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!

[muckandnettles]

@Amigodog you poor thing with pup and his poo in the crate. Don't feel guilty though, there's no point. It's just getting the timing right and you'll probably find he will just last longer anyway in a few weeks.

[Coffeewithmyoxyg3n]

Think we have definitely arrived at the teething stage. I thought his bite was bad before but I was a fool! He is like a rabid dog atm, can't even fuss him without it turning to biting and scratching at you. Having to keep him completely separate from DD as she is covered in scratches and now just hides on her trampoline if he is in the garden or upstairs if he's inside. It's completely exhausting and I had my first real moment of puppy regret which is making me even more guilty as I know he is just being a normal puppy. I need to be better at reading his over tired signals as often he will fall asleep when I pop him in his crate within seconds after a bitey episode.

Anyway here is a pic of him looking angelic before he tried to bite my hand and phone.

[pistachioicecream]

Not the best start to the day here.....

On the walk this morning (which had actually been quite nice up to this point).... she was snuffling around the park under trees off her lead quite happily. I thought she'd picked up a stick which was sweet.... except when she brought it over to us I saw it was actually some other animals poo! Which I couldn't get off her and she proceeded to eat. OMG I was nearly sick.

Then if that wasn't gross enough when we got home she jumped on the sofa and proceeded to throw up all over her favourite toy and the throw we've had to put on the sofa to protect it from the puppy.

DH carried the sick covered mess outside and tried to hose it all down before we put it in the washing machine and she's there trying to get past the hose to eat the sicked up poo.....

Have to be honest - full on puppy regret here at the moment. Life used to be so calm and organised. Sigh. Is it like babies - do you block out the awfulness of the puppy stage once they've grown out of it?

[AmigoDog]

Thanks muckandnettles. I’m sure I’ll get there! And like you say the night poo hopefully won’t last too long anyway...

Sorry to hear that Coffeewithmyoxyg3n. It’s so tricky isn’t it. I’m not quite at this point yet but dreading it. Everybody on this thread seems to have gone through the same thing and got past it. I will be repeating the line “it’s just a phase” (probably through tears...). I hope it doesn’t last too long for you.

[Coffeewithmyoxyg3n]

@pistachioicecream oh that sounds like a truly terrible morning! Think it's definitely like babies, I do keep thinking why did I think this was a good idea.

Keep telling myself it will be worth it once out the puppy stage, but seems such a far off thing like when they say oh they sleep through eventually with newborns. Doesn't help much when you're exhausted now unfortunately.

[AmigoDog]

Oh pistachio that does sound gross . Sorry you’re feeling rubbish.

[pistachioicecream]

@Coffeewithmyoxyg3n "Why did we think this was a good idea?" is on repeat in our house too. Sorry you're going through it too.

He does look very angelic in your photo though.

I keep myself going by thinking about all the dog owners I know or come across, who seem happy and chilled out - so it can't be this bad forever!

My lovely neighbour came round with a bottle of pimms for us the other night as they thought we needed something to help us get through this bit! I think they feel a bit guilty as they were in the children's camp of persuading us that it would be a lovely thing for us to have a dog. They have 2 westies who we used to look after sometimes when they go out for the day.

[nicky7654]

@Imadreamer44 aaaah beautiful pup 😍

[nicky7654]

@GingerAndTheBiscuits Am in love 😍

[nicky7654]

@muckandnettles You have a gorgeous pup 😍

[pistachioicecream]

Thanks @AmigoDog. Sorry you're having a tough time too. So hard.

Pistachiopup wee'd in her crate the first night she was here. I was on the sofa bed next to her but she didn't make a sound so I didn't realise she needed to go. I felt so guilty so totally understand how you feel.

After a week of getting up at 2am to take her out to wee we bought a play pen. We put the crate in there with the door open and some paper on the floor by the pen door so she could come out of the crate herself to wee if she needed to. Luckily we have a tiled floor in the family room so it wasn't really an issue with the mess. The first few nights she did that but now she goes all night without needing to wee at all.

Not sure if that might be an option for you? Although pistachiopup has never needed to poo at night so it might be different.

For all her challenges she is actually a good sleeper and I'm very grateful for that.

Good luck - hope it gets better soon

[GidgetGirl]

@pistachioicecream Hah! Oh dear... At least it was only animal poo though. My friend’s dog once ate a HUMAN poo on a walk (it was definitely human - my friend had stumbled across the guy in the midst of doing it the evening before). She then sicked it up all over the dining room carpet.

[AmigoDog]

pistachioicecream that could work for us actually. His crate is in a pen and we just have wooden floors so we could give him access to a pad at night. Thank you.

[GingerAndTheBiscuits]

I think I am probably queen of puppy regret on the last thread ;) Probably my only piece of advice is to find something, however small, that has improved.

So in the midst of our crappy sleepless nights I might realise that GingerPup no longer barks at her reflection in the telly/mirror. Or now sits on command without having to be lured with treats. Or we’d manage a walk without as much pulling, or with a nice interaction with another dog. Maybe we’d managed to sit on the sofa and watch a whole TV programme without having to leap out of the way of gnashing teeth. Or the kids had felt comfortable enough to sit on the sofa with me for a little while. Or we’d been able to eat some food in the living room without getting barked at.

Really little things. And sometimes it didn’t feel like it outweighed what we felt were the negative things. But sometimes it was just enough to say “okay, one more day” and at the end of that day there might be more things to reflect on.

I super recommend getting some 1-1 with a trainer, if only so they can say “you’re on the right track” or in our case “yep, she’s a challenge 😆”. It really built my confidence and made me feel better.

