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!!!

[Nojeansplease]

@AliGoldie I second what @BiteyShark says about dropping treats in
We had a tough time leaving dpup at first
And everyone said DO NOT LEAVE if they’re crying
But dpup was hysterical even if I was stood a step away but he couldn’t get to me
It was draining trying to be there and not let it get worse and the fear of creating separation anxiety
Honestly if anything it it made it worse, like he expected and needed me to be there then because I always was

But we just spent some time building up confidence in general (off lead independence etc)
And I would step out of the room and back in and I constantly dropped treats whilst he was quiet
Building up the time I was out the room

Eventually I just had to leave him
I knew he was fed, watered, exercised had been given enough attention.
Everyone says don’t leave them, all the trainers and books say don’t leave and maybe it isn’t the right thing, and we were lucky, but dpup just had to cry for 5 mins and then he was fine. I timed it and sat in the car outside panicking
As soon as he was quiet I can back

He’s 17 weeks now and is happy (no crying at all) for 2.5 hours - I’ve not tried any longer.

[blondiebrowneyes]

@AliGoldie I too have GR pup who was doing exactly the same. I built up the time she was in the crate gradually and would actually just put her in it for a few minutes and ignore the barking. When she went quiet for a minute or two I'd give her a treat and say "good girl quiet". I always give her a hollow bone with something smeared inside to keep her busy for a few minutes so she associated the crate with something tasty. I started popping out for short periods every day and leaving her in the crate (DH works upstairs so he would hear barking) and she was fine after a couple of protest barks. She hardly barks at all now (she's 19 weeks)

[AliGoldie]

This is my worry too - creating separation anxiety by never leaving her alone when she cries AND creating it by leaving her when she cries. In the past two weeks I have left her twice - an emergency run to pick up dd from school (no choice) and a brief 20 min sanity walk. Neither ended well. The rest of the time we’ve been able to trade off puppy duties. I will work with her some more and drop the treats in when she’s quiet. I just know I’ll eventually have to leave again at some point and she won’t like it. Her crying and barking makes me feel awful and anxious but I’ve managed to resist letting her out until she’s quiet. It’s only been two weeks but it feels like so much longer when you’re eating, breathing and sleeping all things puppy.

[AliGoldie]

@blondiebrowneyes It’s so frustrating! did you leave the room when she was barking or stay where she could see you? My girl is (almost) fine if she can see me but the minute I am out of site she barks/whines. Today I tried clicking and rewarding after mere seconds of quiet (literally only 5 seconds). That’s as long as she’s stayed quiet so far. The idea of her being quiet in her crate for an entire minute sounds like a dream.

[Nojeansplease]

@aligoldie
The first few weeks are hard, It was all consuming

In the house we were still having trouble With crying
It was easier as I could leave and he was fine
But whilst I was at home if he was on his ‘own’ he was going crazy. I couldn’t imagine a minute of silence, alone.
But it’s been a few days since I decided to crack down on it. now when he’s in the pen we can get about 45 mins of being chilled at a time.

[AliGoldie]

@Nojeansplease. 45 mins wound be amazing. Today I’m going to try giving her her food-filled kong (breakfast) while I have a quick shower. Fingers crossed I can make it to the end before she finishes her Kong!

[Nojeansplease]

@aligoldie I’ve found frozen licki mats and
Stuffed bones work well
We also got a treat dispenser ball and an egg that you can put kibble in - I think it’s an off brand Kong wobbler effectively

But you also want to encourage time alone not just eating, you’ll never be able to give them something that lasts an hour or two, long term really. So I would also spend some time encouraging learning to play alone.

But for treats, my failsafe is a chicken foot or pig ear Or duck necks - they keep him very happy

[Juanbablo]

The Yaks milk chew is great, we have small one as our puppy is very small, he chews on it for ages. Also had an antler made of sweet potato. He loved that and it lasted ages. He brings them over near the sofa though and the keep going under so we do spend a fair amount of time retrieving them while he tries to bite our hair.

[Nojeansplease]

Ours isn’t that interested in yaks sadly!
It does say on it not to give it to puppies under 4 months so just see how they go at first

When our puppy was as young as yours one of his facilitate things was carrot
He was a bit lazy but I think the carrot was a bit more rewarding - he just shredded it though so be ready to hoover

[DeathByPuppy]

Ah, I didn’t realise that re yaks chews.

Carrots are funny things, aren’t they? Mine enjoys them but doesn’t eat them either. He just crunches them into tiny, annoying bits.

