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

He is now on Milbemax, Shopsalot. He was on Advocate. Looking at the box perhaps the vet should have given him the next dose up of Advocate. He was 4kg when they gave me 3 months supply and the packet states up to 4kg. He is a lot heavier now 😕 He seems okay now, bless him.
Will take your advice and freeze the soup. The thought of it turns my stomach.

My pup has def hit his teenage stride today as well bitey, he was out in the garden giving it the big I am not sure who to as he was on his own! He also has become a bit more defiant, gives me a look as if to say 'and??' Little bugger. He also suddenly has tons of energy, he loves his walks now which is nice but whereas before they would wear him out now not so much!!

Deathbypuppy gorgeous puppy!! Those early few weeks are hard work but unlike a human baby puppies do grow up quite quickly! Personally I would make the crate really snuggly, cover it over with a big blanket (to create a den) stick puppy in and maybe leave an item of your clothing that you've worn in with him. What I did with my puppy was every time he cried I picked him up and put him straight outside for the toilet, after about 3 times of me sticking him on the grass he gave up and went to sleep in the crate!! I did get up over night with him for a few weeks as well if he cried but always put him straight back after going outside.

I had a puppy sling for our pup and he was fine in that when we were out and about in the early days. We took him to loads of different places, cafes, garden centres and other than us getting wee'd on a couple of times 🙄 the dog was always fine. I appreciate that I've probably just been lucky though, I think puppies are similar to babies in that some are just generally more chilled out than others! That said having seen lots of anxious dogs I was on a mission to expose our puppy to as much as possible!! It does seem to have paid off as not much phases him now (6 months old.)

Gross heat you have reminded me i need to sign our boy up to a pet plan though.

@Spotty528, your thread is exactly how I feel.

I bit the bullet and went to bed last night, having shut him in his crate. He howled and cried for 2hrs solid. I got less sleep doing that than I do when I’m on the kitchen sofa. I definitely feel like a basket case. 5 nights of very little sleep is really doing me in.

He’s playing quietly in the kitchen at the moment (gate on kitchen door), I’m in another room. I’m trying to build up resilience so that he can cope alone. He’s ok in the day, nighttimes are his nemesis.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies his crate is covered, snug and full of nice things. He’s fine in it during the day for short spells but just cannot seem to cope at night.

Though I don’t lock the door in the day.

Sorry for multiple posts.

Our set up is a puppy pen with one end covered in a blanket, bed, toy in there and then puppy pad and water at the other end. We’d planned on getting up during the night to let him out but he goes straight to sleep and we don’t hear a peep out of him. I’m really finding the days tough and I genuinely don’t think I’d cope if we weren’t sleeping so we’re carrying on like this. He always wees and poos on the pad during the night. I hope I don’t regret it in the long run but it’s working for us at the moment and with kids, cats, sickness bugs, colds, Christmas and work to juggle, sleep is taking priority over night time toilet training.

I read back through that old thread when I posted and I actually sound far more positive than I really was/am. It’s damn hard work and nothing can prepare you for it. I don’t know why anyone would repeat this experience! I’ve said it before but this puppy lark is once in a lifetime for me!

This plus puppy pad (we don’t use them during the day)

Yes, right now I don’t understand why anyone gets a puppy more than once.

I might try and get a playpen and trial a playpen/open crate scenario. I do feel like I’m spending money like water on this dog, in a bid to make him happy.

I'm just joining this group as I have a 9 week old puppy and need some support!

He is a border terrier and incredibly cute. We are battling with toilet training though - we've had him nearly a week so it's very early days. He doesn't seem to get it at all - he goes outside if I take him but he's more than happy to go inside too. When does this click?

I'm not sure what to do with him all day either! I take him out in a bag for short walks and to cafes, garden centres etc. But the rest of the time it is just him and me in the kitchen/utility room. I can't leave him as he will just go to the toilet or chew something he's not allowed. I think we're both going a bit mad!

