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

@HappyThursdays when did you reduce meals to 3? My pup is 14 weeks today. Think his teeth are making him a bit miserable today and workman has arrived and interfered completely with sleep!

yes we had that yesterday @Puppypuppypuppy. We had a workman in the house and he wouldn't sleep and as a result was a nightmare in the afternoon. We ended up not doing a 2nd walk because he was so overtired!

he is not a food obsessed dog so in a way that probably made it easier but we dropped to 3 a few weeks ago because he was ignoring his last meal and getting hungry so we shifted the times around and it seems to work better now. The breeder said that she generally dropped them to 3 meals around 3 months even though most leave it to 4 months so it wasn't a surprise to us as they are not very food driven cockers.

We do weigh his food to make sure he's getting enough

he got chased again this morning and ran home - I've only just recovered! have now ordered a 15m long lead! I console myself by thinking at least he knows where he lives!

@ashmts have you tried Fetch? Ebay? how annoying that you can't get one quickly!

@ashmts

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?

Any chance puppy would fit into a cat collar at the mo? Pretty much all cat ones will have breakaway buckles, and I think they'd adjust large enough - just tried my cat's and it's just a cheapo pets at home one I think so fairly standard size?

Interesting seeing people’s comments about meals. In the pack we were given by the breeder it said 4 meals a day until 12 weeks, then reduce to 3 until 6 months old but a lot of the other owners from our pup’s litter were told by their vets to feed 4 meals until 16 weeks. We reduced at 12 weeks and feed at 7am, 12.30pm and 6pm. No overnight poos.

Thanks @HappyThursdays and @Lellochip, the cat collar was going to be my backup! We ended up contacting the daycare and apparently the collar we have is fine, after all that. I thought we needed a breakaway collar but apparently the plastic buckle that you squeeze counts as quick release. A load of stress about nothing.

@C4itl four poos overnight seems like a lot. Could it be an intolerance? Based on no knowledge, I'm new to all this too. We feed about 8am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm and she gets the same amount at each meal plus treats throughout the day. Last poo is usually about 10-11pm, she occasionally goes when we take her out for her 4am pee but it's rare. Two big meals a day seems unusual for a wee pup from what I've read, hopefully your new schedule helps.

@ashmts It does seem to have made a difference, but I'm going to try him on Butternut Box once he's finished the current food

Is anyone with older puppies still struggling with some basic commands? Pup simply will not 'drop' no matter how often I do it. She's desperate to play fetch but won't ever give up the ball/toy once she's brought it back! Perils of having a retriever I suppose, but I really hoped she'd be getting it by now at almost 5 months. I drop a treat right next to her while saying 'drop' and she'll desperately keep on chewing her ball while weighing it up. Really reluctantly she will sometimes let go of the ball to get the treat and then I have to act quick to grab it, but often she'll grab at my hand to get it back. Any tips please?!

yes we are still struggling with 'leave it' and 'drop'

dpup is not even really that keen on bringing it back to us. He'll happily look for it and find it and then he is delighted he's found it and comes back to us without it to tell us

we think he's a drug sniffing dog in disguise

will he sit and wait when he comes back to you to take his treat so you can get the ball then?

sorry she not he!

Pup day has arrived! Eek!

@puppygalire have you tried having a second identical ball?. Make the second one look really interesting before throwing it. (saw it on one of the many YouTube videos I've watched - might have been Nate...)

@puppygalore obviously!

Puppy said drop/wait/stay are the hardest words to command. She said to try to be really alert with dog and use “leave” so before they even get to shove it in their mouth.

Or if it’s a toy- do dead toy and say drop. And then reward. Does thy make sense?

Thanks for your ideas all! Maybe it's something I just need to keep preserving with.

HappyThursdays nope she won't do it nicely at all, even for high value treats. It's like she wants the treat, but the ball chewing takes priority. She'll bring it to my feet, I drop the treat sating 'drop', she'll then wander around me, then lie down at my feet chewing madly on the toy but not letting it loose. Occasionally she'll move her head to the side and leave it at my feet to get the treat but not consistently. Maybe when she's not teething the chewing won't take first place?

FrenchFancy I have tried having multiple identical balls to hand but she just crams both into her mouth instead of leaving one she's currently trotting around with a giant squeaky banana plus a squeaky ball stuffed in her jaws because she refuses to let me swap one. Neighbours probably hate it as both toys make the most obnoxious sounds! No idea how she's got both in as they are massive and now she's trying to add a stick as well.

Atalune we use 'leave' for leaving stuff alone and she can actually do that if it's rubbish or something. Not if it's a treat or toy though! But clearly she knows the command. I've seen the toy 'playing dead' on YouTube vids but that doesn't phase her, she'll just continue chewing or mouthing it whether it's animated or not.