[AliGoldie]

It’s been a difficult couple of days :(. Pup is 10 weeks old today, we’ve had her for 15 days and I feel so overwhelmed. After only 15 days! We are making small progress but I think it’s the sleep deprivation, constant worry that I’m not doing it right, and the 24/7 with pup that’s making me feel a little bonkers. I woke up this morning not wanting to see her or take care of her. I’m committed to her but I can’t help but feel puppy regret. I know it will get better but days are dragging. They feel SO long.

[Roxyfruitcake]

My puppy is now 17 weeks old. I desperately need help. She suffers with travel sickness. Literally 3 minutes in the car and she is vomiting. I have tried various feeding schedules before the journey, unfortunately the outcome is just the same. I have tried her sitting on the passengers knee, in her crate and also on the back seat (secured). If anybody can help me with this, I would be soooooo grateful.

[Nojeansplease]

@AliGoldie this is like reading my own thoughts and panic from a few weeks ago. It will get better.

@roxyfruitcake ours was sick a couple of times, but not often
We reduced food before and just got him in the car regularly - how far can you go before they’re sick? Can you just keep practicing help their tummy settle/ get used to the movement
Can she see out the window, does it help?
Is she sick any other time?

Does she seem bothered? Ours wasn’t actually too bothered about being sick, so we cleaned it up and carried on
It only happened for us about 3 times to be fair but Worst case you can get things off the vet

[heatseeker14]

@AliGoldie, it will get better when you can get out and about on walks. I remember having bad cabin fever when dpup was really small. There is so much to learn and deal with in the early days. Hang in there!
@Roxyfruitcake, welcome to the group! Perhaps an Adaptil collar might help if dpup is distressed and that is causing sickness. But tbh I don’t have any real life experience to offer. Sorry I can’t be of anymore help.

Dpup is now 6.5 months old. He has decided he can do without me and would rather play with every dog in the neighbourhood. Totally ignored me when I recalled him today. I let him off his long line so he could play with a friend, and then he ran off to meet a random dog. 😏 Anyone else have a dog on a long line around other dogs? What happens when you let them play with other dogs? I find the line gets tangled up around dogs and the owners! Perhaps I should only let him say hello briefly, but it is so nice to see him romping about with other equally bouncy dogs.

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Roxy might be worth talking to your get to see if there is a travel sickness pill for dogs.

Heat if the other dog is friendly and the owners don't mind I'd let him off lead.

Our pups been down the vets a couple of times this week as he keeps throwing up 🤮 he's had an injection and has got some pills. I'm not sure if dogs are just quite sicky animals?! The vet doesn't seem worried, said to feed him 3 small meals a day but I can't see that working as pup refuses food until teatime 🙄

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

Roxy vet not get!!

[Nojeansplease]

@heatseeker14 we tried it but with all the tangling we felt silly!
So we do off lead where it’s safe
And on lead where it’s not safe/we’re not confident we can get him back.
Ours loses his head a bit when he sees another dog though.

Would be interested if anyone has any barking issues?
Was told at day care today he’s just barking at other dogs. I wonder if he’s suddenly scared there? They said they don’t think so, that he’s confident and trying to play but the other dogs aren’t responding to the barking. Breaks my heart if he’s scared there, or trying to play and being left out

He’s quite barky when he plays with us, just vocalises his excitement - definitely not scared then

But I also find he’s starting to bark more when the door goes / he sees someone he has decided is suspicious on walks and most annoyingly - at the tv! Any other animal on tv or bikes and he’s barking like a lunatic.

We’ve got a settle command but he doesn’t care at all about it once he gets going (though it’s almost bomb proof in all other situations!)

[BiteyShark]

heatseeker if you look on threads the playing with dogs is a controversial one. I see lots of dogs in parks where the recall is iffy and frankly the dogs only return to owners when they have finished playing.

Personally with my type of dog having iffy recall is terrible so until we had cracked it I never let him play with any strange dogs as it just reinforced running off and not returning when called. He played with known dogs at daycare but never on a walk with me. I never used a long line but I always recalled mine back if I saw a dog in the distance and put mine on a lead and we avoided the dog by changing direction. After months of training we eventually cracked recall as an adolescent and only when my dog used to see another dog and instinctively came back to me I relaxed the onlead part and we walked past dogs for a quick sniff. He now always looks at me for permission to approach a dog and will turn immediately if I call him. I do think it was worth the effort especially when I see owners struggling to get their adult dogs back.

