Puppy Parent Support Thread!

[MostAmused]

We've had our 10 week old GSDxSpringer for 2 weeks now. He lulled us into a false sense of security while he was finding his feet and we thought we had the gentlest, quietest and friendliest puppy ever.

Now he's a little more confident the problems are starting to show, mouthing, whining in his crate, jumping on the bed and sofa and sadly he also seems to get a bit anxious when we leave the room.

We're trying to work through all these but it would be great to hear about others in the same situation? I've seen a few new puppy threads here recently and I think it's be great if we could all help eachother through puppyhood and beyond!

Well Dpup is getting his 2nd lot of injections later..so the countdown can begin,hopefully we'll be able to burn some energy out of him then...also...he's still a shark and a sod to housetrain

Good luck! We had to wait 10 days after the second jags and I swear it was the longest 10 days ever!

We were always advised to let the puppy off the lead straight away. They are so overwhelmed by the big bad world, they stay close to you, for reassurance. Constantly praising them and rewarding them for being close by means it becomes a habit very early on.

We have always done this with all the dogs, and it works.....to a degree. I have excellent recall with Dylan, but since he hit his teenage years he has had a couple of slip ups. He can spot a dog fifteen miles away and decide to trot off and say hello! We work on calling him for no reason and treating him, not putting him on his lead, just lots of praise for coming back, but he latched on to this and now when called does a 360 degree reccy of the area before returning [mad]

I am hoping that when Daisy is big enough to join him on walks he will be so besotted playing with her that no other dog will be of interest insert emoticon of who the hell are you kidding

I think it depends on the dog and ours is obsessively dog focused. He loses his appetite when excited, so food regardless of the quality isn't enough and he forgets people exist when he's around dogs - was never worried or concerned about me being out of sight, he was just focused on the chase - he's a sight hound so that's maybe not too surprising in hindsight but I've seen a few labs in training class that have gone the same way. He's getting better but I really wished I'd recognised his passion at an earlier stage and put more control work in before allowing him to go off lead with other dogs. I taught him to ignore joggers, bikes, children, small fluffy things....I just had no idea that his Achilles would be other dogs - I thought that I was socialising him but really I was just setting myself up for an uphill battle on recall.

Hmm yeah I think I might keep him on lead some of the time but try off lead early on and see how he is. If I take him with his new doggy pal hopefully her good behaviour will rub off on him!

Until 8 weeks he lived in a farm barn with lots of access to other dogs as well as the family so I think he might be a doggy dog! but we'll see. Atm he won't leave me alone and follows me everywhere. It's gotten to the point that if I'm wanting to read or use the laptop he has to sit on my lap otherwise he jumps at me to get my attention back! We're trying to work on it. Thank goodness I'm not his sole carer I'd go mad! haha

Taz how come yo had to wait 10 days? I was hoping to be out and about on the 7th ay after 2nd shots. He definitely needs a chance to expend energy!

NetHuns How was your pup at the vets? Mine doesn't bat an eyelid, he loves the treats!

I'm getting one of those looooong training leads as I hate carrying a retractable lead - always find them uncomfortable. So she can have the feeling of being offlead in safe places, without actually being offlead. Just til I have some recall (which may take ages!)

Joff I wanted to get a long line but my folks and partner say it's not necessary and that it would get dragged in all the mud etc. But I like the idea of him feeling off-lead, free but still under control.
totally torn on that decision.

I let ours off lead right from the very first walk, he would never stray far but had the space to run and investigate. He's now almost 17 weeks, recall is pretty good unless he's completely distracted by something but if I start walking off without him he soon comes!
He does have an issue of being overexcited with other dogs and I wonder if this stems from his first meeting with others being at puppy class where they are all so excited to see each other and just jump on top of each other, now whenever we meet other dogs he just wants to jump on them and I'm not sure how to change this!! If I see another dog heading towards us I will clip the lead back on so I have some control but sometimes if we are walking on farm tracks we round a corner and there is no warning! He will just run and jump!

