Page 8 | Does anyone fancy a "puppy survival" thread part 2

Soubriquet · 2017-05-16T10:16:28+00:00

Here we are again Just jump in and join us

Original poster

Soubriquet · 27/05/2017 10:10

Had to go out and buy madam some different food as ahes tefusibf to eat what she's got

She now has fish4dogs biscuits and country kitchen raw nuggets. Hoping she eats those

OP posts:

bluetongue · 27/05/2017 10:27

I know how that feels Soubriquet!

Mr Whippet here went through five different types of dry food before I found one he liked. He's now on Royal Canin junior mini and thriving. His training may be hit and miss but I can at least take pride in the fact that he's in great condition and really starting to muscle up nicely

Puppy school is finished but he's definately going to be doing his basic obedience course.

Took him down to a seaside cafe today for some socialisation. His on lead walking was rubbish but to be fair it was very windy and lots of blowing around stuff to chase. Apart from that he was great. Happy to take everything in and not really scared of anything. He went for a five minute walk on the lead down the footpath when I got home and was pretty good.

SkeletonSkins · 27/05/2017 20:59

Oh god ours is so picky! He's determined to eat one meal per day no matter how often I offer it!

Pup was fab today. We went down on the beach and it was HEAVING. The tide was right in leaving hardly any space but he was brilliant - only one moment of naughtiness when he ran over to someone playing tennis as he wanted to play with the ball but he just stood there waiting for the ball and came back when called! He ignored all the other dogs, children, picnics etc all around and had a play in the sea! Was just a joy to take out. This is huge progress for us - the first time I walked him I got him to next door and he sat down and refused to move as he was so frightened. He also went through a phase of barking at people and being so skittish of EVERYTHING! So it was so nice to have a vaguely good dog!

Original poster

Soubriquet · 27/05/2017 21:02

Mine is getting that way....

3 weeks of eating well and now she refuses her food over the last few days.

Enough that you can visibly see she's lost a tiny bit of weight

So...we've boiled up some chicken breasts for her breakfast tomorrow I'm not soft really

OP posts:

BiteyShark · 28/05/2017 06:26

Mine is a fussy thing when it comes to his kibble. Not so much with his snacks .

When I look at the diagrams for weight which show emaciated, thin, right, overweight and fat he definitely falls into the thin category as I can see his ribs . Our problem is he is so active. I happened to be reading about things to feed them to help put on weight only yesterday and thinking about adding in a boiled egg every now and again. Fortunately he is maintaining his weight at the moment rather than losing it but I do need to get him into the 'Just right' category.

Wolfiefan · 28/05/2017 08:01

Mine is gaining weight overall but has gone from the top to bottom end of normal. She loves treats but she isn't keen on the kibble. Need to keep her on it until she's at least 9 months (as she's a giant breed and needs specialist food) then plan on switching but bit confused by all the options. Nutrition is really important for this breed.

cjdamoo · 28/05/2017 08:16

So Hello. I am a cat person. I run a cat rescue. I can do cats in my sleep. On our last rescue mission, we came home with more than we bargained for. These little nuggets. I feel we may be needing this thread an awful lot. Parentage is supposedly Mum staffy x douge de bordeux dad Bull arab x Ridgeback. They are 8 weeks old today, both female. Booked in for vaccinations next week. Hints? tips? gladly received.

BiteyShark · 28/05/2017 08:49

wolf on allaboutdogfood.co.uk there appeared to be a couple of different brands for giant breeds. Not much choice admittedly compared to smaller breeds

SkeletonSkins · 28/05/2017 09:03

Ohhhhh sweet puppies!! Have they been wormed? If not I'd sort that out with your vet as it's so important to worm puppies and those bellies look quite swollen.

BiteyShark · 28/05/2017 09:06

Was just going to comment about the swollen belly and possible worms but Skeleton beat me to it

cjdamoo · 28/05/2017 09:27

They had not had so much as a sniff of a wormer prior to coming home and were crawling with fleas. That was attended as a matter of priority (picture is a week ago today) Luckily I already had stuff in as had hand reared pups from birth to six weeks a few months back for a local dog rescue. Bellies are now much better.

Husband seemed to think they would be less hard work if they had each other for company. I am not convinced. I'm currently working on house breaking them. Outside every 15 minutes, it seems. Also getting my youngest to feed them in the hope of building her confidence with them as they are very bouncy. My lovely vet nurse friend is helping me with some basic training and we have set up their overnight crate so it opens onto the kitchen to make accidents easier to clean through the day. Puppy wrestling is driving me mad at the moment.

bluetongue · 28/05/2017 10:11

Good for you cjdamoo sounds like you're on the right track although you might need some and to get you through (I swear there used to be chocolates as an option.)

Why did I decide to get a whippet puppy coming into winter? He has a lightweight coat which started out too big and is already getting a bit short for him. Went to buy a heavier duty waterproof coat today and it seems he can either get one which fits perfectly for now (therefore will be good for about two weeks) or one which he's swimming in. He has a very fine coat, even for a whippet puppy. There are parts of him such as his inner thigh that are almost bald!

