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....

@GazingAndGrazing - sounds like an awesome day! Well done.

@puppygalore the early starts suck dont they especially after night poos.
This thread is now making me question our evening feeding as in it is dinner early but just did a bit of training with some kibble,maybe that is night poo inducing, hmmm will have to monitor this situ.
So glad you had a good day @GazingAndGrazing and that it is helping your anxiety. I had some health issues before getting riverpup and they seem to be getting better, although question how as I am tired but i also think it is getting fresh air etc.
Riverpup is just over 12 weeks now and although still hard work and very bitey when tired she has started to settle more and we are finding our feet together so much more than a couple of weeks ago. I still look forward to her being a bit older and not biting at all but I can see some progress in other ways

I also have a toilet training question. Currently we have the backdoor open from when riverpup gets up until bed and she takes herself out to go to the toilet and us pretty good apart from the odd evening wee. This has been ok due to weather but do I start to shut the door soon and jet her tell us she needs to go or do I wait and just let her keep taking herself out and it will click. I have bought a doggy doorbell to train her with but need to get her to only use it when it is for toilet purposes not just to go out so only in the first stages.
What is everyone else doing please?

Same as you @river the door is mostly open for now. We've gone 2 full days with no wee accidents inside so think it's starting to click, earlier it was shut and she did a little noise and lay down in front of it to tell me she wanted to go out. I was so proud! My plan for when I have to keep it closed all the time is to basically just hope for the best and watch her more closely.

Thanks all for feed info. I might tweak our schedule a bit

We’ve always had the door shut - we have a large step down to the patio so he can’t do it himself yet. I’d shit the door now and watch them closely for a few days. Chocpup does a very polite little “wuff” by the back door if he needs to go out but I think that’s partly out of necessity because the door is shut, so I’d do it sooner rather than later so you can be a bit more relaxed about how often you have to take them out before it gets too dark and cold!

Morning, I am sure pups read this and think what can I do next so you dont relax too much.
So riverpup was up twice in the night with very sloppy poo. Then came back in and had a wee on utility room floor at 3am.
Dh got up with her at 6.30 and instead of letting her straight out let her in lounge like an amateur puppy owner not a seasoned 3 weeker of cleaning up poo and pee where she then shat all over the carpet. Then I put her in kitchen and she had another runny poo all over the floor. Suffice to say I am sitting in the kitchen in the cold with the door open today.
I think it is from her desire to eat rabbit food like it is kibble and also caught her drinking a cup of tea last night which dh had left.
Currently asleep by my feet looking like she could only ever do rock solid poos outside and put them in the poo by herself.
Hows everyone else?

@Riverhousepuppy I feel your pain! Sending a big massive virtual hug!

All is ok with Bunglepup.. routine seems to be working although the teething has ramped up and he has become a complete landshark! We gave him a pigs ear yesterday and that managed to keep him occupied for a little while..
Last night he woke up at midnight, took him out didnt do anything so put him back down.. didnt settle well and woke back up at 3.30 wanting a poop... went back to bed and settled well and then didnt get up til 5.45 so thats a good stretch compared to what we have been having said in hushed tones
Toilet training is still very hit and miss... sometimes he will be out for ages in the garden and not do anything then walk back in and poo/wee on the carpet... WTF?!
anyway he is is 12 weeks now and im figuring he should start clicking to it soon (fingers crossed!)
Also my in laws went out for the day on saturday thank the lord and i think me being less stressed helped bunglepup as he only had one accident on saturday... please pray that my inlaws get a moving date this week otherwise i will need vallium
🎉
Hope everyone has a good week and relatively stress free!

Can I ask people's advice on how they have got their pup used to being on their own?

Mine is now 9 weeks old and I've had him a week so he has had time to settle in to his new home. This week is where the real training starts. So he is very dependent on me, follows me around pretty much everywhere and doesn't like being away from me at all. Today I'm practicing moving in and out of multiple rooms with the doors closing behind me.

I wonder how people have gone about leaving pup and pup being okay with it? He's slowly getting used to the crate but it's a work in progress, I think it would be too much to crate him and leave him even me popping into another room just yet. My thinking is get him used and comfortable being on his own in a room, crate in the same room with door open, then once he's okay on his own commence crate training.

Also is it important to only enter the room again when he's stopped crying/ barking? Sometimes the crying/barking goes on for ages and I've read you shouldn't leave them for longer than 5/ 10 mins to start with. But if that's the case then I'd have to go back whilst he's still making noise or wait til he stops which could be 30 mins!!! The internet! Full of contradictory advice!

Thanks in advance ☺️

Have a look at The Flitting Game @Phiney86. I think the advice would probably be not to close any doors yet. The flitting game helps them to realise that you’re not always doing exciting things and so staying behind in one room is okay, because you always come back.

@Phiney86 - we seem to have the opposite... VeryGrumpyPup seems only too happy to wander off (makes trying to eat a meal a nightmare, as he heads off exploring, so I only ever get a mouthful before I have to go and check that he is not off destroying stuff / pooing in a corner - think I have lost about half a stone, as I just don't get time to eat). He is currently snoozing in his crate - I am working next door in the dining room, so he can see me, but seems chilled about me wandering back and forwards to get coffee etc. Giving him his antler to chew on seems to help him settle / divert is attention. Hoping to gradually get more distant. He also seems absolutely fine to be left chilling on the sofa. I am going with much praise every time I find him quietly sitting on his own.

I think he is playing the flitting game with me - getting me to follow from room to room until I get fed up / hungry and stay where I am...

@Phiney My advice would be to take it slow. 9 weeks is still very young and he has only been away from everything he knew for 1 week. The approach I've been taken (guided by the Dog Training and Support FB group) is to focus on making sure pup is comfortable and happy in their new home and is confident that you "have their back". I would wait a few weeks before you start trying to force separation but definitely start the flitting game as the separation periods start off really small so nothing that will take pup beyond what they can handle.

