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.

I've no idea where the yakker is. She stashed it without even attempting to chew 😆

We also have a Nylabone and pup looks at me like I'm crazy when I offer it to him - what is supposed to be good about them? Don't get it.

Our nylabone has been relegated to my sons ‘medical’ kit, it makes ‘lets pretend daddy’ that bit more exciting when I have a broken bone sticking out my arm.

Fortunately puppy is not very creative about hiding places. All the best toys go under the Heather and lavender bush.

If the remote control goes missing I'll know where to look...

I tried to tell a teenager about the pizzle, for the first journey home. Apparently we are not going to try those in our house

Morning all
Toilet training still a bit hit and miss as in hit during the day and total miss at night. Still cleaning up wee and poo at 3am ish and 6am.

Also, has anyone else had this with training? Oliverpup will be good as gold during training. He will come, sit, stay etc. When we do 'drop' I suspect he even picks up random stuff to drop on command and then get a treat. In real life though, he will never come, never drop, never stay etc. It's so frustrating. I try to train throughout the day but it's so variable. He'll sniff my hand for treats before deciding to obey.
Pigs ear was very successful yesterday. I actually got some peace.
I've started to grind my teeth again. Very stressful.

Morning!

We are doing fine with toilet training, but it does involve carrying him outside at 11 pm and 4 pm. He then wakes for the day at 5am. I have already had a 30 min nap, and am trying to work out if I'm allowed to eat chocolate biscuits at 8am if I've been up since 4!

We have two sets of visitors today, so I expect bitey terror pup to show up at some point with all the excitement.

We’re still taking Link out for a 4am toilet, I go to bed around 1am, sometimes by four he has already done a wee. Luckily as he has only been in bed a few hours he does go back to sleep.

We’re off to a gallery once my son is at school, lets hope he behaves in there!

Wow, that's brutal @SimonJT ! How on Earth do you function with so little sleep!

3 legged cat has brought puppy a near dead moth to play with. Pretty grim, but is keeping him happily occupied so I'm just not looking...

@Emrysmcdogface Of course you are allowed chocolate biscuits. I have had Jaffa Cakes and coffee for breakfast which is the food of champions!
@SimonJT Blimey and you seem so calm always. I will aspire to that!

@Emrysmcdogface I go back to bed!

@OliveButler You know those people who are generally oblivious to whats happening around them? Thats me! Plus its a friends event, so very few people to annoy.

Definite yes to chocolate biscuits @Emrysmcdogface. Definite yes to anything that gets you through the day.

I'm wondering whether to ring the breeder. Not to take the dog back but to take my son in exchange. Six weeks in and he is still doing exactly the same things every day that result in pup getting jumpy and bitey regardless of how many times I've explained, demonstrated, shown, etc. etc. Apart from it being exhausting (and expensive wrt holey clothes!), I'm worried OwlPup will remain bitey and jumpy because that's all he ever is with my DS.

@OliveButler OwlPup is ok following commands in the house when it's just me. When DS is in the room or when we're out of the house, all bets are off. 🙄

Dd is terrible too. She's been well sad to dogs and puppies as well and usually very good so this was unexpected. I worry that pup is going to end up with bad associations with her as i'm always saying stop that, leave her, put her down etc and it's impossible to not sound cross when she's totally ignoring me. Dpup is usually very good at nights. She sleeps mostly on my bed and usually only stirs to have a quick bed hop if she fancies. She'll sleep until the first member of the house is up whenever that might be. Last night though she was up and about pottering around looking for chews, jumping on and off my bed, looking out the window etc for 2 hours at 1am. Fast asleep now though of course.

@OwlInAnOakTree How old is he? Mines five a bit of a nightmare with the dog, he is an angel with the neighbours dogs, typical. I sometimes think about putting him in the dog crate! I’m normally quite relaxed but I’ve made him sit on the pain in the arse stool a few times in the last week. He had a pop up ball pit he has to use when playing with small things like lego etc, sometimes I make him stay in it for half an hour so he can’t irritate me or Link. There is a tiny bit of improvement, he has finally realised that offering a toy with your entire hand wrapped round it will get you bitten, because thats clearly not obvious.

Slightly reassuring to hear it's not just me with a child problem. @SimonJT mine's 7. Super active and physical and loud. Not a calm or quiet bone in his body. I keep sending him to the front room, or he chooses to go to get away from bitey pup (without accepting he's often fueling the bitey-ness). But sometimes I wonder if that makes things worse? Does that make him even more exciting to pup because he's not around all the time? I love the sound of your pain in the arse stool.

