Puppy Survival Thread Part 6

[Elphame]

As thread 5 is almost full!

@MuddyWellyNelly no, the vet said he was good to go straight away, just apart from the water.

11 weeks now here and he's no closer to bring toilet trained. If I didn't remember to take him out he would pee on the floor. But then he's completely dry at night 😕

@MuddyWellyNelly if he was up barking and needing poos in middle of night every chance he had a bad tummy, ours did the same 2 nights in a row - literally out of nowhere. We thought he was being naughty and playing up but then we realised he was poorly.
Vets gave us some probiotic and super plain gastro-friendly food and it solved within a day, he also had Giardisis as well though (parasite) so needed medicine. If his tummy is poorly I'd go to vets to get medicine,/checked - to save your sanity!

Hmmm interesting @fizzledays. I'm more experienced with horses, and the signs of tummy trouble I'd expect from them would be off their food or diarrhoea. When I poop scooped this morning all his poos were firm and his greediness continues unabated. What signs did you have yours wasn't well?

I am conscious I didn't do as much training yesterday as normal so he was maybe less tired and less well fed. Also our chimney seemed really smoky last night. We've booked it in to be swept but wondering if the dog was upset by the smell. I also kept going out to check it late evening. So maybe a combination of factors. He's been crated several times today when DH shut himself in the study and I went out, and he's been quiet as a mouse. And then we all left him for a bit and he was quiet when I crept out of the car. But as soon as car doors got slammed I heard barking. Ah I don't know. Will see how tonight goes.

@MuddyWellyNelly ah if they were firm then maybe not...our boy had a runny tummy so we figured out quickly something was wrong.
Has he always done it or literally just that random night??
It's only when he was poorly he got us up for poos ,first week was wee but we took water bowl away from him overnight and that made a huge difference. Not sure what to suggest for middle of the night poos! Feed him earlier maybe?
Sounds like you had a busy household as well which always leaves ours a bit confused and can unsettle them!
My biggest bit of advice is not to pander to them when a lot is going on. We had builders in and I made sure he was settled with me when it was noisy but I didn't react or make a fuss when there was a lot of noise. He's now not phased by anything really (except the hoover!!!!)

Thanks @fizzledays. That was the first night he'd barked since we got him. Last night was better. Nothing till 5 when he whined, let him out and he had a poo. But then barking at 6 (another poo), 6.30 when the cat came downstairs (a pee, but DH had to practically force him) and then DS woke us all at 7.15. I realise that anything after about 6 is probably fair game but I'm not a morning person, plus I don't want him to associate barking with getting up and fed.

I don't think we are particularly precious around him, but it's easy to see that they train us quicker than the other way around.

Re the hoover, we just threw treats on the floor around it when hoovering. He now just sits beside it waiting for the odd random bit of kibble. Using a brush on the other hand is a disaster 

I am however wondering about his ears as he seems a bit scratchy. He also has a couple of red spots inside his back legs. Does anyone have an ear cleaner they recommend? Will try that first.

(I've scoured carefully for fleas and can't see any sign, I don't think it's that)

MuddyWellyNelly, I hope you get a respite from the barking soon. I haven't had much sympathy from other school mums when I tell people my puppy wakes up at 5:30 - 6:30. I usually have to drag my children out of bed at 7:30.

How does he get on with your cat? I think our puppy has friendly intentions to the cats - she wags her tail at them - but she has a habit of grabbing one of them by the scruff of the neck and I'm worried she'll hurt him either intentionally or unintentionally. They're only 4 months old so are indoors all the time at the moment. One cat is much braver than the other and sometimes goes to sleep in the puppy's bed. I also have to keep an eagle eye on the litter tray as cat poo appears to be a dog delicacy.

Ha yes @GhostsToMonsoon you are being paid back for having kids who love a lie in. My DS slept to 8 once. Once!

The puppy/cat relationship is mainly about avoidance. We used to have 3 cats but sadly lost 2 within the last year. The others would both have stood up to a dog but we weren't sure how this one would be. However the puppy arrived, she hissed at him, stood her ground and swiped at him. The main thing is she hasn't run away so he hasn't figured out you can chase them! That said with all the doors closed/stair gates, they don't interact much, but they do seem to tolerate each other. The important thing is not to force it and ensure the cats can escape.

My eldest son was a terrible sleeper as a baby, but morphed into a child who has always liked a lie-in so these early dark mornings have come as a bit of a shock!

Most of the time we have a kind of feline/canine timeshare of different parts of the house. However there are some times when they're all in the same room together. One of the cats hisses and fluffs himself up and the other is more laid back. They have figured out that puppies can't climb so the sofa is safe. We had to move the cat food up to a work surface so the puppy didn't eat it. Our previous cat was quite timid and would have hated a puppy.

Ha in our house the puppy (14 week old vizsla) can very definitely climb on to the sofa. The cat on the other hand is the worst cat in the world and cannot jump on to a work surface to save her life 

What breed is your puppy?

She's a miniature labradoodle. She'll get quite a lot bigger whereas the kittens won't get that much bigger.

