Puppy Survival Thread Part 6

[Elphame]

As thread 5 is almost full!

Hello all. Can I please join?

DDog joined our family on Monday at 8 weeks (He is 9 weeks tomorrow). He is a gorgeous GSP and I expected it to be like having another baby (which it sort of is) BUT... I didn't expect just how hard it would be to keep the children's excitement levels in check.

They absolutely love him and it's great fun playing with him outside, but when it is raining (like today) it is hard. Especially as we can't take him out yet! Exhausted

Hi TheRealMBJ. I know where you are coming from, I have 4 DC that all love my GSP/Lab pup. I joined a fantastic group of FB for dog training and it had some links to help children with dogs. I've attached a screen shot of a poster I went through with my four. I also let each DC buy a toy each for the pup and they play with the pup with their individual toys which help with the nipping.

I haven't crate trained my pup but she does have a crate which is always open. She takes herself into it when she wants a sleep and I've told the kids they are not allowed to wake a sleeping pup. They love her but they don't like the biting so I've explained to them that if pup doesnt get enough sleep, she gets over tired and bites a lot more.

I have put on weight from having a puppy! Because she is too young for walks, other than her toilet breaks and the odd trip to town where I carry her, I barely leave the house! Can't wait until she has had all her vacs and we can get out more!

colly would you not leave puppy for 20, 30 minutes? Good to get them used to some time alone..

Ours has been pretty much with us the whole time but we have started to leave him with a kong in his crate for up to 45 minutes at a time this last week.

He will have an hour in a crate tomorrow morning while i go to the gym..

Have been in touch with the owners of puppy's siblings, they all seem to have given their dogs different vaccinations than our vet uses, and their's have already had their second jabs and can walk from next week!

We won't be able to walk our puppy u too 29th June, Jesus we'll all be going mad by then.

Thank god he will have a couple of days a week at the puppy minder in that time to give us (me) a break.

Anyone else's pup been flat out all day due to the weather?

We want to take her for a walk but don't want to wake her and make her more tired by taking her out as she's been flat out most the day.

Er yes

Joining your conversation as a first time dog owner! We picked a puppy on Saturday and he’ll be coming home in 5+ weeks. (That’s when he’s 8 weeks, but we are playing it by ear with the breeder)

He is a la-chon. Mum Lhasa and Dad Bichon. It’s happened a bit suddenly, really. We were semi looking for a dog and had registered with several rescues. But my husband has allergies, we already have cats and children too and we just weren’t getting anywhere. We spent time with these pups and my husband had literally no reaction, not even 1 sneeze! They are also being raised with cats, so no issues that end. My kids are 9 and 12 so I’m pretty confident that they are old enough to share some of the burden!

So, questions. Is there a book I could buy that will give me the basics?
We will confine pup to living room at first (cats have kitchen and cat flap- worried Pup would escape!) using a stair gate.
Do we need to crate train, or just provide a crate for safe space and sleeping overnight?
Dog will eventually sleep in dds room, but don’t want her up all night housetraining, so was thinking I’d keep him downstairs until he’s trained. ( plus dd has only new carpet in house 😂) If I sleep down there with him is that going to confuse him? Or should I just set my alarm a lot but stay upstairs?
Any advice on introducing our cats? We have one very old man (15ish) who sleeps a lot and a very feisty 2 year old who hates everyone and everything. I’m more worried about her attacking the dog to be honest.

I have 5 weeks (ish) to learn as much as I can! Then pretty much 7 weeks to try and nail housetraining (school hols!) before our normal life resumes. Our best friends are taking a puppy from the same litter so at least I’ll be going through it with a friend and we’ll both dog sit for each other when needed.

Any help and advice gratefully received

UnicornPug I didn't use any books but maybe someone else can recommend them. I did lots of research online but had to throw a lot of that out the window when pup didn't read the same guides .

Whether you stay with him at night and gradually withdraw or set alarms is entirely up to you. Everyone does it different.

No idea about cats but I have seen those with them advocating safe spaces for the cats to retreat to and rewarding the puppy everytime they ignore the cat.

7 weeks to 'fully' housetrain might be opptumistic as you will see from this thread and others before it that it can take a lot longer than that for some to get it so you might still have accidents. When you say normal life will resume does that mean you will be out for some time after 7 weeks? If so it will depend on how long you are out on whether pup can hold it for that long.

Crate training to me is getting your puppy used to the crate and seeing it as a safe place. So yes if you are using a crate you may have to do work to get them used to it depending on how the puppy takes (or not) to staying in it.

Thank you for replying! Normal life just means back to school run and activities! Dh works from home, but also travels. No idea of his diary that far in advance. I am in and out, my diary not set either! Obviously I’d arrange a sitter if we’ll all be out all day. I’m not expecting miracles but I am hoping that 7 intense weeks might break the back of it. We have wooden floors downstairs so at least I don’t have to worry about carpets. I knew getting a puppy would be hard, I’m just keen not to create bad habits! As a first time dog owner there’s a lot to learn....

The toileting will I think very much depend on your puppy so you might have to play it by ear. I was certainly still having to be vigil in watching him at that age to avoid any accidents.

Also on the working from home. I do that as well but it was very hard to keep an eye on the puppy (not just toileting but chewing stuff they shouldn't, crying, zoomies around the room bashing into things and just generally being demanding) and try and work especially if you need to take calls or have meetings. You may want to think about how your DH might manage that if you aren't around as it was very stressful and I was often glad to have a day in the office when pup went to daycare. Things to think about is maybe a playpen if he can't be watching all the time.

