Puppy Support Group 2

[DuchessDarty]

A continuation of this:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3600375-Young-Puppy-Support-Group

All age of puppies (and owners ) welcome

Just reading the other thread and I saw something that made me wonder what other people do with water overnight? We have a water bowl attached to the inside of SmileyPup's crate so he has access overnight (although we don't fill it right up). Do other people do similar or take water away overnight?

Orla sleeps downstairs (due to the cats moving upstairs when she arrived!) but I always leave a full water bowl with her (she's not crated). I get up at 6.30 and straight out for a walk and she pees within about 3 mins...out the door, across to the green...relief!

I was told to always leave access to water, sometimes she has drunk it all, other times not.

I always leave water with girliepup as well, we've tried a few different bowls in his crate and finally settled on one that is quite heavy so that he can't knock it over easily. The one that attached to the side of the crate was a waste of time as he seemed to enjoy knocking it off 🙄

He is very interested in other dogs now, he just wants to play but does go a bit ott! The other dogs look at him like

That was me with the water on the other thread.

All the puppy books say not to let them have water from around 6pm. I found that cruel though so l leave water out all evening but don’t have it in his crate. I don’t think he would need it at night but will start putting it in in the day.

He just doesn’t seem that happy being left. I’m worried I’m going to end up with one of these dogs with terrible separation anxiety 🙈

Can I join? We are collecting our labradoodle in 1.5 weeks. We are excited, I'm a bit nervous as we had a dog from puppy when I was growing up and I still remember how exhausting the puppy bit was!

We are taking the kids after school to get stuff like bed, bowls, crate etc.

Well Biteypup is still bitey. Probably worse than ever now she's teething! It's really starting to get me down and she is so grumpy.

I contacted a 1-2-1 trainer that was recommended by the lady that ran the training classes we attended with our old dog, but after the initial consultation became flakey and cancelled an appointment at short notice and then didn't reply to texts, so I decided to go elsewhere. Hopefully she will refund the rest of our money that we've already paid. I've now contacted the lady who runs our current classes, who is also an accredited behaviourist and she is coming to see us on Friday afternoon. She asked me to email her in advance with details of what we want to address and all about her sleep routine, so I've drafted it and it doesn't make for pleasant reading. All I do is sound negative in the email, but I can't help how I feel. I do feel negative! Quite frankly, she's horrible to live with and my anxiety is getting the better of me.

DH has asked if I want to send her to a rescue to rehome, but that would break my heart. I just can't see past the horrible bitey cow and see the lovely dog that I'm hoping she'll turn into at the moment

Sorry for dragging the mood down. It's nice to read that lots of you are having amazing experiences with your puppies, but somehow that makes me feel even worse

BiteyMcBite it will get better. I used to worry I would end up with an aggressive dog as mine was so bitey in the evenings for months but he did grow out of it. I can still remember him having his moments even through the teen phase but now he is so gentle.

@BiteyMcBiteFace How old is pup now? It will get better, I absolutely promise. I’ve found the play biting the hardest thing about having a puppy. Mine is 5 months now, is losing teeth daily and can be really nippy. It’s hard but it will get better. Contacting a trainer is a really good idea, I hope that helps. Rubbish of the other person to let you down like that. When we first got our dog, I got our trainer around after a couple of days because I thought I was going to have a breakdown - I was exhausted, the children wouldn’t come near pup and I had so many bite scratches on my arms - just having someone to reassure me that it is normal made a massive difference. Hugs xx

Aargh I’ve struggled today. I’ve loads of things I can’t get done as can’t leave pup for very long. I’m feeling very claustrophobic today and worrying I’ve signed away years and years of my life!

I’m also feeling really overwhelmed by all the things I’m supposed to train him to do and get him used to like the bath, nail clippings, ear cleaning, tooth brushing etc.

Plus he has gone back to waking in the night and then again at 6am.
My family are all going away for the weekend with DHs work but it’s in a hotel so we can’t bring the pup and he is too small to ask anyone to have so I’m going to be home alone with him for the weekend too.

Sunny is there anyone that you would trust the pup with? I left our pup with my mum for two nights when I went to a wedding, it was fine and gave me a much needed break.

Also I think puppies do need to get used to being left, our puppy is getting left for about 3-4 hours a day now. For example today he was left from 8.45am until 11.15am and then again from 2.45pm until 3.50pm. He is left in his crate.

I hope he sleeps most of the time but am aware he probably does cry a bit as well, weirdly I don't feel that guilty about it as he really has to get used to being left. I absolutely love my puppy but at the end of the day they have to fit in with our lives not the other way round!!

Hello! Can I join you? We're getting Tokyopup, a 9 week old Sproodle boy tomorrow.

He's abdolutely beautiful but our first dog as adults (and DH's first dog ever!) super excited but not underestimating the challenge of the first few weeks either!

I'll add a picture from my laptop tomorrow.

Oops hadn't quite finished!

Girliepup has wee'd inside twice today which is mega annoying as we've had 3 days of no accidents, I think as soon as I let my guard down he goes backwards again!!

