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!

The vet told me that the right weight is when you cannot 'see' their ribs but you can feel them. Not sure if that advice is any different for whippets. I was also told as a puppy things were fine in terms of weight as long as they keep putting weight on.

First Dog is starting to tolerate Annoying Puppy...

After a 3 day streak of no accidents Gypsy did a wee in the floor I was cleaning the kitchen thinking I must take her out for a wee in a minute and lo and behold I turned to see her crouch and do one on the hall carpet. I guess I became too complacent as she had been asking to go out at the door the last few weeks. Oh well start again tomorrow!

blue I think puppies can be so on the go that they get skinny quickly. A day of running about and my pup was looking THIN, as in could easily see rib. As he's got a bit older this seems to have calmed down a bit and he's looking more fed ha! If he's looking a bit thin I just give him a bit more dinner.

Awww lovely to see Eddie growing up! Hope puppy class has gone well Funky and you have a fab time at ed Sheehan tomorrow!!

Bitey/Petra my pup has no idea he's a boy either - he still won't wee outside of the garden, never mind cocking his leg!!

Gorgeous picture alias glad a relationship is forming! Ours is getting a bit fed up with the pup - was fun for a while but when are we back to normal?? Is what I suspect he's thinking!

Skeleton Skins he has started running around like a lunatic the last few days so I think that plays a part. I guess as a novice puppy owner it's easy to think puppy = cute pudgy little thing but like children they go through growth spurts etc so look different from day to day. I found some advice online specific to Whippet puppies that said on average they should weigh a pound for every week so 11 pounds at 10 weeks sounds pretty spot on. He's getting extra food too

Love the photo Aliasjoy.

Gypsy 3 days is great so concentrate on that. Before you know it toilet training will be a memory (and you'll have something else to worry about )

He's here! We picked him up on Monday - so enjoying the first few days with him. He's doing ever so well, had a couple of accidents but he seems to be getting the hang of asking to go outside for the loo. Nighttimes have been good so far, I'm hoping he won't regress at any point because I quite like sleep!

He's a lovely, chilled little guy. We are having to be quite firm with him nibbling, he seems to be very mouthy - so at the moment we're trying distraction to stop him chomping on things and peoples hands/feet. He doesn't bite hard, just sort of mouths things.

I am loving looking at everyone's puppy pictures, so many new babies! Here are some pics of Bear.

Bear is certainly very handsome . Glad you're enjoying your puppy.

So I've found a dry food Bluepuppy will eat, he's travelling much better in the car and toilet training nearly done. All good. Except Bitey land shark puppy has emerged. This is normal right? I've been saying ow and redirecting him to chew toy. He keeps asking to go back on my lap and once there of course recommended biting.

Should I just not have him on my lap until his evening crazy and bitey time is over? They grow out of this don't they?

Good thing we start puppy school tomorrow. He needs more boundaries!

They can get very bitey. We did timeouts so 5 mins in crate or behind door/baby gate. If he then started again another time out and repeat. It didn't take long for him to realise biting = no fun and at 7 months we only get it every now and again and a quick timeout settles him down again.

I have bought a load of natures diet wet food but pup eats so little of it I'm going to have loads spare by the time he grows out of it...if anyone is in sw london wants any let me know!

Yes they do grow out of biting but totally agree with Bitey Shark that they need to realise that biting ends the fun and games so they stop. We walked off every time he started!

God my puppy is driving me mad today. He's been so so good recently but today he's done nothing but WHINE. we went on a nice walk and he cried the entire way round. Now he's crying because I've taken a sponge off him and so he's sat crying next to where it is. Time to put it in the bin and I can't deal with this crying!

Wooo hooo my DDog is back from his holidays. He has had a great time away, but I missed him terribly.

Skeleton how old is your pup now? Just wondering whether his hormones are kicking in with his sudden change in behaviour.

So lovely that you missed your dog Bitey

It was the first session of puppy pre school tonight. I think poor Bluepuppy was a bit shell shocked with all the non pointy puppies. The others were mostly cavs and small fluffy types. He did start to warm up a bit by the end of the class. The puppies will get to play together next week so it wasn't a puppy free for all. At least Bluepuppy looked smart. He already has a matching collar, lead and coat

Puppies are a lot of work. But with dogs you get back what you put in.

Would really recommend The Perfect a Puppy by Gwen Bailey, it gives you a kind of typical day plan in terms of play/feeding/downtime etc.

I've had a lot of dogs, one of my male dogs never did a poo in the house, and worked out the rest really quickly. The last bitch I had as s puppy was completely opposite, she was at least 7 months old before she really got it.