Just to add: mine is 6.5 months and still dislikes being on his own in the house when he's awake and we're around. He will potter around the garden on his own and eat a treat in another room but his ideal is to be right with us. That said, he will nap in his crate for 2/3 hours on his own downstairs whilst we both WFH upstairs. We can also go out and leave him for up to 3 hours and he will just take himself to bed. We didn't follow any kind of training to get to this but just gave him plenty of time to get comfortable/settled in the house and in his pen / safe space. Good luck!

This is great advice thanks everyone. I hadn't heard of the flitting game, sounds great. I'm definitely going to commence that. He's currently asleep in his crate, I've just gently closed the door with him watching, rather than him trying to get out, he just fell back to sleep again! Winner! I think my approach will now be to get him used to his crate, see it as his den and safe space and start the flitting game. Then once he's used to both these things I can then start leaving the room for longer, and also knowing he's happy in his crate then too ☺️

Had a 1-1 trainer this morning, pup loved it. Some contradictions to all the training books/vids I've been following though. For jumping up we've been stepping into her space, ignoring and turning our back, he said to still step into the space but don't turn our backs as that's submissive, say 'no' then tell to sit. He also said he allows pups to bite as that's how they play and learn, then when it's too rough tell her no, whereas other info says never allow puppies to bite at all. Not sure what I think to that one as my hands are shredded enough, but the jumping thing I'll give a try as I'll do anything to stop that!

puppygalore I'm so jealous of people like your new trainer who just have a sort of sixth sense with puppies. I feel like such a dunce and have to overthink everything where this little furball is concerned, so the conflicting guidance does my head in a bit. Whereas what it probably means is that there's more than one way to do stuff and still reach the outcome you want!

We have a trainer coming on Saturday and I can’t wait. I’ve written a list

I agree with conflicting advice doing your head in and there dis definitely different ways to do things as I’ve learnt having two pups. I can do one thing for 1 that won’t work on the other for example.

Went for a pub lunch today with my DDs and the boys were so good.

Cuuuute boys gazing glad they were so well behaved.
It’s the same with kids.. what works for one child doesn’t necessarily work for the other

Absolutely, both my dc are chalk and cheese and I manage any poor behaviour and motivate them in totally different ways so understandable it is true of all creatures! It's just knowing which way is best to go on these things.

Pup does not give 2 hoots about anything we do to prevent/control the jumping so far. She thinks it's all a game. It's been almost 4 weeks and I thought it was lessening, but realised that's just because I'm now insisting the kids stay out of the way more and it's often them she targets. It does worry me as my daughter is only just 4, so pup is basically the same height when she's jumping and soon she'll be strong enough to push DD over! For now the poor kids are mostly banished upstairs and behind stair gates, and then pup is on her lead if it can't be avoided having everyone around. I'd love us all to have a nice relaxing evening together but so far it's not happened.

What do you all do for puppy mouthing and biting? Allow them to an extent, or not at all? Last night when she was overtired I was trying to replace my hands and feet with a toy, but she was very deliberately going for me rather than accidentally nipping me when chomping on a toy. I'm assuming (hoping) she'll grow out of it at some point!

My 11 week old lab responds well to short, loud claps when I want him to stop doing something. We have a house rabbit (the two of them together has been fun!) and he tries to get inside his hutch (dogs love eating rabbit poo- who knew!) a few loud claps gets him backing out of it.

We’re trying to get him used to being alone but we are approaching this v gently because we don’t want to have the opposite effect and give him separation anxiety.

The leaving them thing is such a dilemma. In an ideal world someone would be around with the puppy the majority of the time, but its also nice to know you can leave them safely for an hour or 2 and they will be ok. I just feel so guilty about it.

Glad to hear trainers are going well. Completely agree about conflicting ideas on how to do stuff.
For biting, and there is a lot when tired, I am trying to train drop it which means let go. I follow this with a sit which she then gets the treat for. I was just doing the drop it then treat but trainer pointed out she was learning, grab my leg then let go and get a treat so break that chain if that makes sense.
I try not to allow any biting but dh let's her do what she wants on him which means she savages him but is getting better at leaving me alone. She does love a good grab and hold on of my leg in the garden as I walk up it which is not fun. I keep hoping that long term I can walk down the garden without an attack dog on my leg. I think it is cos she is tired from playing or just the start of a habit which I need to break.
Keep checking for teeth lost and none yet so guessing we have a while left to go.

Tiredness definitely ups the biting here too. He barely napped late afternoon/evening because of various comings and goings and was getting really quite snappy. I try and put a toy in his mouth to distract and the new yak chews (thanks to whoever recommended them!) worked wonders as well.

whispers - pup just asked to go out, peed on the grass and came back in. Then five minutes later asked to go out again and had a poo on the grass - this is major progress, right??

Hi

Please can I join? Picked up our pup on Saturday- she’s an absolute darling but sense I might be needing lots of advice - it’s been over 10 years since we’ve had a dog in the house...
Cookiepup is just over 8 weeks and it’s love at first sight between her and DD (12).

Lots of mouthing going on and my poor socks are in fear of their lives. Also every fleecy item in the house is now her property.

I will attempt my first ever mumsnet picture...

Awww beautiful. What breed is she?

Lovely to hear all the stories of beach walks and adventures with the pups and enjoying the photos.
cookie79 what a lovely pup.

Picklepup is doing well. She's 14 weeks now, sleeping at night and napping in her crate during the day (which is a huge help). She's generally good on short walks and puppy training.

The biting though! When does it end? Seriously my hands!