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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Puppy Survival Thread Part 6

857 replies

Elphame · 04/03/2018 15:46

As thread 5 is almost full!

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MilkTrayLimeBarrel · 17/05/2018 08:37

Cath2907 good to hear that things do calm down around week 16 - cannot wait! Our pup (14 weeks tomorrow) was driving me bonkers yesterday - biting, barking and trying to eat everything in sight. I guess she is beginning to have sore gums ready for losing/getting new teeth. I was completely in tears by the time DH came home from the stress of it all. Of course, as soon as he came into the house, she calmed down and was all rolling over and kisses for him - well, cuddles and kisses for everyone (including strangers!) but not for me for some reason!

Re PP regarding stairs - ours has now learned to go up and down which is a bit of a relief - only trouble is she goes up at inappropriate times and has to be coaxed down. At least we have got rid of the stair gate which was a real hazard!

Original poster
Elphame · 17/05/2018 09:21

Collywobbles Don't forget to count in the training treat rewards in the amount of food you're giving the pup. I swear Elfpup ate his own weight in dried chicken some days!

Dogs vary so much in what they need. Elfpup has always been given less than the manufacturers recommend on his breeders advice. He gained weight steadily and now is absolutely spot on at almost adult size. He weighed in at 9.5K at 10 months at the vet yesterday with a target adult weight of 9.5-10K. If you have a greedy feeder it's very easy to give too much.

Keep an eye on the weight gain - most of the weight gain is in the first 6 months and it should tail off sharply after that. Ribs should be covered but you should still be able to feel them. I took Elfpup down to the vet every couple of weeks for a weigh in to convince myself I was getting it right.

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Original poster
Elphame · 17/05/2018 09:25

TheBogWitchIsBack Crates can be useful but not mandatory!

It;s handy if they are OK with being crated as vets and groomers use them. Crate training is simply getting your pup to be happy in one. We made a nest for Elfpup in his, he was only put in it for sleeping ( never for punishment) and we'd hide treats in there so he always had a positive experience. He took to it very very easily.

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Iamblossom · 17/05/2018 09:58

hey thebog.

I create trained our daxie pup this time last year until she was housetrained. We are doing the same with our black lab.

I bought a Labrador manual and it goes through it clearly in that, would strongly recommend you buy a puppy book, I pore over mine all the time and read bits out to DH.

We have a crate in our playroom and Blossompup2 sleeps in there. we put him in last night at 10pm, with some bedding and one half covered in a puppy pad. I draped it with a big dark blanket and left him to it.

There is lots of advice about how to get your puppy used to going in, such as feeding it in there and putting treats in there etc

TheBogWitchIsBack · 17/05/2018 10:01

Thanks for your response @Elphame. I was under the impression the crate was used during the house training phase.
Having had dogs as a child but never owned one myself I'm baffled by it, I remember just bringing the pups out into the garden every 15 mins for a few weeks and that was it!

Is that still the key to housetraining? I'm a bit wary of using puppy pads because I feel like it gives them the notion that sometimes it's ok to go in the house and might be confusing.

TheBogWitchIsBack · 17/05/2018 10:03

@Iamblossom I am definitely buying a puppy book. I have been researching the internet but there is so much information.

Iamblossom · 17/05/2018 10:04

what flavour dog are you getting?

TheBogWitchIsBack · 17/05/2018 10:05

Maltese Shih Tzu ...I have heard they are notoriously hard to house break.

Iamblossom · 17/05/2018 10:32

well they say that about Dacshunds too.....and whilst I can only really claim she is housetrained in OUR house, our 1 year old asks to go out and rarely has accidents at home now. [touches wood]

The trick is taking them out every 30 minutes or so, having a key word (we say Do Wee Wees), rewarding immediately if they go to the loo (take treats out in the garden with you) and everyone being consistent with this. They do get it.

Iamblossom · 17/05/2018 10:33

*Dachshunds

TheBogWitchIsBack · 17/05/2018 10:38

That sounds pretty sensible and it was always the way we did it.
I got confused by crate training, I thought the crate was part of the process.
I'm off to purchase a good book! Thank you!

Original poster
Elphame · 17/05/2018 13:28

Us too. Every time he woke from a nap was a key time and then every 30mins to 40 minutes during the day,

People do use crates to "train" them. It relies on dogs being reluctant to wet/soil where they sleep so by putting them in the crate you prevent accidents. This doesn't sit very well with me as pups have tiny bladders and really do need to wee often. Shutting them in so they hold it until they can't any longer must be so uncomfortable for them and flies in the face of the crate being a really nice safe den.

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BiteyShark · 17/05/2018 13:46

I used a massive crate which was an XL for a small/medium sized dog so if he wanted to pee and poo he could have easily found a spot away from where he slept. The benefit for us though to use a crate was that I knew he was safe if we needed to have all the doors open for any reason but didn't want to shut him away from us.

TheBogWitchIsBack · 17/05/2018 14:41

This has been really helpful!
I'd be reasonable to just use the crate at night to limit accidents in the house and short periods if I need to be away from house and can't take her with me?

CollyWombles · 17/05/2018 15:04

I am doing clicker training with Dpup, every time she does her business outside, she gets a click and then a treat. If she goes inside, fine, no click or treat. It's important to click during, not after.

She is really coming alive, biting very muchly and my shoe laces are getting a beating. She has also discovered she can fit under one of my couches so lurks under it and play growls and barks whilst scrabbling her paws out.

