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The doghouse

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Original poster

Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?

999 replies

SkeletonSkins · 15/02/2017 16:09

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!

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Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 10:11

Oh Lexa is so cute!!

Just take the leap and let him off Funky, letting him off early was the best thing I did for my puppy as he's great off lead now. Pocket full is sausages helps!!

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MrsWineasaurus · 07/05/2017 10:15

Hi SkeletonSkin,

Thank you for recommending this thread to me. Hopefully I'll get a bit more help here.

I've taken some of the advice I was given. Started training outside rather than pads this morning. Every half hour. So far no accidents and 2 wees and 1 poo outside. Been treating him, treating him and being stupidly excited Smile

Only thing we're really struggling with is crate training. One minute he seems like he's getting it (will lay down and go to sleep) other times he will just bark and whine. He's a PatterJack Terrier so his bark just goes through the whole house!

Any advice for this? X

MrsWineasaurus · 07/05/2017 10:16

This is Chase, 8 weeks old today x

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 10:27

There's different advice about crate training - some just ignore and leave them to it, some do the gradual approach and build up the length they're in it over time. To be honest, I didn't really do either and pup ended up in our room after a couple of days which tbh I found much easier. I think either approach would work. Could you try giving puppy a treat in the crate that takes him a while to eat? Our pup loves carrots and also do you have a kong? Kongs are great and if pup only gets his kong when in his crate he'll soon be much more eager.

Is it just at night pup is in the crate?

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MrsWineasaurus · 07/05/2017 10:32

He's in the crate at night and for 2/3 hours max during the day. DH is home from work by 11am I leave at 9am. He has no accidents during the day when he's in there literally just night time.

I'm going to try the crate next to the bed tonight and taking him out more often as 1-2 times doesn't seem enough. If you didn't use a crate how did you prevent accidents around the home? X

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 10:39

We took 4 weeks off between us so pup wasn't alone for the first month or so as I don't think he'd have managed that long without going to the toilet. Is there anyone who could watch him or even pop on at 10? I think accidents are inevitable if you're leaving an 8 week old pup for two hours I'm afraid. It will only be a few weeks and then puppy will manage.

We just kept a constant eye on him and stayed in one room with him. If we needed to do anything like cleaning we put him to play in the garden

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MrsWineasaurus · 07/05/2017 10:41

He seems to be ok during the day, as I said he's dry during the day. It's purely at nighttime he doesn't seem to be able to hold it x

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 10:44

More frequent wake ups might do the trick then - if he lasts two hours could you start off with every two hours or so and then get a bit longer over the next few days?

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BiteyShark · 07/05/2017 12:15

MrsWineasaurus we had a crate a night but I used a baby monitor so could see and hear him and every whimper or waking he went out for a pee then straight back again. I also worked on the principle that a puppy can roughly hold it for 1 hour per month of age plus 1 at night.

So in the first couple of weeks I just was up when he whimpered or awoke then at around 10 weeks I would set an alarm for every 3 hours then i would wake him and see if he wanted the toilet.

Soubriquet · 07/05/2017 12:18

Currently killing my sock that I've donated as a tug toy

Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?
BiteyShark · 07/05/2017 12:23

Loving the cute new puppies and hearing the progress everyone is making Grin

I am in teenage hell so may have to move camp more permanently to the teenager thread or invest in a vineyard Grin

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 13:54

Bitey I could be with you!! Just been to a gorgeous cafe, pup was great, met lots of other dogs fab until he was sat on my knee and a 5 month old rottie came over to him and my god he went mental!!! I was mortified honestly, he was barking at it and everything, he's never been like that before. I'm wondering if it's because I'd popped a dog treat into my bag for our dog at home and he was guarding it, with being sat on my knee? Well whatever the reason was, it was mortifying and he better not go that way! I popped him straight on the ground and he then met the rottie nicely so hoping he now realises the error of his ways.

Definitely starting to see teenager aspects of him already but then he's a small dog so bound to come soon.

Here's a picture of him enjoying some doggie ice cream before 'the incident'.

Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?
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BiteyShark · 07/05/2017 14:06

Skeleton Love the doggie ice cream Grin. At least the smaller breeds will get through the teenage stage quicker so I am glad I didn't go for a big breed. It's so frustrating isn't it when they just decide to have a 'moment' especially in public Hmm

Mine is barking at flapping bin bags in the wind along with any noise that he can't explain. The worst is when out, recall is so rubbish I either end up shouting and blowing the whistle until he can be bothered to come back or we end up with him trying to choke himself on the lead to get at everything. He also decided to regress to 8 weeks old again and woke up in the middle of the night crying in his crate and then when I let him out thinking there was something wrong he wanted to play ball with me. I almost thought about getting him neutered to calm him down but decided I will ride it out as planned and wait until he is 1 years old but the thought did cross my mind.

