Puppy Survival thread part 4

[GooodMythicalMorning]

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

C4 regarding insurance. Things to ask yourself whether to get it or not. Can you afford expensive bills right now? Also if your dog developed a chronic condition and had an accident close together would your finances cope? Would any decisions on treatment be influenced on whether you could afford it or not?

Personally I insure for major disasters so large unexpected bills are covered. If i never claim I see it as good fortune rather than wasted premiums but it is a personal decision and some people prefer to save and take the risk that a big bill doesn't happen before they have a reserve of funds.

Lise07 He's only a baby at 10 weeks. What breed is he? Some are more prone to separation anxiety than others but at his age to be glued to you is what you must expect. You are his security.

I've not left Elfpup alone in the house for more than 20 minutes at 12 weeks old. He's a chilled pup but he sticks to me still like velcro/

We dont leave indy for 3 hrs on his own and he's 24 weeks now. 2 hrs at a push or go somewhere we can bring him. Pic of the boy now.

Lise07 I know quite a few people who've left pups at 10 weeks for three hours at a time but it's not ideal.

I did it from 11 weeks about four times in total then ended up changing my work plans (mainly because flexible working is great in theory but actually leaving the office on time just doesn't happen for me) and now pup is in dog daycare and left for a couple of hours in the morning before he's picked up (he's 17 weeks now). It ended up being too long to leave him and was stressing me out completely so this way just works better for us.

for getting used to being left alone I started really slowly, first sending dc to the shop round the corner (or anywhere out the house as they are so noisy he knew when we were home) and then I would go out the living room and sit on the stairs where he couldn't see me for two minutes, then five minutes, then ten minutes and slowly built up to actually leaving the house. It worked for us quite quickly but I think it's luck sometimes more than anything else.

At 13 weeks mine was left for up to 3 hours before he went to daycare 2-3 times a week. I started leaving him alone for a few mins from day 1, gradually increasing it. I am on the fence with leaving young pups alone for a few hours, whilst it isn't ideal in the grand scheme of things you can't be with them all the time so try and gradually get them used to it.

So pup is going to be 5 months when we need to go out in the evening 5.30 onwards. How long can reasonably leave him without getting a babysitter!!

So this morning we have NO ACCIDENTS

Let's hope it lasts!!

Just to add I left mine alone from early on. I take them to work and need them to be quite settled while I am out on visits so taught her great she can't come everywhere with me from the second she came. She did go through an attention seeking phase but it seems to be calming down now, I watch them on the camera and they are mostly sleeping or wrestling!
Sometimes I put them in the kitchen for half an hours peace and they have learned it's a fact of life and just go to bed now.

I personally couldn't have been with any of them 24/7 so they have had to learn it pretty quickly and luckily no major issues so far.

Antiboop how late will you be out? When I had a night out and was leaving about five pm I got my mum to come sit with pup until about 7.30pm (she gave him his last meal and let him out for a wee etc). Then she put him in his pen and went home and when I got home about half eleven I just let him out again and put him in his crate. If we didn't have the pen then he would have just gone in his crate when mum left. She was happier coming round early and then going home at a sensible time and it seemed to work for pup as well.
He did however waken up at five am which wasn't fun 😴😴😴.

We went out last Friday from 5:30 so we got a pup sitter for 13 week old Lola. They arrived at 6:00 and stayed until 9:00 which is her usual bedtime so her routine wasn't broken at all. We crept in at 1:30am and she was fast asleep with her giant house rabbit minder snoring like a trooper outside the puppy pen.

I agree with Bitey that you have to leave a puppy at least a little bit and work it up. That's what we did with Ddog1. But I think it probably only works if the puppy is OK with the short periods to begin with. Dpup is really happy in her crate so that is a life saver I think. I don't know how people manage puppies without crate training to be honest.

He normally snoozes in the lounge from 7.30 and is then in his crate from about 10. So I suppose we could get someone in until 7.30. He's fine in his crate so shouldn't be a problem. We won't be out too late.

Hello! Can I join in please? Have had new mad puppy for 3 weeks now and feel like life has changed immeasurably!

Thanks for the replies! So I'll keep working on trying to be out of his sight for a few minutes and think while he's still little I might resort to puppy day care instead? It's horrifically expensive... Thinking I should change career!

Lisa07 do you need to do a full day at day care? I do half a day as I actually want BiteyDog to be on his own for a few hours because otherwise he would never be on his own which I think can cause more issues when we have no choice but to leave him. We get a reduction in cost for half a day. Ironically if I didn't do half day care I would want him to get two walks a day which would actually cost me more.

I do half day day care as well (think it was bitey that gave me the idea so thank you for that, I feel so much happier with it). It's only slightly more expensive than I'd be for an hours walk and while he's little ive accepted that it's going to cost me more.

