Young Puppy Support Group

[DuchessDarty]

I’d been looking for one of these but the only puppy support thread currently running is for older puppies. I’ve seen a few threads recently from posters who have new puppies like me, and thought I’d start our own group as I’d love to compare notes. But all welcome!

To kick off -

My pup, DartyPup, is a female poodle cross who is nearly 11 weeks old. Very sweet, friendly, fairly calm, sleeps a good stretch at night in her crate no problem and is happy to play in the garden by herself if I’m in the kitchen/conservatory and we easily have eyes on each other. She has a lot of naps and is doing well with house training.

But- she has the usual puppy traits of being needy and nippy. She loves biting bare toes and has a witching hour in the evening (as another poster aptly describes it!).

I adore the bond we seem to have bit am finding it draining. My children are old enough to be hands on and are keen to be, but their periods of peak energy don’t always correspond with the Pup’s. And when it comes down to it, she often wants me and so will whine if left with them downstairs while I escape for a rest. If they mistakenly leave a door open giving her access to the stairs, she’ll leg it up to find me. A stair gate isn’t an option unfortunately due to the design of our stairs.

Both my kids have never been particularly early risers and I’ve always been secretly pleased about dodging 6am wake up calls ... until DartyPup.

Thanks @SkeletonSkins. I feel like a lot of advice will lead to having him in our room but that would be a last resort I think. He smells quite strongly (of dog!) and I notice it in the kitchen when I come in. Would prefer not to have that in our room! I’m also worried that if we do that i would have to start all over again when we moved him downstairs.

I am going to a puppy party this afternoon at the pet shop. I think there is going to be a trainer there so i might ask them the best approach.

Oh God sunny that sounds horrendous! Have you got some ear plugs?! The vet nurse I spoke to a few weeks said there is a plug in you can buy to help settle puppies, it apparently cuts night time crying by 50%. Unhelpfully I can't remember the name of it but I assume it must be the canine equivalent to felliway for cats!

Otherwise I would also move him in next to the bed for a few nights, it might be that once he's gained a bit of confidence you can start moving the crate slowly out of the room.

I’ve read about those plug ins too, I’ll look them up. I don’t think ear plugs would cut it!!

Spoke to the trainer at the puppy party this afternoon and she wasn’t very helpful. She said her approach is to have them in bed with her and if I wasn’t prepared to do that I’d have to suck up the consequences!

I’m worried if we have him in our room I’ll have to go through it all again if I move him downstairs.

The poor little guy has slept most of today and is shattered. I popped in his crate for a nap this afternoon and he whimpered but I put on the puppy lullabies (!) and pottered around the kitchen ignoring him and he fell asleep for over an hour. So I’m thinking tonight I might put him down a bit earlier and read my book, Potter a bit nearby and see if that helps.ill sleep on the couch again too and do the clicker again if needs be.

On the plus side, we were just having dinner and the back door was open. He has never gone outside by himself before, but he went out and did two wees and a poo!!!!

THibk the plug is called Adaptil. I’ll have a google...

Poor you @SunnyUpNorth you must be exhausted. I guess you need to choose a plan and stick with it. Surely it’ll all settle down soon.
We had dog trainer man today. He’s taught her drop it, heel, no and how to take treats gently. Not sure whether that’s £20 we’ll spent or not really .

He’s going to drop me a plan for getting her used to being left alone. Hoping that’ll help.

He is such a lovely little puppy with such a lovely personality so I’m optimistic we will get him sorted and he will just be brill. But it is sooooo tiring!

That 1-2-1 training is so cheap, I looked up ones near me and they were all £50-60 for a session. At least yours has picked up some cool skills!

Good grief that’s so expensive. I’ll just tell you what ours says and save your money!!
He says pups have to sleep beside you in their crate for at least 4 weeks. We didn’t actually do that because our pup isn’t too bad by herself at night.
I reckon out of all our puppies we could probably build the perfect pup!

Totally agree with @Putanotherwashon that it’s probably about choosing something and sticking with it. Not sure I agree with that trainers advice at all - did she really mean in your bed??? I think your plan sounds good @SunnyUpNorth and sounds like you’ve already made good steps with the naps in his crate.

We’ve had a successful day. The toilet training is going well - she’s going to the back door which is fab and really helpful. She’s a delight out and about, friendly without exuberance, confident and happy to toilet out and about which is helpful! Took her to another pub for tea and her behaviour was just brilliant, she lay down most of the time, had a chew, said hello to some people who came over. Just brilliant.

But now we are home and we have the HELL that is our evenings. I know she’s exhausted. She’s so so tired, she didn’t sleep while we were out at all. And she’s bring a prick. Only word for it. Doing her normal ‘I’m so tired I don’t know what to do with myself behaviour’ , tipping the water bowl over repeatedly, biting, driving our other dog insane, just wandering round the room like a little thug basically. So I’ve put her in the crate and she’s just crying and crying. She’s gone past the point of going to sleep but I don’t know what to do with her. I feel like I have the perfect puppy until it hits 6pm and this demon comes out. How do I make her sleep?!?!

