Puppy survival thread! June 2020

[Juiceey]

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!

@OwlInAnOakTree we are saying 'no' as well, as it's the only thing that springs to mind when someone is trying to bite your leg, arm, foot...
I bought the bitter apple spray for the furniture and the outside trees as he was starting to bite hell out of everything as well as us and the spray works a little as it gives him a bit of a start when he finds it tastes different. Long term, I'm not so sure as he is so crazy at times. Best advice I can give about when it's you he is biting is to get out of the room for 15 or 30 seconds, then return as if nothing has happened. I had to do that 3 times last night but it worked in the end. DH refuses to leave the room or distract in any way so gets bitten a lot, which is no help at all. He wants pup to do what he says, but there is no chance at the moment. Honestly, between those two, I think I'm going crazy myself. At the weekend I have pup to myself for 2 days and I am actually looking forward to it.

@OwlInAnOakTree I like the sound of the book and I've seen it on Amazon so might give it a go. I bought Total Recall and the whistle so am doing that at the moment and it's not going too badly but I hate letting pup off the lead. He hasn't let me down though, I must say.

@DangerCake I like the frozen teatowel idea - will give that a go.

@crazycatgal I know just what you mean when you say it's really getting to you now. I still feel like that a bit but a couple of weeks ago was the worst as I just kept thinking 'I'm doing everything for him, have all the theory and prepared everything and it's going wrong...'

I won't say I'm actually enjoying getting up early (about 6.30 usually) with the pup, but it is the best part of the day with him when he has just woken up and he wants some fuss with no biting. I get up to let him out in the night about 4 or 4.30am and he might actually go longer now I think. Might try it soon as I've not had an unbroken night's sleep for 6 weeks. I have also arranged for my pup to go and have doggy day care next week. I won't know what to do with myself while he is there - it will be wonderful!!

We shall have to arrange a puppy survival reunion thread in another 6 months to compare notes! Hope we shall all be saying how lovely the pups are by then.

Thanks everyones for your responses around biting.

@DangerCake I tried this and left him alone and he's had a really long nap and woke up calmer. Previously I've got all his toys out and tried to play when he's bitey to distract him but I left him to sleep and he's been so much better today.

@pleasecaffeinateme Frank is sooo cute. I can really relate to not loving yet. My DW is absolutely smitten, dpup can do no wrong in her eyes! It's hard but we're 3.5 weeks in now and I'm definitely having moments of affection, growing and growing.

@Lovelylurcher harness all the way for us, pup chokes himself non stop if we go out with just a collar on! I thought it was very outdated to recommend collars over harnesses. The poodle group I'm in on FB is unanimously all about harnesses.

@muckandnettles hope you're right about six months down the line!!

Well Juiceypup is 14 weeks old tomorrow so we've had him 3.5 weeks. We're finalllllly feeling more relaxed!

Toilet training is 95% there. If he gets the zoomies it usually ends up with a poo but that's because we can't catch him and get him to come outside. If we don't spot his cue of him sitting by the door and get our shoes on quick enough, he does a wee. But most days nothing now.

Sleeping is tons better. He's never weed or pooed in the night for which I am very grateful. After that first horrific week he now sleeps from 1030 when we go up to bed til about 4 on the floor next to our bed, then comes up and sleeps with us. Initially this was til 5am but it's got later and later and now the last few days it's been til 730 which is amazing.

The humping is still an issue. As soon as DS or my ex (who adores him so comes over often to see him) walk in the room he's beyond excited and humping them within minutes.

:)

@Juiceey I've found with the humping if I can catch his eye when I say 'down' then he drops off me, but if he is too intent on it and won't look at me, then it doesn't work. Quite funny really if it wasnt so annoying. I can go several days without humping, but then it starts again...so infuriating!

@Juiceey thank you, yours is also very cute! Yeah my DP loves him already but he also does less of the work so it's understandable! Glad to hear that it's getting better. I know I'll love him eventually, probably when he stops biting my feet

Frozen tea towel - magic 10 minutes respite, he loved it! I think it's probably a sign they are teething when they like cold things like that? Not sure but it went down very well and the tea towel isn't destroyed either. Thank you @DangerCake !

Do you make it wet before freezing? Sounds like something our 16 week old black lab would like!

@LBee2020. I used to make the tea towel damp and then twist into a bone shape and freeze.

Frozen carrots good too.