However, lots of people don't agree and are happy for their dog to run up and play with other dogs but for me it was a complete no and having sat in the emergency vets a lot seeing dogs injured from other dogs when out on a walk I am glad I never allowed that because you just don't know which dogs are friendly and which aren't. For me play was with known dogs (daycare) or controlled e.g. at group training or with a friends dog. The thing to think about is at that age if your dogs runs off and doesn't come back when you call them because they are playing with another dog then you have failed that recall training as you need to set them up not to 'fail' when you recall them.

[AliGoldie]

@heatseeker14 thank you! I think you’re right. Being restricted to the house and yard for this long is driving me crazy. And because she’s still a baby she wants me ALL. THE. TIME. I know one day when she’s more independent I’ll miss the puppy days. Then again, maybe not ;-)
@Nojeansplease it’s so nice to know I’m not the only one. Feels really isolating sometimes. I think I just want a timeline, and that’s not realistic. I just hope there aren’t too many more days like yesterday and today. Anyway, thanks so much for the support!

[heatseeker14]

@Nojeansplease, I also feel embarrassed when the line gets snagged up. Dpup is the same as yours around other dogs. The last couple of weeks the jumping at other dog’s faces has started to phase out, thank goodness. Really started to think he would never grow out of it. I’m pleased his manners seem to slowly be getting better. I just need to tackle the recall issue.
@BiteyShark, I totally understand why other owners avoid each other when teaching recall. The conflict I have is around socialisation. I don’t have family or close friends with dogs, and dpup doesn’t go to daycare. I’m worried that by avoiding other dogs he won’t learn how to interact with them and eventually will become frustrated anytime we get close to them. He knows a couple of dogs around our way. He plays so nicely with them when we see them on a walk, and he has come back to me when I have called him away from them. Unfortunately, we aren’t the only ones to use the field, so I’m constantly on the look out for other dogs to make sure he doesn’t run towards them.

[heatseeker14]

@Girliefriendlikespuppies, how is your pup? Our dpup was sick a few times last night and again at 2am. He drank some stagnant water from a ditch yesterday. Wondering if that could have caused it. Guess it could also be a bug. Hard to know with dogs when they are always eating nasty stuff like crusty mud off my boots! 🤢Just boiling some rice to put with cooked chicken for him. Hope your dpup is feeling better now.

[Woody479]

Pup is now 22 weeks old and I luffs him. I really really didn’t even like him for the first month and I was full of regret but he’s settled really well. All that horrible biting has been replaced with licks, DS can now play with him without having to tell them both off. It’s lovely.

I’m struggling with recall. He’s great at staying close when it’s just the 2 of us but as soon as he sees another dog or human he’s off wanting to play. Trainer says I have to be the most exciting thing and even with pockets stuffed full of chicken what could possibly be more exciting than a new dog or human to play with?!

I don’t know if I should be keeping him on the lead now or not. I’ve always got my eye on the horizon for any dogs on lead and so far I’ve always been able to spot them, call him and get him on lead before he goes off for a nose but I’m finding the busy walks quiet stressful.

The worst is when they start playing with another willing dog and the just will not come when it’s time to walk on. It reminds me of trying to pick DS up from play dates and the little sods would piss about and you’d have been to drag them off.

I’ve bought a little dog handbag type thing for poo bags, treats, whistle etc it’s so handy I love it but I think people must be loling at me with ‘all the gear and no idea!’

[BiteyShark]

Woody what breed is your dog? Mine is a working cocker and food does not motivate him outside. We had to start hunting with him to be more exciting than other dogs.

[perpetuallybewildered]

Your dogs all sound lovely. I’m so disheartened with mine, she’s good at training classes but forgets at home which is probably my fault as I don’t do 8-10 training sessions a day. I’m trying to do better with that.

The biggest problem though is the biting. It’s awful, she bites me all the time, really hard, jumps and lunges at me or digs at my legs then bites if I’m sitting down. Yelling ouch doesn’t work. Turning my back doesn’t work, she just bites the back of my legs. Leaving the room doesn’t work.

If she bites DH he tells her off in an angry voice and she stops, if I do that it makes no difference. Trainer advises keeping her on a house line which I’m doing but I can’t always reach for it as she’s biting so much.

I’m so sad, I want to love her but she’s making it difficult.

[perpetuallybewildered]

I should have said she’s 15 weeks old. A mini Schnauzer.