GeorgiePup arrived yesterday and we had a lovely first day. Lots of sleeping, playing with our children and peeing inside but we noticed he was coming off the carpeted area and doing it on the kitchen tiles, very polite! We aren’t using puppy pads just been taking him outside and the last accident was yesterday evening.

The night was awful though, he cried so much so Dh had to sleep next to his crate. I wasn’t prepared for that but Dh said it was ok.

This morning he is quite hyper. He loves feet and keeps trying to grab them when we walk around! I think we’re going to try and ignore him for a bit and hope he naps.

Welcome new @GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat puppy! Glad you've had an ok-ish start. I slept on the sofa with our puppy for over a week but he's always slept really well (10 until 745 this morning) and has been 'sleeping through' since v early days.

Thanks for all the food comments - I think I will wait another three weeks when he hits 4 months to reduce to 3. We've moved him onto Butternut Box food and he loves it and just feels so much simpler so am happy about that. Other development this week is we got a bigger crate which has made him much less crate-averse during the day and we're feeding him on there etc. Small steps.

Puppypup hasn't got drop or leave either. He will let go when we're playing fetch/tug of war with a toy and I have hold of it - I say 'thank you' and after a bit of pulling he lets go for me to throw.

Hello! I just wanted to quickly say I might be asking questions and generally sharing here as I am right now on way to pick up Puppy.

We are so excited. A 8.5 weeks dark yellow(might get red?) Labrador retriever.

What shall we do the first night? We read loads but as the day is now here we want to make sure we do the right thing.
Pup will be in kitchen in a crate, I plan to sleep in living room to make it easier to take him out for toilet if he wakes up and calls. I am expecting to be up 2-4 times in the night?

We got our 8 week old puppy a week or so ago.

She went into her crate about 10pm, we went to bed and she woke about 6.45. The breeder said they don't like to wee or poo in their crate and she hasn't at all. There have been a few whimperings when she's woken up but she's self settled herself to sleep v quickly. The one time I did go in it just made her excitable...

We're going into tier2 so thankfully puppy classes are beginning again. He is now a bit too old for them but the trainer has said he can join as I imagine a few other puppies are in the same boat!

He's been pretty good - but always is on the weekend when we have a bit more time for him. Still working on the pulling on the lead but the biting is now miles better if that gives anyone some hope!

@Redandblue11 good luck! We had the baby monitor in the lounge with Pup (also Lab retriever brought home at 8 weeks) in the crate and didn't need to sleep with her. I think I was up around 2 times for toilet breaks after putting her to bed at midnight and then up at 5ish. It didn't take long til she could go longer stretches. She's now almost 5 months and last night slept 9-9. Not to boast, but just to reassure you it'll get better no matter how bad it is tonight! She's had very good bladder control since the early weeks so you might get lucky too, we said 'toilet' as she weed and rewarded every time right from the get go and she did very well.

@HappyThursdays that's great about your classes! Manchester is back in Tier 3 so still no in-person classes for us. I've got a private field booked in a few weeks and am looking forward to letting Pup have a proper run around there as I can't anywhere else with her terrible recall. I might also book her into some socialisation sessions since she's not getting any puppy interaction with no classes running.

I’ve been reading this thread since August when our 8week old wcs joined our family. Like many others, I wondered what we’d done and had puppy regret. He is our first dog.

I just wanted to let new owners know that now, at 5.5 months, he is a delight. I took him on 2 off lead walks today and he had a great time but came back when asked. He has been sleeping through the night from about 12 weeks and was toilet trained about the same time.
The biting has stopped, he’s just about finished teething. He has chewed skirting boards and furniture but I think that has stopped.

Just wanted to send a hopeful message to those with new pups, it does get easier, and the more effort you put in now, the better it will be (at least it was for us).

Good luck @Redandblue11 - lab pup here too - now nearly 16 weeks and came home about 9.5 weeks. Was dry at night from first night and slept from 10-7. Still dry every night but wakes up between 5.30 and 6.00 barking.
That’s good to know @Antaresisastar

Thank you all
It is good to hear positive experiences. He has been taking his time a bit timid since arriving today, I don’t blame him as is the first time he is away from his 9 brothers/sisters in a different environment.
We are going into tier 2 (Hertfordshire) and puppy classes are starting this next saturday they told me, with 4 pups and 4 owners so all within the rule of 6.
For Dpup I have registered him to start in January after his jabs.
If you are in tier 3 puppygalore , are you allowed to stop on an open public space eg park with a long lead and let pup snif/play with another pup that might be around?