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Original poster

Puppy survival thread October/November!

999 replies

HappyThursdays · 23/10/2020 09:07

hello all - will hopefully link from the old one!

just realised we'll all have fireworks night to get through shortly. Went out for a walk with dpuppy who is getting much better at walking though we met a big dog which scared him a lot! We can only get him into puppy classes in November which is a shame but at least it's something

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newpup123 · 14/11/2020 19:19

@ashmts

Thanks for your replies.

@newpup123 I'm struggling with the lack of sleep, feeling totally tied to the house, and with her bitey mad periods. Tbh the biting has improved lots in the last three weeks already. I don't have children so this has been my first proper commitment (trial run) and I am not dealing well with it. Mentally as well I think it's just hit me that we're so restricted socially. It's not that I didn't know that in theory but now she's here I just feel totally overwhelmed. I'm feeling like a failure and a stupid cow for thinking I could cope.

Have you got a crate? If so I recommend starting some crate games. Just look for videos online but basically you feed into the bed and make it a fun place to be. Then it can used for naps (prevent over tiredness biting) and is a safe place for pup to be so you can leave the house.
TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 14/11/2020 19:38

It’s really common for dogs to get diarrhoea when they’re wormed, polkadot. Dear departed dog did all his life, despite having a reasonably cast-iron digestion no matter what rubbish he managed to eat (apart from the raw oatmeal occasion. And the time he nicked the net from roast beef out of the bin.)

Original poster
HappyThursdays · 14/11/2020 20:40

Welcome all newbies!

So dear puppy, who between his 8 weeks and the 15 weeks he is today had only done 1 poo in the house till today when he has done 2 

1st one this morning, dp and I only woke up at 7 and if he whined, we didn't hear on the monitor and he had gone already (will clock that up to our fault) and this evening, he didn't want to go out in the pissing rain and he v quickly did a poo before we noticed! I am hoping this is a blip and we are back to normal tomorrow!

He was such a fussy pup from week 8 to 13 with his food that we tried everything but suddenly he is eating like a horse and we are now having to weigh his kibble as we noticed he was putting on weight too quickly so he's v v pissed off with us now!

@ashmts I think how you're feeling is v normal. Tbh I found babies easier than puppies Blush but the sleepless nights definitely end quicker with puppies than babies. As people have said, they really do grow up quickly (puppies!)

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Atalune · 14/11/2020 21:07

Dpup went to puppy socialising class today and it went well. We did 3 little walks which are a bit of a struggle as she is scared of most things. I think she thinks she is a kitten. But she’s lovely.

Slightly off her food these last few days s we transition from wet to dry but we are holding our nerve.

Pup loves to play the following

Chase the ice cube.
Cardboard rolls with a treat inside to shred and find
Upside down Tupperware with some frozen peas in to find.

We have been pretty lucky with toileting with only a couple of accidents the other day there and not more biting either. I think the dog whispering tips we have followed are to take credit for this.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 14/11/2020 21:18

Thanks for sharing the puppy game ideas.

Original poster
HappyThursdays · 14/11/2020 22:11

Those sound really good @Atalune

We are going to have to deal with pup's jumping up. Our neighbour's 4 yr old was desperate to say hi to pup today when he was off his lead in the front garden while I was doing the bins and before I could grab him, she opened the gate and he ran straight up to her (he adores children) and she screamed because he was running towards her and he jumped at her (the screaming freaked him out). He was trying to play and he's not big at all and tbh had he been on the lead, i would have held him back. I think we will need to nip it in the bud as he's due to be 16kg as an adult and that's heavy enough to knock over a child.

Any tips welcome - I think it's purely an excitement thing and desire to get attention from new people but difficult to practice in training without a supply of visitors!

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heatseeker14 · 14/11/2020 22:38

@ashmts, hang in there it will get easier. I have two kids and still found the whole puppy experience overwhelming. I kept a diary of puppy stages. 12 weeks is when the biting peaked in our house. This gradually slowed down and stopped when he was around 5 months old. He is 15 months old now, and things are so much easier now he is older. I couldn’t imagine life without him now.

Anise7438 · 15/11/2020 06:52

Ah forgot about the night howling!! Whoops. Sleepless night. Bigger dog seems to offer no comfort!

Anise7438 · 15/11/2020 07:17

Any tips on encouraging pup to eat. They were fed ad-lib from the breeder but she just has no interest in food. I mean she's eating but very much grabs a biscuit then plays grabs a biscuit then plays. Just doesn't seem worried about food. She's really alert and happy but she has lost a small amount of weight. I guess it's only been 48 hours and there's much more to do than eat

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 15/11/2020 07:42

At risk of being ‘that person’ and giving advice before I even own a dog, I’m actually in the middle of reading easy peasy puppy squeezy and I’ve just read the part about training to stop behaviour you don’t want ie jumping up. He talks about teaching mutually exclusive behaviour, something you get then to do where they can’t do the naughty stuff at the same time. He’s a big fan of ‘sit’. So the sit command becomes so strong that they do it on command instead of jumping up.

If I’m honest, it sounds really hard! But I’m a childminder so I’ve taken a keen interest in their section as I don’t want him jumping up at my little ones so I’ll have to give it a go.

BeingSingle · 15/11/2020 09:17

Hello! Can I please joint? Due to collect puppy in a couple of weeks, nervous and very excited

Frenchfancy · 15/11/2020 09:41

First night went well. Into her crate at about 11pm, she cried for a bit then went to sleep until 5:30. Her crate was dry and I took her straight out for a wee.

She's much more reactive today and has started to play a bit. Not very interested in food though. She has eaten a bit. Only one wee inside so far the rest outside including 3 poos!