Oh, we’ll definitely be playing a lot of things by ear. I quite liked the newborn stage with my babies so I’m hoping I’ll find the puppy stage manageable with good advice. That’s why I’m trying to get as much information as possible. No rose tinted glasses here! I’m currently trying to work out where to rehome an immensely sentimental piece of furniture as it’s the only thing I’d be devastated about if it got chewed. And it’s a handmade rocking crib made of wood, so I’m thinking chances are high!

If I rehome the crib, we’d have space for a crate and playpen so that seems like a good call. Thank you, I really appreciate your advice!

Playpens have two uses I found. Not only to keep the puppy in but also to cordon off areas so the puppy can't get to it. We actually had two playpens for that reason (the ones you can configure and open up). So maybe if you don't or can't move your sentimental piece of furniture, could you surround it in a playpen until pup is much older.

Hi unicorn.

We recently got a black lab and I did buy a book on labs, very useful, covers everything from bringing puppy home, feeding, training, typical characteristics, crates, illness, the lot.

He sleeps in a crate at night and I do put him in there with a kong/chew when I go out for short periods to stop him chewing curtains/the sofa/our other dog/stuff he shouldn't.

We have a cat but she knows how to take care of herself and they soon learn her claws aren't to be messed with.

Re toilet training he is very good. We have the odd wee incident but mainly when we are distracted. If he gets taken out regularly and asked to wee wee he pretty much does it on command - we treat immediately, keep kibble biscuits on the windowledge outside for that purpose.

We have had him for three weeks.

He wakes at 5am every day so be prepared for sleep deprivation.

Pup is now 4 months old and progressing well! The biting seems to have dropped off a bit but she still hasn't lost any of her baby teeth and I though this would have started to happen by now. She has plenty of chews, ropes, antlers, etc. No accidents in the house for 10 days now which is brilliant! We have a dog door in the kitchen and she has got the hang of going out during the night whenever she wants so are having relatively peaceful nights.

Last night DH was away and she came up to bed with me and went straight to sleep; however, woke up at 2 and wanted to cuddle and play. I resisted but she was so fidgety and was pacing around that I put her in her room behind the stairgate at 3 and she was quiet until 6. Not too bad - I think we are getting there!!

Hey all, Dpup is doing fine but I think I'm having a meltdown! She is ten weeks now.

I'm struggling with a lack of routine for me, Dpup has hers but I'm struggling to keep on top of the housework as Dpup wants to follow me everywhere and if she can't see me she barks which sets off my old boy dog and I worry about the neighbours. I can't go anywhere most days as it's still another two weeks until her second vaccination and another week after that until she can go out.

I have 4 DC, three of which could help watch her whilst I do the housework but she is housetraining and they end up not paying attention so she will have an accident. DH comes home from work but once he is on the xbox, I have to watch her and take her out.

I love her to bits and deep down I don't mind feeling solely responsible for her, I'm just tired and I'm a bit of a control freak so feel lost at sea so to speak. It will get better right?

Hi colly - I feel your pain to some extent, I am starting to go a bit stir crazy. I am home a lot at the moment as I am between roles at work.

Can you not shut puppy downstairs or at the bottom of the stairs behind a stair gate with a kong and take old boy upstairs with you to do housework up there? Similarly, in his crate and shut the door of that room and have old boy with you while you potter?

I have taken both dogs out in the car to my parents place and allowed puppy out on the patio in a lead, to change things up a bit and give us all a change of scene.

I do leave them both for up to an hour, one loose in the room, and puppy shut in his crate, both with a kong each, so I can go to the gym or swim. I also leave poppy in his crate with a kong to walk my older dog for up to 45 minutes.

I have two sons, 11 and 13 and as these are family dogs they do get told when they get home from school, that they are in charge and if there is a wee on the floor it is their fault for not letting the puppy out regularly enough. They have it slightly easier than you sound you do though as with the weather we have had since we got him we have been able to leave the door open and he does go out when he needs to. He is an 11 week black lab.

The boys will also he in charge this Saturday night and all day Sunday as my husband and are going out. They tend to do it in shifts, so one of them can play the PS4 for an hour upstairs and then they swap.

And we still have a week to go before his second jab and then another two weeks after that till he can be walked. I am using the time to do as much lead training as possible so it won't all be new to him when we go out for our first walk.

Going to be a long night I fear. I’m puppy sitting a friends rescue dog. It’s the first time she’s been left since they adopted her so she’s staying over in preparation for a longer stay at the end of the month.

She’s Elfpups favourite playmate and knows me and the house very well, we’re definitely the best choice but she does have some baggage. She’s definitely on edge so I just hope she can settle....

How did the night go elphame? Hope your guest has settled more today.

We’re in why have you made me hurt land, with pup returning from vets post spaying. I weighed up all the pros and cons and decided to proceed with her being nearly 7 months; but am hating the sad eyes right now.

We survived thank you! Although since she went home Elfpup has been a holy terror.

I've tried every car restraint for dogs I can find - even imported from the US at great cost. None will stop him climbing into my lap. Do I keep the car or the dog? I clearly can't have both....

Hello everyone! Permission to join puppy chat?? 4 month lab here. Silly question... for walking its 5 mins per month, so currently 20 mins, I get that...but is that twice a day and can I lump it together for 40 mins? Is it on lead or off lead? Worried about ligaments/arthritis etc and just need to get it straight in my head. Thanks!

Imnotverygoodatallthis you can do it twice a day. Don't lump it in one go as you risk joint issues etc.

I adopted that approach for on lead walking because the puppy had no choice but to keep up with us when walking. But for off lead walking I was more relaxed about the time as he could bumble along and if he felt tired then he could stop so we did more than the recommended amount but built it up slowly.