Old boy is barking a bit less with his anti bark collar. It's a bit over sensitive though and sprays him when he shakes his head! It's a light mist however, not a full on squirt in the face so it's more irritating for him than anything else. Hope the neighbours will be happier!

Tinkobell · 17/05/2018 20:09

Re: crating. We are currently using a small cat crate for our 10 week Cockapoo....it's lovely and cosy. We leave the crate front wide open. The crate is placed inside our utility room with the main door left open but with a baby stair gate over the room entrance. Pup pads are inside the room.
It works v well. Room to pee away from bed. Room to keep Bed clean. She's been clean now for 2 weeks, no pup pads needed.

CollyWombles · 18/05/2018 09:22

Morning all. Hope everyone managed some sleep!

I am going to take Dpup to the vet today. She is scratching a lot, and I've noticed a couple of very small bald spots on her. I think she might have a touch of dandruff possibly too.

Old boy has not got any less barky. Now Dpup has found her bark, if anything it's worse.

It all seems a bit overwhelming today. I will have to carry Dpup as she hasn't had her second jab yet and she is heavy. I'm worried Old Boy will always hate her, that he feels neglected, that I won't manage to train Dpup well, the neighbours will complain about noise and generally anxious about everything. I feel trapped too as there is no way I can return Dpup, DH and DC would be heart broken and there is no way I can return old boy to the rescue, he was here first, I love him and he doesn't deserve to lose his home because of a choice i made.

Dpup is also in full puppy mode, biting, chewing, barking, whining (causing old boy to go nuts).

Puppy blues yeah?

geekone · 18/05/2018 10:16

@CollyWombles yes puppy blues I think everyone feels trapped initially but it gets better even for me at 12.5 weeks it's better. I feel your pain try carrying and 11 week Giant Schnauzer!

You don't want to return him you just think you do. I had the anxiety I didn't know if I was doing the right things but that passed. DH would have sent him back in an instant he got really stressed by the whole situation and felt stuck in the house if I was taking DS somewhere. It's all ok now though. Hang on in there Flowers and if that doesn't work Gin

Iamblossom · 18/05/2018 10:33

morning all. Day 2 here (not counting first Wednesday afternoon).

BlossPup2 had the same night really as the first - bed at 10pm, cried for 20 mins. Took him for a wee at 1.30am, which he immediately did, cried for 20 minutes. Up for the day at 5am.

He doesn't mess his crate at all, clearly me taking him in the middle of the night and then asking to go at 5am is what he can manage which I think quite frankly is fabulous. BlossPup1 regularly wee'ed and Poo'ed in her crate overnight.

He had his microchip put in this morning, his first vaccination and his razor claws cut! His poos are a bit runny today and the vet said to stop using "treats" to toilet train, and just use his kibble instead, which makes a lot of sense. He is doing great with his toilet training, massively helped by the weather - he can roam our playroom, kitchen, garden and my office which all opens out into the sunshiny garden so it's perfect for catching as much toileting as possible outside. I am saying "WEES WEES" when I take him to the grass and also while he is doing it.

I have also started sit training - just a couple of times twice or so a day. Get down on the floor, hold a piece of kibble really close to his nose so he can sniff it, move it back towards his tail and his nose goes up and his hind quarters go down. Bingo. Grin Have also started getting him used to his collar. He was Hmm at his lead! Grin

He is adorable and we are all smitten. Bit tiiiired though..... Grin

CollyWombles · 18/05/2018 11:00

Thanks geekone, unfortunately I don't drink alcohol so it will have to be decaf coffee!

This morning peaked and I ended up in tears so I think that's the worst over now. I had a call to tell me my austistic DS had climbed over a fence and run out of school again, I had to go find him and bring him back to school. That was the icing on the cake, so things can only get better now!

Iamblossom · 18/05/2018 11:03

That's a lot do deal with colly. Thanks

Bedknobsandhoover · 18/05/2018 11:56

I found newpup training very easy, when he sat down I said Sit! and when he weed I said Wee! Followed up with praise and treats.
I do know that when he gets to pimples and BO he will start slamming doors and ignoring us.

CollyWombles · 19/05/2018 07:25

Help me wise puppy people! Dpup has become a chewing machine. Nothing and no-one is safe. She has hard chew toys, soft chew toys, squeaky chew toys and rope toys But no, my shoes, wall paper, corners of furniture and everyone's feet are much more fun to chew! I distract her where possible with her toys but she loses interest and looks for something else to chew!

BiteyShark · 19/05/2018 07:34

CollyWombles remove everything you can think of as I found that to be the best cure as they don't then get into a habit of chewing things they shouldn't. All of our shoes got locked away in a room (pain in the arse for us but it worked). We had floor to ceiling blinds which he loved to tangle up in and chew so they got removed until he was older and wasn't bothered about them any more.

If he started to chew anything like doors/furniture he got removed from the room etc every single time.

In the end we didn't have a very chewy destructive dog because we always removed him or the temptation. I think we lost a couple of floor mats in the end but nothing else.

Iamblossom · 19/05/2018 08:03

Morning [zzzzzzz]Confused

4.30am wake up call this morning. He had messed his crate which he hasn't done before.

Let him out and then I pulled the sofa bed out and we all went back to sleep till 7.15 (blosspup1 too).

Do you think this is a bad idea and he will think we can do this forever or am I over thinking things?