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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Puppy survival thread! June 2020

693 replies

Juiceey · 31/05/2020 11:37

Hello, anyone around to join me?

We've got our first puppy, a miniature poodle, yesterday. So far so good apart from the incessant humping!

He's VERY bitey, which doesn't hurt yet but no doubt will soon. He's massively attached to DW already and cries if she leaves the room. He loves DS but I think he played with him too much yesterday and overtired him, hence the humping?!

Crate training isn't easy and he cried for half an hour last night but then slept through til 5. Which is horribly early but I was ready for that!

OP posts:
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muckandnettles · 11/06/2020 16:53

@Lovelylurcher we already have antler horn which he likes when he is in the mood. His favourite chew toy is an old shampoo bottle at the moment as it's just the right shape and a combination of chewy and hard I think. It's lasted quite a while so if you have a Head and Shoulders bottle around, see what your pup thinks!

Imadreamer44 · 11/06/2020 17:06

Got a kong and the squirty stuff to go inside it today as well as a licky mat. Trying to stock up on distractions for when we have to leave her. I've been furloughed so shes had me 24/7 for the past couple of weeks.

OwlInAnOakTree · 11/06/2020 18:14

Can people tell me about their dog beds/crates, please?! I'm getting all hung up on it. I bought a lovely, fluffy, comfy bed for pup's crate which just about filled the crate. It wasn't my plan to fill the crate, I wanted half and half but couldn't really find anything that fit the bill. I brought pup home on those really hot days a couple of weeks ago. And, I think, between the bed and the blanket over the crate, it was too hot for him in there and I found him trying to squeeze himself down the small gap between the bed and the side of the crate in the middle of the night, as if trying to find a cooler spot. So I took the bed out on the 2nd night, and now he just has a few blankets in there. He sleeps really well, so I probably shouldn't mess with it. But today, I've brought his bed into the room he spends most of the time in and have it outside of the crate, and he's loving lounging on there (although is a bit chewy so I'm keeping my eye on that...) and now I want a bed in the crate again...especially now it's cooler.

I know I'm overthinking this and projecting my own desire for a comfy bed onto him Grin but anyway, indulge an overthinker and tell me what you have in your crate please?

muckandnettles · 11/06/2020 18:30

@Owlinanoaktree my puppy has a bed that nearly fills his crate and just leaves a gap for his food bowl. It's much bigger than him because I didn't want to change it as he got older. Anyway, in it he has a pad with a cover, a vet bed fleece over the top and then a little blanket that came with him from the breeder. He also usually has a toy or two for chewing. I likewise had various overthinking ideas about this and really I'd like him to also have a 'day bed' for when he is out of his crate so he can be comfy while he is looking out of the french doors in the kitchen or whatever, but then I didn't want him to ignore the crate. One of the crate training things I read said that the crate should be the only bed while you are training them, so at the moment pup sleeps on the hard floor when he wants anything else during the day. Generally this seems to work and he huffs and moves to the crate when he is fed up with the floor. I think I will buy him a nicer bed once I know he won't destroy it as the pad at the moment is an old one from previous dog (it's washable!) but he is quite good with it really and hasn't chewed it. So in the end he will have two beds - that's my thinking.

muckandnettles · 12/06/2020 10:29

Puppy had his second vaccination yesterday and I was so disappointed when the vet said we still need to wait another week before proper walks! I had naively expected the vaccine to be instant I suppose. He was really manic after the vets as he was overtired by a long way, but no ill effects which was good.

OwlInAnOakTree · 12/06/2020 11:55

@muckandnettles thanks for your bed thoughts. Glad I'm not the only one who overthinks these things. Grin I took it out of the room in the end. He loved it but was a bit too chewy. Will move it back in when he's calmed down a bit.

It's ages to wait for injections, isn't it. Our 2nd one is three weeks on Monday, so still 4 weeks before we can take him for a walk...

I've had enough today. Just tiredness catching up with me, so I've little patience for a frantic bitey pup.

muckandnettles · 12/06/2020 13:26

Pup seems a bit lethargic and sorry for himself today, so I think that might be the vaccination. He still tries to bite me but also wants a cuddle.

Original poster
Juiceey · 12/06/2020 18:45

OMG. Beds. We went to Pets at Home before we got him and bought 4 beds. Big ones. One for the crate, kitchen, car, and upstairs. And what's he done? Pissed in every single one. He's otherwise never peed inside so I can only assume it's because they're white and fluffy inside, like the pee pads he was trained to use at the breeder (we don't use them).

So now we have 4 brand new, over £100s worth of beds, in our loft. And he sleeps on the floor.

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OwlInAnOakTree · 12/06/2020 19:08

Sorry @Juiceey but that made me laugh. My son has enjoyed using ours, putting it in his makeshift dens in the front room (his hiding place from bitey pup). So at least it's not been a complete waste of money... Hmm

happygolucky6 · 12/06/2020 19:16

@Juiceey my pup was weird with her beds too!!! I found the only way she got used to them and stopped the weird peeing in her bed stage was I got some puppy shampoo from pets at home and you can also buy puppy refresher spray in the same scent. I got both, washed the dog in the shampoo and sprayed the bed with the spray and then she seemed to go in and settle down?!?

