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....

I should add that we have a bucket of water to dilute the wees we witness. Dh is very good at this (I’m super lazy but don’t tell him).

Thanks @gazing that really helps. Yes it's just 1 dry to another, thought I'd keep things simple for myself and not involve any raw or wet!

The sound of all this off lead walking is terrifying! Pup is rubbish at coming back to me even from the bottom of the garden. We've got another 10 days til we can venture out so maybe she'll be a bit better at 'come' by then.

@m0therofdragons

I should add that we have a bucket of water to dilute the wees we witness. Dh is very good at this (I’m super lazy but don’t tell him).

This is our house! DH saving the grass with me not caring as long as it’s outside...

puppy I had to turn the crazy dog lady dial up a few notches when getting them to come to me in the house and garden.

Shakes your treats box at them, silly voices, running away, running away and falling on the floor “dead”, hiding behind things for them to find me.

DH worries that I’ve got a name for myself at the playing field but as long as the pups coming running I don’t care!

I bought a cat tunnel from Amazon which they have enjoyed zooming through this afternoon, took a little while to pluck up the courage but then they were off. Might build an obstacle course ready to win BGT at this rate. DH will divorce me if I buy anything else this month, grumpy old fart

@puppygalore Well we are in the very early days of off lead and it is scary. I spent loads of time before she could go out for walks hiding in the garden so she had to find me and liked that she would panic and come for me straight away. Always awarded with a treat.
For seasoned dog owners, when you are out with dogs off lead do they venture that far from you now or like to keep you in eyesight?

For seasoned dog owners, when you are out with dogs off lead do they venture that far from you now or like to keep you in eyesight?

For young puppies you are their world and they want to stick with you. This is when you train and reinforce recall. When they hit the teenage phase they think stuff you I want my freedom and tend to do the selective deafness. This is when you despair, drink wine and keep trying to enforce recall with lots and lots of effort. Eventually they grow up and start listening again. Well that's what happened to me. Mine sticks close to me but I found his weakness and that's a ball

Hmm pup seems overly confident and gives absolutely no shits when I leave her in the garden. She will quite happily pootle around and ignore me shaking her treats bag!

While she's generally too confident outdoors, tonight she was inside and apparently so distraught that I had the audacity to put the kids to bed, she has ignored all her chews, toys and treats and ripped off the cardboard puppy barriers and masking tape contraptions I'd crafted and has chewed through our internet cable :( not happy, we'll be stuck on dodgy 3G for ages while we get this sorted, argh!

Oh no puppy very frustrating and costly as well, these pups do push and push the boundaries.

Mine have finally fallen asleep where they fell and I’m leaving them there till they wake again. After a field walk which obviously wasn’t enough we had zoomies at such a pace I was worried they would hurt themselves and then someone left one of the internal doors open and they taught themselves how to climb the stairs... ffs, I was only trying to cobble a dinner together.

And they have started being sick again, I’m blaming the zoomies and possibly the salmon paste on the lickimat I gave them just for some peace today.

Aghh

Hi,
Can I join please for moral support?

VeryGrumpyPup has now been with us for 3 days (8 week old Whippet) - and I am exhausted! He is our first dog - and haven't lived with a puppy since I was a teen. It's just like having a newborn again (that slight feeling of terrified cluelessness) - but able to run around and cause mayhem and with pointy teeth... and don't even get me started on the poonami!!!
I think I may have traumatised him this morning, as DP is away, and I had to drive DD to school, so pup came too - and was patently terrified. Had to resort to singing 'Soft Kitty' (well, it was all I could think of...) to him to calm him down while stuck in traffic.

Hello @verygrumpyoldwoman and welcome.
Riverpup is 12 weeks on friday and hated the car but is slowly getting better in it.
She slept from 10-3.30 for a night poo then 3.47 for a wee. Honestly will be so glad when the night poos are but a memory.
She woke at 5.30 bit think that was dh alarm. Thinking we might put the crate back downstairs in the kitchen but I also sort of like her in our room. But really want full nights sleep again.
Pups are so like babys but with sharp teeth

@verygrumpyoldwoman sorry I know it was stressful but had to have a little chuckle at you singing soft kitty to a howling pup in the car!

