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

Re:collar. We put one on day 1. Not a full sized one but a puppy one. She is not our first dog and we have learnt that there are times when you need to be able to reliably hold onto the dog, especially when children are involved. You can pick up a puppy but once they get to 20kg they get difficult to restrain. Unless they are are going to wear a harness whenever they are out of their crate, or they are only ever going to be a lap dog, then a collar is essential imo and it is much easier if they get used to it early.

Got to celebrate the small win of an accident free day @PugInTheHouse - I’m sure I’m jinxing myself by saying this but we are currently on a 3 day streak of no accidents - every time she moves a muscle toward the back door we are racing her out there, poor dog

@Frankincense88 Frontline was always useless for our cats, Pup was given Advocate which covers flea and some worms and had no fleas so far. She also had a dose of millpro with her first jabs, which I think is for worms and were told then that in Dec she'd need more. But just this week they've given us her usual flea stuff but droncit for worms not millpro so I'm confused!

Pup has gone really weird with her food the past week, she's skipped her usual 8am breakfast and all weekend and yesterday wouldn't eat it til nearly 11am. Today she skipped that 'brunch' as well and wouldn't eat breakfast til 2pm! I offered her lunch and breakfast portion in the bowl but she only ate half. She's only 5 months so im assuming teeth are bothering her (I found 2 on the floor last week.) but I'm also wondering if she's naturally reducing her feeds to twice a day - if that's even a thing! For a Lab she is not anywhere near as greedy as I'd expected

Puppygalore that's really interesting, our lab is 17 weeks and has started being really fussy with his food and I thought teeth too (he's missing his two bottom ones). I've been adding some hot water and making it a bit mushy which has helped.

@oneblacklab, @puppygalore - you have labs from what I am reading here. My 9.5 weeks lab is not overly foody either, not even the treats , he never finishes his food, I am not sure if it is the puppy food he is on and once we transition him to one he likes he will eat more? But interesting to read your labs which are older are also restrained in their eating.
As you have medium dog , do you use harness or collar? @Frenchfancy just following on your comment as your dog is medium , this is my first dog and I read a lot and think harness is better but then again is my first one so I need to be informed well.

@C4itl - where do you leave pup when alone? Crate or a room?
Anyone else with older pups have you left them yet? What age can you leave them alone in a room? I have a lab if that makes any difference.

Lots of people said she'd be greedy as she's a Lab and also has huge paws so is going to be massive, but we've found she's actually very restrained. She simply won't eat if she's not hungry, but will have treats any time haha.

Shortly after I posted, I found another tooth on the floor and blood on her chewy toy... just now she's wolfed down a full portion of her food so I think teething was to blame!

@Redandblue11 he has full access to the kitchen as we have blocked it off with a baby gate, which is where he sleeps too. Not sure whether that’s helped him settle alone during the day better as this is where he’s used to being alone during the night?

Today, we have made useful progress with our 12wk ESS. Heel and lead practice at home has been a bit rubbish, but vaccs behind us so took her for first outing. She's had a couple of very challenging trips out in the car (in her safe crate, in the boot) so very anxious about going near the front door :( We enticed her with a treat-trail, then let her sniff at the open door and decide if she wanted to venture out. She did- so we sniffed and jumped up at lead, then wanted to go back in her nice safe garden when we got to the gate. Treats, and encouragement - she ventured out to the verge and (quiet) lane. Then she was much happier and enjoying the new sniffs. I went at her pace, and encouraged her away from berries on the ground with a jolly 'come on', lots of praise, sit and treats for a vehicle going past us; happy greeting of neighbour at manageable distance; not pulling too much on her lead but mindful of me. Took her about 200 m down the lane and back, then back through the garden gate, lead off, and work off a bit of excited energy then her lunch and a really good nap. She seemed so pleased with herself, bless her - and we are so proud and relieved!! We will do the same each day, build up, then start taking her to other places to walk. We have an NT park nearby where she can see sheep, cows & geese :) I am so pleased she did so well! Was prepared for her to not want to leave home.

