Puppy survival thread *September!*

[JuiceyBetty]

Can't believe we're in September now, our babies are growing up!

Newbies always welcome especially if they come bearing photos....

Zombie eyes! I'm so unprepared for this new world of dogs. Good luck with the gunk.

I bought a puppy pack off Dragonfly and found that while pup won't entertain the pigs ear, she is a fan of the rabbit ears, kept her quiet at least 15 mins now and I've even managed a hot brew! The snuffle thing looks so cute, I might have to get one.

Yesterday pup discovered our cat food area and managed to eat a bit of it. It seems like crack to her as now she escapes into the kitchen whenever possible looking for more. Need another baby gate!

@LBee2020 ours is a lab too, just not interested in certain things! Give her a leaf and she'll happily chomp that but offer her yoghurt on a lickimat and she'll ignore it!

Ew - that does sound gross! Hope polkapup is ok and you're not too traumatized.

I'm just sitting here in my kitchen hoping the pup sleeps a bit longer and thinking there really must be more to life! Trainer coming Wednesday and I really need her to help me work out how to actually get anything done while I'm with this little fluffball.

So ZombiePup has slept well the last couple of nights -we've rejigged the evening a bit and had some focussed tug games once upstairs but before putting him into his crate..and other than a bit of grumbling (he is a grumblebum of a dog anyway, even when being petted!) he sleeps well all night.

This morning he was a bit whiney though, but we thought maybe it was where we had disturbed him going to the loo, and where DP's son decided 0610 was a great time to facetime him dont get me started on how unecessary him having an ipod is ....
To then jump awake at retching.

Poor ZombiePup has had a couple of sessions with bringing up bile both times...

Reading online it may be due to an empty stomach? I've been a bad PupMum though and forgot to get his food out to defrost last night.. so have tried him with soaked kibble in lieu until his meal defrosts.. must to his disgust and turned up nose!

Currently snoozing next to me on the sofa, feeling a bit sorry for himself...

Morning pupsters
So riverpup slept 11 til 4.50am it was my turn to get up. But went downstairs, she had a potter around whilst I lay on sofa, in a blanket as the back door is open all the time at the moment.
Then I went against my personal rules and invited her on the sofa with me where we both snuggled up and fell asleep. She wasnt bitey at all but licky instead.i know at 11 weeks we are far from out if the bitey woods but it was nice to see a glimmer from the other side.
Have had some fun playing with her whilst ds and dh are at football then it us the big walk later. Am excited but also know that it has been built up so much that it will prob be more stressful. We are taking her in woods near ours then down to the stream. But will carry her much if the way due to the 5 minute rule thingy.
@zombiepara zombiepup has beautiful markings.
@littlepoot hope the trainer helps. Riverpup will chill by my feet in the kitchen which she does when I am working but I am sick of sitting on this chair as have been on it all week.
@GazingandGrazing I am taking your dog friends with recall advice and meeting a friend next week for trial session. Such a good idea.
Hope everyone has a good day and all eyes get better

Weirdly my puppy was retching last night too ?? Didn't bring anything up though and is fine today.

@Riverhousepuppy ahhh thank you! He is a gorgeous little pup..and he knows it!

"I am sick of sitting on this chair as have been on it all week." Yes @Riverhousepuppy - that's exactly it! He will mooch or chill a bit but I just don't seem to leave the kitchen!

Urgh took chocpup for a walk this morning. Let him of lead, doing some recall games, all close by etc....then the little sod bolted. Right to the edge of the field. I had a proper “FENTON!” Moment then I realised what I was doing and stopped hollering and shook his treat bag and he eventually came back.
However he is now being a thoroughly deaf little arsehole and ignore everything I say so it’s like he’s just suddenly realised ignoring me is an option so I’m feeling a bit gutted. Tell me it’s normal to have days when you feel like all your progress has just gone???

@Chocolateandamaretto we have started to have exactly the same problem. Mucky will come back to us as long as there is nothing else going on in sight - he will now even look around him before coming back to us. I seem to spend a lot of time now apologising to other dog walkers and explaining that he might be a huge great animal but he's really only a puppy and we are working on recall. Most people have been very understanding but it's really embarrassing. He's now an adolescent, that's the explanation I think. I have also lost my whistle in all the tidying up for house sale, so it's shouting here as well!

The tied to the kitchen and puppy feeling eased with us gradually over a period of couple of weeks 15-17. I can go have a shower, potter around and she will just sit looking up the stairs or lay on the sofa waiting with no whining. Hang in there it does pass...abit.

Had couple of firsts this morning, I let pup off lead on the beach. She immediately spotted another little dog went running off but I reacted quick with the whistle she skidded turn straight around and sat at my feet waiting for sausage felt great. Plus she went in the sea chasing a sea gull got her tummy wet and went ut ooh came out with a big shake. I put her back on lead after 5mins as she spotted a toddler so I stopped her going to say “hello”. Then we went in a cafe for the first time with her ordered & then sat outside eating breakfast. She took a bit of training with kibble to wait/settle calmly but after 5mins training & treats she sat patiently. She’s 18wks today and it felt really nice to do something ‘normal’ with her, and it to be ok. We were out about an hour which is her limit at the moment but half that time she was sat/walking near the cafe table.

@muckandnettles he’s a teenager though - I would expect some regression then. chocpup is only twelve weeks! I took the suggestion that puppies will stay near you and follow you if you run off at its word and clearly misjudged it a bit lol. Going to use the longline for the time being!