We had an interesting afternoon. Went to visit the dog park we usually go to on weekends and crashed a pug party (as you do). Everyone was very nice and Bluepuppy became an honorary, pointy pug for a couple of hours. He had to get put back on the lead though. He was a bit much for the pugs and took great delight in grabbing pug coats and trying to rip them and then tried to get himself a pug girlfriend. I've heard that at about 4 months adult dogs no longer put up with puppy craziness and start putting them back in their place. Please tell me this is true

ninnypoo · 28/05/2017 10:21

Hello! We (and by we I mean my mum/dad/sister) are collecting a puppy on Saturday but I'm including myself in the excitement. As a family we have wanted a dog but years but finally in a position (Mum at home all day) to get one. It's my parent's first dog too (no childhood pets) so we are all trying to get our heads around everything.

Wolfiefan · 28/05/2017 10:23

@cjdamoo
Please read up on litter mate syndrome. Unless you really know what you are doing and can split the care of these pups between two adults I really wouldn't keep both.
The FB page dog training advice and support has great info on toilet training etc.

cjdamoo · 28/05/2017 10:40

Thanks for that Wolfie. Will have a read. We have been doing stuff with them separately as advised by our lovely friend. At this stage no idea if we will keep both but they will be staying at least until fully vaccinated.

Wolfiefan · 28/05/2017 10:44

Good luck with them. They are lucky to have found you. That group has really helped me!

bluetongue · 28/05/2017 10:58

How exciting ninnypoo What kind of puppy is it?

I've decided to put Bluepuppy in a second day of daycare per week for now. He loves it and it helps keep me sane so win win (apart from the extra cost.)

As much as having a puppy from 8 weeks has been fun I'd seriously consider getting one at 6 - 12 months old if I decide to get whippet number two Being a single puppy parent is tough!

BiteyShark · 28/05/2017 12:03

blue mine goes to daycare three times a week because I have to go into the office. It gives him other dog company and he loves it. For me I get a break as well as he is too tired to do much on those days

DDog was a bit hit and miss at training this week. We have LOTS of different things to try and work on as there are so many bits to gun dog training. I think I am going to have to try and work out a rota on what to do each day.

bluetongue · 28/05/2017 12:32

Yes, Bluepuppy is so tired after daycare he goes to sleep as soon as he gets in the car. Daycare also has a big grassed area perfect for whippet puppy zoomies

BiteyShark · 28/05/2017 19:01

The worry is never ending. Just had to quickly google whether dogs could eat cherries (he found one that had dropped from our tree) then had to wrestle the pit out of his mouth

Wolfiefan · 28/05/2017 20:12

FFS! Dogs!!
I wouldn't have known that either. I know grapes and raisins and chocolate and garlic etc etc.
my poor kids are banned from eating anywhere near the dog in case they drop something and she eats it. Me? Overprotective?

CornflakeHomunculus · 28/05/2017 20:39

cjdamoo have a read of this article about littermate syndrome. Whilst some people do manage to successfully raise two puppies at once it's far more than double the work of one puppy and it's rarely in the best interests of the puppies to have them grow up together.

You really need to be keeping them separate for a good chunk of the time, not just doing training/play sessions individually. Once you can start doing walks you'll need to do the majority of them with only one puppy at a time, meaning by then you'll need to have got the pups happy enough being split up for more than just a few minutes at a time. They should really be in separate crates as well, rather than in one together.

As far as general puppy care goes, I'd really recommend reading all the articles on this list. It covers pretty much everything you need to know.

BiteyShark · 29/05/2017 06:17

Wolfiefan I know, it's a never ending nightmare on whether they can eat what is in their mouth ( usually found through scavenging ). Think DH is going to have to pick the remaining cherries off the tree today but fortunately it's a young small tree.

totallyliterally · 29/05/2017 07:08

Anyone else keep reading about dog who sleep through and wondering what they're doing wrong?

2 of her litter mates are doing 6-8 hours a night. We are still up for wee /poo a few times.

I do wonder if they're using newspaper though and no crate.

And we are also generally up for the day at 4:45am.

On a more positive note, she was much better in the car yesterday as we went out last night (early evening!) and she was great at a friends house. Did spend a large chunk of it fishing stuff from her mouth from their lawn though.

She is also asking to go out for a wee / poo too which is good.

We have 2nd injections tomorrow, being able to go out is going to be good for us all!!

I'm meant to be back st work tomorrow (work from home) but no idea how that is going to work with her. She does have a long ish morning nap but it varies from an hour to 2.

How do / did you all do with leaving them for work?

BiteyShark · 29/05/2017 09:10

totallyliterally it's hard but try not to compare your dog with others. For example I know people have told me they had toilet training in a week but when you dig further they mean they had no accidents but were taking their dog out all the time, rightly so but that does not mean they competed toilet training. Toilet training to me means the dog asks every time to go out themselves.

Some dogs will sleep through the night at that age but I suspect many don't. Mine didn't but that phase does pass.