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

[quote CanSomeoneElsePickMyName]@ZombiePara thanks for that. The face shape and body shape said standard but the colour threw me! Used to work for someone who had two black standards. Wonderful girls. [/quote]
Aha no worries! Until I found ZombiePup's breeder, I didn't realise there were colours other than solids - my old one was a black standard. ZombiePup is classed as a Parti, (mostly white with one other colour), but I am learning there are even more sorts!

ImmaturePup is 12 weeks today and today is Walk Day! Toileting has been dreadful - she pooed in the house twice yesterday evening despite being out frequently. I’m hoping for walk miracles. First poo was just as we were sitting down to dinner so we were distracted, but second poo was sheer badness! We’ve decided that we can’t be eating dinner when she is, because that’s when she needs a poo. Also, if we’re in the front room she isn’t good at signalling “I need out” from there - she disappears into the hall, but that can be for a multitude of reasons like “I want to play with the cats”, “I left my toy through the house”, “the children are eating and I want some”, “I want water” etc etc. I think if we’re sitting in that room then I’ll need to bring her in and shut the door so that I can tell when she needs the toilet.

Meet our pup! Got her yesterday. She did sleep last night but unless she's asleep she doesn't stop! Few accidents but does go in the garden too. And she's already started attacking the furniture. Need to buy more toys!

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar if it's any consolation, the one thing pupthursday loves is a poo on a walk . Even if he's had a poo in the garden already, he seems to save up an extra special one for on a walk! So here's hoping immaturepup has the same idea!

new harness arrives today and I can't wait as I think it will make a huge difference

aww she's beautiful!

sm40 she’s lovely!

We had a good first night at home. No success with poo and wee in the right places however she settled really well in her bed, and has eaten and drank well today.

she got totally freaked out with her collar. It made a clinking sound and she didn’t like that at all!

First question. How often should a puppy sleep. With babies I tried to encourage it 2 hours after they woke up. Is there a puppy rule. I think she starts to whimper when tired but not sure. She's currently passed out on the kitchen floor.

@Retrievemysanity we have had great success with your method! the problem is he doesn't actually like to lie down so he really resists going into the down position and because he's not very food driven, tasty snacks are great but not worth getting into a position he doesn't particularly want to be in . But I did 10 mins last night and 10 mins this morning and with a bit of persistence, he will actually get into a down position now (definitely not on first asking but on sitting in front of him with a treat in a closed hand!). Progress of sorts!

@sm40 I think they are meant to sleep something like 20 hours a day! puppythursday never slept that much but he would also just drop during the day. Some people do a routine - he generally has breakfast, trots around a bit then falls asleep for an hour or so. Same after lunch. You'll start to spot when they are tired and especially if you have small children, it's a good idea to enforce some naps so they don't get overtired (so put him back in his bed, stroke him a bit, they tend to get sleepy really quickly at that age!)

@Retrievemysanity meant to say thank you in that post!

@HappyThursdays she's already been awake more than 4 hours I think!! Think I'll try and settle her more. She doesn't want to miss out on anything though.
When she wakes up we'll go out for a small car trip! She wasn't sick yesterday so fingers crossed.

Pup is 17 weeks today. He’s just learnt ‘down’ but DH has to say it 500 times before pup realises he won’t get the treat unless he does it. Being a lab he is SO good focussed which makes training easy but also means he can be so fixated on the treat he doesn’t listen to the command.

We’re still getting bitey periods but mainly when pup is having a mad 5 mins. Taking hand away and saying no, or replacing with a toy helps.

Touch wood we haven’t had any accidents in the house for ages, over a month. So I feel that’s sorted. Sleeping through the night consistently in the crate too.

We also sit in the lounge in the eve (like most people!) but pup isn’t allowed on us as we eat snacks! So he can be on the sofa but next to us, not touching at all. Or he can lay on his bed by our feet. He doesn’t seem to like one over the other tbh he does either just whatever he feels like, he also gets an antler to chew in the eve but he tends to fall asleep around 8pm for the night. DH then makes him go out for a wee around 9:30 then it’s into crate til 6am when the kids gets up.