I'm suffering from lack of sleep though as I had to leave the bedroom door open to hear her and that meant I had 2 kittens on me. One of which likes to sit on my head and purr. Might need to dig out the old baby listener.

Atalune · 15/11/2020 09:42

We put a treat in the crate at bedtime so pup is always happy to go in.

IceBearRocks · 15/11/2020 10:31

Hey Newbie here....Puppy is 12 weeks now and we've had him since 8. He us a delightful and was potty trained in a week and us now crate trained too. I have left him for 2 hours ...he coped well.
Walking though is a bit of a drag.....and literally!!!

Puppy survival thread October/November!
Original poster
HappyThursdays · 15/11/2020 11:16

Beautiful @IceBearRocks !

@Anise7438 pup was really difficult to feed for the first few weeks. Are you feeding him kibble? Ours was a bit happier in the first few weeks if we soaked it in warm water first. I did actually spoon feed him a bit early on when he showed no interest in food to make sure he was having something. Ultimately though we ended up changing his food and he's been much happier since then.

Thanks @GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat - no, ALL advice welcome on this thread believe me! I loved easy peasy - I think dpup's problem is how excitable he is. The trainer said we need to work on catching his attention 'no matter what'. So all very well them listening when you are indoors but they need to listen in the garden and then in the park, then when dogs are around, when children are around. That's our homework lol! If he can master this, then when a 4 yr runs at him and I call him, he won't go to her.

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Original poster
HappyThursdays · 15/11/2020 11:27

I think it's really good advice though @GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat (the sit). I think we need to put more effort into our training. We've been busy this week and we stopped testing his 'down' command and I tried it today and he had forgotten it argh!

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Puppypuppypuppy · 15/11/2020 12:57

@heatseeker13 I’d love more people with older pups to tell me when it gets easier! We’ve not had a bad couple if days but the house is a total tip and I feel very cabin fever-ish. We’re able to honour for walks now but they are of course v short and pretty full on in terms of being alert and making sure puppypup has a good experience. I guess everyone is feeling hemmed in with lockdown tho,

Worriesandwobbles · 15/11/2020 15:14

The bad weather doesn't help either. Am glad it was summer when we were toilet training. It gets dark so early for evening walks too.

grannycake · 15/11/2020 15:54

@Puppypuppypuppy Grannypup is nearly 6 months old and life is much easier. She sleeps from 8:30 until 6:45 in the morning which works for me as I am an early riser and can have coffee and a shower before she gets up. We go for a 30 min walk about 7:30 and then she has breakfast.

I am WFH so she amuses herself and naps until about 11:30. We have a play session and I then giver a lickimat while I go out for just over an hour. We then have a longer walk around 1:30 until 2:30 and she naps until 4:30. Play after tea and she settles down (mostly) if she does get a bit nippy I put her in her crate - sometimes she has a short nap other times she doesn't settle so I let her out but it does seem to stop the nipping

Retrievemysanity · 15/11/2020 18:55

@grannycake so good to hear life is easier for you. Feeling such a failure today as it seems we are the only ones from Retrieverpup’s litter having issues with biting and breeder says we need to sort it before something bad happens Sad

newpup123 · 15/11/2020 22:41

[quote Retrievemysanity]@grannycake so good to hear life is easier for you. Feeling such a failure today as it seems we are the only ones from Retrieverpup’s litter having issues with biting and breeder says we need to sort it before something bad happens Sad[/quote]
Isn't she only about 12 weeks old? If so I call bullsh*t on the breeder - all young puppies are bitey!

Frenchfancy · 16/11/2020 05:44

That was not a great night. Thank god I'm working from home!

Sazlock · 16/11/2020 06:48

@ashmts
just another encouragement to hang in there. Our pup is just past 14 weeks, we got him at 9 1/2 weeks. After first few days of excitement I was then searching for stuff on here/internet to help me understand why I felt disheartened. We’d planned for him for a long time and I hadn’t expected to feel the way I did.
I think you mentioned you haven’t got kids - mine kids are 10 and 12 but it triggered me right back to that place of having a baby, feeling clueless, trapped and not knowing what to do.
That lasted a week or so and time shifted it, starting to understand him and his routine and fitting him in with ours shifted it, getting some training shifted it and falling in love with him shifted it.......
Good luck, hope it starts to feel better soon.

Sazlock · 16/11/2020 06:52

Snap @IceBearRocks ?
Ours is just past 14 weeks and is mostly brilliant - same issue as you re dragging on lead.
Trainer gave a suggestion which was to gently tug the lead so it vibrates and so he has the choice to make it slack. Repeat gentle vibrations every time he pulls and he learns that he can slacken the lead himself by not pulling.
Don’t know if I’ve explained that coherently but it’s made a difference here.

Puppy survival thread October/November!
Original poster
HappyThursdays · 16/11/2020 08:21

yes I don't believe it either @Retrievemysanity. All pups are mouthy, that's just what they do!

we're at 15 weeks now and like @IceBearRocks and @Sazlock, he is a terrible puller on the lead (unless the weather is awful and then he walks slowly). He's worse on his way home as he senses where he is going. But bizarrely, he is pretty good off his lead, his recall is getting better, his sit and stay is good now. We are meant to stop every time he pulls but if we did that, we would not walk anywhere so if that is the solution, then we need to train a bit harder. We're focusing on all the other commands this week but think we will try a blitz on his walking after this week - we've noticed he takes about 3 days of training to pick up something new properly.

but i wouldn't say it was any easier yet - what is getting harder is that he's getting bigger and any 'small' issue from when he's small, gets harder now as he's stronger and larger. I'm 5ft6 and he is only a 15 week old cocker (though he's going to be a large cocker) but he could pull me over on the lead now if he wanted, he's that strong. And if he jumped up at a child, he would knock them flying. So still a lot of work to do....

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