Omg it feels like one thing after another 🙈 we've started putting a bit of different food mixed in as we wanted to try and change him to a "better" one as advised by a few people...is it a coincidence that he suddenly now has very gunky eyes which can be linked to allergies/food intolerances?? I can't go to the vets for a 3rd time in a week 🙈🙈🙈

Why do so many dog chews etc say suitable from 4 months? Pup had stolen a hide chew thing from my mum's older dog and loves it, just not sure whether he should have it 

Joining as new pup arrived yesterday morning. First day went fine, one peeing accident at 9pm but otherwise dry. He screams very loudly when in the crate initially, but calms down after a few minutes. He doesn't howl or cry at night (so far), regardless of whether you get him out. I've been waking him up a couple times during the night to have a wee, but breeder is now saying this is a bad idea and he should be left all night. I don't agree. I don't want him to go in his crate, and it's been out, wee, crate each time with no whining or funny business.

What do you guys think? I haven't cracked his routine yet, which is annoying. It's been muddy and wet here, Ennpup hasn't peed since 6:30am, and he smells horrendous due to rolling around in garden mud/eating leaves/digging. Help me keep my sanity place especially as I'm back at work tomorrow (home).

Tax attached

Enni2S I used to wake my puppy as well as he could never hold it for long even at night. There is a middle ground though if you wanted to try that in between waking and leaving them all night. You could use a baby monitor if you are not in the same room and as long as he is noisy enough when he rises to wake you, you could just go to him when he stirs if you could get there before he toilets.

Hi everyone, had my puppy for 10 days now. I’ve never had a dog before so on a bit of a steep learning curve.
It’s hard work isn’t it and the house looks like a bombs hit it.
Best night of sleep last night, from 11.00 til 6.00, then back in his crate for another hour or so.
Struggling with him barking when I’m out of site (upstairs) and if I put him in his downstairs crate for a bit (eg pop out for milk) he barks. Loudly. Hoping this will get better.

Hello Enni2S and Fishypieandmash. My puppy can't seem to go the whole night without needing a wee. It was very annoying last night, as she went outside, did a wee, then came in and pooed on the floor.
It's definitely hard work. I've only had cats before and they're no trouble at all in comparison!

@ghoststomonsoon I'm not sure whether Ennpup can hold it all night. He didn't make any noise last night, I set alarms and woke him at set intervals. I was planning to phase them out over the next two weeks. I've had him in his crate today if he doesn't go for a wee at X hour intervals, and he might have slightly better bladder control than I was anticipating. So far Ennpup's day has been as follows:

6:30am wake/double poo/wee
Play until 7am
7am breakfast
7:15 poo
Crate
7:30am toilet attempt (nothing)
Crate
8am toilet attempt (nothing)
Crate
9.15am wee
Play until 10am
Some training time
Play in bathroom and bath socialisation
Brush
11:15 am crate

So he doesn't seem to go to the loo more than every 3.5/4 hours. He is 8 weeks old. I'm gonna take him out now for a toilet break, and then he's going in the puppy carrier for a walk around the village

My breeder (I have a vizsla, they have 9 of them!) said one of their nine was dry overnight at 8 weeks but that is unusual. Muddypup has been pretty wet but managed to stay dry for a full night last night (11-6 I think). The main problem we have is that if he hears anyone up he will wake and then he needs a pee. So I end up lying in bed bursting for a wee .

Fishypie, Re the barking in the crate, persevere and try to make sure you aren't rewarding him inadvertently for barking, by talking to him, soothing, or going to him. So don't go to him until he is stopped. If he is barking non stop you might need to use a clicker to capture the nanosecond of quiet. Try kikopup videos on youtube. Ours is usually fine but he has the odd day where he seems worse. Vizsla's have a reputation of being Velcrodogs so we are trying really hard to avoid this.

Thanks @MuddyWellyNelly I do try to ignore him when I go into the room with the crate and today there was a slight improvement when I went upstairs without him for about 10 minutes. He was very tired though. I’ll have a look at kikopup as well, and will investigate clickers if things don’t get better in the next few weeks.

Enni2S - our cocker pup went for 6 hours overnight from about day 3 (9 weeks) - we never woke her. So bed around midnight then up at 6 - did this for weeks and then had a spell of waking during the night for a wee or poo around 17-20 weeks but has gone back to being all night again - we can hear her scratching and whining sometimes but don't ever go down and have never had an accident in her crate. Now (24 weeks) she goes from 11-6.30 most nights - so I'd say go with what works for you.

I'm going to steal the idea of soaking some kibble then freezing inside the kong - we've been using peanut butter but I feel it's a bit rich too use too much. Although BirdyPup is a bit like someone else said - she licks the bits she can reach easily then gives up!

Totally recommend a snuffle mat - it's great for slowing down eating too as BirdyPup is a total wolfer - we also have a maze bowl for slowing down

Can anyone suggest how to reduce pup biting trousers/pyjamas/dressing gowns please? I’ve tried ignoring and turning my back, making a loud noise, giving him a toy to chew and he might stop for a bit, then it continues ...

I'm not sure Fishypie, as I've tried all the same things, but I'm glad that my puppy isn't alone in her behaviour. I tell her off and give her a toy to bite on instead, but it doesn't seem to put her off.

I guess we’ll have to put up with it for now GhostsToMonsoon unless someone comes along with a brilliant idea!