@muckandnettles I did that eyes on me thing on our walk this morning, treated her every time she looked in my direction. She walked beautifully so I hope it helps to keep her on the right track!

[OwlInAnOakTree]

Ooh, OwlPup is good at 'look at me' when in a sit position, wonder if it'll work whilst walking? Thanks for that tip @muckandnettles. DS is going to the park with my mum this afternoon, so I'll have a chance to try it on a walk without the distraction of DS skipping ahead waving sticks about in the air or whatever...

Hope everyone has a good afternoon with minimal poo-eating, biting, soiling crates, pooing behind the sofa, etc. etc. etc.

[muckandnettles]

@pistachioicecream oh what an awful time you've had! I hate to say how much I enjoy hearing people having naughty pups but it does make me feel better.

The puppy regret in our house is mainly from dh but he's trying very hard to rein it in because he knows now how much I adore Mucky and I think he knows I take it personally when he criticises Muck. This morning on our walk, the furry bugger kept going to dh rather than me - is this how it's going to go now? I put in all the training and humiliation at puppy class, then dh is going to get all the benefits whilst he has moaned all the time and done no training... I mean, I want dh to adore him as well, and it makes sense from a survival point of view for Mucky to do this and make the male of the household feel valued by him, but it's very annoying!! He also fell asleep on dh's feet yesterday under the table, pretty well cuddling up to them. Maybe this is Mucky just getting smarter about what's good for him? Dh loved it, though he didn't say anything.

[muckandnettles]

@GingerAndTheBiscuits you are starting to sound as if you are keeping Gingerpup? It sounds as if some things have got better over the last week or so. I know what you mean about little things. We now seem able to usually have a meal at the table with Mucky in the room. I don't know quite when that happened, but it's like he knows it won't work if he bothers us now so doesn't do it. That and the sleeping through the night have gradually crept up on us so that it's made life just a bit more normal. Sleep and food, that's all I ask.

[grannycake]

@GingerAndTheBiscuits Oh I am so pleased for you and the puppy. Hopefully you will have turned the corner. I think all those little steps are really good news

[pistachioicecream]

[quote GidgetGirl]@pistachioicecream Hah! Oh dear... At least it was only animal poo though. My friend’s dog once ate a HUMAN poo on a walk (it was definitely human - my friend had stumbled across the guy in the midst of doing it the evening before). She then sicked it up all over the dining room carpet.[/quote]
@GidgetGirl

omg - that's truly disgusting!!! Your poor friend!!!

That does make me feel a bit better though so thanks!

[smilingthroughgrittedteeth]

If i dont get to DD2's potty first smileypup eats her poo

Ive had to order a covid test for DD as she is so poorly and 111 advised a test. I cant describe how wonderful smileypup has been, its like a different puppy he is being calm and taking himself outside when he needs a wee and mostly just sticking to DD like glue. Even in the middle of the night when she vomited all over my bed and i had to sort that he stayed quietly in his crate just watching her.

To everyone worrying about going on holiday all i can say is we had a wonderful time and smileypup was so busy exploring that he forgot to be a bitey little sod, it was great fun watching him on the beach for the first time and it was great for socialising him.

[GingerAndTheBiscuits]

We are feeling a bit better now we’re getting more sleep and the biting behaviour has reduced and we are just learning a bit more about each other each day. Even DH has warmed up to her now she’s lunging at him less. I still feel a bit trapped by the fact she can’t be alone for any more than a few seconds, and she’s terrified of our car. And she is now trying to bite me every time I try to enforce the no sofa rule, but I’m hoping that’s just a bit of a tantrum at not getting her own way! We’ll continue to work on those things though and see how we go.

Last night she lost her bone under the sofa and put her head on my knee as if to say “help!” which was very cute

[muckandnettles]

@GingerAndTheBiscuits she sounds as if she is becoming a very sweet pup now! A doggy friend of mine said that to stop a pup being afraid of the car, she just sits with hers in the car, plays a game or gives a treat then takes the dog in after a few minutes, leaving them wanting more next time. Would that work at all? Just have a bit of a car party then back in the house for a few times.

[LBee2020]

@GingerAndTheBiscuits Our pup used to be terrified of the car and we were panicked that we were doomed to a life of walks from the house! We tried harnesses on the seat with someone next to him but he would whine as soon as the car started and get really wound up and yappy (he very rarely barks or yaps) and panicky. On advice from our trainer, we used a crate in the boot as he is well crate trained and would find it safe. We covered it so he couldn't see the world flying past. For weeks we would just go and sit in it and give him high value treats and then get him out and go for a walk without driving anywhere. Eventually we graduated to short drives of 5 minutes or so. Initially he would still whine but gradually learnt that all drives lead to new and exciting walks and now he seems to really enjoy getting in. i think for some it just takes them a while to get used to the movement and uncertainty of what a car journey is!

[GingerAndTheBiscuits]

Sadly she poos in fright in our lovely expensive car crate and has a complete meltdown (not unlike how she was in a crate in the house!). So we’ve been advised to go the opposite way to you @LBee2020 and have her on the back seat with a harness, and a lickimat and sit with her until she is calm enough to lick the mat. Then move to the next stage, building up to close the doors, start the engine, pull out, drive down the road etc etc as she becomes more relaxed. The trainer suggested doing a bit every day but we have to choose our timing very carefully - if she’s too tired or already had too many new experiences that day it doesn’t end well, so I have to pick days where it’s low stimulation overall. I will do a bit with her later as we’re having a slow day with just quiet sniffy walks so hopefully will keep her under threshold. Not sure DH is appreciating the stinky salmon paste in the car

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

Thank you Ginger I will have a look 😊