Puppy survival thread! July/August! Roll up!

[Juiceey]

Here we go, hero puppy owners.

We've just got back from the vet where I was shocked to discover he now weights 4kg. Little lump! He's 19 weeks old tomorrow. Wonder how big he'll get? On a miniature poodle group I'm in the adults are anywhere between 6-12kg. I hope he's small as easier to carry about!

@GazingAndGrazing Just to prepare you, if you post on the dog training group recommend they are likely to tell you that due to littermate syndrome the breeder shouldn’t have sold you both pups. I have no idea what the evidence for littermate syndrome is but I saw that advice given quite often and could imagine it being quite upsetting to read, so thought best give you advance warning!

Oh god. We are failing on the toilet front then. I may set an alarm tomorrow every so often and again allocate the task to myself
No bugger else will do it. I bought bells but actually no clue how to train using them ! Anyone use them and how did you go about it?

I was going to ask about bells too. Someone posted a video of their dog using one on a poodle group I’m on and It looked impressive.
Or does anyone on here have any experience of dog flaps?

@Amigodog our previous old dog had a dog flap and it was brilliant as he just came and went as he wanted to during the day while we were out. We had a big garden then and he loved to potter round it. I used to worry about the security angle though and always imagined a very small child thief could crawl through it, or someone with long arms could open the door through it. It was quite a big flap as he was a lab.

I had a string of bells up on the patio door. I'd ring it every time I opened the door for the toilet. Might've said weewee too at the same time. Pup did seem to be getting the hang of it and started hitting the bells to ring them himself but then he discovered his reflection in the big shiny silver bells and how much fun it was to essentially play with his own reflection. He started going crazy with them, so I took them down in the end. I'm wondering whether to try with a bell he needs to press, because he doesn't bark to be let out, just sits quietly at the door and looks at me. So I think once he gets a bit more freedom about the house, and I get a bit more freedom to move rooms without him following me, a bell might be handy to get my attention.

Thanks Muck. AmigoPup is a toy poodle so we wouldn’t need a particularly big dog flap. I will investigate.

AmigoPup seems a bit out of sorts this morning. He’s mainly just been lying in his crate and he’s only sniffing at his food (although he did eat a bit of Philadelphia off my fingers quite happily ). I hope nothing is the matter with him. We are due to go on holiday tomorrow morning too so not the best timing if he is ill.

Ooh I mentioned a dog flap in passing to DH last night he thought I was joking. Our garden is pretty secure and I’m working from home mainly so it would be a gd option I think in the winter.

Have been re-watching this this morning I quite like Zac Georges videos as he uses untrained dogs and shows you what goes wrong I’ve looked at a couple of others who seem to make it look like the f you do X then dog will do Y... yes maybe but only after 10 attempts at it going wrong first. It reminds me of parenting fails when my kids were toddlers (we had a high energy Not sleeping through the night for 5yrs, child as our 1st...I tried every parenting advice stuff felt like a failure, now she’s an amazing teenager out 6n a week mostly doing sport! She just didn’t need 11hrs a night sleep we didn’t do much ‘wrong’ it’s just how’s she’s wired ) Anyway I digrest - I ’m liking Zac George’s dog videos for the same reason as he shows what to do when it doesn’t work & it’s helping our lead walking.

We have a cat flap (was here when we bought the house) and AmigoPup could easily fit through it at his current size. I think I’ll have ago at trying it. If we do go down that route though I’d like to get a proper one with a microchip. I went down stairs at about 3am this morning and there was a random cat zooming around the ground floor . Somehow the cat flap setting had been changed to let animals in but not out (it was locked before so not sure what happened).

I think AmigoPup was just having a slow morning (or possibly freaked out by the visiting cat last night). He’s back to his normal self now.

[quote GingerAndTheBiscuits]@GazingAndGrazing Just to prepare you, if you post on the dog training group recommend they are likely to tell you that due to littermate syndrome the breeder shouldn’t have sold you both pups. I have no idea what the evidence for littermate syndrome is but I saw that advice given quite often and could imagine it being quite upsetting to read, so thought best give you advance warning![/quote]
Thank you for the warning. I did do research around 2 from the same litter and we separate them a lot. We are a family of nearly 5 adults so we felt we can manage.

Also, thanks all for the tips around guarding.

I’ve had the zoomies from both today, it’s like having toddlers again!

We have bells on the door and dragonpup uses them for wees. He doesn’t seem to link weeing and pooing as similar. He’s a happy, confident wee er but a nervous poo er.

Hello all!

So i have now had more sleep... bunglepup slept for 3 hours straight last night and i managed to go to bed early with the kids so i feel loads better!

Starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with everything... after reading everyones comments i can see my feelings are totally normal and it does get better (exactly the same with kids lol!) i am taking Kalms to help with my anxiety (yep i was that first time neurotic mother to my DD!) and the odd sip of gin is working wonders too 🤣

Toilet training is going relatively well too so fingers crossed its all on the up now!

@TriSkiRun99 thanks for the link. It's funny how I've changed in which video trainers I like now we actually have a pup and I agree that seeing Zac George having to really work hard at getting it right is much better than blooming Kikopup and her perfect little pups who clearly absolutely adore her and would do anything.