I use a 10m long line - it's 1/2inch nylon - doesn't absorb water, so the drag isn't too bad on a wet day, was pretty cheap in petathome - their brand.

I practice recall constantly in the park, I carry a variety of high value treats, big rewards for challenging recalls from other dogs. I practice recalling when dogs are at a distance, practice controlled greets and recalling away, vary the recall distance, vary the difficulty, work on diistance stays, use a whistle for extra impact and attention, run backwards to encourage him.

I think my recall requirements are higher than a lot of owners in the park - of course he'll come to me with no distractions but I need him to come with distractions and that's hard for a dog bred to have a high prey drive, I'm determined to have an off lead dog!

Apart from the recall challenge, he's a pretty good pup.

Dancingyogi It sounds like you're putting lots of work in, I'm sure it'll pay off!

I just took Oz round the garden first on a short lead with lots of recall and direction changes when he pulled etc. Then tried him off lead. He was pretty good. Came back when interested in something else and when I walked off in opposite direction he followed. Used lots of treats. Thankfully he is quite into his food so he happily returned for the kibble I had to give him. I'll break out the high value treats once we're out and about. Think I'll see how he is and consider a long line if necessary.

The first time he'll be around other puppies is at his Puppy party after his second shots at the vets (unless his puppy class comes before that).
I asked how they run it and whether it's controlled and it sounded ok. But I do worry that he'll learn bad manners from the other pups! His puppy class accepts any age dog I think so hopefully there will be some mature dogs to learn from there!

Dpup had his last injections last night...didn't notice (but he has got a baggy/saggy neck)...so the 2 week wait begins...but there are definitely no puppy classes in out area..we're doomed

MostAmused Different vets seem to have different requirements for the second jags- I don't know if it's to do with the brand of jag? I'd been hoping to be told 7 days and was quite disappointed with 10!

We had a good walk yesterday. We go through a park where Noodle gets to be off lead. At the other side of the park is a 4 way crossroads (cycle/walking paths). I always put Noodle on lead as we cross over it because there are potentially three cyclists who will whizz past at that time of morning- two are great and use their bells and slow down to make sure we know they are there but the other one zooms by without warning and with only inches to spare- he does it to children and dogs so I think he resents the presence of anyone else on "his" path!

Anyway, we crossed over and I got Noodle off lead again. As I stood up, I spotted two on lead dogs coming round the corner down one of the paths. Noodle spotted them as well and bolted towards them. I called him back and he came to a screeching halt. He looked at me and thought, "Nah" and bolted again. I shouted again and he stopped again and this time looked at me, looked at the dogs, looked at me, looked at the dogs... and finally came back to me. He's consistently eventually coming back, but I can't let him off lead around other dogs yet because of that initial bolt!

Sounds good Taz!

Well Ozzy will be allowed out from this Thursday. Can't wait to take him on his first walk! :)
Took him to a friend who has a cat. They sort of met once before and stayed out of eachothers way mostly. This time Ozzy just wanted to play and ended up getting butted on the nose from the cat who scarpered as soon as he could. The Ozzy decided he hadn't annoyed the cat enough and ate the cat's dinner! Cheeky monkey!
He didn't seem to phased which I'm glad about but I'm hoping he'll be weary of cats and less likely to chase them!
He's got another play date with a doggy friend tomorrow so I'm sure he'll enjoy that!

How's everyone getting on with the mouthing/biting?
Ozzy still can get a bit bitey, especially when he's over tired. Yelping doesn't seem to work we're just getting up and walking out of the room so hopefully that will start to have an effect soon!

Mouthing here is hard to say whether she is better or worse. When she loses the plot, she totally loses it - on the other hand, I spent the week teaching her 'Leave it' til she is nearly at the point I can use it in a different context to leaving a treat in my hand. And in the past couple of days, if I catch her just before she pounces, a well timed "Sit!" works 9 times out of 10... Then I can usually calm her down and distract with a treat.But if she is really going for it, she will nip and I know she is too young at 12 weeks for true aggression, but she isn't always wagging her tail...