I was thinking about the socialisation window closing as well sunny, he's coming up 15 weeks now!! I think we've done quite well but haven't taken him to a groomer which is probably something we should do. We took him along the canal this evening and he saw ducks for the first time, I think they blew his mind a little bit 🦆🤣

We're now 2 weeks in. I'm losing my mind a bit! Please say it gets better?! He's generally the sweetest thing but the 10 minute bitey zoomies, chewing of everything, finding everything he shouldn't have in the garden is breaking me.

He's learnt sit but that's about it When does training start to go in a bit? I feel like I'm doing everything right but he just doesn't seem to be progressing.

He's just turned 11weeks and still has weeks to go until we can take him out on walks, I'm taking him out for socialisation by carrying him at the minute.

@Girliefriendlikescake my parents actually offered yesterday to have him but they only really did that as my dd is upset about me not going away with them rather than because they want to kind the dog. They don’t like dogs, they would do something like take him somewhere he can’t go in and tie him up outside or forget to close the side gate etc. Even if they liked dogs I wouldn’t trust them with him. There are plenty of people I would trust but I wouldn’t subject them to him yet at night. Last night my DH attempted to put him to bed and he just cried and cried (pup not DH!) so I had to go down and settle him.

Can’t believe you’re leaving yours for so long already. Do you have a camera? I think because I can see him crying and howling after an hour or so I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to leave him for longer yet.

Touch wood he isn’t destructive at all, and he is now settling nicely when I leave him to put the kids to bed. That’s only happened in the last couple of days. So I might start leaving him longer soon but just in the kitchen rather than the crate.

@Girliefriendlikescake just realised it was 3-4 hours total rather than in one go. I’m leaving ours once or twice a day for an hour or so. Yesterday I left him for about 40 mins while I did the school run and then for around 1 hour 40 later when I went to Pilates. He was fine the first time but does get a bit moany when I go for more than an hour.

On the plus side he is doing much better when I leave him downstairs when I’m getting ready etc. And this morning he rang the bells to go out and then went and did a poo!!! It’s the first time he has rung them.

We do seem to be regressing at nights though. I think he might be sleeping too much in the evening. He tends to doze most of the evening from 5/6ish onwards. I had been bringing him for an evening walk which I might try and resurrect.

Calm it does get better slowly the first 4 weeks were very intense and I found it very draining.

I would say from 12 weeks things got a bit easier.

Sunny no I haven't got a puppy cam I can't decide if they're a good idea or not. I imagine getting slightly obsessed with checking it when I'm out and then feeling very stressed if he is crying and I can't immediately get to him!!

That's a shame you don't trust your parents with him, I only got dpup on the agreement from my mum that she would help out with him. I realise I'm lucky though.

Dpup was left twice again today for a couple of hours each time and he seemed fine, in fact he couldn't really be bothered to get up once I was home 🤣

Yy to taking him out in the evening, we're now in the routine of walking him around 6.30ish. It's helped calm the crazy zoomies he was getting at that time and he is sleeping well 9-7 with one forced loo break about 10.30.

Oh dear we've had a poorly pup tonight, really bad diarrhoea 😫 he must have eaten something he shouldn't have.

Will see how he goes, meant to be going away for the night tomorrow!

Oh no, hope it clears up. We haven’t had really bad diarheoa yet but have had some very very soft poos and it tends to be when he has had too much food in addition to his normal meals. So if I’ve done some training with him and given him treats, or a chew etc then it goes soft. So maybe stick to his normal food and some plain rice and no extras?

@Girliefriendlikescake how is pup today? We have been at the vet this morning as SmileyPup has been retching since last night but not bringing anything up. The vet couldn't feel anything wrong and he doesn't have a temperature but I'm worried he has eaten something he shouldn't have and it's stuck. We have some ranitidine to try and help settle his tummy and have to go back on Monday.

@BiteyMcBiteFace how are you feeling now? Is the biting any better?

@SunnyUpNorth how are you doing? Are you on your own with pup now?

I am still finding house training hard. He still has at least one wee accident a day although poos do tend to be outside. We have been building up to leaving him alone and we have now got to 2.5hrs at a time. We have a camera and he tends to cry for the first 10 mins then settle on the couch. We put puppy pads down when we're not in but he has started doing one poo in the kitchen and a wee on the carpet. We tried keeping him in a pen but he managed to climb out so the only other option is in his crate but I'm not happy leaving him for up to 4 hours in there so I'm persevering and hoping as he gets older he can hold it a bit better. He is just 12 weeks now.

At the moment he is confined to the back room and kitchen because I don't want him weeing everywhere but I'm worried that once he is allowed in the new rooms he may wee there. Are your dogs confined to a certain area or do they go all over the house?

Dpup is generally better today and we've come away to my dads for the weekend. We've kept his diet very simple so think that's helped. That said he's managed to hurt his paw this afternoon 🙄 he's honestly worse than an actual toddler!!

He seems to be walking on it now but is licking it loads so it's still bothering him. Will be a pain to get him to a vet over the weekend here so will see how he goes...