Biting has def reduced for us here at 15 ish weeks. He still does it but it isn't as frenzied as it was before.

I agree re Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy- really good book.

@Juiceey he is so cute! I agree it all seems a lot easier than at the beginning- I think ours are the same age.

@Dangercake I love the way you shape it into a bone shape! Things we do for these pups...

I set my alarm for 6.30 this morning and pup let me sleep till then, but the kitchen was flooded with wee...bless him! Back to earlier alarm then, but it was worth a go!

We’re at 16 weeks and I had a moment yesterday where I realised that the biting has really decreased in frequency. He still gets the odd nibble in but even when he zoomied yesterday no one got bitten which is great. You are so used to getting munched that I don’t think you realise when you aren’t!

Well we have had an eventful few days. Last week DPup managed to swallow a sock which he then partially threw back up and we had to haul this soggy disgusting mess out of the back of his throat.

Yesterday eve he was scrabbling about in the kitchen and managed to find an old raisin under a cupboard. Cue rushed trip to the emergency vets and now £160 lighter. The vets made him sick and he has charcoal medicine for several days. He's only 13 weeks but there's never a dull moment

On the plus side, he's been out for walks and is doing well at coming back on the whistle. Met a friends puppy and had a play the other day which was good as most other dog walkers tell me their dog doesn't like puppies and they rush past so his dog socialisation experience is quite low (I am worried about this). He's also doing well with toilet training.

Chasing our cats is still a big issue, ditto the ducks. Chickens square up to him so he's less interested in them! He also pulls like a train, but again I'm working on that. Cheese seems to be a great motivator, so I'm using that to teach "drop" and to reward for looking at me rather than the ducks/cats and will be using it for lead work as well.

We don't use a harness as spaniels are notorious for pulling and it just gives him something to throw his weight against! He's on lead (long line) for all toilet trips or time outside on account of the birds and cats so plenty of opportunity to work on the pulling. I'm hoping persistence and patience will pay off!

@ShadowsInTheDarkness was that literally from eating one raisin?! Are they poisonous to dogs? Every time he grabs something I shit myself and furiously google 'can dogs eat peppers...'

We've been using the long line lead for night time walks. He loves it and runs til it tugs him back. We can't risk it without the lead cos whoever said they stick by you when they're young hasn't met ours! We've had him off lead twice and both times nearly lost him.

juiceey yep just one raisin. Raisins and grapes are extremely toxic to dogs and apparently there is no known ratio to work out the toxicity like with some other things, so just one bloody sultana was apparently enough to have potentially caused liver failure within 6-12 hours. My current working list of "very very bad foods for pup" is onions, chocolate (plain worse than milk), grapes and raisins/sultanas

VERY good to know. Thanks.

How are you all managing the heat? We've got a little doggy paddling pool but the water warms up so quick. We've got a toy you fill with water and freeze. And he likes an ice cube!

Taking her for walks where there's shallow water she can paddle in - we're lucky there's lots of beaches and places with streams only a very short drive away.

Outside try and persuade her to lie in the shade in the garden - I was looking at cooling beds. But might just put a damp towel down for her to lie on.

She loves the outside tap being turned on.

Much less biting here today. Wondering if it's the heat...slowed and calmed him down a bit?

We have a cooling mat which hes spent most of the day on with a fan oscillating over him, hes still not sure about water. He loves puppy tubo chews frozen.

It was injection day here because of covid i had to sit in the car whilst they took him in, he was gone 20mins, i was imagining all kinds of awful things but turns out all the nurses and reception staff wanted a cuddle he was very pleased with himself when he came out and has been full of mischief since we got home, ill be glad when he finally falls asleep.

Last night he did 10.15pm -3am then 3.15am -5pm which felt so much better than the 3.30am start to the day yesterday

DS and I have started referring to pup as the Young Prince as we seem like servants to a very difficult to please master. Would sir like a chew / frozen teatowel / ice cube / outside for a wee or poo / toy / fuss / anything to keep sir happy... What's sir saying now? Sir doesn't know what he wants but he wants it now? Of course...

@muckandnettles i know that feeling i definitely feel like im at pups beck and call.

Awful night last night he woudnt settle to sleep until 11.30, then woke at 1am for a wee, whined and barked unless my fingers were in the cage until 2am then woke for the day at 5. Hes full of energy and mischief today and in to everything he shouldnt be.

Ive just ordered another batch of chews from amazon, antlers and a yak chew as well as some flavoured nylabone chews