Puppy Survival 2020 - let's talk about something other than Covid-19

[MortyFide]

I know a non-coronavirus thread will quickly disappear down the active list, but these Puppy Survival discussions have been popular in the past - God knows I could do with one now, not just because all talk tends to be limited to CV at the moment while we're all stuck indoors, but because I have so many puppy questions which aren't necessarily answered just by googling.

Any takers - has anyone else just got a new puppy and wondered what on earth they've done? Why does he pee every 3 minutes? What do you DO with a puppy all day? Am I doing everything wrong? Etc.

Here's mine, he's an 11 week old border terrier. I'll come back with more posts and questions to bump the thread at peak times, see if we can't get it going. If not, oh well - I tried! Thanks to Biteyshark for the suggestion.

He’s so cute! Mine is 9 months now so I’m an imposter here, but I hope it takes off - I found it really helpful when I was struggling with my bitey, weeing, chewing tornado.

Mostly you follow them around trying to stop them weeing on the floor and destroying cables etc, while slowly realising your great plans to work from home are toast!

OMG yes! Working from home is a nightmare, every time I try to concentrate he lines up for another wee even though he's been out 25 times already.

Tonight he lost his mind around 4pm and didn't calm down until about 30 minutes ago. He's like a mini tornado and he won't stop releasing tiny dribbles of pee every nanosecond. When does it end!

Im supposed to be picking up our puppy on 28th april, little worried that his jags wont be classed as urgent by the vet? But looking forward to having an isolation buddy 😊

I would get rid of the good bowl whilst we're all in isolation and give all of his food in activities and training! Sounds like puppy needs more brain work to tire him out!

missmelanier Yeah ours has a follow up jab to his Lepto 4 booked in a couple of weeks - I don't know if that will still happen but I can contact them, it won't be the end of the world if he has to wait (I think the first jab does expire though, so at worst he'll have to have the combo again). He's not going to be swimming in any rivers anyway.

I suspect you will be able to get your puppy vaccinated - worth asking your surgery?

Readyforachange I've lost count of the number of training sessions I've done with his normal food rations, and the other different ways I've tried to present it (treat balls and kongs etc). But little puppies can get overtired, so I don't overwhelm him and avoid more than two spells of intense training per day. Sometimes I just let him be a puppy, scoff his food from the bowl and play and sleep. They need to sleep too.

I believe the puppy mad zoomies are a common phenomenon, although I dont remember it with our last 13 years ago. She was good as gold - but turned into an aggressive adult dog, so it takes all sorts!

On our very short walk this morning he saw some pallets of bread being unloaded from a big lorry, with all the noise that entails - he just planted his arse and wanted to watch from 15 metres away, he was mesmerised.

As for the peeing, he is impossible to predict, despite trying to confine and supervise him. Last night he'd eaten (20 mins with the kong) been outside for 2 big wees, and was in his large pen playing with his toys, when he inexplicably peed mid game, on his blanket. No hesitation at all and he'd only peed 15 minutes before. I'm assuming he just has no control over his bladder unless he's asleep, he went 5 hours last night before waking me up for a wee.

It sounds like you're doing an amazing job

Doesn't feel like it with the constant peeing and biting, but I'm trying to keep faith!

It does get better. Ours is 15 weeks now and I was on here at 9 weeks ready to rehome her! Genuinely.

The during the night wees stop. The zoomies. Ours is starting to learn to settle herself and go to her bed when knackered or will go to sleep on a lap. But for a while there was nothing that could be done as she raved around being spectacularly over tired.

I worked from home with her for the first 2 weeks and got nothing done. Shes calmed down a lot so enforced wfh is going better.

Oh thank you SQuueze - we got him at 9 weeks, he's now 11 weeks, and for the last fortnight I've been kicking myself for being talked into it, missing my old dog so hard it hurts (even though she was horrid and vicious, she was special to me), and wishing I could give him back!

When he's being lovely and easy I can look forward to the puppy days being over and having a calm, well adjusted adult dog, but when he's being a shit I'm longing for it all to go away and hating the 100% supervision with no relief.

I have got some holiday booked between work days, but now I'm doing those work days from home my DH is also going to be home, so he can help!

This is duke, 8 weeks old. He's settling in ok, lots of crying at night and he likes to hold onto our shoe while we are walking past him lol. He doesn't know what to do with a kong yet but loves his teddy bear. Oh and training is a bit difficult as he won't eat treats!

I hadn’t really realised you have to give them a couple of weeks to settle in to a whole new life. So the first couple of weeks are really just give them time to sniff round, get lots of cuddles etc. Then they’ll settle into a routine and I’ll bet will start liking treats! If not then favourite toys.

Mine is a little pig, he'll eat ANYTHING so clicker training is a breeze. I can train using his own kibble and he thinks its his birthday - most dogs would look at you in disgust! He can hoover up 30g dry food in 45 seconds.

He's fine at night, I have him in a little crate sized area cordoned off by our bed, and he'll sleep for up to 4 hours (5 last night) before he'll squeak to go out for a wee. So now I am generally up with him at 1am and 5am - it was more like 4 times a night the first few nights, the broken sleep makes everything feel that much harder!