Also - having had difficult car-ride experience, we are dispensing with the crate and she is cuddling my older daughter in the back of the car, as we do the hour school-run to get our younger daughter. Two days in, and she is very good - no shivering nerves today at all. Cuddled one daughter on way there, and other on way back. We have hope!
Thanks to the encouragement and suggestions/experience here - keep it coming! Wish I could 'like' all your posts x

@Redandblue11 our lab is 17 weeks and he stays alone for up to two hours while I'm out and about. He has the run of the kitchen and utility room and so far (fingers crossed) he's been absolutely fine.

Collar vs Harness
I'm interested in the debate. When we got our old Ddog harnesses were not used much in France. We put a collar on as my old family dogs always had and that was that.

I've read up a little bit for Frenchpup to see what the current thinking is, and the advice I saw was not to use a harness until 6 months as it encourages them to pull and can harm their shoulders which aren't very solid in puppies. Better to use a collar and train not to pull.

I'm also looking at training her for canicross and I've read that it is better if the have a clear distinction, collar=don't pull, harness=pull.

Either way I stand by the need for a collar whatever you attach the lead to.

I'm interested to hear what others think.

@Redandblue11 our golden retriever is 16 weeks now. We’ve always left her for school run time (40 mins in total when I walk). She’s usually asleep but a couple of times just left her with a kong and she’s been fine. At the weekend we left her for 2 and a half hours and she was fine until the last 15 mins when she was barking to be let out for a wee (we were longer out than planned). She has the run of the kitchen/diner.

Pugpup hates the car, was fine first couple of days but now has a tantrum similar to a toddler, throws himself around flailing legs and makes noises also similar to a toddler, as if he is shouting in a temper at me. I have to do the short school run in the car (45 min walk otherwise) but it is quite stressful and I am worried he will distract me and make it dangerous.

He is in a car seat box thing, belts attached to his harness. If I didn't strap him in he would jump out. Not sure what other options are suitable? Seems a lot of hassle to put the crate in the car, especially as he'll probably cry in it anyway.

@PugInTheHouse I’ve read on a training site that you need to make the car an attractive place to be - feed them their meals in the car (or car crate) without going anywhere! There’s an FB group “Dog Training Advice & Support’ you might find helpful. It’s a pain, isn’t it.

We can’t get on with our harness yet, so I’m lucky I have DD1 to cuddle her and hold her lead. She’s going to have to get used to being in the boot after wet & muddy walks though. That’s another hurdle.

@PugInTheHouse we have a crate in the boot permanently and that's just how she travels. We got a new car about two weeks after she arrived so didn't want to risk mess or her chewing the seats. She actually is better in the car crate than her house crate, it took far less training to get her to settle in it. I think cos we only really go places that are fun (parks, good walks, to visit people) so she knows something good is coming. We don't have kids though, no school run, so she didn't have to go in the car much before she was vaccinated. Maybe it'll improve when he realises the car goes fun places? Would recommend a crate though, for his safety and yours if he's distracting.

@Frenchfancy someone at Pets at Home warned us against a harness because she said it could affect their bones. Can you link to what you've read? We do use a harness because she pulls like a sled dog when she's ready to go home and I'm more concerned by what I've read about pulling a collar potentially affecting their throat/eyes/thyroid. The harness is fleece so doesn't restrict her movement (I don't think). She also has a collar for toilet trips and keeps it on all day unless she's in her crate. Once (if) she gets better at loose lead walking we'll consider switching to collar full time.

we have a kong hammock thing on the back seat and he goes into a harness and then clipped to the seat belt. That means he can't stick his head through the middle! We put an inside from his bed on the backseat and he normally puts his head down on it and goes to sleep. He doesn't like the fact that he's not tall enough to see out the window yet! I think making it as comfy as possible is a good idea - when he started in there, we put all his favourite toys plus a special chew so he thought it was the best thing.

re harnesses and collars, I think it's very dog specific. We couldn't have started with a collar because puppy was killing himself on walks by pulling so hard - I really thought he would do himself a throat injury. So when we go out, he has a harness on (with a large chest area so the pulling is spread over a wider area) but when we are training heel and when we start the walk, we clip the collar to his harness and stop every time he pulls. He is paying a lot more attention to us on his walks (which is key - the pulling only really happens when they aren't concentrating on you, they are concentrating on other things!). On the way home at the moment, because he smells his scent and knows where he is going, we clip it back to his harness because on his collar, he would hurt himself. He's a very boisterous, energetic pup and we couldn't do without his harness - but I try and use it sporadically (so we connect the long line to that and not to his collar) and mainly do 'proper' walking on the pavement, where he is meant to be to heel, using his collar.

