Does anyone fancy a puppy survival thread part 3

[BiteyShark]

Continuation of the support thread.... anyone is welcome whether they have new or older puppies, just want a chat or are battling with ongoing puppy problems.

I thought I would start this thread off as I am hoping it might be the last one I need support from as BiteyPup is now 9.5 months old and we have survived the early puppy months and his teenage antics seem to be subsiding. Still working on our relationship and recall but it's getting better and can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel (fingers crossed)

Newbie pup owner here. 11 week old rescue lurcher. We're on day 3 and I'm knackered!!

The ups:

He's adorable.
Took to his crate like a dream, sleeps about 6/7 hours a night without accidents. I actually think he would go longer but DH gets up so early for work and it wakes him up.
Very gentle and loving and sociable. Has little bursts of madness and zooms around the garden chasing footballs.
Has a nice little, sleep, toilet, eat, play routine.
We've done a couple of very short car journeys and he's getting better with each one.
He's more afraid of the cat than it is of him

The downs:
Runny bum (have taken advice over the phone from the vet so hoping it resolves itself soon)
Although we haven't had many accidents in the house I think that's because we're out in the garden a lot and I take him out constantly. I feel like I might spend the rest of my life in the garden saying "go wee wees". I'm worried I'm not giving him the opportunity to show me he wants to go out IYSWIM. Also he's a bit of a velcro pup and won't exit the house in front of me and if the cat is out there he turns tail and hides in his crate!
He hasn't had his 2nd vax yet so it's a while before we can get out properly and go to training classes.
Did I mention I'm bloody knackered?

Monkey I was literally about to post an almost identical comment. I'm on day 4 and am exhausted. I too spend every second in the garden saying 'wee wee'. He's been brilliant and I adore him, but his evening crazy episodes are getting very very tiring.

And the house is a shit tip because there's just no time. They weren't kidding when they said a puppy is like having a newborn......... Nggggg.

Thank god the weather is good or I'd be living in the kitchen, at least I've been able to sit in the sunshine! I do miss the sofa though!

It's too hot for my bulldog pup. I want rain and more breeze

My pup is almost 11 weeks old (wow - not sure how that happened) and in general things are calming down. He's still usually up once in the night but I've been going to bed quite early so last time I take him out has been earlier).
We're having a real problem with the nipping and biting, I feel like it's getting worse. If he nips the dc I usually pick him up and put him in his pen. If he nips me then I ether ignore him or put him in his pen depending on whether he stops or not.
Is there anything else we should be doing? Part of me thinks it's just teething but part of me worries that he'll never stop 😳

Abhorsen the nipping does calm down eventually. Timeouts were the only thing that worked for me but yes age does make a difference. I think from memory around the 4-5 month mark the nipping dramatically decreased with mine.

To those that say they are exhausted those early weeks were brutal for me. Glitter yes to the house being a tip, I have recently had to employ a cleaner because with the dog I don't have as much time to keep the house clean coupled with the fact that the dog makes the house dirtier as he is a mud magnet. I wish I had paid for a cleaner sooner as it would have made my life much easier .

BiteyDog is on enforced rest today as he was limping on and off yesterday. The vet did warn us that this might happen going from little activity to freedom again. Yet another thing to worry about

Indy very nippy at the mo. Yesterday he nipped my toe in the garden and made it bleed. Hope he stops this soon as he's a lovey apart from this

GooodMythicalMorning they are land sharks

How's he doing today Bitey?

Regards the biting - I also did time outs but also try swapping something in if it seems like play behaviour. I had toys everywhere, on shelves, on bookcases etc that I could grab when pup was getting bitey and swap the toy in instead of my hand! so I'd say 'no' when they bite, offer the toy instead and then reward when they play. Remember not only do you have to teach them what not to do but also what you want them to do instead.

Fab day today - this will totally out me but had to share this photo. He got himself an award for making fab progress over the weekend! His first trophy! He looks very serious in this pic ha not his personality at all!

SkeletonPup looks very proud (probably thinks where is my bone after all my hard work ).

BiteyDog seems a bit better although as he always has his nose to the floor it is hard sometimes to work out if he is limping or just hunting. We have only done exercise in the garden today and the pampered pooch has been lifted of the sofa everytime he wanted to go down . Will try a walk tomorrow and hope he was just a bit stiff from his new found freedom.

Monkey pup has been with us 5 days now and is generally doing really well. But previously where he would take himself off to his crate for naps he now seems reluctant to go in there and is sleeping next to it instead. He cried for about 5 minutes last night when I put him in there for bed but did settle and stayed settled until this morning.

Should I try to encourage him back in his crate for naps and for being able to leave him for short spells? He seems to be becoming more reluctant to be left alone too. If I leave the kitchen and shut the stair gate he cries and barks. Feeling a tad panicky and overwhelmed by the enormity of it all if I'm honest but mostly about getting the separation bit right.