I might give her a frozen chew but I feel like I’m just stuffing her with food.

Adaptil sounds right, in your situation sunny I'd buy two 😉 is the crate really cosy with a blanket over it to make it like a den? Also can you put a top in with her that you've been wearing all day and leave the radio on low?

Our pup slept from 3.30 til 6.30 this afternoon! We got him up as I was worried he wouldn't sleep tonight, he had a nice afternoon helping me in the garden and wasn't phased by the lawn mower!

That is good she went outside sunny we've had two accidents inside today, although tbf one wee he was en route to the back door!!

@SkeletonSkins she sounds like such a good girl! The trainer today said when they hit the witching hour to try and distract them with something that will mentally calm them such as one of the good puzzles. She said giving them something like that helps distract them from going crazy and helps them unwind. So maybe even putting some treats/kibble in a loo roll or egg box etc. I know what you mean about feeling like you’re over feeding them. Everything is good orientated in terms of trying to lure them/calm them in crates, the car, for training and rewards etc.

Yes she actually said in my bed! She has four huge wolf like dogs and all four sleep on her bed! She seemed to think that having them next to you in a crate in your room was the last resort, but surely billions of people don’t do that and don’t have problems.

I’ve emailed the guy who’s training classes we start next week and the breeder to see if either of them have any ideas.

Yes we really could build the perfect pup between us!

@SunnyUpNorth this is the thing she’s so good, and then we get to the evening and it’s like she’s possessed I swear! You’ve reminded me though that I’ve got likimats so I might try that and also try Kongs again now that she’s got more of an attention span. She wasn’t interested last week but she’s showing more persistence with chews etc so might be worth a try.

So she carried in being mental this evening. Tried giving her s frozen bone and she was occupied witn that for a while but then got fed up and couldn’t be redirected onto a toy or anything, just biting at me, the furniture and our other dog constantly. Put her back in the crate because I KNOW she’s tired but she cried and wouldn’t settle. Tried giving her a chew in there (another bloody one, at least they’re natural) but she wouldn’t settle at all. In the end, inspired by another lovely poster on here, I’m really sorry I can’t remember who it was, but they mentioned clicking for being in the crate so I gave that a go as she responds really well to the clicker. Sat next to the crate on the sofa and clicked and treated her for lying down. Tried not to look at her and click/treat any settled behaviour. Opened the door and then clicked and treated her staying laid down and basically ‘being calm’. Eventually she decided to walk out of the crate and go and lie down on the fireplace, where she likes to sleep. I clicked and treated her laying down and being calm with her head down. She’s now asleep. Probably more that the mental stimulation wore her out, a bit like what you said @Sunnyupnorth.

I don’t know why I waffle on about this on here. It’s just handy to talk it through witn people who understand!! I think tomorrow I’m going to continue to click and treat ‘calm’ behaviour when I want her to settle. I think I’ve been saying ‘no’ for behaviour I don’t want but other than giving her a toy or chew as a distraction, I’ve not been teaching or encouraging what I do want enough.

It might have been me saying about the clicker as that’s how I settled mine the last couple of nights. I think we forget how little they are and they need help knowing what’s expected of them.

This is an absolute lifeline at the moment, please feel free to waffle away! I know we all have slightly different issues but it’s really helpful knowing we aren’t alone and bouncing ideas around.

So I put SunnyPup in his crate a bit earlier than usual about 20 minutes ago. I was sort of rushing bringing him out for a wee and shoving him in the crate.

He has the works - heat pad, clock wrapped in a new cow teddy (did a charity shop haul), a fluffy dog, a smelly trainer he likes to chew, puppy lullabies playing, fluffy blankie, a couple of small toys! I popped him in and then did a few tidying bits in the kitchen. Swept the floor, went in and out every minute or so to the living room and back. He cried but I kept clicking every time he paused. He hasn’t made a sound for about 5 minutes 😬
I’ve made up a mattress by the living room door as I can’t cope on the couch anymore! So am going to read my book on the couch now where he can still see me. All the other lights are off except for in here. Fingers crossed.

Good luck sunny

Clicking for good behaviour is a good idea, I think I need to do that when he is good around the cat! He still likes to chase and bark at her at times, this is the cats expression --> he is about a 3rd of the size of her so she's not the least bit scared by him!

Got everything crossed for a settled night for you @Sunnyupnorth!

@SkeletonSkins what sort of frozen bones do you get? Just bones from the butcher? I wasn’t sure if they would be allowed that sort of thing yet with their little teeth.

So it’s 2.42 and I’m up for the second time tonight (since last pee at 10.30) !
She was up at 12.30 and went out for a pee (wasn’t desperate though). I’ve come down now and she’s peed and had a poo in her pen. Luckily not in her crate but this is 3 nights now she’s peed in the pen. Why has she suddenly decided to start this? I have the baby monitor on and am a light sleeper so hear her as soon as she starts squeaking.
I have explained to her that her pen is to play in and it is not to be used as an en-suite. She just looked like !
Should I shut her in the crate at night and not let her have access to the pen do you think?
Bloody dog!!

