Puppy survival thread October/November!

[HappyThursdays]

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

Also, started mummypup on Butternut box food. She loves it. Inhaled it in 30seconds

Checking into new thread.

We are still struggling with upset stomach here. Multiple diarrhoea a day (all outside thank fuck). Vet has given some Purina gastro food but aside from making it darker in colour doesn't seem to have helped much. Will give it another couple of days and take her back.

It makes activities indoor difficult as want to avoid any treats bar boiled chicken so can't really do the Kong or snuffle mat tricks.

Sleeping is good. Walking is hit & miss. Better with just me on my own. DH is doing very little to help which is frustrating as I'm worried she won't bond with him.

Thanks for the new thread. Picklepup is 17 weeks and has been toilet trained for weeks now. I can't remember the last accident now (fingers crossed).
Sleeping well and napping in her crate or if I'm at work, in her bed at my feet.

She's been great off lead although its very rural where we live so so her recall hasn't been tested with too many distractions.

Our only issue is how hyper she gets with lots of noises when we're out and whilst the leg biting has reduced when she's stressed, it hasn't gone completely.

The pup training class said it was layers of stress adding up and to try to reduce this.

Lovely to see the new pups.

Thanks for the new thread @HappyThursdays !

I dipped out at the end of the September thread.. but I'm back!

Zombie pup managed to lose 3 teeth in one afternoon yesterday...I only noticed he lost his first one after seeing blood stains on his new toy 🤦🏼‍♀️ all his biting and chewing over the last week has helped i think!

He was a little star in training class this afternoon, I feel we have come on leaps and bounds... but I am waiting for reality to come crashing down over us and him to break the illusion of being good!

Toiletting..he was amazing from the get go as long as the back door was open.. as DP pointed out, we cant leave the door open all winter! So we have bells by the back door now, which he rings to go for a wee.. except he is also a menace and rings them just to hop out and hop in! Infuriating really.. but he doesn't bark or find us when he needs to go, so it's the bell ringing vs cleaning a puddle.. lesser of two evils.

I definitely have too many toys for him, DO keeps rolling his eyes at me...but I am still tempted to buy a second fish-ball (his new one from aldi - a football covered in material with fins and eyes like a fish - he carries it around very smugly and has even started fetching it for us to throw him..as well as bringing it back)... someone stop me!

Pics included for tax!

Dottie is now 5 months and the octopus From Aldi was a hit.

Although he's now down to 5 'tentacles' she loves Hank. I'd def but more as my other dog (6yo) gets involved in tug of war and that subsequently sped up tooth loss.

Mostly found in the water bowl 😂

Does anyone have any tips about crate training HighlandPup will sleep in the crate fine but she’s only 9 weeks and we leave the door open. She usually gets up one or twice to be taken out to the toilet.

We’d love to be able to get back upstairs to bed! I’ve been sleeping in the conservatory since we got her last week

DH slept on a blow up air bed for 3 weeks after getting pup. Last wee at 9:30 then into crate with the door shut. He then gradually moved the air bed away, last time he slept downstairs he was on the sofa out of sight.
Then he tried a night back up in our bed, pup was crap that night and as it was then waking me up too I felt shit.
The next night was better and he only needed to go out for 1 wee.
He then started to wake at 4am so DH went down and said a firm ‘shush’ and pup went back to sleep, no accidents so we know it wasn’t because he needed the toilet.
Since then he’s slept through and the kids let him out the crate around 6ish when they go down.

Hi

Can I join? Have a 12wk old GSD. He's golden really bar the biting / nipping. Constantly trying to discourage but he seems to think it's a game 😫 only just started walks need to step up lead training a bit. He's very sniffy atm. Pic to say hi.

Hi everyone

I have a 21 week old cocker named Sid. He's great in so many ways - good walking now, doorbells 100% for poo less reliable for wee, sleeping all night, not too bad barking....but I am at my wits end with him nipping and he can really turn on me too - for eg when shooing him out of the bin or trying to get him downstairs. I'm worried.

@desperatehousewife21 oh that’s so helpful thank you. Did you work up to shutting the door or just shut it? I might try to work up to getting up to bed this week... my back will thank me for it

HighlandCowLover we give him all his meals in there. His daytime naps we started shutting the door and for nighttime we shut the door from early on, maybe day 2 or so because otherwise he would just wander out and try and join DH on the air bed!

