so I've always been a bit paranoid.

I did ask the vet who said a stag bar would be fine for supervised chewing. Expensive, but worth it. He did enjoy chewing his nylabone though so I knew he'd chew the bar.

Doh - my post should have said 'most dogs don't need a harness' not 'most dogs don't need a collar'.

Poor Alfie having ear mites. Good job you had him thoroughly checked out and caught it early.

We leave the pantry light on with the door pulled halfway across, but only started doing this when Lurcherboy developed separation anxiety when we lost Oldirl earlier this year. I have been thinking about trying them with it switched off but seem to switch it on on autopilot as I'm getting ready for bed, then only remember in the morning.

reup, rawhide chews aren't great. They're prepared and preserved using formaldehyde and bleaches and are a choking hazard if they get chewed to the point of being really pliable, then swallowed. You can buy non-toxic ones from places like My itchy dog, which are better, but always remove them before they reach the point where they could choke on them and never leave dogs alone with them.

Pip has these antler chews and absolutely loves them. The split ones are less hard on puppy teeth and they love being able to get all the marrow out.

Lurcherboy has a good go at Pip's split antlers, but also has a fallow deer antler which is a bit softer than some stag bars, so less likely to cause tooth damage. Pip tends to pinch his off him now he has his adult teeth, so I'll be ordering him one too in the new year.

Neither of mine will entertain a nylabone.

I realised that about the harness moose!

Thanks for the chew info. My childhood dog loved them and the breeder used them but I'll be v careful. Mine shows no interest in the nylabone. I tried stuffing a Kong with kibble plus a couple of chicken liver treats, still zero interest. We are going to try and leave him on his own for as short while tomorrow so have no idea what to leave him with!

Sometimes you have to teach them how to use a kong. I had to teach Lurcherboy, as he just sat and looked at it with a blank look on his face. You just put a few tasty treats in, roll it across the floor and make sure they fall out so he can eat them. Keep doing this and build up the stuffing until it needs to be gently bounced to release the treats, plus find something really smelly and tasty and smear it around the inside of the opening to encourage them to lick at it.

A good alternative might be a treat dispensing ball. We have this one which is great because you can put a few treats in the open side first to get them interested, it's rubber coated - so quieter than many treat balls and you can adjust the size of the opening to suit whatever treats you want to use. It's also easier to fill than many of the other balls, as you twist it open and then twist it back together to lock it, rather than having to pour treats in through the opening.

Thanks for that, will give it a try with Kong training. Is there any ultra smelly smearing food you would recommend for puppies?

have a noisy ball like that but haven't tried it yet.

You could try something like tuna in spring water - that would be smelly, but gentle. Natural yoghurt is a good one too, but not all dogs tolerate dairy, so you'd need to introduce him to a very tiny amount first.

Pip liked his ufo, as it was affectionately known, when he was a tiny, because it didn't as loud a noise as the treat ball. We went through all the sizes as he grew, starting with the puppy ones for his small-bite puppy kibble and working up to a full sized one that both our dogs now use.

Lots of chat on here that I've missed caught up with cabs prep!

We used a harness and it was great from about 10weeks to 20 weeks when we needed to step it up to a gentle leader as our dog was such a strong puller. When I have proper time I'm hoping to do more training and go back to the harness as I don't like the gentle leader. I'm finding a range of options are needed for my dog, expensive though!

I try and 'mark' sleep time by turning lights out, putting newspaper down for midnight wees and saying 'night night settle now' over and over again while I'm getting kitchen ready. Minty used to cry when I left him but he's learnt now that's its bedtime and he's asleep before I've finished the routine.

Gorgeous puppies but hard work I imagine. Feel free to come on here rant, cry, ask for help and despair if it gets tough! Lots of us have done that over the past few months and there's great support here from people

Wish I hadn't done so much cabs prep - should have been busy with Xmas prep!! Spell check thing on iPhone drives me potty!

