Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?

[SkeletonSkins]

Just wondering whether anyone else has got a puppy recently and in the same boat as us? Interested to hear how how others are getting on.

We've had our 8 week old puppy for a few days now and things are okay... he's a complete cross of lots of different breeds so enjoying trying to work out what in him!

House training seems to go great and then at night he just sits there in the middle of the grass not wanting to even walk around! Never mind wee!

Our older dog isn't particularly impressed but has been good with him so far. Just looking forward to him sleeping through the night without needing a wee. Completely forgot how having a puppy completely takes over your life for a little while!

Oh goodness, sorry about that, wrong thread!!!

No sorry Lion it was about a rearing horse!

I do let mine down but keep them away from areas that might have dog or fox poo. We used to accept guide dogs at 6 weeks at puppy class as that is when they started socialising. They took the risk because an undersocialised guide dog is never going to make it,

Sorry boo! I don't think I'd be brave enough to let him down yet.

Lol lion: dd has been reading a schnauzer book that warns they are 'collectable' - not anytime soon, they ain't!

That's really interesting boo - the tension between the scary unvax stuff and the window of opportunity does feel vanishingly small!

Thanks for the tips on bedding/towels. We have a family shed (cottage is too posh a word!) down in Devon which is stacked to the gunnels with old towels so that's made me think I should do a raid when we're down just before pup arrives!

Lion I think he does think that! Although not sure why?? Sometimes he's been desperate and has still waited to get home, in fact once he was so desperate he ended up weeing inside right by the back door! Who knows why he doesn't go when out and about. I'm trying to teach him to wee to command and saying the word when out but it's not worked so far.

As for socialising, for me there's enough places to go with them in your arms to socialise e.g. Pets at home, friends houses, puppy parties, dog friendly shops and garden centres, school run etc that I didn't need to rush getting him on the floor. That said if you are out and about and he needs a wee I think the advice about a more secluded spot, less dog travalled would be fine and a teeny tiny risk too.

It sounds bad but I also don't want a dog that absolutely loves everyone and every other dog as they're he ones who are more difficult to train with recall as they're wanting to make lots of friends! For me, socialisation is about being under control too and still being able to focus on me which is why training classes are great.

Have a look what's about - just a google search discovered there's a puppy party going on locally which has different materials for pups to walk over, odd objects etc so lots of new experiences.

Aw bless him! You've trained him too well I can see why he would think he could only go in the garden though. I'm sure he will realise one day that he can go outside of the garden too.

I agree with the socialising too. It feels like there's a very fine line between getting it right and getting it so wrong. I think I need to relax a bit but it's so hard! I speak to his breeder and owners of her previous litters on a Facebook group and she basically said the same as you about finding somewhere where as few dogs as possible have been and just weighing up the risks.

I'm going to a puppy party on Thursday hopefully so I will see how that goes. I've heard some not o great things about them but I don't need to go back if it's awful.

Well positive is that right after that post I took him for a walk and he went for a wee outside!! I praised him like mad but of course typically didn't have treats on me so hope he got the idea.

On the downside I've just spoken to my dad who was round decorating today while I was at work and apparently SkeletonPup was terrified of him and ran upstairs to hide in a wardrobe :( :( poor little mite. The thing is, he's met my dad loads of times since he was tiny! What I'm wondering if whether he was upset by the fact that a man just appeared in his house when no one else was in, or perhaps the decorating stuff scared him? Anyway I'm going to pop home as usual tomorrow at lunch time (I didn't today as thought he'd be fine with my dad) and hopefully reintroduce and get him feeling confident again. Not going to get stressed about it though as most problems seem to be temporary at the minute!

Oh man. Horrible day. Had to go in to the office again this morning so left Eddie for 20 mins while I dropped kids at school. Wee in the crate. Had to go to work so had to go back in the crate. Left him for about 2.5 hours which I know is verging on too long but he was pretty calm and almost dozing on me before I left for work. He was whining as I left and was whining and had done more than one wee when I got back at lunchtime. He had lunch and a play and then a kip for an hour. Then was awake for too long (2.30-4) and got very manic and bitey. Managed to get him to calm down and have another sleep and has been awake since 5! The last 45 mins he has been a horrible dog! Bitey, peeing everywhere. Wouldn't calm down. I had a little cry and wondered what on earth I was thinking getting a dog to be honest!