The only way I can prevent accidents downstairs is to confine him to a playpen - if I let him run free, he'll squat and pee in random places with no signals or warning - I'm not quick enough to interrupt him. The playpen makes him think twice and he might hesitate and look at the back door (or the last place in the room he weed), so I have a fighting chance of spotting it and getting him outside.

No pee accidents today so far. He did come dancing in from the garden earlier celebrating a magnificent poo, then scrubbed his bumhole on the carpet and left me a poo stamp.

I need to join! Mine is 9weeks now and really starting to find his feet. We are managing to roughly work out a schedule of going out every 45 mins or so which seems to be working for keeping most accidents off the floor. Bitey little shark he’s becoming tho, much to the children’s shock.
Is anyone else crate training? I’m wondering is short periods of whining in the crate is a bad thing or not- we have a spaniel and I know they can be quite needy so I’m worried about separation anxiety.

Ours was fine at night in the crate, not a peep till yesterday, she hit 15 weeks and has started whingeing. But it’s a whinge not anything awful and lasts about 5 minutes.

During the day we failed miserably at crate training as she just has FOMO.

There’s a brilliant site on Facebook about dog training that has a great unit on crate training. You have to take it really slowly.

Dog training advice and support on Facebook.

We had quite a good day with him yesterday, only two tiny wees on the floor and he is consistently looking towards the door when he needs to go out. He was only slightly lairy in the evening and calmed down fairly quickly.

But today, ugh. He's horrible. He had me up at 5.20am (I'd had 3 hours sleep and had a banging headache) barks and attacks our feet and hands, won't cooperate with any training method, looks me in the eye as he's pissing on the carpet - 5 times today, and there is no interrupting him once he's started. He's pissed in both of his new beds.

Tonight the mad bitey zoomies lasted THREE HOURS. I ended up shutting him outside for a few moments just to let him calm down and have a break from him taking chunks out of me, and he chewed the lowest branch off my rose.

The penned off area of the sitting room looks like a bomb has hit it, and he's now spatchcocked out across my lap and cares not a jot. He's 12 weeks, remind me - does it settle down when they hit 16 weeks?

It really does calm down, honest it gets better. Ours was out on a walk today, chasing birds and looking at other dogs and then dh brushed her on his lap. Little angel.

He can be so lovely, he's a happy little soul and so cheerful about everything - but when he gets that hard terrier-head on, all bets are off and you just try to swerve his relentless teeth and demand barking. We don't have a crate, only a playpen, so the enforced naps he takes are when I can cuddle him to sleep like a baby in my arms. He can be raging around ripping things apart, but if I scoop him up and snuggle him into my ample chest he dozes off almost instantly (most of the time) Once he's unconscious I pop him in his bed, and then he's all sweetness and light again as I try to fix the carnage around him.

We do play with him, a little tug and fetch etc, chuck a few toys in the garden with him, and I do regular clicker training sessions with him with his ordinary kibble (which he loves). He can do sit, down, come, drop, and can go get me a toy. He gets two local walks of 15 mins morning and evening, the second with a bit of free running about on a long training line. But when he's barking obnoxiously, peeing over my carpets and his beds despite my best efforts, dragging my stuff around and generally being a dick, I feel guilty that I'm not doing enough with him!

MortyFide your pup is super cute 🥰. This is our 1 year old (tomorrow!) border terrier. We got him at 10 weeks and went through every emotion, but so many times I thought “ oh god what have we done!” 😂. But it does get better, I promise!

Ohhhh look at at him, thanks Jayne! Is he tan or tan/grizzle? According to the certificate, ours is red grizzle.

We had a patterdale terrier before and she was an aggressive nightmare as an adult, so we were hoping a BT is a bit more amenable with people and other dogs and a bit less vocal/reactive.

But at the moment, the puppy is a lairy little gobshite haha! I take it they grow out of it...

Slightly better day today. One wee indoors so far...

Hello! Can I join you?

I've enjoyed "meeting" your pups. We have an 8-week-old girl poodle, Chilli.

She's only been with us since the middle of last week, and seems to be settling very happily. Already doing approx 60% of "business" outside, I reckon.
Was relieved to read the word "zoomies" here as a perfect description of her increasingly regular mad half-hours (frenzy of wagging, biting, running, growling, grabbing).

Lots of potential challenges related to isolation, aren't there?
Bit nervous about those. Anyone else?

Hi yes he’s tan grizzle. This was him at 12 weeks. Lovely natured little thing but loves the sound of his own voice 😂. We thought he’d never get toilet training but it seemed to click when he was about 14/15 weeks. Recall is a completely different kettle of fish tho....But he’s a super little dog and the good outweighs the bad!

things that have saved our sanity with our labrador pup

licky mat
whistle/lunge lead ....for extra adventure
kong
snake to stuff (like a kong)
snuffle mat for foraging
stair gate!!
crate
LOTS of chew toys
twist toy to fill with treats, he has to work out how to get the treats
ice cubes to lick/chase
trick training to mentally exhaust

The mentally exhausting is really good advice. We put treats in a box wrapped in newspaper and she sniffs them out. Or treats wrapped on a kitchen roll inner. The shuffle must is popular. Also taught her sit, drop, stay. Hide in the house and call her. Old tea towel under the tap then twisted and frozen. Carrots and broccoli stalks to chew.