Page 33 | Puppy survival thread October/November!

HappyThursdays · 2020-10-23T08:07:11+00:00

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

oneblacklab · 05/12/2020 19:28

Great suggestions thank you!

wineandsunshine · 05/12/2020 19:31

Help - we collected pup today. He isn't really eating. Breeder gave us food he has been having but did say he's the smallest in the litter (vet checked and said to split him from others while there as he wasn't getting enough).

Any suggestions? He's so tiny, he fits through the stair gate!

BiteyShark · 05/12/2020 19:47

@wineandsunshine

Help - we collected pup today. He isn't really eating. Breeder gave us food he has been having but did say he's the smallest in the litter (vet checked and said to split him from others while there as he wasn't getting enough).

Any suggestions? He's so tiny, he fits through the stair gate!

It's such a stressful time with the first day away from the litter so don't worry about him not eating.

If the breeder gave you kibble bear in mine that kibble isn't very exciting and lots of people use toppers like wet food to make it more appealing.

wineandsunshine · 05/12/2020 20:08

Ok thank you - yes it's kibble. He's taken a few treats but hardly any food!

Hoping tomorrow is better as he really needs to put some weight on.

BiteyShark · 05/12/2020 20:13

Kibble really isn't very exciting and I think there tends to be those that stick it out until puppy is so hungry they eat it and those that cave and change or top it with smellier more exciting food (I was the latter ).

BiteyShark · 05/12/2020 20:15

Forgot to say adding in an extra small meal a day can help them gain weight, especially if you add in things like scrambled egg, cooked chicken etc.

Frenchfancy · 05/12/2020 21:17

French pup didn't eat much for the first few days. I actually reduced the quantity of food as she seemed to eat more if there was less in her bowl. She has been with us for 3 weeks now and she has doubled in weight. She still isn't that food motivated and doesn't attack her bowl with relish but she gets there in the end.

One thing I did notice at the beginning is that she ate better if I sat next to her bowl. She wouldn't eat alone.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 05/12/2020 21:29

Agree GeorgiePup didn’t eat well until day 5/6.

Does any one have any good ways to weigh their puppy? I’d love to have a better idea of how much GeorgiePup should be eating. We’re happy with his weight but it would be good to know for sure. Vet prescribed a pill for 2-3.5kg dogs and I thought he’d be heavier than that.

newpup123 · 05/12/2020 21:38

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Agree GeorgiePup didn’t eat well until day 5/6.

Does any one have any good ways to weigh their puppy? I’d love to have a better idea of how much GeorgiePup should be eating. We’re happy with his weight but it would be good to know for sure. Vet prescribed a pill for 2-3.5kg dogs and I thought he’d be heavier than that.

Weigh yourself. Then pick pup up and weigh yourself again. Minus one from the other 👍

PugInTheHouse · 05/12/2020 22:22

Having a pug not eating is not an option for him, he snorts like a piglet and scoffs it without coming up for air. I do worry im not giving him enough but he's sleeping well and managing fine, he only has dry food but at the moment, I'm not sure if it would be better either giving him one meal of wet or maybe lower quality and therefore lower protein kibble so he can have a higher volume of it. I am considering getting a slow feeder bowl but he's so little I dont want to stress him out.

Frankincense88 · 05/12/2020 22:23

Please can I join? Brought Frankinpup home today, he's been pretty good (doesn't like going outside in the cold to go to the toilet though) but has been good as gold taking himself into his crate for a little sleep and has eaten all his food for today with no fuss.

I'm worrying a bit because he last went out for a wee at 8.10pm and had his final meal at 8.15 then took himself back into his crate to sleep. We tried taking him out for a wee when he woke up for a few mins at about 9pm but he wasn't having it and came back in, got into his crate and has been fast asleep since. Do I wake him and put him out? Let him sleep until he wakes us to go out? Crate door is open currently (in kitchen, we are sleeping in living room tonight so close by) but I will be shutting it when he goes down for the night.

Sorry if that was waffly - been up 17 hours and counting! 😂

PugInTheHouse · 05/12/2020 22:30

We find that we can't get him to wee when he's really sleepy, it hasn't actually made a difference how long he sleeps for. He goes between 4 and 7 hours in a stretch and there seems to be no correlation so far with when he last had a wee.

He was the same re going out in the cold he would shiver and cry, he likes the garden when it is slightly warmer but we have been told not to take him out till his 2nd jabs as we have foxes in the garden every day so its too risky as they are constantly pooing there.

Redandblue11 · 05/12/2020 23:01

Hi @Frankincense88, I had my pup for a week and the first two days he wasn’t keen on walking in the frozen grass either. Until I think the second day I gave him his first feed at 7.30 am when he was really hungry in the garden, I made a trail of dry food going right into the middle of the garden, after eating that I was there with a ball etc and he stayed and went.
Now I am using the same technique (luring the hungry dog ) to feed him next to the car or in the car as he hates car travels.

Redandblue11 · 05/12/2020 23:05

My pup also took him about 4/5 days to start eating. The first day he didn’t eat. I would say is pretty normal and give him space to sniff and feel comfortable. Good luck with your new pup!

Last night pup slept from 11 to 5.30 am! I cannot believe, he is only 9 weeks. I hope this continues. For me working in coming out of his shell is my main objective, he gets quite nervous around people he doesn’t know.