@HappyThursdays you’re welcome! Retrieverpup is so food motivated that we haven’t found teaching the commands indoors too bad. I’m hoping it bodes well for recall too when we finally get out into the big wide world! I don’t think the lying position is particularly my pup’s preferred position either but occasionally she will sit in a sphinx like position and I’ll drop treats in between her paws and reward that ‘settle’ and I’ve noticed she’s a bit quicker with the lie command, whether or not they’re connected I don’t know!

have any of you cut their nails yet? i am a total wuss with anything like that

pupthursdays nails are so bloody sharp - I asked the vet when he had his tummy check up a week or so ago and she said they are absolutely fine for a working cocker but I don't think we can leave them too much longer or he will be dragging flesh off anyone he jumps up at (working on it!)

@Retrievemysanity it's good that he has his eye on that treat, I'm sure it will help once he's outdoors! pampered pup thursday refused to go out in the rain and do a wee until I stood with him today and no treat was going to do it. He took one look at me as if to say, you are kidding me right? nice and warm in the house, v windy and rainy out here and you think I'm doing that?!

@desperatehousewife21 we have a similar routine and pupthursday conks out at 8 and we take him out for a wee when we are off to bed. He has a bitey 10 mins normally around now if we haven't done his second walk (still waiting for his sodding harness argh!)

I was watching something on TV where a lab was an assistance dog and he was so good but he definitely had his eye on the treat/prize the whole time . Made me chuckle!

@HappyThursday we finally trimmed the dew (sp?) claw nails (the ones just up the leg) on Saturday as she was jumping up and they were razor sharp. (She’s 6.5mths) The rest we haven’t needed too as walking on concrete paths naturally files them down. Pup is a working cocker x lab. It took a few seconds and tbh I wish DH had done it earlier!

ah ha @TriSeaSwim99 I shall explore the nail cutting!

we just went on an absolutely disastrous walk. He wriggled so much he loosened the harness and nearly managed to escape. I did exactly as advised and just stopped whenever he pulled and he just sat down every time I did that and waited to start again and then just pulled even harder. It was so disastrous 2 people stopped to ask whether we had considered training classes grrr ! He was jumping up, twisting around, throwing himself everywhere and basically acting like a dog who has never seen a pavement! He is delight in every other way but he really is a total nightmare on the lead. We have the trainer again on Friday but if anything he is getting worse not better. I think it's also because we are in town today so he's having to walk on busy pavements (when at home, we're totally rural and barely see another person). It's as though it's just too exciting for him. He's very friendly to everyone but it's impossible to walk with him! I had his favourite treat in my pocket, roast beef, and even that was not interesting argh! It's actually put me off taking him out again :(

HappyThursdays yours is a cocker isn't he?

Mine would walk past cooked steak outside as food isn't motivating. Spaniels are nose driven so outside smells and tracks are far far more interesting than a food treat. I don't even bother taking food out with me anymore as it's pointless.

I gave up with road walking after a while as it was miserable for both of us. I concentrated on off lead recall which was essential for a spaniel and now he is a well behaved adult his road walking is generally fine now because he simply grew up.

What harness do you have? Does it have a d-ring at the front to unbalance him when he pulls?

Hi @BiteyShark yes I was hoping you would see my post!

He is an absolute delight off the lead in a field. He will turn back and look at you, pretty good recall, not perfect by any means but I would say good for his age, like you say nose to the ground and running around smelling.

His road walking is simply abysmal. We've been through 2 front ring harnesses already. He has a halti which is probably the best but isn't padded and I'm worried it's hurting him. The one we got today is padded but even on its tightest setting he can wriggle so much and he hates it. If we put the lead on his collar, he simply throttles himself.

Yes also totally disinterested in treats.

It is possible not to walk him here and leave his long walks till we are back home and maybe we should do that as it was thoroughly miserable. The D ring unbalanced him so he kept pulling hard then falling over. He was actually trying to be good because when I stopped, he sat and looked at me (!) which is his key for me saying good dog (which I didn't as he was being a whirling dervish!)

