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....

'family dog'

Just caught up with this thread! Been so busy this week as back to work (in a school).

Juiceypup has been so lovely recently! He's 5.5 months now and the bitey days are long behind us. Still the occasional wee inside but nowhere near as much as before.

And for this week, he's been waking up after 7! Hurrah! In fact my alarm going off has woken him the last 3 days at 7am. Long may it last, it makes poor DW miles happier not getting up at 5/6am.

@TriSkiRun99 such elegant sleepers aren't they! I got a cracking sleep pose from pup yesterday, husband said she looked like a ready cooked chicken with her legs all skewiff.

It's quite cool here which I'm relieved about as I'm in jeans so my legs aren't getting too badly scratched. My kids like to wear shorts even when freezing though, so I've had to persuade them into long things since pup's arrival. Poor things just thought new puppy = cute snuggles, think they're finding it tough and will be glad to start back at school to escape the madness.

Just catching up on the thread.

Can I ask about eye colour? When do they darken? Dragonpup has quite light eyes and although I’m expecting them to turn brown I thought that would have happened by now - he’ll be 12 weeks on Monday.

@m0therofdragons He’s so sweet and his eyes are light aren’t they? Might they stay blue or will they definitely turn brown? V lovely

Pistachiopup has brown eyes.

Another 6.20 start to the day here :-(. We had thought she was waking up because she heard people moving around upstairs but not this morning. She was desperate for a wee though so was probably that. Now sitting in the sofa next to me working on a yak chew.

Sorry for the next bit of TMI. Does anyone know anything about poo colour? She’s had a bout of diarrhoea the last couple of days so am poo obsessed here. I think it was possibly the result of her poo eating!

She didn’t really want to eat anything on Thursday which was worrying and then she had a bad bout of diarrhoea. We gave her chicken and rice yesterday to try and settle things down. Bizarrely she absolutely loved it - she’s never eaten any other food with enthusiasm like that! Maybe she’ll be on chicken and rice forever.

Anyway she just did a morning poo that was firmer than yesterday’s so hopefully she’s getting better. She’s been fine in herself - still been playing and loving walks. Just a dodgy tummy.

But I just found a poo she did last night that no one had noticed and it was really yellow?!? What is that about? The one this morning was a more normal colour and only a bit soft so much better. Almost glad I didn’t see the one last night or I’d have been worrying!!

Sorry way too much info for this time in the morning!

It’s like having a baby again Pistachiopup my DH & I have many conversations about poo. Our pup had real poo issues in first 2-3weeks, bloody diarrhoea which was horrid we’ve had several days on/off boiled chicken and rice but the vet reassured us it was ok and just wean her off it slowly mixing in half kibble and rice etc. We’ve changed foods a couple of times too as I don’t think the Royal Cain the breeder had her on was helping. Fish based stuff is supposed to be good for sensitive tums but boy does it make the farts deadly! She’s also a demon seeking out the apples and pears falling off the trees in our garden so we are constantly trying to get them off her which of course is a big game to her. We restricted peanut butter as well as we weren’t sure if that was too rich but a teaspoon off cream cheese on licki Mat seems ok. If she eats a carrot you can see it within 12-24hrs orange poo.

Can I join as a prospective first time owner please? I want to be as informed as I can be and as prepared as possible.

We’ll be getting our first dog next year, we are on the waiting list for a working cocker. I feel confident about where s/he will be coming from until I read here and then start worrying about it! Intention is that we’ll be working with the lady who owns the mum to train as an assistance dog for my DD. Prospective mum is a gorgeous golden WCS with a lovely temperament. Extensively health tested.

Hope it’s ok to be here as a learner!

Morning all
Well we are also obsessed with poo here @pistachioicecreamas @TriSkiRun99 riverpup has had a few bloody diarrhoea poos but think she had too much variety of treats so sticking to her food and chicken. She doesnt eat much though and prefers it as treats. When I put her bowl down she has 3 mouthfuls and that's it. Is that ok?
She has second jabs today so will check with vet. Hoping nothing mode as we started her new insurance yesterday which starts from yesterday but not for any illness in next 14 days but she would still be covered by the breeder insurance up til 18th September. We went with pet plan which is expensive but I just dont ever want to worry.
She had a joint poo and wee at 3am then back to sleep straight away. Then up at 5.20. Hoping she will sleep in longer in a couple of weeks.
She did some lovely running between ds7 and I in the garden this morning for chicken when we called her name. It was very sweet.
I also found some old really long winter boots for when riverpup pretends to be a police dog and I am the robber in the garden ( her game not mine) so at least my legs can have some protection. My Dh was looking longingly and said he might start to wear his work boots too in the garden. Ds7 already lives in wellies since she has been here. Ds12 doesnt and has the scars to prove it

Also any good ideas for socialisation til she can walk as she hates being carried?

Welcome @BabbleBee, you'll get the warts and all account of puppy raising here!

OwlPup has been full-on teething in the last few days. Found a couple of teeth on the floor, blood on a carrot he's been chewing and bloody gums a few times, bless him. Kibble seems hard work and he's swiping his face with his paws as he's eating it. Assume that's a sign of him being in pain? I'll soak his kibble for a few days I think. Most telling though, his current pizzle has lasted 3 days, they normally only last one, so assume he's not chewing on it quite as vigorously as normal. Hope it's over for him soon.

@Riverhousepuppy have you tried carrying in a bag/puppy sling? OwlPup didn't much like it and grew out of it very quickly, but it was easier than carrying him in my arms in the earlier weeks.

@OwlInAnOakTree do you think a large rucksack could work? Dont have sling or puppy rucksack.
I was wondering about driving to the beach, putting a blanket down and then should could be on her lead on that?