Mucky is doing well at the moment but because he is so much better I really need to keep reminding myself about continuing the training. He is getting just a little bit more ambitious and adventurous when he's out and about, and we still don't have recall rock solid unless there are no distractions. @OwlInAnOakTree how are you getting on with Total Recall? I've got halfway there with him coming on command, me blowing the whistle as he is on his way, but can't seem to get past that (and that isn't too bad to be honest). It's building up all the distraction that takes a lot of preparation and I just can't manage it regularly enough. He will come away from a distraction once he's gone to have a look, if that makes sense - still not ideal but at least he does listen to some extent. Still using a lot of treats!

Hi guys off to vets with Roley this afternoon, last night he ate his own poop and this morning I woke up to a cage full of poop and puppy! He's still eating and drinking and running around so breeder thinks he just needs a wormer. Will see what vets say. I'm so scared that there is something wrong with him or I've done something wrong 😓

Aw, @iusedtohavechickens the poo eating is grim isn't it! Sure he'll be ok. Let us know how you get on.

At 23 weeks, Juicepup STILL pisses on the floor by the front door.

We have doorbells which he rings consistently to go out for poos, but not for wees. Most days we have a wee on the mat at some point. It's always infuriating as it's usually just after we've been out for example. We are very careful to take him out as soon as he wakes and after he's eaten. He's just an almighty pain in the ass.

This morning between 9-10 he rang the bells and he went out with DW FIVE TIMES. Each time did nothing. Then, not five minutes after coming in the fifth time he pissed on the mat.

I genuinely don't know what we're doing wrong.

Then, not five minutes after coming in the fifth time he pissed on the mat.

Have you thought about removing the mat. It may be that he associates that with toileting now?

@Juiceey he's fine, vet looked at poop under microscope and couldn't see any bugs so they think it's something he's snuck up off the floor! And yes poop eating is grim, he's also previously rolled in cat food 🤦‍♀️

His temp is fine he's running around and still eating and drinking so all good 😊

@BiteyShark

Then, not five minutes after coming in the fifth time he pissed on the mat.

Have you thought about removing the mat. It may be that he associates that with toileting now?

It's one of those built in coir mats. No removing it.

That's a shame. I assume there is no way of getting outside via another exit.

Or maybe get a cheap bit of Lino flooring and put it on top of the mat until you can break the association with peeing on the mat.

@iusedtohavechickens what drama you've had - hope Roley is okay now. Poo eating is one of those things you just don't expect, isnt it?

We had drama of a different sort. Mucky went for a very rainy walk this afternoon and once I'd wrestled a dead bird out of his mouth (eurgh!) he then went on to find some teenagers having a get together sheltering in a hedge. It was a huge wide hedge and I think what was going on was all quite innocent, but i wasn't going in to find out, so had to call and call Mucky to come out. He had a wild time jumping on the teens who were sitting in the hedge. He was soaking wet by then so not pleasant for them, but honestly if you will sit in a hedge in a popular dog walking field that's what's going to happen! Eventually he did return to me. I was just glad it wasn't a dead body as that was my first thought when I saw legs in the hedge. I know, I do expect the worst, but it is always dog walkers that find the murdered bodies isn't it?

Juicy I think you need to move house ...
It's the only way!
Seriously this pup is having me lose my mind and thinking bizarre thoughts about changing the house/ layout etc. I think a piece of lino or maybe carpet cut to size to change the feel might distract him?

@muckandnettles it's awful but better than rolling in it!! 😂

@Juiceey can you put a training mat on it and gradually move it?

Can't believe I was excited at Roley's poop having lumps in it, my dd thinks I'm weird as I was cheering him for having not runny poop. 😋😋

@muckandnettles I'm only on exercise 2 of Total Recall. 😆 I just haven't had enough opportunity to practice with the whistle when we're out as there's usually DS to entertain too. Normal recall is absolutely fine if he knows I've got a pocket full of chicken and there are no distractions at all. So, you know, much work to be done. I also feel I've let general training lapse a bit, but DS is back at school next week so I'll have much more time and energy to focus on training then. I'll definitely be watching the video posted above, thanks @TriSkiRun99.

Me and DS had a day out with friends at the seaside today. It was lovely for him to have a day of my full attention for the first time in 12 weeks! Pup spent the day with a dog sitter. She brought him home for a two hour lunch time nap in his crate and then brought him back again around 4 to put in crate for another nap. I thought he'd be better of napping here in his crate rather than fighting sleep due to not wanting to miss out on anything happening at the sitter's house. We got home around 7:15 and he was fast asleep in his crate. Clearly exhausted after such an exciting day. As much as we love him, it was nice to have a day of not having to think about his needs. Also reassuring to know he was ok with the sitter and her dog and the other dogs they went on a walk with.

I’m sitting in the rain sheltering under a tree whilst the boys pretend to pee and no doubt will do it when we come in...

I’m feeling a bit down after reading about puppy syndrome, I wish I’d looked before agreeing to brothers. That said, they are doing great and I’m probably just a bit tired of running around, working full time at home and expected to keep on top of housework.

I’ve booked tomorrow and Tue as holiday leave from work, shame I can’t do the same at home!

@OwlInAnOakTree it sounds as if we are in the same sort of place with Total Recall. I had so many good intentions with it, but I'm just a bit stuck now. I'm very motivated to do it, but other things get in the way!