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....

Oh, I’m so sorry to read the stressed out updates, sending you all a massive virtual hug and copious amounts of gin.

It’s another rainy day here which means more piss on the floor than usual.

@Bunglemom lots of hugs, that’s rubbish.

Starting to find a bit of a routine here... though definitely also feeling the puppy blues on and off (just longing for a bit of normality). We seem very lucky in that VeryGrumpyPup sleeps 11pm to 6:45 ish - so at least getting a bit of sleep (when I don't wake up in the middle of the night paranoid that he is whining). Toilet training is a bit hit and miss - he will usually only want a pee when I am on a Zoom call for work - so I tend to be shuffling around the room mopping up while trying to talk (keeping cameras off as much as I can!). First rain in ages - and pup was horrified at having to go out in it (well, he is a whippet) - so we had a lot of repeated trips in and out with whining and shivering before he could be persuaded to go!
Think I have lost at least half a stone through never having time to eat properly while on 'poo watch' - silver lining?

Can i join please?

BabyBelly has been with us for 5 weeks now + is 13 weeks old.

Poo trained, wee trained not so much.

Havent left him alone yet - wasnt sure at what age that becomes a thing?

Sleeps all night in his crate after the 1st week of hell.

Hates walks + rain but loves food, any food..wants it all.
Last night found him attempting to get in the bin.

Its been HARD - infact it remains hard + sometimes i find myself thinking of the glory days when i could sit down and just relax.

@Bunglemom i hope your ok

Oh crap Bunglemom - are you ok? Take it very easy today. No rash decisions. And don't do anything that isn't absolutely vital - the rest can wait until you've had at least a bit of sleep.

@m0therofdragons - really sorry to hear about your cat. Seems both ends of pet ownership are pretty terrible.

Rain was a nightmare here too - 2 big puddles after refusing to go outside when we had just had a few good days. Fingers crossed it stays dry a while. Hope everyone has a good (or at least manageable) day today. I've been fantasising about getting rid of the dog but husband says no. Pity. I had thought of all sorts of more fun things I could be doing.....

@m0therofdragons so sorry about your cat

@Bunglemom I'm sorry you have had a hard night and I hope that things settled down a bit for you. I have had more arguments with my DH in the last month than in 8 years of marriage! I think sometimes you have to do whatever it takes for a bit of sanity and if that is shutting pup in the kitchen then you did the right thing. Get some sleep and then hopefully you can face today feeling a tiny bit more positive.

Welcome, @bellyislikejelly, your pup is the same age as mine! He is a cutie.

Also feeling the rain problems here - last night chocpup (who hasn't had an accident in the house for about 3 weeks) gruffed at the door to go out, stood up, looked at the rain and chose to pee on the floor instead no way was it an accident as he'd already asked to go out, the little sod. My DH grabbed him and whisked him outside so he finished his pee in the garden but so not impressed! Going to have to be totally on him over winter I think.

Oh @puppygalore we use hot dog sausage/frankfurter - cut it in half then slice it very thinly so it's about the size of a little fingernail. He also likes grated cheese and little cheesy dog biscuits if you're looking for other high value rewards.

Thanks so much for the hand holds and hugs... its very much appriciated.

I didnt go back to sleep at all so today at work will be a delight... luckily i have the best boss in the world and im sure she wont mind me being a tearful wreck (although working with builders im sure to get the mickey taken!)

We have argued more since the dog joined us then ever in our 15 years of being together, 10 years married.... i thought the DC pushed us but the dog is a whole other level.

I took bunglepup for a walk this morning listened to Rhod Gilbert (MMMMMM!!) and the mood matched the weather... although pleased with my £6.99 amazon waterproof trousers... every silver cloud and all that.

Hope you have a better day and night @Bunglemom and @LittlePoot. It can feel just like the newborn days where from about 6pm you start to get anxious about what kind of night you’re going to have. Can DH be on duty tonight?

@Bunglemom - oh sending you virtual hugs. That sounds so tough. I am reading the book Easy Peasy Puppy Pleasy at the moment and it is really great - lots of really good advice (although I actually came on to say it made me feel so bad as he advocates having your house prepared when Puppy arrives - we ended up rushing to get ours after losing out on 4 puppies over the past year!!! - and also is against leaving alone in the crate on first few nights, and also on having a toilet area in the crate so I am losing points on all of those!!!).

We are taking 2 steps forward and 3 backwards on toilet training and I am already dreading today as it is teeming rain here - the thoughts of loads of trips to stand in the garden is making me feel ugh.

I also realised this morning that I missed a course I was supposed to attend by Zoom on Monday because I am so disorganised at the moment with the dog and the DC and the constant changes to our routine with Covid restrictions.

@bellyislikejelly - your puppy is so adorable.

@Annasgirl Ive read that book and i feel like ive tried everything... i feel that bunglepup just wants company.. im going to try putting a t shirt in that ive worn and a heat pad to try and trick him... if not i will be sobbing into my bottle of neat gin.

Was there something in the air last night cos our pup was shit too! DH still on the sofa trying to train him to sleep on his bed and not on the sofa (we were toying with the idea of having him on the landing on his bed so that DH can sleep in the bed again) he said he started off ok and then spent every 10 mins trying to get up on the sofa with him. He felt really down this morning, think it’s taking its toll, he obv wants the puppy but it’s hard, as you all know.
We felt really positive and like he was ‘getting it’ and now with that and peeing on the front room carpet quite a bit feels like it’s gone to shit.

