Puppy support group 3

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

A thread for all new puppy owners for support and understanding!!

My puppy is now 7 months and has hit the teens 😒🤪😳😫 stay with me fellow puppy owners - I need you!!!

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Did anyone watch Dogs behaving (very) badly Ystd on ch 5? I quite like the dog trainer and his approach seems common sense, it's given me a few ideas for trying to improve dpups hatred of flat faced dogs!!

We're not long back from a nice walk, was impressed at dpups recall as he chased after another small dog (playing) but immediately stopped and came back when I called him!! Even the other owner was impressed 🤣 was probably a fluke!!

[Snufflesdog]

I didn’t Watch last nights
But I watched the first series and liked him.
I think it’s good to follow as many trainers as possible and that way you have a few options, just like kids one thing doesn’t work with them all!

I’ve seen another thread on here talking about how horrible he is and they don’t like his training methods - said he’s like CM which I don’t think at all.

Well done on the recall!!

[BiteyMcBiteFace]

Well, Biteypup is now 8 months old Not sure where that time has gone, but she is turning into a fantastic little dog We still get the odd mouthing incident if she's super excited, but getting less and less as she grows. We still have to manage interactions between the cat and dog, which is a bit disappointing. I was hoping by now that they would've come to some understanding

Snufflesdog Biteypup was a PITA for barking and being restless at puppy classes. There were a few that barked occasionally, but she was by far the worst behaved Our trainers were fab and we used snuffle mats and stuffed kongs to occupy her between tasks and teach her to settle. Now she rocks up and the class, plonks herself on her quilt and settles quite well. She is probably now the most patient of all in the class and she's the youngest there. One thing that made a big difference for her was making sure she had lots of sleep before the class. If she was tired when she got there she was even more of a pain! Have you tried asking why they feel the need to barricade you off from the others? They're all on lead, so it's not like any of the others are at risk

Girliefriendlikespuppies Well done on the recall! That is Biteypup's downfall - recall from other dogs. 9 times out of 10 she's fine, but there's always one that just too interesting to not try and play with

[Snufflesdog]

That is really hopeful
Thank you! I can already see improvements from her and we’re trying to socialise as much as possible outside of classes - without her meeting every dog!
I’ve got her at day care for a half day a week just to get that socialising in and learning some manners. But the trainer said not to do it as it would make her worse. She’s doing great there.

They’ve said the barricade is to ‘stop her being distracted’ and from disturbing the other dogs.
They’ve also said on other occasions about her being high on the aggression ladder and how we need to minimise her triggers.
Honestly I know lots of people say their dogs are friendly when they’re clearly rude/bitey etc
But she’s truly not an aggressive dog. She growled a handful of times, week one, when people did big movements and made big noises right next to her and she was unsure.
And we’re working outside of class at having her not react to things and she’s doing brilliantly at that.

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Snuffles honestly your puppy just sounds like a normal puppy and the trainers sound completely ott. It sounds very negative which is not the point of puppy classes at all. Interesting re some mnetters not liking that chap, he seems pretty sensible to me and got amazing results with the dogs!! I was a bit at one lady who got herself a Doberman puppy and then didn't train it all incase 'it didn't love her anymore' ffs!!

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Bitey our pup and cat tolerate each other, recently the pup growled at the cat which worried me a bit. I was also hoping they'd get on a bit better by now....

[Woody479]

We still have to manage our pup and 2 cats. It’s ok though as the dog has downstairs and the cats have the run of the rest of the house so their paths only cross if the cats choose to. They’re weirdly fascinated by him and like him to sit high up just watching him bounce around. Pup went to play with my friends dog the other day and she has 3 kittens, he gave them a sniff and then wasn’t the slightest bit interested in them.

[BiteyShark]

Snuffles having done different types of group training and experienced different trainers it became obvious that they are not all equal. I think the general young puppy classes were the worst and my dog was awful in them. I wasted a lot of money but by ditching them and going elsewhere it paid off in the end when we found better ones.

[BiteyMcBiteFace]

Unfortunately we live in a bungalow, so we currently live in a maze of stairgates The Biteypup is scared of Dcat and Dcat is scared of Biteypup. They're like a couple of kids that need their heads banging together Biteypup will allow cat to wander through the kitchen/diner unhindered as long as she gets a treat for it, but doesn't like cat staring at her through the stairgate. Unfortunately, Dcat is a bit strange (hand rear feral and part Bengal) and can look quite intimidating in staring mode

I suppose we were lucky because our old dog was used to my mums feisty cats and was older (maybe 5 or 6) when I hand raised Dcat as a kitten, so it was never an issue. Poor Dcat adored our old boy and would sleep curled up with him, so she is really confused by this full on idiot of a puppy

I guess I was hoping that they would be more settled by now, but it all takes time I suppose

It's our last training class of the block this Saturday and it's competition time again. She has won the last 2 times and OH is putting me under pressure to make sure she makes it a hat trick!

[Snufflesdog]

It’s quite a well known puppy class I’ve seen recommended in these threads before!
But I’m glad we are trying another one anyway that starts this week

I’m going to give puppy class 1, one last try with the next session and then I think I will complain if it’s not getting better.

[Gotaprettypup]

Prettypup is now 13 months and as a larger breed is in teenage mode now. I had to get a trainer involved as she was being an utter PITA. All she was doing seemed to be disappearing.

I was doing classes but she got over stimulated in a village hall with a dozen other dogs and it was stressful for both of us. So I've withdrawn for now. The trainer is far less stressful and she loves him coming round. lol

[Outnumb3red]

Hi everyone.

