Puppy Survival thread part 4

[GooodMythicalMorning]

Puppy's getting bigger!: continuation of Bitey's thread. If anyone wants to join feel free.

Oh I do the poo study too!
I swear I wasn't like this with my kids!
We have seen a major poo shift too as she's on raw now.
I don't comment when she poos. She views that as a private thing and doesn't even like eye contact when she's going! Wee I do praise. It's great to have her go on cue. When we show or go the the vet or in a pub or cafe. Really useful!

Omg yes the eye thing I have to look at him sideways whilst he stares at me when he poos . We should write a book about the wonderful, bizarre, good and bad things about the real life experiences of owning a puppy on here

Wasn't it you who shared the winter night toilet training with me? The sleep deprivation has affected my brain!
"Highlights" so far include finding the mummified bird, breaking a lead and bolting across the main road, a visit to the emergency vet after I quicked her, teething and the frozen sheep poo and all the times o have ended up wearing her. (She's 50kg now!)

I remember the bird [boak]. BiteyDog is hovering around 13kg and is bloody strong when he wants to yank my arm off on the lead so can't imagine 50kg .

The lows have definitely been when he lost recall but he is now so lovely and cheeky with his personality and I can read him like a book with his different "play ball with me", "get out of bed and feed me" and "you have ignored me so I have run off with your shoe" look

Pizzapup does a little tap dance with her back legs when she poos.
Yesterday's was wet to say the least. Any tips on how to stop them from eating everything they come across on walks? She doesn't eat poop or slugs ans snails thankfully but she eats all food she comes across.

Pizzapup is 17.6kg and really strong, she sits on us like a lapdog, i think a 50kg one would suffocate me

Wow - she's massive!

I'm definitely way more toilet obsessed that I was with dcs, although I probably spent less time worrying about stepping in theirs....! I've gone with "toilet" as a generic wee/poo description but always worry I'm going to distract him mid-action if I start the praise too early.....?!

Slugs, snails, pears, mud, it all goes on for Fillypup. Things have been distinctly runny here for the last 2 days. And I had a comedy call from my aupair at work yesterday because the dog had puked green stuff everywhere and DS was worried he was about to die.....

But he's absolutely delicious and suffers in silence as all 3 dcs randomly scoop him up for cuddles and to cart him around

My baby puppy is one!
Are you kicking me off the thread?!?!
We went to the beach. She had a great time. Shattered now!
And yes the rosette says birthday princess. Well she is!

Happy birthday WolfiePup

Happy Birthday Wolfiepup 🌷I still lurk about reading the thread and adding my tuppence worth in sometimes. Cocopup is now fifteen months old and lovely but the most active, nosy and confident dog I have ever had. Through her one to one training for recall and learning to be more polite to other dogs and recent foray into agility classes I have learned more about dog behaviour, needs etc than in the previous twenty five years of dog ownership and with an empty nest am guessing she does a good job of filling it.

Also,my dog sitter has an Irish wolfhound, elderly lady who Cocopup is hugely in awe of. One look is now required to point cocodog in the direction of her bed when she exceeds the mark.

Coco how are you finding the agility classes? I have just started 1-1 with my spaniel as I thought it would be good to try something other than gun dog training but still wondering if it's something that's easy to do without lots of practice at home outside of the lessons. Do you also think it helps with general obedience e.g. helps with the dog being interested in following commands etc.

Happy birthday Wolfie - it's reassuring to know that things will get easier!!

Pup has started barking a lot, especially at strangers that come into the house or into my mums house (she watched her one of my work days). I'm hoping it's a phase but might phone the dog trainer and ask for any tips. We've had two weeks of puppy classes and I'm trying to remind myself this is supposed to be fun - while being in slight shock about just how much work is involved in training a dog (I naively thought it would be easy 🙈)

Happy 1st Birthday Wolfiepup! 🎈

Also,my dog sitter has an Irish wolfhound, elderly lady who Cocopup is hugely in awe of. One look is now required to point cocodog in the direction of her bed when she exceeds the mark.