Do go to training. Avoid the ring craft stuff in village halls unless that's the only thing available. Try and find a trainer who works dogs, even if yours is a pet. It's much much better practicing your dogs recall and manners in a field with other dogs rather than in a hall. Gun dog training is great at the basic levels. You will learn good recall, sit, leave (essential) and a bit of socialisation for your dog.

Puppies are one of the life's joys, but if you don't give them what you need, you will suffer for it, as will they!

blue it's nice to have him home. He does a lot more activity where he stayed on his holidays than when he is with me so he was very happy and tired.

I am sure after a few sessions bluepup will be less shocked by the other dogs :)

Bluepuppy is exhausted after puppy preschool Poor love kept asking to be picked up and put on my lap at preschool. They had nice soft mats so I made him stay there. Mean mummy

There were two people there with two pups at the same time ( they both brought an extra person along).

Oh my I don't think I could cope with two puppies at once. It's amazing how the little things such as a puppy party tired them out.

Despite living very close to the coast DDog hadn't actually been to the beach so we rectified that today. Daft dog decided to try and swim to chase a seagull except there was a rip tide not to far away from him. Thank god his recall was good today and he turned around and started swimming back to the whistle.

Am having a night away from pup and dd tonight (niece babysitting)...just hope he behaves! I've started to pick up his cues but not sure she will !

Awww bitey what a fab recall! Bet your heart stopped for a moment though! Our pup is coming up to 5 months now, and he definitely seems to go through more 'fear' periods than other pups. He comes out of them though! He was so good at training tonight so he's made up for yesterday haha!

blue awww it's very overwhelming for them at first but so cute when they're all worn out! He will quickly get used to it though and bet he'll be a star!

Well Ed Sheeran was awesome, was stood up so was worried we wouldn't get to see much but we managed to get pretty close to the front and omg he is just brilliant!

My own Eddie is doing very well. Left alone with Daddy and the kids for a night and they managed fine, even went for a walk and met some new doggies. Met a schnauzer earlier that is just a few weeks older than him and she looked so much bigger so a little worried how small Eddie looked!
Puppy class on Tuesday was good. Worst bit was the car trip to get there! How do you all take your dogs in the car? I've been putting the crate in the boot for him but he seems so upset in there and whines for the whole journey (only 5-10 mins so not long) is it ok to have him on my daughters lap?

So envious. Love love love Ed Sheehan!

As for the car, I don't drive but whenever I have gone on short trips with friends driving to the vet etc I have always had them on my lap. Usually on a towel or blanket with lots of tasty treats to hand.

Skeleton yeah both DH and I said we would have probably done the stupid dangerous thing of jumping in after him had he not turned back and swam for the shore .

I didn't get many fear periods fortunately. They do make you proud when they behave for training

Funky mine used to cry in his carrier in the car. As soon as he was old enough we put him in the boot with a luggage guard and he has been fine since. I think he didn't like the enclosed space and car motion. I am always worried about an accident where the dog would be a missile if I had him on my lap. You could try on your/DD lap but in an accident I would also worry that the other driver could argue that you had an unrestrained dog in the car even if the dog was fine and nothing to do with the accident to say it had distracted you etc.

Will take myself off to Halfords later I think and see about a set of bars so he can just sit in the back on a blanket. Although I know you can get the seatbelt harnesses so I might look into one of the ode so he can sit on the back seat. We aren't going far so not to worries about pee/poo but you make a good point about if we were to be in an accident.

I am exhausted, tears this morning (from me). He cries in his crate at night, happy to go in there to eat etc during the day.
I don't know what to do, the teens have exams and are losing sleep. I ended up on the sofa with him again last night.

Older dog snapped a couple of times but generally quite tolerant, I move puppy away when annoying older dog and reward.

jasmine it does feel relentless at times. I didn't follow the 'long' game with our crate and I am glad I didn't but I know lots of people won't do that and have them in bedroom or sleep with them etc.

I slept in another room with a camera and each time he was restless or cried I took him outside for a pee and then straight back in and repeat so crying didn't give him any attention. If he didn't pee or started to play it was back in crate immediately.

Interestingly I am in teenage stage and he had a brief regression last night for first time in months crying in the middle of the night. Same principle applied, out for pee and when he started to want to play he went back in and got ignored and eventually he settled.

If you DCs have exams you may have to have puppy in your room etc if having him cry is a no no right now.

Are you sure the crying isn't just for toileting? After a short while my dog used to sleep fine and I would just have to wake him every couple of hours for his usual nightly pee(s)