We are doing bits of training, in short bursts. He is quite consistent with ‘sit’ and walks nicely to heel in the garden. We play ‘hide and seek’ in the garden to teach him his name and to help with recall. We’re working on ‘leave it’, as impulse control. He finds that one hard, as a lab he is very food driven. A blessing but also a curse .

After my panicky messages, we’ve actually had a nice morning. I took him out for a walk around the block, tucked into my coat. We live near to a main road, so I want to get him as au fait with traffic as possible. We sat on a friend’s wall and watched the cars going by whilst I fed him treats. He was pretty good given that was his first time outside, apart from going from the house to the car for trips out (which he hates but needs must). He had 10 minutes in the garden when we got back and then took himself for a snooze in his crate.

Definitely sleep downstairs for a few weeks _ mine was 15 weeks when we left him completely on his own and we had no howling or barking because he was so used to feeling secure in that area with me near crate out of sight but occasional reassurance pat "settle down" word. Vg investment in time

@BoysRule, I feel your pain re being a prisoner in your own home. Toiletting

seems to be going ok with mine, sleep is our nemesis. Any accidents we’ve had have been down to human error (not taking him out frequently enough, not recognising his ‘I need the loo’ body language etc.

I take him out every hour during the day when he’s awake, I was doing it every 20-30mins when he first arrived but he doesn’t need it now he’s settled in a bit. Every time he goes to the loo outside I praise like mad and give him a treat. I also take him out as soon as he wakes up, about 20mins after a meal (that’s when he needs a poo), immediately after any excitement or indoor play, before & after we’ve been out. Basically, anything that might be stressful or stimulating. Then I reset the timer to an hour (unless something else triggering happens, in which case we go out sooner). It works for us but given that lots of people have easy nights with their puppies, I appreciate it is very much a case of ‘your mileage may vary’ for these things and I might just have a pup who is relatively easy as far as loo stuff is concerned.

Boys, ian dunbar has good tips on toilet/crate training. They.wont pee in a crate /bed so you can use this to your advantage inearly days, ie first thing on wking out then massive praise and after sleeping in day in crate.

Thank you for words of encouragement! He sleeps really well - all night in his crate and he won't go to the toilet in there.

We do massive praise and a treat when he goes outside and I take him out every 30 minutes but then he'll just randomly do a poo/wee inside at a different time. I don't think he has got it at all but we've only had him for a week. I say 'quickly' to him when he goes to the loo outside. I think I'm just waiting for some recognition that he toilets outside rather than just doing it because I'm taking him there at the right time.

Tried a bag that her head pops out of
Lots of warm blankets and snuggles

Absolute no go
Loses her mind And tries to leap out

Tried a carry case that’s closed to see if she felt safer - Goes mental
Though happily spends loads of time in it when I put it in the lounge

Had so many dreams of taking her out and socialising
Going to cafes, found a ton of dog friendly places etc.
Not a chance in hell.

From what I’ve read/heard proper toilet training takes weeks and you’re very lucky if they are consistent with it at 12-16 weeks, @BoysRule, so I wouldn’t be worried about it. Though I totally appreciate it is stressful having your stuff covered in puppy wee/poo .

Ah @Snufflesdog, the books make it sound so straightforward don’t they? They don’t seem to take into account the reality of a puppy with a personality of their own and real reactions. They don’t seem rooted in reality at all.

@BiteyMcBiteFace we're also rapidly approaching 7 months and Kevin the teenager is out in full force. Do you kind saying how much biteypup weighs? Forest pup is at 20.5kg and I'm wondering if shes going to finish at around lab size

@Outtheforest She weighed in a couple of weeks ago at 24.2 kg, so I would imagine she is now slightly over the 25kg mark at precisely 7 months 1 week old tomorrow. She is predominantly show lab with a smidge of working type mixed in. I don't think she's going to be a big lab. Our previous male show lab weighed in at over 45kg and was like a small pony. If I'd had a pound for everytime someone had said 'you could put a saddle on that and ride it' I'd have been very rich