Hello, I was on thread one and two with wolfpup who is now over a year. Two days ago I got wolfpup 2 (9 weeks) and along the way we have acquired a foster imposter Yorkie. So we have gone from being a pet less household to a three dog home in less than a year .
The only problem so far is the logistics of walking two with a 9week old tucked under my arm. This morning Yorkie got in a strop and went home without us, promptly took a wrong turn which is quite difficult on a single track path with no other paths to choose from and ended up in a field full of bullocks who had her backed into a corner by the time I managed to track her down. I had to sort of winch her out by her harness. Meanwhile baby pup got very tired and fell asleep in the armpit of my coat. (3.25kg is really heavy after a couple of kilometres).
The adventures will continue

wolfs sounds like you have your arms full (literally)

Well huge step forward here in dog/cat relations. Elfcat has been horrified that is space is invaded and virtually moved out for 4 days. now it's wet he's coming in more but only going upstairs which is a dog free zone ( fine by me). Last night he actually came in the sitting room saw the pup on DP's lap and jumped up to join him..... quick sniff and nose touch then he jumped down again and sauntered casually out of the room. There is hope they'll get on yet!

Elfpup is now sleeping in the kitchen every night. Moving his crate gradually has worked brilliantly and we've had no crying or problems with him at night at all. My next task is to get him to take his day time naps in it now it's in it's final position.

I just wish the house training was going as well! He's hopeless.

It's the pumpkin parade here today! Would love to take Lexa but it gets packed and there are fireworks at 7.30

I had been planning to do half day but none of the day care around me have any availability and he'd still need to be OK being left at home for 3 hours either side so will have to be a full day.

Elphame - totally feel your pain on the toilet training! I've never had a puppy that's so difficult in so many areas Poos are outside, but wees are just wherever he feels like with no warning and quite often when we've just come back in from outside... Doh!

Thanks for the help on working and stuff - I'll go with the vets suggestion :)

Lise - what breed do you have? It might just ease up as pup gets a bit older - we've got a nearly 5 month old cockapoo who used to get in a total state when left even just for a few mins. If you look somewhere down this thread, you'll see a very similar post from me, worrying about going back to work and leaving him! So I really feel your pain and understand your anxiety. All I can say is that 6 weeks on, I can't get over the difference. Fillypup will never love being left, but he no longer gets into a total state. Yesterday we had to leave him in his crate for 1.5 hours in the morning and again for 2 hours in the early evening and didn't have a single whimper either time,even though that's really not his normal routine at all. So stick with it, and remember he's very little. Where's he sleeping at the moment? Is he alone at night time? I don't have half daycare available around here either, so on empty house days he gets collected around 10 (about 30 mins max after the house is empty), returned for lunch and a rest at 12 (which I know he doesn't like, but has definitely helped with getting him to learn to settle) and then picked up again around 1.30 for another walk until 3.30 when the kids get home from school. It's bloody expensive (so thank goodness we don't need it every day!) but has made all the difference to having a happy pup. And a big added bonus is tons of socialisation with other puppies, which he loves!

Elphame - Fillypup never ever ever sleeps in his crate during the day but as long as he's happy in there at night then I've accepted tripping over him asleep in entirely inconvenient places the rest of the time!

Wolf - wow!!!!!! I'm in awe

Wow Wolf, you've really got your hands full! I'm hoping to get another whippet at some stage as they really do better in multiple dog households. Would it be easier to have something to carry the wolf pup in? I know that I couldn't carry Bluepuppy very far when he was little as he was just too wriggly. The first time I read your post I misread a filed full of bullocks as a field full of bollocks

Hi all, tentatively joining as we have a rescue 4 month old puppy reserved for us pending successful home check which all being well, will happen next week.

I wanted to ask what the essential equipment is for the first few days/weeks? I've been window shopping for the last few days and there's so many different products available and I've no idea if we'll need them or not!

Baby gate, crate or play pen was essential. Only just thinking of getting rid of the crate now he is 1 years old but will keep the baby gate as it is really helpful.

Plenty of kitchen towels for mopping up accidents (even if your puppy is supposedly toilet trained they may regress with the stress of new house). Cheap beds as they may chew them etc.

The usual such as poo bags, bowls, collar, lead and name tag, toys for chewing and distracting. Also decide which vets you want to use as it helps to get a checkup and discuss any flea/worming treatments etc soon after you get them (assuming already vaccinated at that age). Check out insurance companies as well.

I second the baby gate. It was initially for house training but Bluepupoy has developed a taste for carpet so now it's used to keep him out of the carpeted areas of the house.

Don't spend too much on dog beds. Bluepuppy's first bed got thrown out as he wee'd in it. Other dogs enjoy eating beds.

Good luck with your new dog!