Bedtime - Fitz usually conks out for the night between 8:30 and 9 - sometimes in his crate but more usually on his other bed in the kitchen. Once he's been asleep for about 20 mins I'll put him in his crate and cover it (old duvet to make it cosy) as that way he really sleeps deeply and we don't hear a peep out of him until we go down in the morning. I used to take him out at about 11:30 for a late night wee but he doesn't need it and seems happy to wait until the morning

We started using a perfect fit harness when he first started walking on lead as I didn't like the thought of pressure on his throat if he pulled or lunged but he's had a real growth spurt in the last couple of weeks and the top bit is now too small. We've just been using his normal collar and lead and luckily he's great at loose-lead walking - I say luckily as it's not something I've worked particularly hard on, he just doesn't pull - I started off giving him treats every few steps and now he's fine to go quite a long way before being reinforced

I use a harness for Finn (border collie) mainly because I use a long line atm as his recall is , shall we say selective at best, and I don't want to hurt his neck if I have to step on the line.

Just thinking about recall for these older puppies, nearly teens in some case!

I feel I've become a bit dependant on the sausage and chicken that I take with me for each off-lead walk. It works in that I can recall minty from his main delights of other dogs, cyclists and joggers and although he sometimes doesn't come as quickly as I'd like, he always comes to me for the sausage he sees me wagging around!

But it's a pain to have to remember to cook a sausage /chicken breast every other night and I'm wondering when I would start phasing it out? Maybe I'll see the teenage months through and keep going with high value treats till he's at least 12 months old.

What do others do? (I also hate having a sticky hand from clutching a pile of sausage chunks!)!

I struggle as Finn is not food orientated, I am yet to find a treat that he would always come back for. I think it will take a while before his recall is perfect but we will get there even if it finishes me off. I refuse to have a dog who doesn't come back when called. Are you listening Finn?

Hello.

Not going to read back! I have been away in London for the weekend, to go to Olympia (horse show) then shopping, back yesterday evening, knackered and frazzled. Loved the experience but was very happy to be walking over the fields in solitude with my doggy this morning

I am SO much a country girl

We did get to see the final of the KC agility national competition for medium breeds whilst at Olympia, it was part of the show. Those dogs (all Collies) were just astonishing, the speed they flew through the course was incredible and the bond with their trainers/owners was astonishing. Such a level of training.

I really fancy agility

Glad the puppies are settling in and that Pip is on the mend.

moose, may I ask a question?

DH was out with the dog yesterday (he's been on doggy/pony duty all weekend and is grumpy!). He took Harry's raggy toy for him to scent and find and they were busy doing this over the fields. They met a boisterous Lab who wanted to play. Harry was happy to play but got possessive over his toy and grumbled at the Lab when the Lab tried to take the toy. If that had been me, I wouldn't have allowed our dog to take another dogs toy but I don't know if I need to be concerned about Harry's reaction, I have never ever even heard him grumble or show any signs of being possessive at all?

We have an outside wee!! (faints) He was very pleased with himself as well.

After spending the last 3 days calling Alfie Archie, Albert and Charlie by mistake (DH thinks I'm going senile) we have now decided to change his name while we can to Murphy. Now we know his character he looks like a Murphy, plus Murphy means 'of the sea' and he came from Skegness. Also, to get to Skeg you go through Boston, the song 'Shipping up to Boston' was by the Dropkick Murphys. So, Murphy it is.

Funny thing is, he seems to respond better to it than he did Alfie

Juice Great choice. Love the name Murphy and it's great if he responds to it better. There are a lot of Alfies around so you may have got several dogs responding to your calls in the park. Murphy seems to suit black dogs too!

lady I just couldn't get there with Alfie, I was confusing the heck out of him anyway as half the time Archie would come out instead, closely followed by Charlie (mums dog).

DD and I are both big fans of the Boondock Saints movie as well and the 2 main characters are Connor and Murphy McManus so he is Murphy McManus now

The vet said yesterday they had many Alfies on their books so you are probably right.

Just wanted to add, hope you all have a great Christmas and a happy new year. With much love Murphy and me xxx

Clicked too soon - he is soooo gorgeous!