@midnightstar66 yes I worry the same about how I'm talking to DS whilst he's 'playing' with pup. And I inevitably end up wrangling pup away from him. And sometimes get bitten in the process. Managing them together is by far the most stressful aspect of having a puppy in this household. Ah well, only 7 weeks until school's back... 😫

I'm another one finding it hard to manage DS and puppy. When puppy arrived DS would lie on the floor and puppy would lick his ears, all great fun and very cute. As I predicted, and said at the time, this has progressed to biting! I've told DS so many times not to get on the floor, but every time I turn round hes on the floor with puppy frantic on top of him. He's 11, so should be able to withstand a 12 week old cocker spaniel jumping on him without falling to the ground.

I have also wondered if it's a novelty thing, as DS spends a lot of time in his room playing his console, and only appears at intervals which completely overexcite the puppy. Its not good. Ive been calling him down to spend time with him when he's calm, and that is helping a bit.

Yep, pup + DD5 is very tiring! As pup is about her size at full height so it’s a teeth + face situation which is less than ideal. DD5 has a habit of lounging all over the sofa which makes her a prime target to get jumped on. Funnily enough she copes with it better than any of the rest of us, despite being the one who didn’t really like dogs before ours arrived!

I have a DC issue as well!! I expected them to both be in school for the early weeks but with lockdown we have all been cooped up together. DD (9) has decided that she is terrified of pup in the house, outside she's fine and they play together on walks etc. She runs away from him and jumps up onto the furniture to get away from him which just gets him excited and bitey. She's really tall so he's always scrabbling at her legs trying to get toys she's holding but she will insist on wearing skirts rather than leggings.

I've tried all sorts and have now come to the realisation that it's only likely to get better when he grows out of the biting. Am hoping that he won't always see her as someone he can jump all over and chase. It's so frustrating as she's had friends round who have fussed him and not been remotely scared and she's seen them not getting eaten alive yet still is convinced that she is going to get her arm bitten off

DS is a lot better but does get him over excited. I tend to send them outside to charge around and try and enforce quiet playing inside but it's hard and I have been very shouty lately.

Absolutely. My DS1 is 17 and DS2 is 15. Both wrestle the dog and then when he is all wound up they go and sit with console or laptop. They were the ones who mithered for a dog for years and promised they would get up early etc etc. I plan to just leave it to them when the summer holidays come.

This is all making me feel much better. Although sorry you're all in the same position. Same Shadows, I was expecting 7 weeks at home alone with pup whilst DS was still in school. It's all a bit intense this way, isn't it. And I am also quite shouts these days.

In other news, we're just back from the park where pup had a lovely play with a Patterdale and a bit of a friendly sniff with a Dachshund. He also met two toddlers (by their parent's requests) and wasn't bitey or barky. Although obviously needed restraining because all he really wants to do is jump on them. He's around 10kg now. Already getting difficult to restrain! Total Recall book should arrive today. Determined to get that right. Also, saw a comment on a forum about using the command 'sit for cuddles'. Have started working on that today.

Oh crikey, you lot have my sympathy coping with young dc and the pup. I find Muckypup is okay if everything is calm, but any sort of disturbance around will get him on edge. Today at the outdoor cafe he was fine until the people at the next table started laughing and talking loudly and he went from almost asleep under the table to wanting to get to them. At home round food times it all gets too much as well with the smells and noise and tiredness. I'm just grateful not to have young dc in the mix. With the last dog I still had young dc, but they were at school all day and I was at work all day, so pup just stayed in and wrecked the house. So easy in those days! Trying to do it right this time is so much harder...

@OwlInAnOakTree you have no idea how happy I am to hear that a Patterdale played nicely. Polka pup is a Patterdale cross and the number of people who've dissed the Patterdale and told me how horrendous he'll be has been scary. He's a lovely pup and I'm hoping it's all in the training. Having tried to eat the harness just now we have r given up on the first allowed walk. Will try again later...he's had his first bath today though at the groomer. Hated it apparently. Fickle little tinker! Still. I got nice cuddles on his return. Fragrant ones!

@Polkadotpjs he was lovely! 10 months old and very playful. He kept running off at the sight of another dog to try and play with them and if they weren't interested he'd run back to OwlPup for a bit more play.

We went to visit a doggy daycare today as I'm still not convinced DPup will be ready when we return to work from furlough (despite DH disagreeing).
It was lovely! DPup had a fantastic time running about with the other dogs, even the huge ones.
The cost is eye watering though

Pup is back from second day with our daycare arrangement. They think she’s slightly improving with the car but I’m not convinced, she is very quiet when she comes home (til she saw next door’s cat in the garden!). Now snoozing wrapped in a duvet on the sofa, the little sausage, and I am working in relative peace!

First forest walk done! Puppy was so excited, at the other dogs, the sounds, the water to splash about in!

It went well, he was off lead most of the time, and came back 9 out of 10 times. Need to keep working on the recall.