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....

Thanks so much that’s all really helpful!

Grannypup has a lickimat every lunchtime as I am having to go out for just over an hour each day. Current favourites are one side chicken or beef paste - other side a mixture of squeezy cheese studded with very small pieces of cooked chicken or chopped hot dog sausage. Yes - I know she's incredibly spoilt

Just watch out if you've got a powerful chewer @Puppypuppypuppy as my Lab didn't really like anything I put on the lickimat but instead actually chewed a corner of the mat itself off completely! Luckily she didn't eat it as she's turning out to be pretty good with not eating non-food stuff, but I know other dogs might do. Kongs took us a while but she's got the idea now, I mix mushed banana with some of her kibble and she seems to like that better than frozen ones. Another good toy for us was the Trixie snake, I put meat or fish paste in it and that takes her a while.

Results of teaching bite inhibition! Ouch. But still better than the previous nips which drew blood 👍🏻

yes puppythursday tried to eat a lickimat. He also eats cardboard boxes, newspaper, leaves, stones, anything that is left lying around really. He's also tried to eat part of the door mat so we've had to puppy proof more than normal as there's not much that doesn't go in his mouth.

I have ordered some special puppy bones today and I hope they will be here tonight to report back!

I will look up the snake puppygalore as that sounds good!

Yes our 10weeks old needs something to occupy her. Could start with the lucky mat, have just been anxious to give different things as we have had two bouts of dodgy tummy so far.

Saw this on Facebook and it made me giggle.

I’m feeling a bit useless this am - puppy up at 6 and had not moved from my side making it impossible to do anything, three accidents in the house already, haven’t even had breakfast. Realised that the playpen should put together yesterday has a huge gap in the bars do can’t put puppypuppypuppy puppy in there safely!

@Puppypuppypuppy

I’m feeling a bit useless this am - puppy up at 6 and had not moved from my side making it impossible to do anything, three accidents in the house already, haven’t even had breakfast. Realised that the playpen should put together yesterday has a huge gap in the bars do can’t put puppypuppypuppy puppy in there safely!

Yes I feel like that sometimes too. I think it's about finding a balance between giving the pup what they need but also just getting on with normal life around them (as that's what they have to learn!). Difficult though. If pup is happy just pottering around then that's great but if she's jumping at ankles etc I end up putting her outside or on lead while everyone gets ready to leave the house in peace

What command / process does everyone use for putting collar / lead on?

I don't have the most nimble fingers and so I struggle to get it on her quickly. She will sit but then starts wriggling and biting as I'm trying to get the collar on. I don't want to hurt her and turn it into a battle

We are off to the vets this morning for second vaccinations.
Mummypup slept through last night, last couple of evenings she has settled a bit easier, also she’s getting very good at indicating she wants a wee by standing at back door sniffing. Poo however she likes to do in secret in the house.

She’s incredibly needy, drives OH up the wall as it’s him she loves. He’s been practising lots of ‘no’ and distraction techniques when the biting starts

@newpup123 we keep his collar on all the time. It's a soft fabric one so doesn't cause a problem. The lead - we try and make him sit (ha ha!) and give him a treat though he does still wriggle!

we are still a week off taking him for a walk (last jabs were Monday and vet said to wait till next Tuesday) and it can't come a minute too soon!

we got 2 types of bone for him - a rawhide one which he likes and a a deer antler one from a dog charity which he's been chewing on this morning. Definitely gave us a bit more time without him at our feet!

he just constantly wants to be outside that's our problem - I've got those bells hung on the door but he doesn't understand he has to nudge them yet

he's getting much taller now too so can climb onto surfaces he couldn't before

we have the opposite problem @Mummyme87 in that he will wee everywhere but will wait patiently to poo outside!

We only use the collar (and slip lead) for walks. So he hated it when we first tried, so we’d take it tiny steps at a time.
Show it him= treat
Put it to his neck= treat
Curl it round his neck= treat
Do it up= treat
Slip lead quickly over the head= treat

Did this every time for about 3 days and he’s fine now.

Is there anyone on here still with slightly older puppies? Ours is 6mths at the weekend (I cannot believe we’ve survived 4mths already ), but she’s been demanding to play a lot this week brings toys to us and nudges until we play tug etc plus I really think she would benefit with some more interaction with other dogs in a secure play way. But not sure the best way to set that up, as the puppy classes with covid meant they all stayed on lead’s away from each other so we can’t decided if a 6mth+ class setting is worth it just for playing. I don’t feel comfortable letting her off lead in a busy park setting as her recall is good but not solid if over excited! Anyone else solved this? I’m trying to set her up with a puppy play date at the weekend with a friend whose puppy is similar age but she’s worried he’s too rough. We are going to try for a few minutes to see if they like each other .

To get her lead on we made her sit, treat, collar on treat then lead. If she jumped around we just stood calmly and didn’t interact until we got her calm again. It took quite a few goes at first but mostly it works now.