Frankincense88 · 05/12/2020 23:12

@Redandblue11 he woke himself up and went outside for a wee. We popped him back in his crate for sleep and he's crying and howling 😢 it's breaking my heart listening to him but we're trying to just let him settle. How long do you think until go to him / bring his crate into the living room with us? I don't want him to think crying = attention but it's so awful bless him 😢

Riverhousepuppy · 05/12/2020 23:52

@Frankincense88 personally I would bring the crate into living room with you now or even put it in your bedroom right next to your bed. He is very young and its his first night. Your presence will comfort him. Just my opinion.
Hello everyone else too. Riverpup is somehow almost 24 weeks. The time has flown by and she is definitely turning into a teenager now.

wineandsunshine · 06/12/2020 06:51

Well the first night was ok (ish) he went to bed at 9.45pm and woke up and 12 crying. We let him wee and then left him for 45 mins to cry. It was a horrible sound but he managed to settle himself until 2.15 when he needed another wee!
Then he cried for 20 mins and slept until 5.40.

He did eat about half his portion of kibble while I sat with him.

Has anyone tried milk replacement?

PugInTheHouse · 06/12/2020 06:59

@Frenchfancy we have the crate in our bedroom. He is 10 weeks today and sleeps generally well like that. If he stirs I can pop my hand in just to reassure/sshh him and also I can hear when he cries for a wee. I then just take him down for a wee then straight back up. He generally sleeps for 5-7 hours, if its 5 hrs we can get him back for a couple of hours but last night he woke at 510 so pretty much 7 hrs as he couldn't stay awake much past 10 and I put him back but he didn't really settle properly so I got up shortly after 6 in the end.

He seems to get really tired by about 830/9 and its different to his daytime naps as nothing makes him stir whereas in the daytime even me standing up to go in the kitchen does. If we could go up to bed then we would have an amazing night's sleep as he would literally stay there till about 6am

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 06/12/2020 07:01

I winder what happens at 5.30/5.40 as this is when out pup woke too! We were very lucky and he slept from 10pm. However he was very desperate for a wee and peed on the kitchen floor before I could get him outside bless him.

Frankincense88 · 06/12/2020 07:05

First night done 😫 only 15 mins of crying the first time then 5 minutes the second and third times but it was horrible to listen to. I've had 90 minutes of sleep though! When he was in the kitchen we had the lights dimmed very low so it wasn't pitch black and I put 'puppy calming' playlist on Spotify very quietly on our speakers which seemed to settle him. He's now been zooming around the garden. DH and I will do shifts today I think so we can catch up on some sleep!

He keeps trying to eat stones and leaves in the garden which I keep having to take out of his mouth but it's much harder to police at 3am! Any tips? We've got an outdoor playpen but he won't go to the toilet in it, he prefers to sniff for a spot around the garden. We keep our outside light on all night so it's not total darkness but it's tricky!

Original poster

HappyThursdays · 06/12/2020 08:46

@Frankincense88 pup was a terrible stone eater, just dreadful. One really important tip is not to look horrified or immediately grab it - try and swap it for a toy. The minute they think you're going to grab it, sometimes they will swallow it or think it's a game where they do it over and over again! Eventually after lots of swapping for toys, he did stop mouthing stones but it did take a while!

OP posts:

Redandblue11 · 06/12/2020 08:52

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat, yes pup has this internal alarm at 5.40 am. I wish I could set it for 7.40

@Frankincense88, please do not despair. The first days are very tricky. I think today is the first day I am resembling a human.
We took turns and slept next to his crate in a mattress on the kitchen floor so we could reassure him. second day I moved the mattress to lounge and door open so he could smell me. I went when he cried. During the day I sat next to his crate when he napped and slowly left the room for a few min , I did that gradually and now if he wakes up and nobody is around he will be sat not whimpering.
We are now sleeping upstairs and pup down, I take shifts and stay with him till midnight and DH waked at 5 am. Everyday we did a few min earlier/later and now he goes from 11.15- 5.40 roughly.
One day DH came down at 5.40 and he was already whimpering so the following day we came down 5.30. I think he is too young to be left crying, I favour a gradual approach, specially the first few days as must be really a huge change for them.

Redandblue11 · 06/12/2020 08:55

Glad to hear there are more stone eaters there . Good tip happythursdays I will do that, the cheeky is going to gravel my kitchen and leave mud on the garden

PropertyHelp · 06/12/2020 09:12

Wow, you lot are much nicer than me! Our breeder said they don't like to mess in their beds so to put them to bed and then go to bed yourself. The first night she slept through and then the second cried a bit - me going up and talking her out was worse and she got more worked up. She whined if I was sat next to the crate. So we just put a cover over it, light off, said night night and went to bed. A bit of crying and then she settled. After a couple of days, no crying.

She chooses to go in her crate now for a rest in the day but if we are in the room with her she's less likely to sleep.

We might just be lucky with our puppy and as she's a medium sized breed maybe has a bigger bladder 🤷‍♀️

PugInTheHouse · 06/12/2020 10:13

I dont think its actually true re the not messing in the crate. Pugpup has pooed in it a couple of times, mainly if I have been too sleepy to wake up quick enough to take him to go, or if I have taken him for a wee and not left long enough for him to poo (if he starts trying to play i have assumed he doesnt need to go). He also peed in it twice one evening but it was because he was so tired and wanted to sleep but we disturbed him to take him up to bed. He wouldn't go for a wee then promptly peed in the crate