@BoysRule Don't worry about trying to 'do' stuff with pup too much during the day. Our 1-2-1 trainer told me off for tying to entertain Biteypup all the time and it made her tired and grumpy (which resulted in being bloody bitey). They need 18 to 20 hours sleep a day at that age and they need to be able to entertain themselves and the trainer also said it doesn't do them any harm to be a bit bored. We made sure Biteypup had lots of things she was allowed to chew (chew toys, natural chews suitable for puppies, etc) and (touch wood) we haven't had any damage to furniture, etc., so far

We got a 1 to 1 trainer/behaviourist. First session was Weds. She's really good and she knows the main issue is the biting. And it isn't the teething, mouthing issue. But the crazy jumping and lunging biting. My hands are covered in cuts, dh's coat has been shredded when she did it on a walk. The kids are quite scared of her now

DH and I are very miserable about. We've been doing what the the trainer said, giving her loads of mental stimulation, working for her meals, using calming activities like sniffing and licking. Not much luck yet. She does the licky mat in seconds and then just goes back to attacking.
Trainer said not to use punishment like going in her crate, and it did make her fearful of her crate. She so intelligent she gets things straight away when training.

I really don't know what to do. She's 18 weeks now and that bit seems to be getting worse not better.

Clowns whilst I get the 'no punishment' bit do you have baby gates where you can at least separate her from you when the lunging starts. I remember the holes in the clothes bit and it bloody hurts.

We don't, mainly cos we have awkward doorways and a lot is open plan. She did say we can walk away and close a door for a few minutes.

The coat happened on a walk, she will suddenly turn and attack. It's very hard to get away from her!

I think we'll look at some baby gates and a long one that can split the open plan bit. She is very tall on her hind legs now though. I don't want her to be able to jump over.

Biteypup sounds very similar to your pup @ClownsandCowboys She was a mental lunging biting fuckwit and quite frankly I didn't like her one little bit The first 1 to 1 trainer we asked to help us recommended lots of mental stimulation and activities, etc. It just made her worse as she was so overstimulated the whole time. Luckily that trainer let us down for the next appointment and was flaky about rescheduling, so I sacked her. Best thing I ever did!

I asked the trainer who runs our normal obedience classes if she would consider seeing us for a 1 to 1 and thank dog she agreed! She said we were doing way to much stimulation and not enough sleep and I was trying to keep her busy the whole time. She recommended the scheduled sleep pattern - 1 and half to 2 hours out of the crate and 1 and half to 2 hours in the crate for sleep. It was a bit of a logistical nightmare to start with, but what a difference immediately! She was much more controlled in her moods and in the end when she was tired she would get her kong and give to me to signal that she was tired and wanted to be crated for a nap. Bit of a nuisance that she doesn't self regulate her sleep, but much more managable as a result, so I'm not complaining

We did use the crate for a short time out if she got OTT with biting, but literally just a minute or so, just enough for her to calm down and not be getting any reaction whatsoever. That was what she craved when she was biting. If we pretended to 'be a tree' as the first (crap) trainer recommended, she would just keep lunging and biting until she really hurt you and you couldn't help but yelp in pain Stair gates are another option, but we found the crate time out more useful, as on the way to get out the stair gate she would still be trying to attack you

Lordy I do not miss that stage!!

Do you mind me asking how you were using the crate for the time out for biting?

The trainer was very insistant that we did not shout, or manhandle her into the crate, but that it should be gently by the collar and with absolutely no reaction vocally. Quietly close the gate and walk away - absolutely no eye contact or speaking. If she barks then just ignore her, but let her out as soon as she appears calm, again with no speaking or reaction at all and just turn away and carry on as normal.

It only took a handful of times and she got the idea that biting got her nowhere except the crate and totally ignored. It was the only thing that worked for us and we had literally tried everything. She really was quite a horrible little git

Clowns really bitey.poodle mix here and.we used crate for calm down rather than aversive, so trying to use crate sofa with door closed to.time with naps. Needed more sleep than we were giving Sometimes I sat with him, next to crate to.give it a good vibe. Reduced hyper impulsive lunging. Never used crate as timeout but for timein sleep encouragement. Also tried to find other dogs for supervised play off lead.