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.

Sorry so many of you are still having a tough time. I will be joining you shortly as we pick up pup on Thursday morning. I'm getting very nervous!

Any tips or pearls of wisdom you wish you'd know for the first few days?

I'm at the point where I have read, watched and learnt all I can and have everything I think .... now just need the pub to practice it all on

The pub @Calmisthemantra ?! Good slip up there.

Things are going ok here, we have the odd accident but that’s only when we get complacent and forget to bring him out as he can hold it at least an hour now.

Nights are finally going really well, touch wood, 10.30-6.30 last night. I can def cope with that.

Kids back at school today so I’m looking forward to having a good routine with him and focusing on some training....not sure what training but I’ll watch some YouTube vids for inspiration!

I feel like I am spending all my time either with the puppy, reading or watching stuff about dogs or buying things for him on Amazon. I even dreamt about toilet training last night!

Ours isn’t too nippy, he is pretty chilled but recently he has been nippy with the kids if they’re playing in the garden. Our trainer said to decant a little bit of the stuff you spray on furniture to stop chewing into a small spray bottle to keep in your pocket. Every time the puppy comes to bite your legs spritz it at them. They hate the taste (well most do!) and apparently stops it pretty quickly.

As for last minute advice I don’t think there is much you can do except muddle along once you get the pup. It is sooooo like having a baby, so many different opinions and approaches, and despite the theory you have to learn for yourself to an extent.

Everyone seems to have a different issue to deal with eg no sleep, biting, toilet training etc so just see how you get on and we will all be here!

Calm my tip is to expect to have no life for a couple of weeks other than sorting out your puppy! It's a bit like bringing a new born home, it's all consuming!! This isn't forever and we're now at 12 weeks in a good routine and able to go out and about.

Start toilet training from the moment you bring them home, in fact as soon as they are home put them in the garden for a wee and get the treat ready for when they go.

I would also say take the puppy out to see different places and people every single day, even before they've had all the vaccinations you can still go out you just carry them everywhere! I was told they should have met 100 different people before they are 16 weeks, this should include people of every age, background, race etc.

I read the book easy peasy puppy squeezy and found it really useful.

Of and a pic of the puppy on this thread is mandatory 😉

Oh and if anyone has any tips for socialising him with other dogs that would be great. He is brilliant with people, he had a lady pick him up and rock him like a baby yesterday!! He was fine. We went for lunch at a nice pub and the staff were all over him and he loved it.
But he is terrible with other dogs. As soon as they approach he is in their face barking. But his tail is often wagging. So can’t work out if he is over excited or nervous or a bit of both. But it would be nice to just be able to walk past another dog without him going crazy.

Sunny did you do puppy classes? Or, if not, maybe ask your vet if they do puppy parties. Apparently ours did it til fairly recently so it might be a common thing.

Any local dog shows you could take him to sunny? There seems to be loads on round here, we're going to a few over the next couple of wends.

We are doing puppy classes at the moment, we have been to three and he spends the whole hour barking and growling at all the little baby puppies. I spend it mostly trying to get him to be quiet.
We also went to a puppy party at our local vets, he slept for the whole thing.
We go for a walk or two every day, he sees or passes a few dogs every day but seems to be getting worse not better.

I’ve sent a message to a local dog daycare place that looks amazing to ask if we could come for a visit and then they do a one hour trial. Then I could book him in for the odd half day to get him used to being around other dogs. Although that might make him go the other way and want to play with every dog!

Mantrapup is home. (Calling him Calmpup just seemed to be tempting fate!!) He cried most of the way home for an hours journey then was sick twice. Breeder gave him tripe for brekkie

He's met my almost 2 year old which went well and he took a treat from her. Will collect the big 2 (6&7) later from school. He's had a big sniff and I've taken him outside twice but he's not produced anything. Guess I just keep trying. He's now settled down in his crate for a snooze.

Obviously it's very early days but so far so good. I've put some of his food down but he's not had any - do I leave it out for when he wakes or take it away?

Aww he's lovely calm what breed is he? When he wakes up from his nap put him straight out on grass (if you have some they prefer peeing on grass/something soft.)