@fluckity I feel your pain and worry as I worry about the leg biting as a sign of aggression. I think it's rooted in fear and excitement but with dc, I worry about her hurting them.

@PicklePorkPie we are crying daily. I'm genuinely at my wits end. He got my eye the other evening.

Really consider paying for a couple of sessions with a 1-1 trainer for anything that is getting 'too much'.

Having someone come in and observe how you and the pup acts together makes such a difference. They spot things like how you might be making behaviour worse that you didn't consider.

I have sent a request to a local trainer. We are tier 3 though so not hopeful.

I had a good chat with the trainer at our puppy class and the approach and strategies are helping.
It's only ever on a walk never at home, so working on the interaction and loose lead walking and strategies to calm her are helping. In hindsight we rushed too quickly into walks and excitement.

But thank you @Biteyshark I really will do that if it doesn't continue in the right direction.

@fluckityfluckfluck have you read about layers of stress and building through the day til they lash out. That makes sense to me.

Hi all, can I join please? Am 6 weeks into having our pup! He’s now 14 weeks, is a GSD and he is called Bear! He’s very very cute but I suffer massively from the puppy blues! Some days I wish I could almost rewind time to before I had him but I know I have to take it day by day and things are definitely easier than they were at 8 weeks! Pics of my beautiful boy

GSD puppies have the most gorgeous ears! They are both beautiful!

We had a heart attack moment today when dp went out with one of his dcs and didn't close the gate behind him and I let puppy out for a wee and he bolted. It's a good 60 metres to the gate but he was far quicker than me. Luckily it comes out on a right of way but I caught him just before he made it off the right of way and into a car park .

Thanks for the Aldi toy tips - dp went there today and now pup has a giant unicorn toy which he's been biting all afternoon!

Sorry to hear about the worries with the biting @PicklePorkPie and @fluckityfluckfluck

@fluckityfluckfluck have you got dcs at home? I must admit pup is noticeably worse when dp's dcs are around

Sorry that's me posting. Just mucking around with namechanges for Halloween!

@swimmingdory @MumofaBear they’re gorgeous, I’d love a GSD! 😍

@fluckityfluckfluck He’s lovely, it’s hard work though isn’t it, hope the trainer works out

Hello everyone, checking back in. Have been a bit awol as pup has settled in and life is getting a bit more normal now (he’s 18weeks) but we’re still definitely dealing with a lot of exuberant behaviour on walks and he will not be called off a playful dog so he is back on the long line for the foreseeable to stop him rehearsing. We’re making progress with his jumping though, basically the solution to most of his problems is rewarding him for being calm and on the floor!

Had a total couldn’t make this shit up moment this afternoon though. Had taken dog for a walk with the kids, daughter threw up in the car on the way home totally out of the blue, all over herself and the dog....risk a glance in the rear view mirror and the dog is trying the way the sick...oh my life, it’s lucky I love them all!

I've had a good day today. No nonsense leg biting and a lovely walk where dpup was v good at ignoring people and other dogs.

Left her in her crate for a couple of hours and she was great. Happy to see us but well rested.

She was all snuggly this afternoon and really good with some friends dc who are younger then ours.

She's still gnarly bitey but I'm seeing much more of the loveable dog I'm hoping she becomes.

@MumofaBear omg your pup is super cute. Pup blues is unexpected but very normal I think. I can't imagine life before Picklepup and I love her but th eres a few things I really miss.

Love the gsd pups, my husband really wanted one but we agreed on a lab in the end. I love their ears!

Thanks everyone! He’s so cute, his ears flop down when he’s tired and when he’s just woken up! Does anyone have any advice on how to stop pup from barking at other dogs whilst out on walks? Me and dp know he’s only wanting to play and be friendly but because he’s a GSD people look at us a bit funny....

Ok day today. DH has made more of an effort and he has given her meals which I think will help with bonding.

Had 2 good walks with reasonable loose lead. One with the kids and one on my own. Some games in the house and frequent crate naps / down time. Thank god she likes the crate. She did 10 hours overnight 10pm-7am without a whimper so I know I'm very lucky there.

She's currently asleep next to me after accepting a chewy braid rather than trying to bite my leg so that's progress I guess.

Few wees in the house though. I think I'm going to start treating for wees outside rather than just praise. Does anyone use the wee bell things for them to say when they want to go out? How does that work?