Hi all. Lovely to hear how you're all getting on and glad there are at least glimmers of progress here and there. Lots of new pups too - hope you're getting on ok. Ours is 19 weeks today and finally I can actually says I like him (love maybe?) and I'm no longer hoping we can send him back! He's a cockapoo and becoming a giant ball of floof. And my insomnia has eased so I'm a lot less of a crazy person.

He's changed a lot since we got him, and actually a lot just in the last week. Teeth started falling out last week so he's actually biting more, but super gently almost as if he wants us to massage his gums. He's letting me wobble his teeth which is a bit nuts. Toilet training is almost there. Asks to go out 99% of the time but still can get distracted and pee on the floor if we're not careful. Sleeps through at night in his crate - from 9pm in the lounge with a 10.30pm wee break, then crate until 7 am ish. Naps most of the morning then a bit more busy in the afternoon. Loves cuddles and is super sweet natured. Pretty much mental though - sooooo excited to see other people and other dogs, and prone to letting our a bit of wee while wagging his tail so hard he almost falls over.

I haven't had time to read everything thoroughly but I've seen a few bits about lead walking. Ours was good sometimes (lots of treats needed) but sometimes a nightmare even with sausages in front of his nose. We just got a new harness and it's a game changer. It's called "walk your dog with love" (!) and the lead attaches to the front so he just can't pull. If he does, it turns him to face you. So he has really really improved. Still not perfect, but so much better. Recall is improving but not reliable but we've let him off the lead a bit. Usually use a long line though.

Antlers and yak chews are firm favourites but I just bought a puppy treat box full of the most disgusting things I think I've ever seen. Which of course pup adores! Chicken feet, duck neck, puffed pig snout and various ears, complete with fur. The pig snout was by far the most disgusting but he chewed solidly for nearly two hours so it was awesome!

How's @bunglemom? I keep thinking about you. Have the in laws moved out at least? Hope things are ok.

I tried lots of things. The funniest wasn't funny at the time was when I tried to use a figure of eight lead which goes over the nose. He rubbed his face all down the road with his bottom in the air trying to get it off

It's disheartening as you see all the food oriented puppies walking nicely looking at their owners for a treat. Then you see a spaniel pulling their owners about whilst zigzagging across a scent.

And @MumofaBear - we had the same a couple of weeks ago with him ignoring all his training but it only lasted a few days. He's not the most obedient anyway, but at least he's now back to where he was. I put it down to some kind of developmental leap.

@BiteyShark that made me laugh and did make me feel a lot better! I honestly felt awful as he kept falling over then flipping himself back up! He does exactly that and sticks his nose down and is off! Someone had vomited on the pavement and he tracked that scent for at least 100 yards . I'm going to go back to the halti tomorrow and then the day after, we are back home and he'll be running free again thank goodness. We met a few puppies a similar age all of whom were being angelic of course!

Thanks @LittlePoot, I'll have a look at that harness

My Pup is a sprocker and am also having a pulling issue. I keep stopping and he walks nicely at heel for a few paces then dashes forward yanking my arm. There is a clip to use at the front of our harness but not tried using it yet. He loves a run around off lead at the beach or woods, but I have to do a pavement walk around our village before work and would like the kids to be able to walk him safely. I try to go out at quiet times as he is still quite nervous of people who all want to stop and talk to him (he is super cute ha) we will all get there in the end !!

Pup loved her walks today! We did two short walks (school run am and pm) which are about 10 mins there, then stand around for 10 mins, then 10 mins back. The standing around part is usually more like half an hour at pick-up! She was very good despite being a bit confused by the lead, and she started sitting when requested to at every crossing. I then sneaked out for a very slow non-walk after dinner (we pootled very slowly through the park stopping every 3 steps to sniff, so I don’t think it counts as a walk!) in the hope of some poo happening but it didn’t. Oh well! Better luck tomorrow.

worriesandwobbles at our puppy class last night, she talked about pulling on the lead. She said every time they they pull and aren’t concentrating on you, walk backwards until their attention is back on you again then walk forward. Once you get a good 3 paces of walking with loose lead, treat them. And keep going like that, even if it takes half an hour to get out the front door.