He will go in the crate and let me shut the door if I am nearby (I have been doing that and giving him a treat when he sits quietly) but as soon as I try to leave him he gets so upset 😭

I'm at home tomorrow morning working and I'm going to get mum to come and dog sit for me while I go into the office in the afternoon so only a short crate stint while I take kids to school (on that note it's 2 mins drive but about a 20 min walk there & 20 mins back if I take him in my arms could I take him with me? Final jabs at Easter) tomorrow morning I will try him again leaving him for longer on his own while I'm still home.

At night we are sleeping in the sofa. As he is getting so upset in the crate (even with me there he doesn't ever lie down and settle) and if he is on the sofa with me I know if he wakes. I have been trying to set an alarm and take him out for a wee every couple of hours but he is still waking in between and messing about

Losing my patience a bit as I'm so bloody tired. Can't wait for him to be a little bigger and hoping the toilet training does just kick in like everyone keeps saying 😭

Funky I think your puppy is still very young 9 weeks? or do I have that wrong.

At 9 weeks mine was peeing all over the place and I had days where I felt I could not take it anymore. It just feels relentless.

Could you muster up some people to help when you have to leave him a few hours until he is a bit older and can hold his pee more? Some dog walkers do puppy visits for 30 mins where they let them out and play with them.

Another thought is if you are sleeping with your puppy on the sofa and using the crate only when you leave him he might not view the crate as somewhere nice and safe to sleep in if you see what I mean and thus peeing in it because either he just needs to go so frequently but also does not view it as his bed so will happily foul it.

I would try and muster up your mum or dog walkers etc to help cover the longer periods when he is left alone just for these early weeks and then you can try and concentrate helping your puppy see the crate as his place to sleep and feel secure in. This will also help with your tiredness as being sleep deprived is bloody awful ( I remember trying to drive whilst my puppy was waking frequently in the night and realising how much it was affecting my ability to function)

Thanks Bitey I think you are right and yes he is still very young. Mum is coming to help tomorrow and I'm going to try and be home all day Thursday. Friday is thankfully a short day I can do from home if day off if I get enough done before then.
I will work on him a bit more with the crate.

Thanks for the encouragement though it's all just so frustrating as they can't tell you what's wrong (this is way worse than my kids as babies!)

Oh Funky I remember that exhaustion! But would agree that your pup is still so so young - there's no way my puppy would have lasted 2.5 hours on his own at 9 weeks and he's fine for 3-4 hours now at 14 weeks. Those few weeks make a big difference. I would agree with Bitey and see whether you can get someone to cover the time you have to work for the next few weeks until puppy is a bit bigger. Alternatively I would puppy proof a room and leave him in there as an alternative to the crate - it's a very confined space for that length of time for a pup as I find they seem to sleep for regular short periods rather than one long extended period. Could you leave him in the kitchen or bathroom with several toys/chews to keep him occupied? I give mine a carrot every time I leave which settles him.

Don't worry - we've all been there and it will pass! He won't be like this forever. The sleep thing is a killer but it does pass quickly. Ours went from waking up at 3am to play!!! To sleeping right through 10-7 now. Within a week or two he was only waking up once. Things will improve!

Funky with regards to the crate, it sounds like you're moving way too fast for him. Crate training needs to be done very gradually and shouldn't involve them crying in there at all.

Have a read of this guide. It sounds like it will take forever but honestly, done this way they catch on really quickly and it doesn't take that long until they can be happily left in there for age appropriate periods.

You also need to be realistic about how long they're physically capable of holding their bladders at this point. Although they won't want to toilet in their crate if they need to go they won't have a choice.

[[https://www.facebook.com/notes/dog-training-advice-and-support/toilet-training/1565517246797160 This toilet training guide] may be also be useful if you've not seen it yet. Be consistent and they will get it, it just takes some time and exactly how long will vary from puppy to puppy.

Buggered up the toilet training link there; here it is again.

funky if he really is 9 weeks I think you are doing great. Ours is 12 now and it's honestly been like some one has thrown a switch this last week and he is vastly improved. We had ours upstairs in a box next to the bed for nearly two weeks until number of night wakes reduced to about 1. Then moved him down to kitchen and just cleaned up mess in the morning. He is as of yesterday spending the night shut in a crate and managing the night no mess. Took a long time of not shutting him in the crate for him to learn to love it which he seems to have learned in about the last 24 hrs.
The little crying thinking oh god what have I done, been there done that but not for well over a week now (I'm sure I will several more times though before adulthood and beyond) Take it slow, you know your dog and your life. Make whatever you do fit you. Don't read too many guides. They are mostly best case scenarios and not realistic. Keep posting here

THanks you all for the advice. Will talk nicely to my mummy. Only the rest of this week and week after till we are on Easter holidays then hubs is home or I am all week and hopefully by then we will have some of this cracked.