And every now and again if I see she's plopping herself down next to the bed instead of on it I just spray it again a few times and she jumps back on... it's bizarre but it worked so 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

muckandnettles · 12/06/2020 19:48

@Juiceey that made me laugh as well. Our stinky little pup has pissed in his bed numerous times, often when he is cross or tired. The other day he was looking at us, the back door was open and right by him but he was standing in his bed having a piss. What is that about? I thought they didn't like messing where they slept? Anyway the bed and all the bedding is washable, so it's permanently in various stages of being washed and dried. So although he has in theory a pad, a cover for that pad, a topper of vet bed, then a blanket, it's hardly ever all there!

thecapitalsunited · 13/06/2020 09:09

@Juiceey So glad my breeder told me not to get a bed now! My pup just has some vet bed in his crates and a few toys. All machine washable - and it bloody needs to be. I don’t think he’s worried about sleeping on a hard surface though because he always scrunches up the vet bed in his downstairs crate to form a pillow. He uses a plushie as a second pillow then he’s all sorted for switching position during his nap. Strangely though, he doesn’t do that in his upstairs crate where the vet bed stays flat but that stuff is the rubber backed and downstairs isn’t.

Rowdythree · 13/06/2020 09:31

Our breeder told us not to bother with a bed too, the best thing I bought was a £15 cooling mat from pets at home. He sleeps on that every night, and it was great for the hot weather. Mainly he likes to sleep on the kitchen floor, or outside in the rain like he did yesterday! Confused

What's become clear is that I need dog walking clothes, with him trying to hump me every few meters my jeans are filthy after a walk! Also my coat isn't waterproof I discovered after a rainy walk yesterday.

OwlInAnOakTree · 13/06/2020 18:00

I think I'll get a cooling mat too, just in case we get any more warm weather.

Humping, grim as it is...the only thing my pup has humped in the two weeks of being home is a plush toy called something like find the squirrel. It's a plush tree log with holes in it where you stuff little squirrels for dogs to dig out. He loves it. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that it's the only thing he humps in case it could provide some distraction for those pups who are humping legs?!

muckandnettles · 13/06/2020 20:01

@OwlInAnOakTree actually now you come to mention it, I haven't had my leg humped for several days (Groundhog days all merging into one at the moment so could be a week even) and I don't think anyone else has either. Maybe he is having some quality time with one of his toys when we are in bed? He is still biting like a bastard, barking for attention and pissing in his bed, but no humping so hurray for that! I supposed I've jinxed it now...

Imadreamer44 · 13/06/2020 23:02

Pup is 10wks old today, we've had her now for 2 weeks. I realised today she hasn't actually been left alone at all yet due to WFH etc. A friend made me panic by saying we'd left it too late and should have been doing it sooner. What do you all think?

marmite51 · 14/06/2020 03:55

Hello all,

Puppy's first night at home here, he's slept in his crate quite happily from 11 till 3. I had set my alarm to come down at three, and he was SO pleased to see me. If he'd been whining I hadn't heard him, and he seemed fine to be in the crate. I would hear him if he was actively distressed, wouldn't I? He's in our dining room downstairs, and I'm just above him in our bedroom.

He went straight out and did a pee. During the day yesterday I was playing with him for a wee bit after a pee, so did that with him outside, then a drink of water and back into the crate. He's been a bit harder to settle but is quiet now.

My question is, is it possible to get him up in the night for a pee without going through the whole cycle of play, bite cardigan, cuddle, then back in crate? Or do I just need to go with it?

muckandnettles · 14/06/2020 08:28

@mamite51 I'm getting up at 4am / 4.30am to let our pup out for a wee and if I want him to go back to sleep I find it's best to just be very businesslike about it, bit of fuss then straight out, straight back, no eye contact and leave him. On mornings when I'm staying up for a while (because of ds's early shifts alternate weeks) then I have a cycle of about an hour of play and fuss, but try and keep it low key and he settles again once ds (the most exciting person in the world to little pup) goes to work he has a little sob then sleeps.

muckandnettles · 14/06/2020 08:34

@Imadreamer44 oh everyone is a puppy expert - you will find that! Two weeks is still very early days, so I wouldn't worry.

OwlInAnOakTree · 14/06/2020 08:52

@muckandnettles glad to hear it re the humping. And yes...groundhog day...

@Imadreamer44 I've only left our pup (nearly 10 weeks) once but it was whilst he was napping in his crate and I know he'll nap for about an hour. But it's something I'm thinking about...I'll be home full-time until February but I don't want him to get too used to it that it causes problems when I do start leaving the house for longer periods of time. Good to build up slowly, I think?

@marmite51 I'm getting up once in the night, we have a pen in the garden for toileting because our garden's not yet puppy proof, so I pick him up, plop him in the pen, he has a wee, I pick him back up and plop him back in his crate. No fussing or playing. I'm incapable of either in the middle of the night.

Hope everyone's getting on ok.

marmite51 · 14/06/2020 08:56

Thanks for the advice, I'll be more businesslike tonight! It's a long time since ive been in a party mood at 3 in the morning.

This is a great thread, I'll be sure to keep posting. I'm sure he'll throw up some more dramas.

totallydevoidofideas · 14/06/2020 10:07

@marmite51 I agree this is a great thread.

Original poster
Juiceey · 14/06/2020 13:38

@Imadreamer44

Pup is 10wks old today, we've had her now for 2 weeks. I realised today she hasn't actually been left alone at all yet due to WFH etc. A friend made me panic by saying we'd left it too late and should have been doing it sooner. What do you all think?
I worry about this. If we pop upstairs to grab something he sits at the bottom by the stair gate crying and barking.
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HeyLala · 14/06/2020 14:42

@juiceey

Mines the same. Starting today, we're going out for 15 minutes and then will start building it up.
Hopefully he'll be ok. He does wander into the garden and stay out there on his own so his confidence is building.
They're just so tiny and it's horrible when they whine so I must be strong! Grin

OwlInAnOakTree · 14/06/2020 16:05

Those who are leaving/have left their puppies, are you leaving them in their crate for now?