We had our first puppy class last night, it went well and our pup was very good. He was desperate to play with the other pups though so was quite hard to keep him interested in what he's meant to be doing!

Today was the first day I left him at my mums when I went to work, it seems to have worked out fine, she dropped him back about an hour before my dd came in from school in his crate. He doesn't seem too traumatised by it!!

He's a whippet Girlie

Puppies are arses! (Just saying 😁)

I’ve not been on here for a while as we’ve pretty much settled into our new norm with Mouldipup who is now 5 months old. This is not to say things are perfect. Far from it. Toilet training was/is really hard (fine on hard floors, but show him a rug or carpet ....), still a bit sharky at times (although immeasurably better), walking can be a nightmare as he tries to attack passing cars (worries me, but we’ll work on it). BUT I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and the great little dog he’s going to be (eventually).

Would I have another puppy? I’m not sure. It’s been much harder than I remembered, but I guess it’s a means to an end. I just have to keep reminding myself how much fun and joy we got from our old boy and that this one is a work in progress.

Dogs truly are great companions ..... but puppies are still arses!

He’s lovely @Calmisthemantra
Ours didn’t eat much for the first couple of days so I just left the food out and hand fed him the off bit. Once he relaxed he started wolfing his food down. Apparently it’s very common they don’t eat much at first as they’re a bit anxious. Hope it’s all going ok.

Ours is doing fine, current issues are barking at other dogs (still) and he has started pulling quite a lot on the lead. I have been bringing him out for walks to try to expose him to other dogs but haven’t bumped into many. So today we went to the park and there is a field next to it a lot of people use for dog walking. There were some lovely owners with nice calm dogs who didn’t mind pup having a sniff and a little bark, and then he just chilled out. So I’ll keep doing that. Have you been letting yours off lead? I’ve read not to do that til you have solid recall but it’s also hard to practise recall without letting them off. Plus I read they have a tendency to stay near you when they’re little and a bit fearful so it’s a good time to get them used to being off lead.

What time do yours sleep til? He sometimes wakes around 5 for a toilet trip and happily goes back to bed but will wake and cry at 6ish. Or he sleeps through til 6, but either way he wants to be up at 6ish. I don’t want to complain given our bad start with sleep but it would be nice if he could sleep til 7! He does usually go back to sleep fairly quickly after getting up. Don’t know whether to just ignore him once I know he has been to the loo.

Mouldiwarp1 Puppies are indeed arses! We're at 18 weeks and she is still very sharky. So much so that we've enlisted the help of a 1-2-1 trainer who is coming to see us on Monday. I'm sure it's all pretty normal behaviour (albeit it unpleasant to be on the receiving end of) but I need reassurance that I'm dealing with it correctly, as I don't want to reinforce a behaviour that will cause even more trouble at a later date

Beautiful whippet pup Calmisthemantra They are such sensitive looking little souls. There was one in our puppy classes who was quite a nervous little thing, but was doing so much better by the end of the course.

SunnyUpNorth Our mornings are still a bit hit and miss. Sometimes she will wake around 5.30am and I'll let her out for a wee and then she'll go back in her crate until around 7am, then another day she'll sleep right through until just before 7am. This morning, however, she had her 5.30am wee and then decided 6.15am was the new wake up call. I think the cat roaming about the kitchen stirred her to be honest, but I ignored her until around 6.45am as the cat was about again and I couldn't stand it any longer

Even though I have the 1-2-1 booked on Monday, we were already booked onto the next course of novice classes which continue after the puppy classes we've completed and I'm undecided as to whether we should go or not. Will it be confusing to be taking advice from 2 difference trainers, or shall I go and use it as a socialising opportunity? Any thoughts fellow pup owners?

Sunny our puppy has exactly the same routine, I thought we'd cracked it a bit as Ystd he went from 10.30-6.30 so no 5am wake up call. Today he didn't wake till 6.45 but by the time I got to him he had done a massive wee in his crate 😫

In a way it's better if he does wake at 5am as there's half a chance he will go through til 7am!