Hi @TriSkiRun99 we are still here, Riverpup is 16 weeks tomorrow, losing teeth and getting much easier.
She goes to doggy daycare twice a week, is there anything like that near you? Might be worth a look? I have also taken her for walks with older dogs with good recall which gives me a good sense of security knowing she will follow them back if she didnt recall to me.
Riverpup is ok getting off lead but refuses to come back into the house at end of the walk so worked on that with 121 trainer today. All of it is very much work in progress. She us definitely a member of the family now and by far improved from 7 weeks ago

Hello, we’re still here, chocpup is nearly 17 weeks. I’ve got 2 kids off school in self isolation at the moment so just not posting as much.

We’re having a few problems with him being over keen to play with other dogs tbh. I don’t think puppy play is actually appropriate for where he is right now but we did have a good walk this morning with some friends much older, very sensible dogs who will humour him but won’t play that much so he ends up just walking nicely with them. And he recalled away from them first time as they split to do a longer walk so I think we’ll continue to avoid puppy play for the foreseeable. It might not be such an issue for older or more sensible puppies though I’d just bear in mind that not all puppies are necessarily in the right space for playing with other pups!

Other than that chocpup is delightful and definitely worth pointing out to people in the throes of the first few weeks - he bites much much less and far gentler, he naps in his crate with the door open out of choice, he snoozes on the sofa with me in the evening, he hasn’t toileted in the house for ages. He’s a darling and I’m so in love with him, and anyone with a 10 week old puppy who you’re struggling with please know that you can do this and it does get better x

@Chocolateandamaretto that's good to know.

The biting has been annoying today. And 3 wees inside when we hadn't had any for w few days 🤦‍♀️ I think that's my fault for not taking her out as regularly

@Riverhousepuppy what age did you start doggy day care? We have a local home boarding & day care place I want her to be comfortable at. They also do grooming so have booked in at 16 weeks to do that and have a look round. Hopefully she can start 1 or 2 days a week after that? It's a bit of an indulgence as I'm working from home all the time but feels like it willl make the whole thing less overwhelming for me

@newpup123 riverpup was 13 weeks when she started and I figured she would get used to it better as she was younger, she would learn social skills that I cant teach her and she will have a richer experience because of it. I wfh and eventually might be back in a couple if days a week but figured better to get her into a routine now. She did mornings the first week and then two full days. She finished early today because we had the trainer round and she would need a sleep. She is so excited to go but equally as excited to come home.
It has been nice having a little break but I have actually really missed her too and feel bereft without her here. She is so part of our home now. But I can do random jobs at home that are a bit harder with her around at 16 weeks, like put rubbish out, put milk bottles out etc. I can do them when she is here but harder with puppy gates etc. I think it is worth it and so far so good. With wfh it's hard to get chances for her to be on her own so I feel that this is a also compromise at the moment.hope that helps

@Riverhousepuppy very helpful thanks, I will be following in your footsteps!

puppy woke me up at 2am to show me he had been vomiting everywhere :(. Poor thing. Was going to call the vet but he was well in himself and drinking water so not getting dehydrated so I stayed with him as he didn't look in immediate crisis and he's much better now. I of course was awake all night watching him

I think this is as a result of him being a hoover. But also he was out with dp yesterday and apparently got lots of 'treats' for being a good boy (from other people) and I suspect something upset his tummy.

did make me realise how much I love him last night!

have called the vet and as long as he's well in himself, and it appears like it was a one off event, I don't need to take him in but any other changes/signs like diarrhea/runny eyes or any more vomiting I need to.

I'm also still here. We had a rough week last week where BeePup decided that he would not go in his crate ever again and couldn't sleep without us in the room. After a week of sleepless nights we have finally made some progress in that he will generally sleep through the night by himself on the lounge sofa. He's 7 months now so this is fine with me, although he can still be destructive when he is awake and unoccupied so we keep an eye on him and get up when he wakes- which fortunately is generally after 7am.

Those of you with little pups how are they sleeping? Puppypuppypuppy pup has been with us nearly a week, has settled well in crate at night and sleeping from 10/1030 to 6 or 7 am, I am on the sofa in same room and he wakes me up for a wee but this isn’t consistent - could be 1 am, could be 5am. Is anyone setting an alarm and getting their pup up to wee?

puppypuppypuppy mummypup is 10weeks and occasionally needs to get up and wee in the night but not consistently. She tends to sleep 11-6.30. And yes sometimes still wakes but settles back immediately.
She isn’t in her crate as decided she didn’t like it at night, but in her bed under our dressing table

hello all,

Hope you are all keeping well and safe?

Well and i whisper this Bunglepup has slept through from 10.30pm til 5.30am the last 2 nights... lets pray and hope this continues!
He is 16 weeks this sunday and is still a bit hit and miss toileting but worse things happen at sea i guess...

Walking on the lead is a dream think we just got very lucky and he is getting more confident with meeting other dogs/people, isnt it amazing how many people stop you to speak to you with a puppy?!

In laws are still here just about but fingers crossed should have their keys in a few weeks... i need my own space back now!

So im going to be ballsy and mention the C word... anyone else planning on buying puppy a gift from santa or have i just become one of those stupid lets dress the dog up people?! 🤣