Pup is now almost 17 weeks and has found his voice so a bit more barking from him and a few growls. He's not, I don't think, doing it from a position of aggression, but more because he's scared, as he often stops once the dog is closer.

He's still so tiny and a bit wary of everything. I've found a local class, but it has a waiting list. I'm able to take him along to socialise tho.

He likes to poo in the house, pretty much cracked the peeing, so that's. But frustrating.

He is so lazy though when it comes to walks. He hates the wind and wants to walk only to do his business and then straight home. I often carry him most of the way, and then he happily walks home. The things we do

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Outnumbered our pup was a complete pain on walks for ages, he used to refuse to leave the house, refuse to walk when out of the house, sit down anytime a person/animal/any unfamiliar object came close 😫

Hang on in there, at some point in the last couple of months it seemed to suddenly click that the walks were for his benefit and are actually fun!! He loves a walk now!!

[Snufflesdog]

@Outnumb3red does he have a coat? I said I’d never be ‘that’ owner but my little skinny thing just cries in the wind and rain and refuses to move, but give her a coat and she’s still not happy exactly, but she will move and it’s like she forgets here n there about how much she’s hating being out

She will also hold her poos if it’s raining so she doesn’t have to go outside, could that be something your boy is doing?

[Snufflesdog]

So after being house trained for 7 weeks, and picky about where she goes - she EXCLUSIVELY pees and poos on grass. If we can’t find any it’s a panic because she will hold it till she’s bursting.
All of a sudden yday she weed on concrete
And since then most of her wees have been on concrete

She normally doesn’t like getting her paws wet or dirty and that is exactly what happens when she pees on concrete so I’m not sure what’s going on

She’s not peeing any more often, eating and drinking normal
Do I need to worry??

[Outnumb3red]

@Snufflesdog he has several coats, even a beautiful hand knitted Arran jumper lol. His harness is also got a cosy lining.

He will hold poos if it's too wet or windy, yeah, and wait till he's home and he also won't pee or poo on concrete, only grass. They are such little oddballs

[Juanbablo]

Yesterday was a BAD DAY. Puppy is 11 weeks today. Yesterday he was so bitey from the moment he woke up. Dh usually works from home but yesterday he had to be out and I was at work until 1 so he was on his own for about 4 hours and my god did he punish us for it! He was just wild all afternoon, biting, barking. Several wee accidents and 1 poo inside. I was ready to give the little bigger away by the time dh got home. Thank goodness today he's been ok. Does anyone else have those really awful days?

[Woody479]

Juan-I remember posting on here when our pup was around 11 weeks and he’d been left with my parents for the day while I worked. My god he was a nightmare when I got home, in a biting frenzy that seems to go on all evening. Same thing happened every time I left him with them and I used to dread coming home. He’s 19 weeks now and so much better. Still over excited but no where near as frantic and he calms down much quicker. Stick with it, things will settle.

[heatseeker14]

@Snufflesdog just a guess really, but did you go mad with praise when she weed on the concrete? You said that she usually holds her wee until she gets to a bit of grass. Just wondering if you got excited and praised her loads when she first went on the concrete. Now she thinks that is the best place to go...Or perhaps she has watched other dogs do it. 🤷‍♀️ They are funny little things 😂
Our pup is nearly 6 months old, and I’m getting really worried about the teenage months. Totally dreading it actually.

[BiteyShark]

heatseeker you may be lucky and pass the teenage phase relatively unscathed. If not I recommend lots of or

[Juanbablo]

I feel like he is going backwards with toilet training. He's gone from having 1 accident a day to having 3 or 4. Why???!!!! We are still taking him out very frequently, watching him constantly for signs and giving praise and treats when he goes outside. So why is he going inside MORE?!

[Snufflesdog]

@Juanbablo does he sleep on his own? Ours never used to. And if we had people look after her she wouldn’t, as they’d want to play the whole time and just stimulate her constantly. So then either way, she was over tired
Equally too much sleep if she’s bored and Cosy causes her to be bitey as she has too much energy!

Some days are just bad though, we used to have 2 in 5 REALLY BAD days that I was tearing my hair out at the end of the day, and then maybe one good/ok day and two ok/not great days. The odds are more in our favour now at 15 weeks. Hang in there

@heatseeker14 it was after her first day at day care, they go on the grass there but I don’t know if some of the dogs did it on concrete and she saw it.
I didn’t praise it at all, I was too shocked after weeks of her holding it until she finds a suitable patch of grass, even when other surfaces have been offered Or available.

Then all the wees since then have just been on the concrete/stone. She literally took one step outside today and weed, got it all over her feet and then trotted back in not envy.

She’s so good generally that she just gets a quiet ‘good’ now anyway with an occasional treat thrown in.
Maybe it was a plea for more treats

It’s worked anyway, we hadn’t bothered with commands and exact spots before and she wasn’t having accidents so we were just happy to take the win, but now I’m carrying her to the spot I want her to go and making a big deal of praise and using the ‘command’

[Snufflesdog]

She has never gone on any other surface except grass before
Other than a handful of accidents on the wooden floor in the first few days - but that was 5-7 weeks ago!

[Juanbablo]

@snuffles he does sleep on his own. In his crate in the living room. He has done since day 1 and rarely whines, he's usually very happy to go in and sleeps all night. Thank goodness!

[Snufflesdog]

It makes a big difference doesn’t it!
Ours is the same but for a while during the day she wouldn’t settle herself, she’d just play, so if we left her, she would get bitey with over tiredness! Thought that may be his issue yesterday but perhaps not!

They just have bad days though I think
We had one not too long ago when she didn’t want to play, train, walk, or settle or nap. Nothing was entertaining her except chewing my carpets, furniture and me.
Long day!