This morning was stressful as I needed to get pup to the doggy daycare by 8.15 and by the time I'd sorted out his crate and my dd ready for school I was running late. He had a fab day there though, there was another puppy his size so I think they played all day. He's done nothing but sleep since getting home!!

Well we’ve had an eventful and awful 24 hours!!
Pup managed to snaffle 3 grapes last night. I rang the insurance helpline and she said I needed to contact the vet straight away.
Rang emergency number and he said to rush her straight down.

We had to leave her there and he said if the grapes were still whole (she’s not a one for chewing food generally) then we could pick her up in an hour.
Anyway he made her sick and the grapes were a bit chewed. She had to stay overnight on a drip and charcoal and have a blood test this morning.
It was so awful, my ds was absolutely heartbroken - it was he who left the grapes out - and we were so worried about her.
Anyway, all is well. Bloods came back fine and we’ve just to keep an eye on her peeing.

So glad to have her home and she was so pleased to see us. Made me realise how much she’s become part of the family (even though she drives me nuts)!!!!
She’s peed twice on the floor since coming home and I don’t even care!

Omg put that sounds scary, I didn't realise grapes were so dangerous to dogs!! Although thinking about it I did know raisins were a big no no so makes sense grapes would be as well. Glad he is okay.

We took our pup out for a little walk this evening and he was brilliant, we let him off the lead and he just ran along side us. Taking him out then seems to help with the zoomies at that time as well as he comes back and just falls asleep!!

Apparently some dogs are ok eating grapes, the vet said that as a child he used to feed his dog grapes as a treat!

There is no way of knowing which dogs will be affected so he treated her as a precaution.

Grapes can make their kidneys fail and can kill them.

@Putanotherwashon that sounds terrifying about the grapes, you poor thing. Our breeder warned us about grapes, she knew someone who’s puppy ate half a grape and nearly died. Cost them a lot of money in vet fees too. Your poor ds, he will have def learnt his lesson re grapes!

I keep worrying about reinforcing a bad habit such as barking or the pulling on the lead. Have you been letting yours off lead? We have hardly done it, only in v low risk places. But am wondering if I should be a bit braver. I’ll ask at puppy class on Monday.

I think it’s a good idea to let them off the lead while they’re still young enough to want to stay close by.

We trained ours to come to a whistle which so far she’s responded to every time. Hoping she’ll not lose it as she gets older and less interested in being near us.

Poor you @Putanotherwashon how worrying

Well DartyPup has turned into a dickhead. She’s just over 5 and a half months and she’s regressed - chewing on her lead, toileting in the house, refusing to sit when asked and tonight she was aggressive. I tried to take a pair of DD’s dirty pants off her and she growled she bit my hand, then kept growling even though I was successful. She also still barks every time an aeroplane flies over house which is often. I barely register the aircraft noise - we’re on a flight path but not close to an airport so the planes are still very high up, but DartyPup registers ever blinking one. As I write this she’s just woken up to bark at the noise of a car stopping outside. Sigh.

In short, she’s more of a nuisance than a pleasure right now.

Hello all, not posted for a few days but so worried, had to called the emergency vets and waiting for a call back as SkeletonPup is straining to either wee or poo and she’s distressed. I’m worried about a blockage as we lost a previous young dog to this so my mind is absolutely going mad. Also thinking possibly a urine infection? Really hoping it’s somethign small but oh it’s horrible seeing her so unhappy

@SkeletonSkins oh poor puppy and poor you. So hope she’s ok xxx

@SkeletonSkins Oh my goodness what a worry! Is there any news on your poorly pup?

Oh no Skeleton hope she's okay, update us when you can.

Sunny can you walk him with someone else to practice recall? I've done it with my dd, so she walks off a little way and then shakes the treat box and I let him go so he runs straight to her. We've only done it a few times but seems to work well.

Our puppy actually had a lie in today 😱 think he was so knackered from Ystd at doggy day care!!

Hi all, I’m a new puppy mum to Bella,a lab cross who has been with us 3 days and is 7 weeks old.All seems to be going well with the training and potty time but I’m aware things may change! Just wanted to introduce myself because you all seem so lovely 😊 x