@desperatehousewife21

Massive virtual hug coming your way!

Maybe dogs are just dicks and trick us that they are getting somewhere and then when we get comfortable do to pieces again....

@Annasgirl I read that too and it completely disagrees with some things I read in The Happy Puppy Handbook (which for e.g says don't worry about leaving puppies to cry it out for a couple of nights) so even the experts don't agree! Don't feel bad if you're doing things your own way. I keep likening it to having my DC, with the first I read everything I possibly could and in the end my baby was just not like the books, so abandoned it all and we did what worked for our family. I think puppies can be the same!

Thanks @chocolate, I've just been out for hot dogs so will give those a go. Tbh Pup is pretty keen just on standard little treats so doing ok with that so far, but for longer recalls and bed/crate I'm hoping she likes the hot dogs!

My trainer gave me 'homework' - keep working on recall, sit and stay. She's nailed sit but the other 2 not so much she'll do 1 stay then gets bored and wanders off. Recall is ok if she can hear/see the great bag, but otherwise I'm not exciting enough for her to abandon digging her hole or whatever.

Does anyone else feel like other people in the house are unintentionally sabotaging you?! Yesterday I spent hours just clicking and treating everytime she did not jump at me for attention or bite when playing. By the evening she was so much calmer than previous evenings, so I had hoped something was working. This morning DH did the early shift at 6am and I came down to find him on the floor literally wrestling with her, letting her bite his hoody and hands, and not getting up and ignoring the jumping which I've said so many times we must do so as not to reinforce that behaviour I'm glad I didn't have to get up at 6, but feels like he's undoing any progress.

He also said he took her for a walk which 'took about half an hour'. It's only day 2 of walks! I've told him really no more than 10 mins in total per walk. Is it distance or time though that matters at this age? As he described the route and it's actually a short 5-10 min walk, but he just let her take her time sniffing so stayed out longer.

@puppygalore omg yes to the sabotage! Particularly with jumping up! It doesn't bother my DH at all but pup will be taller than our 4 year old in a few months and he'll bowl him over so I feel like time is of the essence! We're having our trainer over on Monday so I'm really hoping she can hammer this home to him as it's becoming a bit of an issue on walks as well.

Also my pup doesn't really stay either but now does quite a good "wait" when there's an incentive at the end eg. his dinner, a kibble hunt etc. I think we need to teach him a release cue and perhaps should've been doing so from the beginning but I wouldn't know where to start!!! Anyone got any tips?

Oh my goodness am I glad I found this thread! Anybody else got a staffordshire bull terrier pup here?

That's so weird, I was literally just reading about release cues as I'm browsing for other things to teach as today we are failing at 'stay' 'out/drop' and 'ball'. It feels like a lot of effort though hopefully the photos attach but if not I just found it from a quick google

Ah that's interesting. I think we might've got a bit muddled with everything frankly! He will sit, I tell him to wait, then I can put food on the floor for him (kibble/treats/bully stick etc) then say "ok" and he'll go eat it. Is that just a stay then?? Is OK my inadvertent release cue??If he has to wait too long without some sort of clue as to a reward then he'd get bored and wander off I think. I feel like there's a difference between "stay there until I tell you otherwise" and "wait for this immediately obvious reward" but maybe that's too much for a puppy! I'll try the training from that article. Are you going to try too @puppygalore? We can compare notes!

Can you tell I'm quite anxious and overthink things a huge amount!?

It sounds like if he will wait until you say OK then you've already taught the release? But if he barges for food without you saying it then you might have to start from scratch. I've also been watching YouTube for 'mugging' food vids and Pup has picked that up pretty quickly so that might tie in if you do start doing release commands.

Can I a bit of a straw poll?

How old are your pups and what is the longest you’ve left them alone (not including overnight) whether this be alone but you’re still in the house but they don’t know that, or they’ve been left alone and you’ve gone out the house.

Mine is 6.5 months and he gets left for up to 3 hours in his pen (which has his crate in). We've only done this when he's been fed, toileted and walked and we know that he'll sleep the whole time (which he does). We can also work upstairs and he will sleep for 3 hours (or more) downstairs in his pen. If he is awake and we are in the house though he doesn't let us get out of his sight generally unless he's in the garden or distracted with something really good. We've been leaving him since he was about 4 months I think.

Mine is 13 weeks and he's been left alone for no longer than 30 seconds apart from at night. Which is not sustainable! Working on crate training next

Hello all
We got our puppy on Saturday, she will be 9 weeks this Saturday. She has just started coming into her own :-)
Toilet training is going excellent, she is currently sleeping in our bedroom in her dog bed and sleeps through the night.
Trying to get her used to a crate is another story! Any help would be much appreciated please.
I have been carrying her to school drop off and pick up, but this morning was raining and I put her in the crate for 20 mins. You would think I was murdering her :-(

Chocpup has been a total dick since I got home from work a kid at my school has just been diagnosed with Covid and I’m feeling really stressed and panicked so he probably picked up on that but on our walk he more or less totally ignored me. Sigh.