@TriSkiRun99 - that's awesome! And thanks for the reassurance. I'm trying now to potter about a bit in the kitchen at least and see if he can stay asleep/settled. He just took himself off to his crate to sleep for the first time (door open) so I'm hoping that's progress. I'm definitely seeing developments slowly and he's only (nearly) 12 weeks so hopefully lots more will get easier in the next few weeks.

@Chocolateandamaretto - you're a lot braver than me to try! Well done for getting him back eventually though, and I'm sure the ignoring you is not directly related. Just too busy exploring and probably knackered after his exciting morning. x

@TriSkiRun99 thank you, that reassurance is definitely much appreciated. Riverpup was 11 weeks yesterday so hoping by 15 to 17 weeks life will be easier.
We took Riverpup out for her first proper walk today which involved us walking and carrying her as we wanted to take her somewhere further than she could walk as per her 5 mins per month ruling.
We met a couple of dogs who had good recall so I let her off the lead with my heart beating she played for a little while and was fine. Then we took her to a stream which she loved and also let her off the lead again. It was quite scary but everything everybody has said is true, she stayed pretty much close to us. I worried if something scared her that she might dash but it was ok and was lovely to see her enjoying herself.
Even with liver cake her recall wasnt great but good enough for that moment.

@Riverhousepuppy well done for letting her off lead! We took chocpup out again this afternoon and had a lovely bunt on the longline, so we’ll try off lead again in a few days with more sausage in my pockets!

How long is your long line? I ordered a 10m one but I'm thinking that's a bit much?

Ours is 15m and is about right for the grass area next to our house. It gives the pup plenty of room to dash about without having to trail around after him.

Well the vets was busy this morning! Took half an hour to get through then they said bathe with cold tea and ring back Monday so fingers crossed it'll be ok by then
Polka pup has been my only nice thing today. Kids knackered from school and teenager hates me. DH laughed at my haircut and I just want to leave. With the pup. Why am I telling you this? Well because a few weeks ago I had real puppy blues but now he makes my heart happy and he's so uncomplicated I love him so much. Stay with it everyone

That’s so lovely @polkadotpjs !

Sorry to hear that about your family @polka but great news on your bond with polka pup. I couldn't be without mine now! Apart from when he is humping my leg or biting....then hes free to a good home!!

That's lovely Polka.
I am definitely feeling the love for Picklepup more and more. She has just spent the last hour snuggled up to me, chewing a toy (not my hand!). She joined in our movie and popcorn night last night with a cheap toy stuffed with kibble and treats and dd and I had a lovely walk with her.

She's definitely starting to feel much more part of the family. I've had several thoughts of 'oh god, what have I done', usually at 3am but at 13 weeks it's feeling much better.

I do still need to get dd2 more confident with her to work on their bond a bit. Tons to do on training and I could do with fewer negative comments about terriers (she's a Jackapoo).

Pickle- I get this about polka as he's a terrier too and so many comments about being bred to kill/ vicious etc. Yes he likes to catch and shake his toys but he's ignored squirrels etc if I have cheese so he's not a dangerous monster waiting to kill! It's my lie in day today but kids like to come wake me up so I'm just going to mess about in MN land for a bit

Happy Sunday all!

As some of you may remember bunglepups sleeping was horrendous... after letting him have a few nights of whining he slept last night (all night!) from 11 til 5am!! I know letting them cry isn’t for everyone and I only tried it as I was at my wits end but it just seems to have clicked a bit.. fingers crossed anyhow!

So bunglepup is 11 weeks old today and seems to be turning a corner... he walks like a little star on the lead and is slowly but surely having more wees and poops outside! He’s bitey at the moment and hubby copped it last night (had stern words with him as DH is the one he needs to impress the most !) anyway I totally forgot to post my pic so here he is waiting for his breakfast!

Dragonpup had his first walk yesterday ending up at the pub and he was amazing. He walked for about 30 minutes (that felt long for 12 weeks old but he wanted to keep going and was full of energy). He’s a cocker. We did stop/start due to dd’s running everywhere. Dragonpup loved it and saw lots of dogs with many owners putting their dogs on leads to come over and offer to make their dog sit so dragonpup could meet them. So many supportive dog owners.

Now to the drama - on Wednesday dh thought dragonpup had broken his leg! He came in whimpering from the garden, not putting his paw down. Rushed him to the vet. He’d been stung by a wasp. He had human piriton and was fine again really quickly. His whole leg swelled up so they said he’s allergic to stings. We now have piriton in the house in the hope of avoiding a £50 vet bill when it undoubtedly happens again!

Marley pup has been off lead walking in the fields for about a month now and all been fine.
Today he ran off and would not come back even for treats. Took me 20 minutes to get him back on the lead. After running around he sat about 10 feet away from me and we had a Mexican standoff. I was getting seriously worried how I was going to get him home.
But all came good.

God. I took polka pup to football with DS2 this morning. He did well walking and lying down occasionally on my coat but then a kid who met him at training (I don’t know her parents) came fussing him. All good at first. Fed him cheese but then slyly took the lead and said could she take him for a walk. Of course i said we’ll both go but she held him. She started prancing about (as little girls do!) and started running. She dropped the lead He jumped about And ran after her. She fell over and he excitedly jumped on her licking her face. I was MORTFIED. she was fine and didn’t cry and I explained he’s perhaps just tired and walked her back to her dad who was lovely and just said “why did you run. You know dogs follow you if you run?” and she continued to be glued to him and fussing him. Then 3 other kids all start poking at him and dancing their hands around his face. I had to pull him away as he thought it was all a big game and was getting nippy - I’m exhausted! I’m sure dog trainer would say not to take him near any children yet but gosh - what do you do when they all descend on you like locusts? 😅