New puppy parents, come cheer me up!

[Panicmode1]

I was expecting hard work. I was expecting mess. I was expecting the chewing. And the mess. And the poo. But it's way harder than I was expecting and I'm struggling. And we're only two weeks in.

I was at the vet at 2am this morning after she had been straining and straining to poo for over 2 hours and was then violently sick - it seems that she had been eating small stones, even though I thought I was watching like a hawk.....she's still not right this morning so I think I may end up having to go back. DH didn't want a dog and feeling very justified in his "I told you sos" this morning!

I know I am very sleep deprived and grumpy, but puppy parents further along than me, cheer me up and tell me how brilliant it is when they are a bit older - pleeeeaaaaaasseeee!

[tomandizzymum]

I was concerned about taking on a 6 week puppy. Being British I am guilty of assuming the British way is best. I have to say though that this is an assumption that previous experience has taught me not to cling to.
The animal welfare standards of the country I'm in puts a lot of developed countries to shame, including the UK, which is good for us, as we're farmers. From what I'm reading of others problems I'm thinking we were experienced enough for the 6 week split not to have any impact. Sometimes what seems wrong is just different and not necessarily wrong.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I'm not quite as experienced as you mutt, so I'll take my next pup a bit later, thanks. I'll let the breeder do a bit of socialisation with the rest of the litter before I let myself loose on it.

Are you the previous poster under a new name? Are we still talking about the six week old puppy?

[muttynutty]

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig I would prefer to have my puppies before 8 weeks of age. 7 Weeks preferably - 8 weeks is a prime time for a fear stage so removing puppies at this age can be quite traumatic for them. 8 Weeks is a relatively new theory and one that I do not totally agree with.

However I am very experienced with socialisation and the puppy will be with other dogs. Many breeders can not get a litter of puppies out and about for socialisation when they have them so many puppies are taken into the outside world, away from their littermates at a time of high anxiety eg the 8 weeks.

It would depend on what is happening at the breeders but usually I am more equipped to socialise an individual puppy than they are a litter.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

No I'm sure he's lovely.

Just wouldn't advocate it in general. From dogtime.com

For many puppies, eight weeks is the right age. Eight weeks of age has long been accepted as the optimal time to acquire a new pup. By eight weeks, sufficient dog-dog socialization has taken place with mother and litter mates to tide the puppy over until he is old enough to safely meet and play with other dogs in puppy class and dog parks. Yet the puppy is still young enough to form a strong bond with the members of his new family.

And from the labradortraininghq.com

Removing a puppy from its mother and litter mates too early causes a range of problems in the puppies development.

Many studies performed have shown a resulting increase in aggression, over-reactivity, learning problems, fearfulness and anxiety in puppies removed too early.

It's very easily googled. I'm glad your dog is fine but I wouldn't recommend it in general, that's all.

[tomandizzymum]

No, but I'm from the UK. It's not common in UK, but from what I understand it's pretty common in other places. It certainly hasn't caused any problems. He's a fab little fella.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Oh, just wondered. It's usually not the done thing to take them before eight weeks because they're not very socialised or very big, really. Are you not in the UK?

[tomandizzymum]

Because that's the age that puppies get homed here, can't be before but usually they are six to eight weeks. We asked if they could hang on and they said no, so we took him.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Why did you get a puppy at six weeks, just out of interest?

[tomandizzymum]

I've got a 14 week old lab. I haven't had a puppy since I was 11 when I had a 10 werk old rescue collie. I remember being slightly traumatized by that.
Now I have to say the rawhide put a stop to shoe chewing (I lost two pairs), for now! Fingers crossed he's completely house trained now, as there's been no puddles for the last three weeks (poo I've only ever had a couple in the house) and he's now able to sit, stay, paw and lay down on command. Most of those changes have happened in the last couple of weeks. The mouthing is lesser and licking is starting to replace it. I don't know how old your puppy is but we got ours at 6 weeks. So hold on in there, it will get better.

[Panicmode1]

Fabulous news kissesgingers - getting sleep makes everything else bearable!!

[Kissesgingers]

We went through the night! She went out with dh when he got in from work between 12 and 1 then I got up at 630 and yes, the poop and pee came within 5 minutes of leaving the house rather than 10 but a whole nights sleep for me! Yay

[AliOh]

Reading this thread gives me a slight bit of hope! We have just got a puppy we've had him for around 10 days now. He's a mad little thing but lovely and I know he'll mAke a lovely family pet when he's older, I'm just at my wits end trying to toilet train him! He does go outside and gets that it's good to go outside but he still pees all over the house. I know it's really early days but I didn't want to get a puppy for this exact reason! Why I let DP talk me into it I don't know! I have an 8 month old DS to look after so it's so difficult to watch puppy like a hawk for toilet signs and look after DS at the same time. I know it'll blow over soon and I'll wonder what I was worrying about but I can't help thinking it's going to take forever to toilet train him!

[punter]

Not got any new advice to give except to say it does get loads better. I found this forum so useful when punter lab was a puppy and even into his teenager phase. Stopped me tying him to a tree in a field and running away. Would not have worked anyhow as he was microchipped!

[NCIS]

I used to cover it when mine (border collie) went into sleep otherwise he seemed unable to switch off. He never relaxed enough to stay asleep if he wasn't in the crate as a young pup but will happily do so now at 18 months old.

