Puppy survival thread! July 2020

[Juiceey]

Roll up roll up... I'm a day late but here we are.

Latest update: Juiceypup is obsessed with DS's feet, who is now starting to get upset by it. He doesn't do it to anyone else, only him, and we don't know why. DS goes stock still as instructed but we have to prise his mouth open to get him off his toe. Has brought him to tears a few times.

We had the first evening ever where pup lay on the floor and chewed his new yaks milk chew. I couldn't believe it! Normally he leaps all over us biting and we have to crate him which I always feel bad about because it's the one bit of the day where the DC aren't around and he could actually interact with us but always ended in blood and tears!! Last night was like a miracle, so we have decided to only use the chews for evenings to try and incentivise calm evening behaviour.

I'm getting really worried about the cats. Proper chasing now happens whenever he sees them as well as barking. I've got no idea how we tackle it, getting his focus on me doesn't work if he can see them, not even the biggest block of cheese will hold his focus. The only thing that works is distracting him before he's seen them and they sneak past but that doesn't teach him
anything. It's not ideal now but at least the weather is nice. Will be awful in winter if they cant come into their own house without getting chased.

It's the one thing I really don't know how to tackle. He came from a breeder who fosters cats and I have videos of him as a puppy in a room with 7 cats so I'm slightly in shock, stupidly thought he wouldn't chase and we could train him to ignore them.

We have a cat, Link isn’t too bad with her but given the opportunity will chase. When he first arrived he if chased her etc we would put him straight in his pen.

Now we put his lead on and pop the cat on the floor. When he looks away and ignores her he is rewarded and praised. He is starting to get it now and on one occasion yesterday sat nicely for a treat when the cat got out of bed.

The cat beat him up two weeks ago, that helped 😂

I'm wondering when/how things will get back to normal in the house. Or even if they ever will?? Pup currently lives mostly in the back room and kitchen. His crate is in the back room and the back room has patio doors to the garden. Currently when he's napping in the crate, me and my son go into the front room. I very rarely spend time in the front normally, I generally sit in the back room. So I feel like I've lost my space in the house!

Pup won't settle in the crate if we're in the same room or in and out of the room or if he can hear me in the adjoining kitchen. Also, if my son is playing in the garden he gets disturbed and barks to join in the fun. So it still feels like we're hiding out in the front room so as not to disturb pup.

Obvious solution based on that is to put crate in the front room. There's space and it only comes off the hallway so we could have the run of the kitchen, back room, garden, without disturbing him. Would make cooking easier for a start! But, the front room is much bigger, so when we have guests we go in there, and, more importantly, when my son has friends to play, that's where they play. All his toys are in there, it's carpeted, has more expensive sofas than my back room, and is not remotely puppy proof.

I guess we don't have friends round every day...so I'm probably overthinking the crate in the front room thing.

Sorry for the rambling. Just sat here in the front room whilst pup naps in the back thinking about it all whilst I eat some Pringles for breakfast because there happens to be a half eaten tub left in here and I can't get to the kitchen to make toast without disturbing pup. 😆

Anyone else have this kind of predicament? I am a massive over thinker!

@SimonJT

We have a cat, Link isn’t too bad with her but given the opportunity will chase. When he first arrived he if chased her etc we would put him straight in his pen.

Now we put his lead on and pop the cat on the floor. When he looks away and ignores her he is rewarded and praised. He is starting to get it now and on one occasion yesterday sat nicely for a treat when the cat got out of bed.

The cat beat him up two weeks ago, that helped 😂

I sort of imagined it would be like that, and that we could manage their interactions but we have a cat flap and the 4 cats are in and out at unpredictable times. The cat flap is off the conservatory which has a stable style door into the kitchen. So the first warning we get is a cat appearing on the top of the stable door, jumping down and then there is the frantic dog woofing and chasing poor cat across the kitchen and dining room to the stair gate while we all desperately try to intercept and wave treats. Then at some point in the day we have the whole thing in reverse as the cat comes back through to go out the cat flap!

I've put lots of beds, an old chair and a cat tree in the conservatory and it's where they are fed but they can't be confined in that one small space. He has now escalated to barking his head off whenever he sees a cat, even if he's in his crate and can't get to them. Our big old boy isn't that fazed but the others are which is obviously encouraging pups chasing behaviour.

OwlInAnOakTree could you maybe start getting him used to sleeping with noise? A radio on quiet at first and then just walk through the room and build it up? Sounds like it would be easier to get OwlPup sleeping through noise than it would to rejig his crate etc?

Have you thought about having the puppy on the lead when indoors so its easier to prevent cat chasing?

I have s catflap in my bedroom door so she doesn’t get me up a million times every night. Ours is a surepet petdoor and the click of it opening is quite loud so when I hear I call Link over/grab the nearest bit of him/stand on his lead. Could you glue something to do the flap door, a bell etc to give yourself warning a cat is about to arrive?