My pup is still not entirely convinced by the car, it's best if DH sits in the back with him but he does still whine sometimes. He doesn't really yowl anymore though so I hope he's getting used to it!

if you just picked him up recently the journey from his previous home was probably very scary/stressful for him as well. I think as car travel is a necessity of modern life it's just one of those thing you have to keep doing with them, ideally everyday in short bursts. Do you have him in a crate in the boot or a seatbelt harness? Maybe he'd prefer a slightly different way of travelling?

@puppygalore sorry about your internet cable they're so fast and they get into stuff so easily! My DH took his socks off at his desk yesterday and (very, very!!) predictably chocpup zoomed off with one...

As yesterday was pretty hot here we filled the top half of the kids sandpit with water and let chocpup play. We thought he'd get in but he put his front paws in, sneezed and then jumped back! he enjoyed drinking from it and watching me and the kids splash in there though, and he loved picking up toys that we'd put in there.

Does anyone have any suggestions for any good sniffy sorts of games to play with a puppy? He likes a good kibble hunt where we scatter dinner on the lawn and he sniffs it out, and we have a few puzzle toys, and have wrapped up kibble in paper/cardboard boxes/loo rolls for him to dig out. Just looking for other ideas like this as he seems to really enjoy it and I don't really feel we are able to walk him enough to tire him out yet, so need to keep his brain active!

@verygrumpyoldwoman hi! Pup is also scared of the car, she's been in twice since bringing her home on my knee, once for vet and once for the park and she cried every second of each journey, horrendous. I'll try 'soft kitty' next time Although this week my plan was to go to new places to socialise her I've had to postpone that and work on the car issue. I found some internet advice that suggested to start slow, get them near the car and give treats, then after a few days get them in the crate/seat and give treats, build up to having someone switch the engine on while you are with them giving treats, and so on step by step until they are cool with being in it without you treating. I appreciate this isn't possible if you need to be in the car every day right now though. I'm lucky in that I can crate Pup for a 20 min-ish school run and take my time getting her familiar with the car before her next vet visit.

I've booked some 1-1 training sessions which start next Monday, can't wait and then from Thursday we can go out for a little walk (well I suppose technically Weds at 4pm is 2 weeks since the jabs!) I'm hoping the classes and walks will burn some energy as I feel like she's not getting enough in the day from me at the mo.

She was totally calm meeting some of the family on Sunday and was sooo chilled yesterday with me mostly, the kids coming home from school excited her but it's easy enough to keep them apart - especially while the weather's nice then Pup or kids can just be in the garden. But once H came home it's like she switched gear and instantly becomes super hyper. Leaping all over him and nibbling his feet, no matter how many times we ignore/NO. Destroyed internet in 10 mins, toys are suddenly ignored in favour of biting hands and feet which she's been so good at with me. It's like a witching hour 6-7ish - nothing holds her attention, plus the jumping up at the kids and barking at them non-stop is awful.

@Chocolateandamaretto I've seen on here posters suggest wrapping a toy or food in a knotted towel and let them sniff it out, if you've not done that already might work for you? The scattering dinner is a good idea, I might try that! I've bought a snuffle mat and puzzle cube which I'm hoping will give Pup some good sniffing time

Thanks for the welcome.
Currently using crate in the back of the car. Think we need to spend some desensitising / just sitting in there with treats etc. Probably ought to buy a dog barrier too, as he managed to unzip the top of the travel crate & pop his head out!
Just all so tricky at the moment. Using up some annual leave, so only working half time for a few weeks, but still struggling to see how I can get much done what with the need for constant supervision and popping in/out to try and prevent all those little accidents (and constantly being 1 minute too late...)
He is very sweet though - especially when crashed out next to me like he is now...