Mostly it's trying to engage her target in play, but once or twice it looks a bit like a tantrum. Too young to be a teenager. So probably terrier stubbornness!

How's everyone getting on?

Ozzy had his first puppy class. It's been running for 6 weeks already so I expected him to be behind but he was at the same level as about half the class and he's so bright I'm sure he'll catch up fast!

Really difficult to get his attention for a sit and stay etc though! At the moment the only thing that works is waving a treat under his nose. That said his recall is great so far!

Am I too late to join?? Always the last to show up...

Never too late, though this thread has gone a little quiet for now. I guess all our pups are keeping us busy!

What breed do you have and how old?

Got an Italian Spinone, 8 weeks, currently snoring on my lap having been up all night howling!

We've only been letting our 14 week old staffy/JRT cross off when we get to the woods - and I can only do that at weekends, as my husband has the car in the week and all the 15 min walks near my house are along a national speed limit road... But the woods we take her to have loads of offlead dogs so it's a good way to socialise her.

She's been to two puppy training classes now and both ties the trainer has recommended the pups get let offlead as soon as poss.

We've only been letting our 14 week old staffy/JRT cross off when we get to the woods - and I can only do that at weekends, as my husband has the car in the week and all the 15 min walks near my house are along a national speed limit road... But the woods we take her to have loads of offlead dogs so it's a good way to socialise her.

She's been to two puppy training classes now and both times the trainer has recommended the pups get let offlead as soon as poss.

Joffrey how are you dealing with dogs when you don't want them to meet? I mean if the other owner isn't nearby or you want to be moving on? I'm quite aware that some people find it annoying to have random dogs come running up to their dog who might be aggresive etc. And I dont want Ozzy to be one of those dogs. I'm trying to just keep him walking past. He's ignored some but barked at a big alsation as he went past so I'm not sure if we're handling it right or if we should be stopping/heading in the opposite direction. I might ask at puppy class tomorrow!

Sinclair Did you have a rough first night? Our pup broke out of his crate after his second toilet trip on the first night (I think I forgot to latch it properly) and so spent the next week or two sleeping in a basket on the floor. Which was fine until he learned to jump on the bed. Now he's back to his crate. He's a not a huge fan but he seems to have accepted it now.
Are you crate training?

So far I have just had her onlead when any dodgy looking encounters might have happened - so just move on. If she was offlead, I suppose the ideal is to have enough recall (She's learned "What's this?" for recall so far and whilst not bombproof, it works say 8 times out of 10.... another dog being the ultimate distraction, I guess) to get a recall. If not, whilst they're little pick them up? Not ideal but maybe what I'd do if it happened?

Yeah he has pretty good recall so far. So that's definietly a plus but we worked on the Leave command at puppy class today and I think that will come in very handy if he sees another dog once it's solidly learned.

I just have to share my pride in Ozzy today though! We joined our puppy class in the 6th week of the block so he's probably the youngest dog. This week he stayed while I walked about 15' away (facing away from him) and waited until I got all the way back to him and got his treat. Lots of the other dogs struggled. I'm so proud!!!

Well done Ozzy!

Noodle has been ill this weekend. He ate a mouthful of someone else's poo on Friday afternoon (may or may not be the source of the problem, but am currently assuming it is). He spent the weekend vomiting and having lots of diarrhoea. He pretty much just wanted to sleep from lunchtime Saturday until late yesterday afternoon. We were getting very worried and phone the emergency vet who said that if he threw up again, we should bring him in. If not, but if the diarrhoea continued into today, we should take him to the normal vet.

Fortunately he perked up but he is still having yellow liquid poo so he's off to the vet this afternoon. His energy levels are back to normal and he's starving, but I only want to feed him chicken and rice just now and even that isn't helping his poo.

Yuck!

Oh dear poor Noodle! I've been worried about Ozzy eating something he shouldn't but so far apart from a rotten and maggoty bird (yeuch!) on his third night, he's avoided most things. I'm sure it's only a matter of time though...
Hope he gets better soon, keep us posted!