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

Thankyou x it really helps to hear that

I really do feel your pain. I have had a lot of dogs but this cocker is by far the most challenging puppy I have had, mainly because he is less food orientated than the other dogs I've had. On a walk, he honestly couldn't care if I was slathered in liver paste if he had found a smell that was more interesting. Most dogs are not like that! I also find it v hard with dp's dcs as they encourage him to jump up (not deliberately), encourage him to chase them and then they are surprised when he's jumping up to nip them. I'm just worried he will and their mum won't be happy!

we are on 16 weeks and I do adore him. I've just given him a bath because he was so smelly. I had to take him out for a late walk because i finished work a bit late and I got him a flashing collar and lead (so I could see him!) and he was a complete numpty, spent the whole time trying to eat it but I have lowered my expectations a lot on walks and it's far better now.

hang on in there - it will probably be worse some days and better others but definitely lower your expectations for a bit. At 16 weeks, pup still wriggles when he puts his harness on but he does sit for 2 seconds and then wriggles now! You get minor improvements but take them all as wins as they do improve!

btw the sit instead of jumping up is working really well for whoever suggested that :)

he sits immediately and i give him attention and it's only really an issue now on the way back from a walk which is when he's at his most hyper and even then he will stop and sit so some progress there! (took a few weeks to get this right though!)

I'm suffering serious sleep deprivation. Frenchpup cried pretty much all night. I got about 2 hours sleep. Added to that work have decided they need me in rather than wfh so I couldn't even sneak 40 winks. Dd2 is home from vet school for the lockdown so she's on puppy duty. Puppy has of course been really well behaved and slept most of the day. Grrr

I think that was me (?) maybe that mentioned the sit command. It’s from the Easy Peasy book. Still don’t collect our puppy until the weekend but I’ve read a ton on puppy training and really looking forward to meeting him and joining in more with the chat here.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat yes I think you're right I read it in that book! I like the focus on what do you want them to actually do in this situation, rather than what you want them to stop.

We have a brand new, bigger crate arriving today and I am going to try to do crate training properly. Wish me luck!

We found the crate ok - made it really comfy and put an old duvet cover over three sides so it's a cosy den. Then we just had to be strict about that's the sleeping space - a few times after wee trips, she ended up sleeping on me because I was so tired, but it's worked out ok. Building up very slowly to closing door during the day if we need to pop out of the room, but only when she's quite settled. Not up to putting her in with door closed when she's awake but might not need that.......

Should say, we are two weeks in, and pup is 10.5 wks old

I think it's also in one of the spaniel books I read but obviously conveniently forgot at the appropriate time as spaniels are apparently very over enthusiastic greeters so they encourage you to get them to sit when they approach new people rather than throw themselves at them! Something to practice when Xmas comes around

fresco dogs has this amazing Advent calendar for dogs - have found myself googling all sorts of ridiculous dog presents fgs. What has come of me!

Welcome all newbies. Daisy our Shih Tzu is 5 months old now. I had to leave her yesterday to go to a meeting and I was so stressed. But I used a kong toy filled with goodies that took time to access and she was fine. She was thrilled to see me when I got home and clung to me. But she was back to pottering by herself in the garden within the hour.

The zoom dog training helped me to prepare to leave her by giving her lots to keep her busy. We also had a long walk (for her!!) and did the whole toileting before I left so there was no destruction upon my return.

That's great, @Annasgirl. What a good girl!

Ours was very good at the vets this morning, getting her second lot of immunisations. Will be trying out getting her used to a lead so we can take her out later next week. Exciting :)

Did our first puppy class!

It was really good. We did lots of on the box training and lots of treating! So much treating and then how to use the lead. It was good!

@Atalune - how old is your pup, out of interest? Thinking of getting into a class before Christmas, if possible

14 weeks! She has puppy socialisation class on a Saturday which is a drop off and she has done that from 12 weeks.

The vet and some friends told me get her trained and socialised ASAP.

Yes, ours said that too, today :)

you guys are so lucky with classes - all of ours were cancelled in lockdown and don't begin again till January and by then dpup will be over 18 weeks and doesn't qualify for beginners pup classes. It's such a shame because he would have loved them I think (and it would have been good for him!).

we have zoom stuff every week which is great and really focuses our mind and his but still tricky...

his bouncy ball arrived today - much excitement and he's worn himself out with us hiding it and him finding it!

Can you link to the bouncy ball please?

Our trainer had these meaty strips that she was just giving the silveryest sliver of to Dpup when she was training. But treated almost incessantly, for the good. Very interesting.

also she said that when Dpup enters a new space the sniffing around is good and is a dogs natural distresser so let them do it.

Yes strips are great as they are easier in your pocket and you can tear bits off - we have harder meat ones now but for the younger ones, you can get quite soft meat strips that are really good (I'll see if I can look up the ones we got but I think they were from pets at home )

(This is an outside ball btw we don't bring it inside!)

Shiny-Go Squeaker Ball Dog Toy,... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PD2NZC8?ref=ppxpoppmobappshare

Tomorrow we start his walking training. We are going to skip breakfast then feed it all while doing heel training (with no lead) then loose lead training (with lead!). This will be a real challenge I think but we need to do it now and nip it in the bud!

I lie, it was Aldi. These are great as they are soft. www.aldi.co.uk/dog-treats-meaty-beef-strips/p/701938409424802

Some of the puppy/dog meat strips that have a lot more meat in them are a bit hard like jerky and that's difficult when they don't have big teeth. We have some with a v high meat content that dpuppy loves but they are so much harder!

Any advice on a feeding schedule/anything to help with pooping? (Maybe TMI incoming )

Puppy tends to only poo once or twice during the day but poos three or four times during the night. I was feeding him at 8am and 4pm, quite big meals (following breeders advice and routine) but he was getting quite bloated after each meal.

Today I’ve changed it to a big meal at 8am and two smaller at 12pm and 5pm. Will this make a difference and will he miraculously reduce his pooping in the night?

He’s eating Harrington’s puppy dry food mixed with step up wet food from pets at home. I know Harrington’s isn’t the best and we’re planning on changing this over once he’s at the bottom of the bag.

C4itl how old is he. Mine was on 4 meals a day when he was 8 weeks old, gradually reducing to three.

Even as an adult he has two meals with an additional small lunchtime snack as it suits him better than just two large meals. Also 4 pm is quite early so yes I think you need to experiment with timings as well.

@BiteyShark he’s 10 weeks. He was getting so worked up between 2-4 because he was hungry so he was biting and would not calm down and then was the same after his last meal, but with these new timings today he’s definitely been a lot calmer! Fingers crossed for tonight!

we were told to keep him on 3 meals a day till around 6 months

we do 8am, 12-1pm (depending on how hungry he is) and 5pm last meal. Sometimes he will get a chew in the early evening if he's not v sleepy and chewing on things.

I would think that will help his poos if you move his meals around

he poos in his morning walk at 730am and his afternoon walk any time between 3 and 5pm (depending on how our day is going work wise!)

I don't think Harringtons is that bad. Dpup wouldn't touch it but he loves their wet food. He still eats Royal Canin Cocker Puppy (kibble) which is consistently at the bottom of the allaboutdogfood ratings but he loves it so we've stuck with it!

btw the 3 meals are pretty evenly balanced - I wouldn't say one was larger than the other but he's definitely hungrier for the first meal than the others

Does anyone know where I'd get a quick release/breakaway collar? Pup needs one to start daycare (supposed to be Monday) and Pets at Home apparently don't sell them! Amazon delivery is Monday at earliest cos of Black Friday, hadn't factored that in. Any suggestions?