Oops, pressed same post again. Pic is not of dogs bed, that is her totally exhausted after being at the dog sitters the last time....dog sitter also has 20 week old puppy.
Bitey, I suppose anything you do with your dog improves the bond and also obedience and, yes lots of practice at home if you were serious about it. I am in two minds, cocodog is so distracted by the other young dogs but does focus when it is her turn but that may improve if we keep at it and getting easily distracted is the behaviour I would really would like to improve. On the other hand we still do daily training out on walks and in the garden and gets plenty of exercise. Do we need an extra activity?

Coco yes my hesitation is that the gun dog training is better for obedience but the agility is probably more fun and fitting everything in is hard work and tiring.

I love that picture Coco and it always makes me smile to see them on their back as they are definitely ‘comfortable’

Bitey, we have only been to two of a six week beginners course in the evening so we will finish it and see how we feel. Dog and I both get very tired with all the concentration and she and I are normally curled up with a 🍷and a tripe stick come 7pm but the class I want to attend is in the afternoon so that may suit us better and can take the place of an afternoon walk. Is biteydogs recall solid now?
Abhorsen, I desensitised cocodog to the front door. Started in the kitchen with her behind stair gate , sit, wait go to door open it, shut it , return and treat. Do it when you are on your own so no one to bark at, keep practising daily until dog sits quietly whilst you open and shut door then progress to practising with the open stair gate. I have a mat in the hall where she gets directed to sit and wait whilst I answer the door. I would then move on to getting a family member who lives with you to be the other side of the door coming in and giving dog treat. In the meantime shut her in the house somewhere before answering the door if you can and ignore any barking. She will pick up that barking equals nothing whilst sitting quietly equals treats and getting to greet visitors. However I am still struggling to stop cocodog from jumping all over visitors once they are in the house.🙄

Coco his recall is pretty much back to where it was before he hit his teenage rebellion. He also just isn’t interested in running off anymore as we play ball and hunt the ball when out (with an occasional practice recall). We are often pestered by other off lead dogs and now he ignores them as he just wants me to throw the ball for him. I can honestly say I am so very relieved he got over his running off into the forest .

Happy birthday Wolfie pup

Hope Wolfiepup had a good birthday PizzaPup's estimated birthday is bonfire night.

Thanks Coco that sounds sensible. I think half my problem is no one rings the bell or knocks - almost all my visitors just walk in (as I realise the only people that ever really visit are family and close friends).

Should I be washing pup when he is dirty? I'm brushing him a lot to make sure he's used to it but with all the rain recently his fur under his mouth and his legs is looking a bit grubby. I was ignoring it but my neighbour asked me tonight if he was going to be getting a bath so I'm now paranoid that he's filthy and smelly 🙈😳.

I think the biggest similarity with having a baby is the constant I requested 'advice' and second guessing myself - haven't don't it this much for years.

I rinse my dog down when he is particularly dirty rather than shampoo him but he does go to the groomers every 6 weeks.

Bitey, what sort of coat does your pup have?

Abhorsen, we just rub with towels when dirty and trying to bath once a month. I got grooming wipes from pets at home and the mousse shampoo that you don't have to rinse off to try to keep in top of it.

Top tip for bathing is put peanut butter (dog friendly) on the inside of the bath and that distracts pup

He’s a working cocker spaniel so quite a fine coat but I get it clipped short, particularly on his legs and underneath to avoid the stinky dirty spaniel look . It also means I can just easily rinse most of the dirt of after a muddy walk.

Abhorsen, still desensitise whether they knock or not, can't hurt. I am lucky that cocodog tends towards over friendliness but she is really calm now when delivery men call and she loves our postlady!
She is also a fur bag, so after her afternoon walk in the woods with mud I rinse her legs and tummy in warm water in the utility sink. She has got used to this with treats, I dry her and then she gets her supper.
Like biteydog, she goes to groomers regularly.