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.

Feeling a bit crap this morning. Pup is lovely and at the moment I haven’t got any regrets (he’s only 9 weeks so such a baby still. I know it will get harder as he gets older) but I’m worried about biting and my Dd and how, despite constant reminders, she really struggles to maintain boundaries with him sometimes. She’s doing much better than she was, but the trainer warned yesterday that she was still too touchy-feely with him and although I totally totally accept and see this, it’s made me feel like a shit mum and a shit owner as I thought we were starting to do ok. Dd also fell asleep in tears yesterday because she’s jealous of how much time pup takes me away from her. Lots of lockdown emotions coming out for her and I’m tired so feeling it too. She loves him so much but she wants him to be her best friend instantly and despite knowing this isn’t the case on an intellectual level she’s struggling with it on an emotional level.
Sorry i know this makes me sound crap and I honestly didn’t buy pup as a play thing for Dd. We did so much talking/reading about puppies and their needs before getting him. Months and months of it.

Pup has his first injections this morning. Travel crate I ordered still hasn’t arrived so I’ll have to take him in a cardboard box or something. .
What can I expect after he’s had them?

Our pup was a little tired and grumpy after hers @AmigoDog but nothing too awful.

Took DPup out for her morning wee at 7am where she proceeded to eat cat poo not envy!!
We don't even have cats! One of the neighbours cats must have come in our garden and done it

I posted on the June thread but then disappeared after DDog had to be PTS only a week after we got DPup.

DPup is now 14 weeks and will sleep from 10 until 7.30am, which is a lot better!

We've been crating him when he gets overly bitey (after advice from these threads) and he then wakes up in a better mood. We've also started to buy him natural chews to keep him busy.

@AmigoDog so sorry to hear about dd. I can totally understand how she feels! It's far more of an upheaval in your family than you realise isn't it? It's very much like having another baby I think, initially. Particularly when you feel you are doing it all wrong. Sometimes watching those training videos make me feel a bit crap for that reason as well. Pups sometimes have a bit of reaction to the vaccine and are a bit sleepy or off their food, but our pup seemed to barely notice anything and was just quite normal, so you won't necessarily have anything different. Good luck!

@crazycatgal so sorry to hear about your ddog. We had to have our ddog pts last summer and it's really hard. I think dh is still not quite over it but we can now talk about all our happy memories of him as a family which is nice.

You don’t sound crap at all @AmigoDog. Kids and dogs are both unpredictable no matter how much research you do!

Marley is now 17 weeks and I was just congratulating myself on a 7 day streak of no accidents in the house. All outside but this morning he jumped up on the garden furniture and stood up and wee'd on the cushions!
What??

Haven't spent anymore money on new toys and have been putting kibble in empty plastic bottle so they rattle. Keeps him busy for hours. Also fill any small cardboard boxes or kitchen roll tubes folded over which he rips to shreds. It does mean I always have to pick up the pieces but it's worth it for 20 minutes of peace.

Training for recall atm as desperate to let him off the lead for a run. Sausages here we come!

Sorry to hear you're feeling a bit rubbish today @AmigoDog. I completely understand what you're going through. How old is DD? DS is 7, and I thought, by 7, we'd be ok bringing a puppy into the house. But it's been really really difficult. DS seems to be unable to change his behaviour around pup, and we're nearly 8 weeks in. The result is DS spending most of his time in a different room because he's either avoiding pup's jumping and biting or because I've kicked him out of the room we're in because he's being over-giddy and winding up the dog. I feel awful, there's only me and him so it's not like he's getting attention from a dad or sibling. And normally we'd be spending whole days at the park or similar in the summer holidays, but instead he's getting half an hour max at the park with the pup and a 20 minute walk around the block. Nowhere near enough for his high energy needs. Managing him and pup is definitely the most stressful aspect of this, by far. Pup's a different pup when it's just me and him. And yes, I feel like a failure too that I can't manage either of their behaviours around each other. Is the trainer helping? I'm booking a session with one. They have a 7 year old daughter and understand the issue, so I hope they can help in some way.

Didn't someone on here say cow's ears don't smell? Ours just arrived so I've given pup one to try. Very much disagree about the smell! Opening the bag made me feel quite ill. 😆 On the upside, it's taking a lot longer for him to get through than a pig's ear.

DS has to go to school today just for 40 minutes to meet new teacher, etc. I didn't think ahead and haven't had time to wash hair, etc. Agree with you @muckandnettles, it's just like having a newborn, and I thought that this morning when I realized I'll be taking him to school looking bedraggled and exhausted and unwashed. Except instead of sick on my clothes (DS was a very sicky baby) , I've got holes in them instead.

I completely agree with the mad dog woman aesthetic. I've never looked as bedraggled in my life as these past 8 weeks! Mascara? What's that?!

I think the number one question people should be asking themselves before taking on a dog is “would you have a newborn right now?” and if the answer is no, they should run a million miles. At least that’s what we should have done

Fully agree Ginger! I'm typing this as I'm 'stuck' under a sleeping puppy. Still haven't had a shower...

Ours has gone out with the walkers, and the children are out, and it is soooooo quiet.