If one of the cats isn’t intimidated maybe you could use him for a bit of training? Have pup on a lead shut in the same room as the cat and have as many tempting things as possible to distract the puppy.

SimonJT we did used to use a house line or short lead but unfortunately pup has turned into a mountain goat and we have a lot of open walls with beams so he kept getting wrapped around them and nearly strangling himself. I think the plan with using the big brave cat for training is the best idea. I've just been googling and have read that having special "cat treats" that pup only gets when the cat is around is recommended so have fired off another amazon order.

Annoyingly to get his lead on I have to hold a treat and keep his focus on that as he got really stressed about having his lead clipped on and off at the start. So getting his lead on is a bit of a palaver as it is and not particularly quick. I think I'm going to have to work a bit harder at being aware of where the cats are and hopefully the new cat only treats will help.

I did watch an 'It's me or the dog' episode where they trained a dog to no longer chase the resident cat with a "no touch" command, using rolling balls. I actually taught ShadowPup the same command in the same way and it works brilliantly to stop him chasing the chickens and ducks. He just can't seem to apply it to the cats. Maybe i should use that as he has obviously understood the concept of not chasing a moving thing and just keep practising it until he applies it to the cats?

Haven't rtft yet as haven't have time but just wanted to mark my place. Will enjoy a good catch up later. I hadn't clocked there was a July thread!

Our pup has gone back into full biting mode after the last three weeks of slowing down with it. He has lost three baby teeth so the biting is def because of that. He also did s wee in the corner after weeks of being dry. Not sure how old he is now- I think 18 weeks. Going for his first clip tomorrow.

Hi @Peachypips78 glad you found us!

@OwlInAnOakTree I sometimes wonder how we will ever get back to normal as well. We have decided we might as well get rid of the crate as we haven't managed to crate train the pup. Complete failure there, but it would be so lovely to get rid of it.

It's a down day today here. I want a bit of normality with it stressing where polka pup is, what he's eating that he shouldn't and who's watching him. I need a different house set up too. I need two rooms so he can be contained. Gah!

I don't know who mentioned cocktail sausages but Muckypup loves them - such a great wheeze. Just took him to a quiet field to do recall training and he was haring off towards a couple with a baby and he came back when I called him (for sausage)!!! Disaster averted and I was so pleased I could have cried. Total Recall actually working for me. Even dh said that was impressive. I'm very on edge when we have him off lead as he is starting to go off towards things so I need to get this right.

Our house is also not puppy training friendly, its a victorian terrace with the lounge in the middle so we cant see if he goes to the back door

@ShadowsInTheDarkness, thanks for the ideas. I leave the radio on for him and we're in and out a bit and generally not a quiet household...well, my son is not a quiet boy. So it's not that pup can only sleep when it's completely silent. I think it's more his fear of missing out and him sleeping with one ear and eye open if we're in the same room. If he's not in his crate and just falls asleep on floor or whatever, then he's alert to everything we're doing and if we get up to do anything, he'll follow us. He'll settle again, say at my feet, if I'm doing something in the kitchen. But then it doesn't feel as if he's getting as much sleep as he needs, or decent quality sleep. Maybe he'll feel less need to stick with us as he gets older? That 'no touch' command you're trying with your cats, do you think it'll work for kids too?!!!

Oh no @Peachypips78, sorry to hear biting has gotten worse after a bit of respite.

Does your pup sleep well without the crate @muckandnettles? I would've liked to have not used the crate for day time naps, but I decided that was a bit of a pipe dream with DS7. I know you're keen to get back to relaxing in your sitting room! I had a chat with my DS and he seems to think the front room is entirely his now and doesn't want the crate moved in there. 😆 For now I'm thinking we'll stick with the current set up as he's playing a lot in there as he's not at school. And then once he's back at school I'll see how pup is napping with just me in the house, and being a couple of months older...he might find it easier to settle. If not, I'll think about moving the crate into the front then. Maybe things will just fall into place of their own accord as they get older and calmer. Maybe... 😄

Ah @Polkadotpjs hope the day gets easier for you. Yes having separate rooms does make containment easier!

We went for a pull around the block earlier. He loved it and it tired him out nicely. Need to put some serious loose lead training in though!

What did I miss with total recall? We've been taught to say his name and "come/ here/ banana/ other crazy word" then reward immediately. I'm not sure it's working. I need to buy THE sausages xx

Am I the only one not using human food? Don’t let Link know or he’ll report me to the RSPCA!

We’re setting off to the pub in a minute, we have an outside table booked, he had been really good this morning so I’m guessing he will be horrible at the pub!