Oh but on the positives we've been practising "sit" and "lie down" and he is so quick to learn! We've also done a few very short car journeys and he's getting better at those too (car journey on picking him up wasn't great!). Plus no accidents in the house since Friday but that is probably because we get him out regularly not because he shows us he wants to go out!

Thanks for the reassurance that the nipping will stop eventually, sounds like we're doing the right things so need to just keep on with it.
Hope biteydog continues to recover and is back to full energy for you soon.

We start puppy classes next week and I'm looking forward to getting some help on training, he's really good at sit but can't get him to lie down at all - unless he's going to sleep!

Today's my first day back at work (part time and still reduced my hours for this week) and the dog walker is coming round to play with him half way through my work day. I'm hoping it all goes ok but slightly stressed!! He's really tired as we did a lot of visiting people yesterday so he had lots of new places and gardens to explore which I'm hoping means he'll be nice and settled today.

monkeywithacowface my dog has both a bed inside and outside the crate and would pick which one in the daytime depending on how he felt. He goes in the crate at night and when I need him to in the day for safety. If he slept outside of it in the day I didn't bother moving him.

He might be getting worse when you leave him because he is starting to bond with you. I would just keep working on praising and rewarding him when he is quiet behind the stair gate or in the crate.

Abhorsen mine has never really got lie down and I haven't pushed it as personally I think mastering sit/stay is the most useful command of them all. I am sure pup will be fine when you leave but yes it is very stressful as you can't help worrying about them.

The bonding thing makes sense Biteyshark. I'm trying to encourage the kids to spend more time with him, he's like my shadow at the minute!

Abhorsen my pup is a bit rubbish at down as well. I also used the technique of redirecting biting and Bluepuppy got past the Bitey stage very quickly. Good luck with puppy school

Lovely photo of your beautiful pup Skeleton You must be proud.

We have recall progress! I've been training it with treats at home. On the weekend I took Bluepuppy to the local whippet meet up at the beach and I got recall at the beach with at least 20 other Whippets around and all off leash. Such a good boy

Well done bluepup and to do it with lots of distractions is very good

We start puppy classes next week too. So far he can do sit reliably and lie down, stay, stand, paw and 'go through' a little less reliably.

He traumatised ds this morning by humping his leg! Other than that the nipping is ok but trying redirection too.

He sleeps through and we haven't had any accidents for a week now. He goes and stands by the door if he needs a poo.

So my question on house training - at what age do they only need to go once or twice a day?

Mine needs to toilet (pee) several times a day but just poos in the morning and at night unless he has a bad tummy. I'm not sure if he would toilet any less if he wasn't at day care or at home with me on the other days.

Hi all,
I have finally caught up with the thread as we have been away on holiday! We had a great time and yokopup came with us. Call us crazy but it really did work out great. It was a driving holiday camping in France, he loves the car so that was not a worry at all, usually he travels in the boot but with all the packing he was between the two DCs in the back seat, taking it in turns to rest his head on their laps.

First couple of nights in the tent he reacted to sounds outside but sleeping close to us that soon stopped.

Biggest thing he experienced was a canoe trip loved it, he just seems to take everything in his stride. He loves water but won't go in swimming, he is more of a paddler

Our biggest worry on the way back was finding a vet to do the de-worming that you need for the pet passport. We initially called one who wanted €120. Called another one who charged €30 consultation fee and €7.60 for the medicine. He was really lovely

So for anyone thinking of bringing their dogs on holiday I say do it, It was also really easy to bring him everywhere in France so he is now a very experienced restaurant/pub dog

Lovely to read all your updates!

Another episode of explosive poo from pup. Overnight in his crate poor thing.

I discovered several half eaten apples from our tree in the garden this morning so I suspect that is the cause. He went back to bed and refused to move until lunchtime, poor thing.

Yoko sounds like a fun holiday and I had wondered how easy the pet passport thing was as we had discussed going to France with the dog at some point.

Best we have the same issue at the moment with apples from next doors tree. Despite cutting the overhang back some still fall in our garden. Fortunately BiteyDog knows he should not have them so shows me them in his mouth expecting a treat as an exchange .

I gave booked a short 1-1 beginners agility training session this week to see if I like it. Apparently they train for competition rather than fun agility so not sure whether that is what I want but will do a couple of sessions to get a feel for it.

Bitey I would absolutely go with a competition class over a 'for fun' class. It just means that they know what they're doing and will do it properly. So many agility classes pop the dogs over equipment and then say job done but there's so much more to it - I would take that as a good sign of a club that knows what it's doing. I hope you enjoy the session! I've put pups name down on the waiting list for the next foundation level agility class.

blue wow that recall is definitely something to celebrate! So many struggle with this so definitely a big achievement. Well done both of you!

yoko that holiday sounds fabulous! Definitely something I would consider in the future!

That's good to know Skeleton about the different agility classes as I wasn't sure whether it was the right type or not.