Must remember baby steps

Having a cuppa and off to hit the sofa for a sleep

Oh funky you are doing brilliantly. He really will learn to love the crate and one day you'll look back at this time and think wow I can't believe how much easier things are now. You're probably already doing this but are you feeding him in the crate? Have you put a blanket over the top to make it into a den? Maybe a puppy heat pad? Maybe put in a t-shirt that you've been wearing that will have your scent on it.

Skins it was probably something simple like the decorating equipment or maybe he was in a deep sleep when your dad came in and he got woken up suddenly and it spooked him. Hopefully next time he sees your dad he will be fine with him again. Every time DH comes in from work my puppy sniffs him suspiciously and it takes him a little while to get used to him again. Yay to the out-of-garden wee though!

Hi all
Joining the thread with my 10 week old lab retriever. This is the second time I've raised a puppy. I had a lab pup 12 years ago but I can't remember bugger all about what we did, possibly because we also had a 4 year old dd and a baby at the same time (shortly followed by another baby a year later - what was I thinking!) and I was breastfeeding through the night still. I think I must have been deranged with tiredness though I don't remember being especially worried or upset by it all.

Anyway, the challenge this time around is teenagers and an 11 year old sabotaging my plan to raise a well adjusted dog, by shrieking with laughter when the puppy walks around snapping her tiny jaws and being bitey, and not letting her out in the garden enough when they're left to in charge of her for half an hour or so while I have a bath.

Today I took her out with me in the car in a travel basket - I had to take ds out to an after school activity. I took her into a cafe and held her on my lap (she's not had her second jab). She was fine, but when we got home and dd had three shrieky teenage friends around and there was lots of shouting and movement, she got really nippy and overwhelmed. Result: two poos and three wees indoors. Worst it's been since we got her 5 days ago.

Reading this thread has reminded me that I need to be very patient. I'm going to put her and me to bed in a minute. She's sleeping in the crate and I'll be on the sofa. When she cried last night I just spoke to her reassuringly, and she went back to sleep (took her out for a wee at 3am, which wasn't fun). She seems happy in her crate.

Thinking of buying one of the marked down Aldi play pens for her tomorrow: here down to £29.99. Might portion off a bit of the kitchen for her with it.

mini looks like you can lock down the panels in that playpen which would be good as my puppy used to be able to push the sides when he was boisterous which was a pain.

Hi mini do you have any pictures of your new puppy? Do you still have the dog you got as a puppy last time? I really need to invest in a playpen too.

After I told work I couldnt do an extra day during the week, they've asked me if I can do a 3 hour shift twice a week. Now if they asked me to start at 9 it would mean the puppy being left for 4 hours as I'd have to do the school run first. I've found someone that does home visits for puppies and kittens which is £7 for half an hour. Do you think that would be okay? Or is that still too long? It would mean him being left alone for 3.5 hours altogether. Why do I feel so guilty?

LionSock at around 13-14 weeks of age mine was being left between 3-4 hours before he goes to day care but he had an outside area where he peeded and pooed in so toileting was ok. I had also spent everyday getting him used to being left in that place (it isn't his crate) so it was familiar. I am not sure if he would have held his pee inside his crate if he was left in there as my setup meant he never needed to. Skeleton does your puppy hold his bladder ok for that length?

If you could time the puppy visit for the middle would that mean he would only be alone for 2 and then 1.5 hours which would make toileting easier? Essentially you want to make sure the puppy can hold their pee for the time they are left alone otherwise they might get used to toileting in their crate unless you plan on using a sectioned area where they can still pee etc

The other thing to look at long term if you would prefer to do a full day rather than two half days at work is doggie day care. Some places have a minimum age but some dog walkers offer day care and might take a younger puppy. Mine is in half day care on my office days which suits my situation as he gets used to being alone (which is what I want so he can be left if needed) but as he is still young he isn't alone for a long time. I plan to move to just dog walkers when he gets to adulthood as I think he would be ok then.

Ours can do 3 hour stints in the crate now and no accidents so far (second day of trying today) I think all dogs learn bladder control at different speeds. I was confident ours could do that long wee free before I left him because he already had on several occasions

Dogs are odd creatures, now mine is bigger he won't pee in his outside bit as he prefers to hang on and wait until he is let out to pee and kill more of my grass