It was me who mentioned cocktail sausages! Honestly, 'OwlPup Sausage!' is the ONLY command that has near 100% response. 😆 Very glad they're effective in your house too @muckandnettles. It's quite the joke here because I wanted to call the dog Sausage because I think it's a funny sounding word and makes me think of that puppet dog from the 80s that used to say 'Sausages'. So I said I'd call him 'OwlPup Sausage' and then slowly drop the OwlPup. So it's now funny amongst family and friends that he actually comes running when I say Sausage. And I didn't even try to train that. He just learnt very quickly what a sausage was. Thanks to the doggy deliciousness of Tesco cocktail sausages!

I think I'm going to order Total Recall book. It's so important to get right if you want to let them off lead, isn't it. Have you completed it now muck?

@SimonJT I absolutely 100% was only going to use kibble for food and training. I don't know why I buckled so quickly! Hope all goes well at the pub.

@OwlInAnOakTree pup sleeps fine without the crate really. I had only wanted him in it so he wouldn't have free rein round the room when we went out, not as a sleeping thing really. So I don't know - he hasn't been at all destructive or attempted to do anything when left alone in the kitchen, but then we haven't left him much at all. Those cocktail sausages are dynamite Owl! I also took cheesestring with me as well, both mixed up in my pocket, so I came home feeling filthy and greasy but didn't care. @SimonJT I usually do feed organic wholesome expensive food to my Muckypup, but for training he will do anything for some cheap human food so it's worth it. I always had in mind that he would do something for kibble but that's a joke.

@Polkadotpjs the Total Recall book is hard work and I'm nowhere near at the end yet. We have just got to the part where you get the pup to come to you in the house with a whistle, calling them away from something they are doing, but outside we are still on them coming to you and you blow the whistle as they are on their way, not using the whistle as the signal yet. Coordinating the calling, whistle, treat and everything is hard work I find, as is just remembering to do it.

Owl, if you get the book, I'd recommend getting the actual book as I ordered it on Kindle and I really need a book so I can flip back and forth more easily - you need to keep referring to it, I found.

I've been trying to keep up with this thread and actually write something for a few days now, but there's never any bloody time!!

@Southlondonchaos - when you put pup 'down for the night' in his crate early evening are you in the same room then (watching TV/eating dinner whatever) or do you leave the room then?

Also, those doing 'enforced naps' during the day, how are you getting them in to their crate? Mine won't touch his until around 1130pm, and even then it's begrudgingly. He dies usually stay then until 630am though so not complaining too much!

@OliveButler - the biting here is awful too. He properly lunged and latched on to my calf and punctured skin yesterday. He was ridiculously overtired, came in from playing/training with DH and just grabbed my leg. We've bought loads of long length toys, and braided old fleece blankets in to ropes but sometimes it seems that all he wants is a nice bit of flesh and the accompanying yelp! DC are rather outviff bybit all, I just have to keep reassuring them it'll get better.

@muckandnettles - mornings are my favourite. Between 630-830 I'm almost guaranteed snoozy snuggles and no biting. It's lovely.

@ShadowsInTheDarkness - we've got two cats too. They're clever enough to stay out of the way so far, and if I spot them I try to shield them so they can make it to the cat flap unhindered! I worry that he's going to start chasing tgem once he clocks them properly.

Can I ask what kibble everyone is using for their puppy food? He's on Purina at the moment but I'm not overly keen...

@DoorbellsSleighbellsSchnitzel the kibble we use is Millie's Wolfheart, which is the same for puppies as adult dogs and what the breeder was using. I also supplement with Millie's canned food and sometimes a bit of tuna just to jazz it up a bit.

@DoorbellsSleighbellsSchnitzel I use treats to tempt pup into crate. Usually a kong, filled mainly with kibble and a few treat bits like cheese or sausage or fruit. Sometimes a gravy bone biscuit or two. And at bed time a bonio milk biscuit. We're now at the point where he gets so excited by the kong or the treat that he skips to his crate and goes in before I put it in. The kong is best, it keeps him amused for longer than the biscuits. He lets out a bit of a whine when he's finished it then settles down. Unless I'm still pottering about in the room, then he doesn't settle. So it involves a bit of planning and precision timing in this house so that I've done what I need to do before putting him in his crate!

Thanks @muckandnettles.

@DoorbellsSleighbellsSchnitzel I use CSJ kibble. It was recommended by a friend and pup seems to like it. Very good value, so I like it too.

I’m using raw as food. He came with Millies wolfheart so we use that as treats, he doesn’t realise its actually dinnner so shhhhhh.

Hello
We are getting our puppy in October so watching this thread with much interest and a fair amount of what have we done as well.
We have two cats and asked about the cat situ with our breeder yesterday. She suggested to put the cat in the cat box in the room so it is safe and cant run. Let puppy go up to it and smell it etc. Repeat daily until puppy loses a bit of interest and has had chance to meet the cat without the cat darting out the room asap so it becomes another chase situ. Cat can also check out puppy, or hiss, without having their space intruded.
Dont know if this works but might be worth a try, I definitely get the theory. If anyone tries please let us know how you get on.