Keep we've only got a small house (two rooms and a downstairs loo downstairs!) so he has freedom down there. I've got a stair gate so he's not allowed upstairs. When we go out I always put him in his crate as like the fact that he's contained!!

Sorry for the late reply everyone! Had the week from hell!

With the boy we lost, he swallowed a bee and it stung so far down his throat that it couldn’t be seen on a normal examination. By the time they sedated him and got a tube down the swelling was a lump the size of a plum. The general swelling had already spread to his chest and had caused his lungs to fill with blood. He collapsed on the way to an x ray, the vet did all she could but there was no saving him. It was very quick she said. I had got him to the vets inside half an hour of noticing he wasn’t right but he had been stung earlier in the day.

Our girl is a Saint Bernard x Spanish Mastiff currently weighing in at over 7kg and putting on 2.5kg a week. She comes home on Wednesday and we’re very excited. I’m lucky enough to be in touch with other people who had puppies from my boy’s litter and they’ve been very supportive over his death and have invited me and Hope to come and see them and their dogs so she’ll have some ‘brothers from other mothers!’.

Oh @Bayby that made me tear up reading about your little boy. What a horrible thing to happen, and so sudden. It’s crazy how much love you can get so quickly for these little fur balls.

Bet your new baby will be a huge gentle giant. We have come across a couple of St Bernard pups recently, they’re huge but just bumble around the place so placidly. Hope she is a good dog for you.

@Keepsmiling1 yep home alone now! Having a really nice time!! It’s amazing how you can keep to plans and not be late without kids to round up 😂 .
That’s great that you can leave yours for 2.5 hours. Do they just sleep after the initial cry?
We have quite a large kitchen dining room so we keep a babygate across the doorway into the hall so he is contained in the kitchen. If we are around and using the living room he is allowed in there. When I go out I leave him in his crate. But he isn’t a chewer or destructive (famous last words!) so I’m considering leaving him just in the kitchen when we go out. Might do a short trial. Problem is the camera won’t cover the whole room and he always gets really excited when we come home so I wouldn’t know how he is 😬

We got the bells for the back door about a week ago and he has been using them for the last two days really well. So no accidents for a while now. He is 18 weeks tomorrow so a big boy now!

Nice to read all your updates. Really sorry to read about your puppy @Bayby, that must have been so traumatic. I hope your new baby helps you all and it’s so lovely that the littermates will become her adopted siblings!

@SunnyUpNorth we leave our girl in the kitchen - I do hold me breath a bit each time but I feel better knowing she’s got space to move around and play if she wants to. We’ve started increasing how much we’re leaving her and it seems to be going okay - we left for her about two hours yesterday. She’s starting with the dog walker this week so hopefully that gives us a bit more flexibility.

She’s 15 weeks now, her temperament is lovely and she’s just starting to calm down a bit. At one point she was quite frankly a demon dog in the evenings, but she’s finding it easier to settle now which is good. Being able to walk her really helped. After the UTI set back with toilet training we seem to be getting there with it, finally. But she’s starting to be a bit cheeky - I’m sure I’ve caught her trying to open the fridge a few times!!

Glad things are improving @SkeletonSkins

I knew I would speak too soon re the toilet training, had a lovely poo on the hall floor today! To be fair it was tipping it down outside so I don’t blame him too much!

With my family away this weekend I’ve spent loads of time with pup and didn’t leave him alone at all yesterday as he just came with me. But now he has got super clingy again. Took me an hour to get him to settle in his crate last night, he’s cried at the stairgate this morning when I’ve gone for a shower. He had got much better at that. So I’m going to nip to the supermarket in a bit and leave him and then the family will be home after that so we will leave him again this afternoon. Hopefully won’t take long to return to his improved behaviour.

I also wondered if it could be that second fear period?

I’m going to try and book a 1-2-1 session with a trainer just to check in on the right lines with things and get a few tips.

One lady I spoke to had a trainer recently and they gave them a tip of having a small plastic bottle half filled with small stones. If you shake it apparently they hate the sound. She said she used it when hers jumped up and it cured it within a day! Can be used for nipping, barking, jumping up etc

@SunnyUpNorth yes he tends to whine for the first 10 mins and looks round for us then just lies on the couch and snoozes. When he needs a wee he tends to have a little whine and that's when he has wee'd on the carpet. Then goes back to the couch. He always seems to do a poo when we are gone too.

He is 12 weeks now and is able to go out on walks this week which I can't wait for! Do you think in another 4 weeks he may be a bit more reliable with toilet training? He does go outside if taken and sometime will go out on his own (as the door is always open) but we are still having at least 1 accident every day and it is getting me down. Everyone I speak to says their pup was trained within a week and I'm starting to worry that he will never get it and I will never be able to relax. It is the biggest source of my anxiety.

I have never had a dog before - he obviously gets up between 6 and 7am each day and has a wee and normally wants to get up then. Do they ever start to settle on their own as they get older? I am so lucky as my parents look after my DDs every Saturday night so I can have a lie in and now I'm up with the dog! I miss lazing in bed watching tv I'm still not convinced I made the right decision getting him!