Yes river we used normal rucksack but carried it on our front puppy loved it as she chewed the zips

Yes we also did beach and carried her to a picnic blanket had her on lead but encouraged her to sit and watch everyone. Not for very long just half hour. We came in separate cars so I stayed with kids and DH took pup home. He also took her to the train station to watch the trains come in/out.

Tiny pup in rucksack

Morning all. The puppy rucksack sounds so cute! Pup is about a stone so I'm exhausted carrying her, it's hard to do all the social stuff when they can't touch the ground!

Pup has woken up in a foul mood this morning. Amazing stretch of sleep 11-6.30, but hasn't napped since and is being so nasty. I had zoomies round the garden and some playing where she drew blood on my hand, I can tell she's completely overtired but won't give in to it at all. Yesterday she was responding well to me saying 'no!' if for eg she was attacking the tv unit or walls, but so far today is totally ignoring me and has now chomped up a bit of wall and skirting in record time. She won't let me stroke and soothe her to calm her down but I know she needs to sleep!

Sounds like a good plan @Riverhousepuppy.

@puppygalore I can’t remember if you’re using a crate but if you’re struggling to get her in there or away from places she shouldn’t be, then a house line (just a long thin lead that you keep attached to pup in the house) may be helpful as you’ll always be able to get hold of her without turning it into a game

Hello - can I join? I'm really struggling and only a few days in so I'm clinging desperately to every positive message I can find....

Pootpup is a cockapoo - 11 weeks on Monday and we got him last Monday. By the end of the first day I was already feeling anxious and now have a return of my pnd insomnia which is nice. I think pootpup sleeps better than me at night. I've had the week off work (then will be working at home until January) to try and get things settled but nothing is settled, everything is chaos and smelling mildly of dog wee and I don't feel like I can leave my kitchen!!

Sorry - sleep deprivation and messed up head is stopping me from remembering who is who, but we're definitely having the same issue of "pretend sleep" during the day where every movement gets him up again despite the fact he's clearly knackered (bitey and manic) and in need of decent sleep. He's shut in his crate at night and dh has been sleeping downstairs and that seems fine. During the day he's less keen on crate so sleeps a bit in it, a bit out of it on the floor.

I read all the books, and everything made sense until the pup arrived and now I just have no idea how to actually put any of it into practice in reality! I'm just chained to the kitchen (we haven't given him the run of the house yet), either watching him pretend nap or taking him out to see if he needs to pee. I'm desperate for some kind of routine that lets me function at least a little, and some inkling that we're on the right track. Ds (9) says he likes him but keeps out of his way as much as possible, except when I'm trying to settle him for a nap which doesn't help! DH fortunately loves him and seems to be coping with the chaos.

Definitely not loving puppy parenting and have already wondered about giving him back....

Hang in there littlepoot in my head weeks 8-10 were like a baby Super clingy, exhausting can’t think straight or see wood for trees, weeks 10-12 were like having a toddler into everything doesn’t get the rules at all still crap sleep. Weeks 14+ have been like having a pre-schooler, toilet trained, sleeping a lot better, starting to understand the house/human rules and a routine emerging. Maybe that re-focus will help in the exhausting 1st month. But we are still chained to the kitchen/diner but the difference is I can do more now like sew at the table, read and watch iPad TV.

@TriSkiRun99 - thanks!! That is really helpful. Pup was napping on the floor and I got brave, scooped him into the crate, shut the door, went for a wee and went upstairs to fetch the washing. Sadly putting the washing on woke him and he's grumbling a bit in his crate. I'm sitting back in view and trying to leave him a couple of minutes to see if he'll settle again. Worried I'm breaking the crate though doing this. But can't see how to cope otherwise! It's just like when I had a baby where I'm second guessing and doubting my judgement on all the little things. Why did I think this was a good idea?!

We’ve carried dragonpup - he isn’t keen on being in the rucksack but we did try that. We put a puppy pad on an outside pub bench and took water and treats so he could see over pups walking by for socialising as carrying him meant he really wanted to be walking. It worked well - puppy socialising and we’re drinking in a pub (start as we mean to go on). We can start going for walks next Saturday and I can’t wait!

@LittlePoot. it really does get better. I had the pup on my own for the first 3 weeks as dh was away. It was the most tiring exhausting experience of my life. I was frequently in tears. I was thinking, omg, what have we done and that I’d never have a minute alone again. Or a minute where I wasn’t wondering about poo and wee. And terrified I was doing it wrong.

It gets better, it really does.

Easy please puppy squeasy book is very good. It gets much better once they can go out in the world.

Thank you! I'm so glad I found this group. I feel ever so slightly better already. And pup went back to sleep for another hour after a minute's grumbling in his crate. DH now painstakingly hand feeding his lunch through the crate a piece at a time to make sure it's the best place in the world

Hi @LittlePoot, how did it go with him napping in the crate? The crate saved my sanity in the early weeks, so I'd perservere with popping him in there for naps if I were you. Owlpup was quite easily bribed in with a kong filled with kibble with a teaspoon of something like peanut butter, cream cheese, etc. in the top whenever I thought he needed a nap. I'd lure him in, close the door and leave him to it. I found with our pup that if he couldn't hear or see us after he'd finished the kong, he'd just settle down and sleep. But if he could hear or see us he would whine to get out...fear of missing out I think. So me and DS used to hide out in the front room, leave the radio on for pup in the back room to block out our noise. It did mean we couldn't get to the kitchen without disturbing him in the early weeks (this did get better), so we had lots of carpet picnics in the front room and washing and housework piled up...but, at that point in time, getting pup napping so I could have a break from him was the most important thing in the world! Hang on in there, everything really does get easier...