[groovejet]

Kikopup has lots of videos on youtube there maybe some that help

this is teaching not to bark at the door, she has some others to do with barking and some on crate training as well so I am sure there will be something that will suit you and your dog.

[groovejet]

I know I have seen on here before that to train a dog to have a quiet command you teach them a speak command first, she sounds like a smart dog from what you say above so maybe introduce this into the training you are already doing.

www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/how_to_stop_barking.html

This site explains it a bit , and maybe someone who has a bit more experience with it will come along soon.

[Panicmode1]

Hi NCIS

She's a golden retriever. Half of the crate is dark - my very experienced dog owner BIL told me not to cover it completely because they like to see out - but with four children coming and going she doesn't get much peace. Do you think I should shut her in there in the dark when we eat?

[NCIS]

Is her crate covered with a blanket so it's dark? You may have to persevere in ignoring her and never let her out while she is barking, you have to grab a moment when she's quiet, however brief. Is the crate where she can see you, we had to put it out of sight. Is she getting enough naps? We underestimated how much sleep a puppy needs to start with, things got better when we upped the naps.

What breed is she? Apologies if I've missed that.

[spamm]

I am in a similar place. New puppy, rhodesian ridgeback, joined the family on 22 December after we lost our old 10 year old dog in August. We are doing better, but the first few weeks were exhausting. I had completely forgotten how much work they are! On Monday evening, 3 weeks ago, I was in tears on the phone to a friend saying that I did not know if I could do this or if our marriage would survive. But I think we are going to survive, just! This morning, I had to crate him just to have some "time" with DH - sorry, too much sharing!

Puppy is 13/14 weeks old now, sleeps through in crate from 10.30pm to 6.30am and has not had an accident in the house for 2 days. I have to say, most of the accidents are probably our fault, not reading the signs, but we are getting there.

The only thing that is driving me insane is the nipping. I always have something to put in his mouth instead of my hand/leg/trousers/boots/toes, but it still seems incessant. I know when he gets really bad it is usually because he needs a nap, so he goes straight into his crate.

We are walking him more than the recommended amount, but vet is comfortable, and we are not running, jumping, etc... Twice a day for about 20 mins. I just think he needs to get rid of the energy. We have more chew toys for him that our old dog ever had, the best ones keep him going for ages - elk bone and reindeer horn. He also loves the treat ball and rolls it all over the house for ages. So far so good. And he is learning to use the stairs, because he is now nearly 26 lbs so we cannot carry him as easily any more. Training is going well, he can sit, drop and paw on command, and he is walking on the leash well. It is amazing to have a dog that is food motivated, as the old dog was not very good with food at all.

Sorry - this is an epic post, but I am so relieved to find people going through similar things.

[Panicmode1]

Thanks both - the thing is that she IS put in her crate with a Kong or something to do at mealtimes - which keeps her quiet for about a minute - and then she just ignores it and sits there barking and barking and barking. I don't know the best way to deal with that - we've tried ignoring her, we've tried putting her in the garden (she just barks and paws the door trying to come in), or tried telling her to stop.....any ideas?!

We've just been for a lovely (short) walk in a NT place - it was magical seeing the children romping with Rosie - and DH did hold her for a little bit. I am sure that eventually she'll calm down and he'll love her as much as the rest of us do!

[groovejet]

All those things can be worked on and improved, a crate could be a good idea for now until she gets used to the fact that mealtimes is her cue to settle down, didn't take long for ddog to get used to this and he isn't the brightest spark.

Actually quite good that your DH misses long family walks, it won't be long before your dog can join you on these and when that happens that maybe the thing that starts to soften him up a bit. If he enjoys walking is he willing to take her out by himself, if she is good on lead he may find taking her out, even for just a short walk, a way to for him to relax.

[NCIS]

Could you start a routine of her going in her crate with a kong etc at meal times? We did that as it was a time when we couldn't supervise. Good play and loo stop immediately before then in crate, or make sure feeding times coincide with your meals and feed in the crate.
I did also crate when people came in,( mainly for safety reasons, doors left open, dog getting worked up by the excitement) only letting him out when calm has been restored and teaching a calm greet.

I have worked on the idea that we ignored the dog when initially coming in, not for any weird dominance ideas, but simply because an overexcited dog is more likely to make a mistake, nip, jump or wee, plus they are more likely to get trodden on, run out of an open door etc.

[Panicmode1]

He feels that his routine has been screwed up completely - that every time he comes in she only wants to chew/bite/jump up; that we no longer go on long family walks together (although he realises this is a temporary state of affairs), that we can't have a meal without the dog barking/jumping up (am working on this - she's only 12 weeks old!) etc etc etc.

It doesn't help that he has a stressful job and a stressful commute. He's just told me that he's now finding home as stressful too...which is making me question why I've put this pressure on him to have a dog. It would break the children's hearts to get rid of her, but I am genuinely worried about the toll it's taking on us/him.

[groovejet]

That's a shame that he feels like that, is it anything specific that is making him not happy?

Things do get easier, having a dog was a lifelong dream for me but the reality was such a big adjustment, I had days when I could have cheerfully returned him. I think it was about 2 months later when ddog was settled with us at home and the effects of dog training was starting to show that I started to feel really comfortable, he still had work to go at that point but I could see the improvements and knew we were doing well. He still drives me potty some days but he has been totally worth the hard work, tears and stress.

[Panicmode1]

Thanks groovejet - however have just had another dog argument with DH - he really isn't happy about her at all. I think if I actually asked if he wanted her gone he'd say yes.....