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.

Glad to hear daycare is going well, I need to sort out something similar myself, but in total denial about going back to work in August!

I'm so excited to tell you polka pup has his first walk with a friend and their lovely placid dog and was so happy. Tail high and skipping about. Such a relief after the sharp intakes of breath about how his Patterdale bit means he'll be crazy. It may change of course but today I'm happy. He's knackered though. Conked out in his crate and not for moving - this may mess up bed time!!

I'm so excited to tell you polka pup has his first walk with a friend and their lovely placid dog and was so happy. Tail high and skipping about. Such a relief after the sharp intakes of breath about how his Patterdale bit means he'll be crazy. It may change of course but today I'm happy. He's knackered though. Conked out in his crate and not for moving - this may mess up bed time!!

@polkadotpjs it's brilliant to see them play with another dog isn't it? I have found it quite difficult to find a dog who is either 'kind' enough to play nicely with a pup or a pup of similar size / temperament. Some dogs just snap at him or ignore him (quite understandable I think!) He's so delighted if they interact with him, it's lovely to see.

The walkers sent us a video of a fellow walking pup trying to play with our dog. She just really doesn’t seem to understand what the other dog is trying to do! Eventually she does a bit of leaping about. It’s very entertaining.

Next door’s cat is torturing her by hanging out in our garden tonight so she’s pacing and barking at the back door. Keep throwing chews in her direction to distract her. She’s usually asleep by now so this doesn’t bode particularly well. Ah well, DH is on sofa duty tonight!

@muckandnettles yes! So lovely. I watched a Zak George video before we introduced them tonight and was so nervous but she was like a wise mummy dog- same breed as his mum and he was so good walking alongside her - he did try and hop on her back but we'll gloss over that 🤣
He's so pooped now it's funny.
I can't wait to walk him again. Like I say I'll no doubt post soon saying how he's savaged a cat or something but I'm enjoying it for now

@Polkadotpjs yes, the dogs Muckypup gets on best with, two of them, are the same breed and they just sort of mess around with each other and let him jump on top of them. They don't have to tell him off at all and I think it's because they sort of 'manage' him. Very clever dogs. Other dogs it's just all hell threatens to break loose and we all have to drag them away, unless it's another puppy but mostly he is far too big for other pups. We have a play date later this week with a lovely old dog, but I think Muckypup will be a bit disappointed. I've noticed his barking in the garden last night was an attempt to join in with the local dogs when they have a bark at each other. He was trying to communicate with them and start them off barking again. Hilarious.

They're funny aren't they? He slept until 6.50 from 9.50 last night so must've been knackered. I've been kept awake by snoring however so am still bleary eyed !

I am a fool! Thought we had a surprisingly non-hungry lab. Turns out I was trying to feed him 3 times the daily amount, and was impressed by him only eating double.

I misunderstood the breeders guidelines and thought it was 60-80g per meal , but I think that's per day!

Is that right? I am super confused now...

If so, he's going to have a surprisingly hungry few days as he gets used to the new regime!

In the last two days, OwlPup has started having a bit of a nibble of the corner of a skirting board/wall and the wooden legs and fabric of a footstool that's been largely ignored for the last six weeks. I thought I'd got off lightly on the chewing front so far....

@Emrysmcdogface depends on the brand, but 80g for the day doesn't seem much. The two brands I've used so far have recommended around 225-300g per day so maybe you've been doing it right? Are there no guidelines on the packaging?

Thanks owl! Reading the guidelines it's somewhere between 100 g and 195 g per day. So it looks like he's been eating 120 g which is prob perfect, as he's 9 weeks so is closer to the 1.5 months than the 3 months!

Maybe I just need more sleep...

@Emrysmcdogface Ah well, he knew exactly what he needed then! Clever boy. (And yes, my figures were for a 9kg 3 month old...I forgot not all pups are the same as my pup... 😆)

I'm not sure at the moment - she's not greedy so I just throw handfuls in the bowl but tiny 2kilo jrt pup was 90-100g when she first came home so I doubt 80 for a lab

Uh oh DPup had her first sick in the middle of the night. Lots of planty stuff and bits of twig I'm thinking she might have eaten them on our late walk before bed.
She seems fine now, eaten breakfast and done 2 normal poos so don't think I need to contact the vet, right?

@Imadreamer44 you can always ring the vets for an opinion, do what would make you feel relaxed. My gut would say if they're eating well and passing poops, drinking pups probably ok. Keep a close eye though.

Hope he's ok @Imadreamer44 I'd feel the same as puppybonbon.

Does anyone else have a log burner with a pile of logs and kindling next to it? If so, is pup just using the logs and kindling as chewing matter? We're spending a bit of time in the front room. Exciting! He's mostly just taking bits of wood to chew. Rather that than the furniture, but I've had a few dog owners tell me they don't even let their dogs play with sticks on walks because of them getting bits stuck in throat, etc. Anyone any thoughts/experience of this? Should I try and stop him chewing on the wood?

Owl we removed the wood when ours were a pup as I was worried about splinters. Dogs have no bloody self preservation and won't think anything about swallowing splinters of wood.

I’m keeping mine away from sticks etc. I once walked a friends dog and he got a bit of stick stuck across the roof of his mouth between his teeth, it was difficult and painful to get out.

Thanks Bitey and Simon. Will move it all out before he's given free run of the room. It's not remotely puppy proof in there. Have you been able to put it all back yet Bitey?

Owl everything that we had to remove as a puppy is now back. I can't remember exactly when that happened but he was a pain in the arse up to about 1 year of age so probably sometime after then.

Has anyone used earth animal no-hide chews? Bought them as we're trying all kinds of edible non-rawhide chews but I've been searching and theirs evidence to suggest they do contain rawhide?!?! It's not on the ingredients list, but there's very little regulation of things for dogs. I'm in two minds whether these sticks are safe.

We had out first 'outside' post vaccinations walk this morning 😊. Took nearly half an hour to complete a 5 minute walk, but had a good sniff about, and said hello nicely to two other dogs and some people (including one in a mask, and one older gentleman, so that's a couple of ticks on the socialisation list!) Going to take a lot of practice before we're able to get anywhere with any sense of purpose I think 😄).

I just want to share something with you all that I've been quite stupidly excited about - Fish4dogs is brilliant for chews and if you join their Puppy Club they send a load of free samples of their products which I'm very impressed by. @Puppybonbon maybe their fishskin chews would work for you? Pup hasn't tried them yet but they look quite substantial and all natural.

Meanwhile we have had a very long walk during which we met loads of dogs who studiously ignored Muckypup who didn't understand and thought if he jumped higher or barked louder they would play. Doesn't work.

@OwlInAnOakTree very envious of you spending time in the front room with pup. I think that logically I need to get Mucky used to the front room when he is chilled out and in a calm frame of mind, so the evening isn't the time for it. Maybe we should watch some daytime tv together?

@Imadreamer44 we had a similar sickie episode quite a few weeks ago, like you it was all grass and bits of twig, so I think it's quite normal for them to do that. It hasn't happened since.

@OwlInAnOakTree @muckandnettles, we haven't managed any time in the living room yet either. It's mostly puppy proofed, but any time in there turns into frenzied excitement, biting and carpet weeing 🙈.

@Imadreamer44, I'm constantly worrying about what's normal, or whether something warrants a vet visit 😬.