Morning all,

@Putanotherwashon I don’t know. Is she quite happy in her crate? If so maybe try shutting her in at night until she gets the hang of toilet training a bit more. She’s a stealth pooer!

We had a much better night thank goodness. He settled really well with the clicker. I think putting him down a little while before I went to sleep helped him to settle. He probably woke and whimpered every hour or two but I used the clicker and he always resettled quickly. He was more persistent around 4ish so I took him for a wee and then around 5ish he was quite persistent again and I took him out and he did a poo. So still a night of broken sleep but such an improvement on the previous two nights. Plus his crate was in the spot in the kitchen where it is in the day, I didn’t move it closer to the living room. I had a mattress on the floor just inside the living room door so he could probably smell and hear me. He settled quickly after going out to the loo too. I’ll do the same tonight and hope he wakes less often or can settle himself - I might wait a few seconds to use the clicker and see how he does.

I bought loads of soft toys for 25p each in the charity shop yesterday. One is a big, pink, fluffy, crown shaped cushion. He keeps running around with it this morning in his mouth but crashing into things as he can’t see, funny boy.

Hi, can I join in?

I collect my puppy this afternoon and I’ve been reading up on transportation. She lives a 45min drive from my house so it will be a relatively short journey. Puppy is a cockerpoo and 9 weeks old so very small.

I have bought a crate but it feels enormous and imtworried about her sliding around in it going round the windy bendy roads. She is too small for a harness seatbelt clip.

I thought about wrapping her in a towel and putting her in a large, high, cardboard box (ie not a shoe box) and putting her on the back seat with my son. He can hold her in there (steadying the box at the same time) and she won’t actually be able to get out.

I’m worried that if she goes home I the crate and is traumatised the she won’t want to go in the crate anymore.

How did you get your puppies home?

Thanks.

I may be in this thread a lot!

Welcome @Greenteawhisky and good luck with your new puppy. You’ll have to post a pic later.

I held our puppy in the back of the car on the way home. He was about an hour and a half away so my husband had the day off so we could all go. It’s quite common for them to be travel sick on that journey as it’s most likely their first long journey. Ours wasn’t sick til right at the end when we came off the motorway onto the windy roads.

How old is your son? If quite young perhaps put the box in the passenger side footwell in the front so you can see her. Ours was so nervous and shaking for the first half of the journey so it might be good if she can see you and you her. If your son is quite old he might be ok with her in the back.

I’ve just been looking up ideas to put inside a kong. Most of these can be frozen to make them last longer, but the sticky ones with peanut butter could be frozen or just given:

Chopped apple/Apple sauce and yogurt

Shredded chicken and rice (and boullion?)

Peanut Butter, banana and kibble

Tuna/salmon, chopped cucumber/carrot/green beans and yogurt

Yogurt and banana

Low fat cottage cheese and carrots/cucumber

Porridge, yogurt and blueberries

Chicken, peas, carrots and rice/sweet potato.

Pumpkin/squash and kibble

@Greenteawhiskey I had a travel crate on the back seat and my dd kind of had her in and out of there. She cried for about 5 minutes and then slept. Good luck.

Forgot to say, the breeder didn’t feed ours the morning we went for her so no sick or poo!

putanotherwashon Bluepup is in a 24 " crate next to my bed at night, it is the right size for her grownup size but seems to be small enough (and is made up with no toilet area) for her to feel like it's her bed and she doesn't want to wee/poo in it.

I watched "train your baby like a dog" channel 4 and there were good explanations of how pups are feeling re being alone, going to sleep, being bored etc, I found it helpful.

Hi greentea so exciting you're welcoming a new pup home 😊. I'm finding this thread a bit of a lifeline as there is so much new stuff to learn. Blue pup was wiggly and wimpered a lot on the journey home. She started off in a soft sided puppy carrier, with treats in, she wasn't interested, by the end of the journey she was on my teen daughter's lap being held by her harness in the back seat and was a lot happier. Any journey in the car she hated but we've gradually built up journeys and now she wags her tail to go in, she has a seatbelt attachment and harness and very chewy treats.😉

Morning all, @SunnyUpNorth so glad you had a better night. @Putanotherwashon how old is your pup? It might be that just given another week or so she can go through the night with no accidents. She obviously needs it so I’d worry if you lock her in the crate she might just cry and wake you up more?

For the bones we buy ones like this -

Large Sterilised Bones X10 www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FVAE0A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JQ4xDbRCPNVX5?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

And stuff with her dog meat she has, currently she’s on Step Up to Naturals from pets at home. Then freeze. Works really well!

Thanks for the kokg recipes, definitely going to give those a go. We’re at a training weekend this weekend (for my older dog) so I’m hoping it’ll tire her out!!

@Greenteawhisky Congrsts on your new puppy!! The box sounds best, don’t forget to take some towel and something to mop up any accidents just in case! Please post a pic later!!

Thank you! DS is a sensible 12 year old and will take his responsibility seriously!

I will post a photo and I think I will be on this thread a lot!