It's bliss isn't it @GingerAndTheBiscuits when they go with the walker. I've never got so much done in half an hour before

Ours had his first afternoon at day care yesterday. It's at the same place as he does puppy classes so he knows it well. Apparently he absolutely loved it and didn't stop playing the whole afternoon. They have a separate puppy area where they have limited space to run crazy and lots of sensory and training activities but it still ABSOLUTELY SHATTERED him. I'm a bit worried he over did it so we will just do one afternoon a week for now. He's almost 5 months and has no stop button when playing with other dogs.

We are just getting to the stage where is 90% of the time a pleasure to have around. The biting has massively decreased and he has learnt to relax in the lounge. He is also sleeping and travelling very well and goes off for naps in his crate whenever we need him to (as long as he's been awake for at least 1.5 hours). I just wanted to give you all hope that it does get better and, before you know it, you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now just waiting for rebellious adolescence to kick in with a vengeance and stop me being so pleased with myself!!

I'm getting seriously worried about leaving our pup. I go back to work in three weeks. As ive been home all the time since we got him, he sees me as his main comfort, and cries when I leave the room, regardless if DH or DC are still there. He's currently curled up against my back whilst I dry my hair- attempts to leave him downstairs just end in panicky crying.

I think I'll need to just go for it, and leave him alone for small increments of time.

OwlInAnOakTree Dd will be 7 next month and is only too. My husband is around but other than that I could have written your post word for word (although 7 weeks behind). I feel like the summer is going to be roblox and dog frustration for her and it’s making me feel stupidly sad. I hope your DS enjoyed meeting his new teacher.

Glad you’re getting a bit of a break Ginger.

My lovely lab pup has just turned 13 weeks. Reading this thread has been a great support since we had her 5 weeks ago!
She is overall doing well. The main issue we have is her jumping up and mouthing/nipping at legs, hands and general limbs. I have an 8 and 12 year old and this behaviour is really unpleasant as she has such sharp teeth. We have tried the shouting “ouch” technique but this just seems to excite her further. Turning our back on her results in her nipping the back of our legs instead.
She hasn’t shown signs of aggression and it seems more like mis-placed play. It’s always worse when she’s tired or over excited but sometimes it just comes from nowhere.
The only thing that works is distracting her by scattering a few treats on the floor. But is this rewarding bad behaviour?
Good luck with all the pups. It is definitely reminding me of when my children were babies/toddlers and I was searching for the answer to everything!

@Bethanemethane Ours is a lab (now 21 weeks) and he was exactly the same with the nipping. Yelping and distraction with toys didn't work. Separating him behind a gate or in his pen would only wind him up more. The things that we found that would work were always food related or taking him into the garden to snuffle around at things. I don't consider it rewarding bad behaviour as we would use it as training opportunity or mental stimulating (i.e. making him do commands for treats or snuffling in the grass for kibble). He has definitely grown out of the worst. He generally only nips know when he is over tired or over stimulated so the trick now is to try and identify that before it happens (easier said than done). Our trainer's advice is that if you are ever thinking "I'll just do one more minute of training/play" or "just one more go at this command" then stop there. If you think you are nearing the end of your pup's tether, he has probably already reached it!

@Bethanemethane we still have that jumping and biting sometimes with our Retriever pup and the only thing we have found that works really is 'time out' in the crate. He instantly calms down, doesn't nap but sits and waits to be let out. I hate it and we need to do it less and less, but it was essential in the end for safety as he's a whopping big pup who doesn't know his own strength now. We tried everything else with limited success, but we found you can't always leave the room or turn your back, it's not that simple when a dog is determined to grab you!

@LBee2020 totally agree about playing too long - that's one of the mistakes we made at the start, definitely because they are enjoying themselves so much and you feel you should be playing with them. You learn the hard way!

That's reassuring @LBee2020...we're about 7 weeks behind you, so getting there...!

@AmigoDog yes to roblox and dog frustration. I thought the summer was a good time as I'm at home from June to October. I now realize it really wasn't... Although not much change wrt DS and pup, pup himself is much easier now at least.

Perfect question to ask @GingerAndTheBiscuits!

Have to say though, OwlPup is pretty easy now in lots of ways. He goes in his crate happily for naps, has slept through the night since 9 weeks, has moments of calm when he's alone with me, biting definitely reduced. Me and DS managed an hour alone at the park yesterday with pup happily napping at home. I've even just sat and had lunch with pup laying on his mat at my feet chewing on his cows ear and he hasn't jumped up at the table once. So it's definitely getting easier.

That’s brilliant @OwlInAnOakTree. Little glimpses of freedom!

Pup is back from her walk and flat out on the sofa. I really, really need to wash her 😷 might attempt that in the kitchen with a bucket and sponge later, I daren’t attempt a bath as she’s all limbs.

Waiting on a phone consultation with vet nurse about the sleeping. I don’t think there’s any solution but a lot of time and patience (or letting her sleep on our bed which I’m not comfortable with for various reasons) but thought I should ask in case I’m missing something obvious. At least we can say we tried every avenue!

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This thread really reminds me of those early days of having a newborn too!

Pretty sure we've made a terrible mistake. Juiceypup was so shit on walks, pulling left right and centre, stopping to sniff everything etc, that we got a retractable lead about a month ago. He LOVES it. He leaps and bounds about dead happily. However, it means he absolutely cannot walk to heel at all. Today I took him to town so he was on a normal short lead and it was a nightmare, him darting across me, behind me, in front of me.

Should we pack away the retractable and make more effort with the lead walking?