Does yours still have the mad moments at home? Every night we have an hour where he just goes from happy calm dog to bouncy and bitey manic dog then fast asleep. I have decided it's the teenage equivalent of the puppy zoomies but with scarier bitey teeth Shock

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 14:09

Yes ours does but has redirected his energy to the tennis ball - he loves the tennis ball! Luckily downstairs of our house is open plan so we can throw it no problem but he definitely still has the puppy wildness!

I can sense our recall is on its way out - a couple of times I've seen him look at me and really consider his options with regards to coming back! So far he's chosen to return but it's definitely a matter of time....

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BiteyShark · 07/05/2017 14:33

I tried the ball route yesterday. Thinking well he starts around 5pm so took him outside at that time and DH and I threw balls about for a good 30 mins to tire him out. He then proceeded to sleep 10 mins then woke up and went straight into usual teenage bitey manic mode Confused

Oh dear if recall is starting to look dodgy for your dog you have my sympathies. It makes walking go from nice to stressful and I think is the worst issue of them all. The other day in the forest I was almost at the point of tears about to phone DH to tell him I had lost the dog when he decided to come running back through the trees.

CornflakeHomunculus · 07/05/2017 14:55

MrsWineasaurus this is the list of guides I mentioned on your thread, it includes an excellent guide to crate training. As I also said in my post over there, puppies taken from their dam and litter mates too soon can be prone to separation anxiety so it's even more important than normal that he never gets the opportunity to start associating being alone with being distressed. It's much harder to deal with SA once it's set in than it is to take things at your puppy's pace and avoid it altogether.

Bitey sustained games of fetch can really hype a dog up (as well as being quite hard on the joints) so it can have exactly the opposite effect if you're using it to try and avoid the zoomies!! Have you tried pre-empting them and doing some brain work instead? I've always found that much better for lessening the evening wall of death sessions. Stuff like trick training, scent games, anything that gets them really using their brain. Then try and settle them down immediately afterwards with a stuffed Kong or chew or similar.

BiteyShark · 07/05/2017 15:55

Yes the other day we did some scent games at home but again seemed to make no difference so I think I am just going to suck up 1 hour of his silliness every evening until it passes Grin.

Soubriquet · 07/05/2017 18:04

Can I brag slightly?

Nearly the end of our second day together and we have still not had an accident in the house! Grin

Very chuffed with her. It's hard having to keep taking her out every half an hour or if I think she's starting to nose around but it's working. I'm not letting her out of my sight at the moment and just looking at her cues.

Eventually I'm hoping she will let me know she needs the toilet instead of me just guessing

Original poster
SkeletonSkins · 07/05/2017 19:22

Ahhhh that's fabulous! What a brilliant little puppy! It does definitely work to keep taking them out - it's the moment you think 'oh, they'll be okay' that they have an accident!

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JustCallMeBaldrick · 07/05/2017 22:51

First zoomies here tonight. I honestly thought the kids (and DH!) were going to wet themselves they were laughing so much 😀

aliasjoey · 07/05/2017 22:58

skeleton agree that just as you think it's okay they surprise you! Actually ours is pretty good at giving us a signal that he wants to go out - it was our fault for ignoring it (thinking he only went 20 minutes ago!)

His recall his been great so far (I have no doubt that will change when he hits adolescence)

Minor issue is that he seems to throw up quite a lot. I know he eats all sorts of crap in the garden, but am sure First Dog never did this??

aliasjoey · 07/05/2017 23:00

Oh here they are together... I don't think First Dog really wanted to share his bed, but he is being very tolerant

Does anyone fancy a 'puppy survival' thread?
Soubriquet · 08/05/2017 06:54

She stayed asleep all night with no accidents. She's doing so well

MrsWineasaurus · 08/05/2017 07:36

So...last night Chase had 1 accident in his crate. I got up twice between 11pm and 5am. Obviously wasn't enough so will try 3 times tonight and see how that works! X

Cocobananas · 08/05/2017 07:59

Alias, your pup looks very similar to mine. Is he a cocker cross or a springer? Cocopup is a mixed breed of springer, Labrador and poodle but everyone assumes she is a cockapoo.
Bitey, commiserations on recall. Ours is much much better now but has taken 4 months of long line, self control training and lots of sausage. I also noticed that our afternoon walks were always worse than the morning for bad behaviour plus she would charge around the garden like a mad thing,so I cut down the length of late afternoon walk. Seems to work better, she seems more relaxed although still will chase the wheelbarrow or mower but mostly potters around waiting for her supper.