it's important to get one that fits right and doesn't impede their leg movement - we went through a few before we found some that work. I really want to move into the soft fleece ones but his body shape is the wrong size - I have one, but he just needs to be a little bit longer.

sorry when we start the walk, we clip the lead to his collar not his harness. We only really use the harness for his long lead and for on his way home!

btw do any of the older pups use a whistle for recall? I've just got one now and am trying to train him rather than using verbal commands. He's very good with hand signals (better than voice) so I thought he might respond better to this though at the moment, he just looks incredibly surprised and can't locate where the noise is coming from

@HappyThursdays

sorry when we start the walk, we clip the lead to his collar not his harness. We only really use the harness for his long lead and for on his way home!

btw do any of the older pups use a whistle for recall? I've just got one now and am trying to train him rather than using verbal commands. He's very good with hand signals (better than voice) so I thought he might respond better to this though at the moment, he just looks incredibly surprised and can't locate where the noise is coming from

I use an acme one and do four quick pips. I started by doing it very quietly so as not to startle him just after calling his name so when he was running towards me and rewarding him in the house. When he reliable came in the house, then the garden and then outside.

thanks @BiteyShark. I got the acme 211.5 one (so it's audible to humans) but apparently that's a good one for spaniels?

that's a good point about not blowing it too loudly - first time I used it outside, he did look bemused but perhaps I blew it too loud. I'll start with it a bit quieter!

@HappyThursdays

thanks *@BiteyShark*. I got the acme 211.5 one (so it's audible to humans) but apparently that's a good one for spaniels?

that's a good point about not blowing it too loudly - first time I used it outside, he did look bemused but perhaps I blew it too loud. I'll start with it a bit quieter!

That sounds similar pitch to mine and yes good for spaniels. Some people do a bit of a unique series of pips so their dog recognises the owner even if someone has the same pitch but tbh mine seems to know whether it is me or not and has never run over to another person but I have had other dogs run to me

@HappyThursdays We have the 210. Started with two peeps for attention/stop and three to come back - rewarded by favourite wet food + kibble (we give this meal twice a day) or high value treat. Works really well, especially when she’s at the top of the garden. Haven’t branched out to other commands yet, but she’s only 12 wks and I haven’t done the advanced reading......

excellent thanks @BiteyShark@DoubleTweenQueen

I am laughing at other dogs coming back to you @BiteyShark !!

he will do hand commands for sit/down/wait (better than verbal) so we use those when we're in a noisy place - it's also helped him looking at us on walks as he's looking for a physical cue rather than just listening to our voice

think we will probably just use the whistle for recall though using it for stop is a good idea, especially if he is going a bit far so I will ponder that - I've seen the 'proper' gundogs training to whistle and it's really impressive

@HappyThursdays We haven't got too far out and about yet, so the hand gestures when close we need to work on - good idea. She will sit to a hand gesture, but wait generally is not there yet!! Nor down, unless we put hand to floor and say the word.

I think I got the whistle command from 'Total Recall' by Pippa Mattinson, that I've seen recommended quite a bit

To those having problems with the car - I feel your pain! I came on to ask about the exact same thing. We've just had a 10 min trip to the vets, and he managed the way there (though he was salivating/drooling which is unheard of for him) but on the way back he threw up just round the corner from home .

When we picked him up from the breeder it was an hour's journey and he made it most of the way home but was sick 10 mins out. Since then he's had one other car journey a couple of weeks ago, again only 15 mins or so and he was sick on the return journey.

I'm worried becase we start puppy training classes on Sunday, and it's a 10-15 min drive away - oh dear! I'm thinking of trying the Adaptil Transport spray (dog appeasing pheromone), has anyone had any success with that?

I can't put him through being sick once a week - he's totally wiped out now - I think I'd have to ditch the course and lose the money, which would be such a shame. And we could do with the training tips for sure!!

@lyraa was puppy in a crate or was someone holding him? I find Frenchpup is better if held. She threw up 5 times coming back from the breeder, but when she is held she's ok. She still shakes but its getting less each time.