@verygrumpyoldwoman - I am also struggling with work. Puppy naps a lot but woke up at exactly the wrong moment today, ate the rest of his lunch then peed on the floor next to the (open) back door while I was on a call.... First accident since Friday so I'd thought we were making progress but he clearly doesn't get it in the slightest!

@verygrumpyoldwoman it took our pup about a week of going in the car for very short journeys every day before he stopped crying - but after that he was totally fine. My sympathies with trying to work. I took the first week off, buit after that I had teen dc at home to watch him. He's 16 weeks now and we've struggled a bit now dc not around - but think we are slowly developing a routine. I take him out early and he tends to sleep / entertain himself very happily until lunchtime now. Afternoons are trickier but we're getting there. Hopefully your pup will get into a routine more quickly as we didn't didn't start trying for a ling time.

Help! Have lovely calm dog, who behaves beautifully 95% of the time. But he loses the plot on walks and bites my clothes, and draws blood. He is 16 week lab. It's like he suddenly goes into a mad panic, it's often caused by over excitement, but sometimes it's when he wants another bit if kibble ( he bites at pockets and treat pouch)

Any ideas? Should we just avoid doing any training on walks?

He doesn't do any of this behaviour at home or to other people....

Hi @Emrysmcdogface I'm no expert at all, I'm sure someone else will have suggestions. I'm just learning as I go, but also have a lab puppy and I've found reading the fb group Dog Training Advice and Support very useful. On there you can read the units and search your problem, or you can post your own query for expert advice.

Thanks @puppygalore . It's only on the way out, and much worse on new places, so I think it's a fear reaction.

I'm going to try 'training' the whole way out, as eating calms him down. If I do it from the start I'm not reinforcing the bad behaviour, which I think I'm doing at the moment in terms of attention...

I'll let you know how it goes!

Tagging in @muckandnettles who might be able to help you, @Emrysmcdogface

I've been MIA from this thread as I've been in hospital (all fine though now). But I'm all caught up! Welcome to the newbies!

JuiceyPup is 6 months old tomorrow. And he is GLORIOUS! So funny, smart, naughty and cute.

He still pisses on the floor occasionally. But he sleeps through the night and is so loving and playful!

He's still an atrocious eater. We give up on the butternut box now. The vast majority goes in the bin. We've tried 3 types of kibble, the butternut, wet food, all sorts. He basically survives off a few bites of food a day. He's currently eating little wet tins from M&S but no doubt he'll go off them in a few days too. I despair!

Hi Emrysmcdogface we have a 18wk Lab/cocker She often bit mental when first going out on the lead. I Think it’s just Over excitement I’ve tried a 5min garden play first to remove some energy but had mixed results, I also try training from the moment we leave the door with a few focused sits or kibble ‘leave it’ games anything that just gets her focus on me for 1-2mins I find helps her, then we find our groove she starts walking nicely but if I miss time the walk back or she’s spooked by something it’s like being dragged by a deranged zombie for 5mins along the road. Getting her to sit, wait etc sounds counter intuitive but it does help our pup zone back in again. All for kibble of course .
Think we are just entering new territory again after a calmer couple of weeks she’s just started to do the “Nah not listening to you again” Body language at times but mostly she’s 100x calmer than 4-5wks ago!

Thanks @TriSkiRun99

I think the training from the start is the best plan! I got ahead of myself I think! I'll work on catching him just before he loses the plot, and do calm sit/stay/heel work as you see suggest...

Hope you're ok Juicy!

Help/advice needed - again! So, walks are still a disaster - leaping about, eating all the plants, terrified of traffic so we're staying away from the road. Then got home and half an hour later he freaked out at a pigeon. Poor little love just seems scared of everything and I don't know how to help! The socialisation guides say expose them to as much as possible in these weeks (he's 12 weeks now, had him since 10). But he is terrified and just whines if I try and carry him places where there are "things" which I don't think helps. So what do I do? He was a complete loon on the walk this morning - very quickly over threshold so not taking any notice of me. Not that he's great at taking notice normally anyway. I feel like I'm messing everything up and I have the training guide "crucial weeks" words going round in my head. Help!