Puppy Survival Thread - December

[Hellin301]

Day 5 of new puppy and I’m wondering what possessed me to go through all this he’s a little devil at times, most of the time actually with odd moments of cuteness

Hi, we have a JackRussell puppy who is 16 weeks old tomorrow. She has moments of chewing walls (!) growling and biting. I figure these are all phases and we are putting some measures in place to stop her growling (we think she is resource guarding) and are considering getting a crate.

It is over 20 years since I last had a puppy and I have forgotten how hard it is. I had my old Jack Russells for 13 and 17 years and obviously they were very different as adult dogs compared to a young pup.

My advice is make sure the dog has plenty of rest, a secure place they can call theirs and plenty of playing to wear them out.

Hang in there, the effort you put in now will be worth it in the long run.

We are getting our puppy next week. A week tomorrow. Excited and rather terrified. It is our first family dog (although my DH had dogs as a child). We have a weekend of finalising our puppy-proofing next week. Stairgates are all ordered. One dogbed is ordered (the big-boy bed), which the cat loves. Trying to work out the crates. Worried that the puppy bed hasn't come yet.

There is so much to organise!

Hiya, just checking in for the first time! We get our first ever Dog in a month. Picking up lots of bits as we go and trying to get as ready as possible. So I'm looking forward to reading the previous thread. Starting to wonder what we're getting ourselves into though.

We were going to be getting new sofas, but decided it might be wise to hold off for a year or two

Onvcation what kind of dog are you getting?

@NotQuiteUsual Herbie is a golden retriever. Whom I have heard called raptors and sharks as puppies :D I am also picking up tips, and have been buying lots of bits and pieces. I'm struggling with working out which crate to get (other thread), and need to hurry up because he will be here very soon!!! Next weekend will be mission-final-puppy-proofing! I am planning to get rid of LOTS of junk.

@NotQuiteUsual what breed are you guys getting? Do you have a name? It is so exciting, although a bit scary! Have you been given any great puppy tips 😊?

@Onvacation he is so cute!! Gorgeous little face

@Onvacation oh my goodness he is just lovely! Such ateddy bear face.

We're getting a Newfoundland, so I'm glad I invested in the shark vacuum with the pet hair attachment! No name yet as we're letting the kids name her, but we're not telling them about her yet. I got a huge crate secondhand so need to find or whip up a divider for the puppy days.

There's so much advice it's overwhelming and the puppy classes near us are closed till we're out tier 3.

Placemarking with a picture of challenge pup! He's 14 weeks and we are getting there but not done with biting, toilet or crate training. He's been a huge shock but I love him!

Thanks for the new thread! Vanpup is coming up to 14 weeks and has been with us for 6 weeks. He has been a delight but it's really full on at times, esp when he's over tired and goes jumpy/bitey esp with our youngest.
He's been able to go for walks for a week now and he is a changed pup! Much happier in himself and sleeps better, and we're discovering a nice community of dog walkers in the local area.
DH and I take turns with the early mornings and the kids have been quite neglected (but they are 10+ and OK with it). It's DHs first dog. The best thing we did was book a pre-puppy zoom session with a trainer and an actual house visit (just before second lockdown) and puppy proofing downstairs a bit.
The worst thing we did was give him too much excitement/stimulation/play at times.
It does get easier!

Can I join please? We have a miniature poodle x puppy who is now 14 weeks old, we have an older dog too (great pyrenees) who has adored the puppy from the start and it has made it a lot easier training PolePup with big bro to learn from.

I have always disliked the puppy stage (DH says I am an unfeeling monster ) and seen it as something to be endured in order to get to the adult dog, but PolePup is shockingly easy to train, its amazing as all of my other dogs have been flock guardians who are decidedly not easy to train, or working dogs.

The most important thing I have learnt with a new pup is to have extra naice coffee and good (human) biscuits in plentiful supply on hand at all times

ChallengePup is gorgeous, as is VacationPup

Also, we have a puppy playpen which is brilliant (I don`t crate train), and has been great for when PolePup needs some time to wind down after getting the zoomies, or if I need to make a phone call/have a shower.

@Onvacation we have a 17 week old velociraptor, I mean, golden retriever!

@Retrievemysanity I'm both laughing out loud and crying inside at your comment (mostly laughing, the crying may start in a few weeks).

@PoleToPole I will send round VacationPup to learn from your pup and dog. Easy to train is what I'm hoping for. Crazy zoomy raptor is what I'm expecting.

I have already picked up tips from you guys! Tip 1 is that we will take turns in moving our home office to the kitchen so that Herbie can have quick and easy access to the garden if needed. I was reading somewhere (facebook) about people using a bell. In my head, the puppy was ringing a bell to indicate they needed to go to the loo. But this sounds crazy. How do your pups let you know if they need to go (this is clearly when they are a little older - not expecting my 8 week old baby to chalk me up a message so I can take him outside at the right time ).

@VanellopeVonSchweetz99 we have booked an online puppy training session for Herbie's second day. A bit early for him, he will still be a tiny baby, but I was thinking that the training session might be more about training us (and in particular, my children), so that we are all on the same page with Herbie-training. I was thinking that would mean the kids could take him outside so that he could do short bursts of training with them, and I could be confident they knew what to do with him. With vaccinations, we won't get him to puppy school until he is about 12 weeks at the earliest, and so I thought this would make sure the kids had a way of engaging with him that wasn't just encouraging crazy play (although they are hoping for a bit of zoomies...or maybe I am...our cat does it occasionally and it is rather cute).

I can't wait until we can get him out for even short puppy walks.

Oh I definitely feel your pain. Devil with the odd cute episode is about right. Our 17 week pup is gorgeous thank god, but she has seriously tested us at times. It goes in peaks and troughs for us, and when she's good we think something's wrong (thankfully it never is, it's just a surprise!) 😂

We started whistle recall training in the house abs garden, and it is BRILLIANT!

Frenchpup was very bitey this evening, she bit me really hard on the leg so I shouted and shut her out of the room. I know I shouldn't shout but its hard. I shut her out , just for a couple of minutes, so I wouldn't shout at her again.

She didn't whine and when I let her back in (I shut her in the kitchen, I was in the next room) she just carried on nipping.

She was bad earlier as well, I ended up putting the lead on and taking her out. We actually got all the way around the block ( our longest walk, about 15 minutes) and she was really good on the lead.

She has just taken herself off to bed! I wish I could, I'm exhausted.

Checking in again, thanks for the new thread. GeorgiePup is wild this evening! I’m leaving him to it, he’ll crash out shortly.

I realised I hadn’t paid my puppy tax! Here you go.

@Onvacation No thanks! This is the first ever pup I have had who is not a walking tornado with teeth, I am going to keep enjoying the fluke while it lasts . Our older dog is amazing though, I used to foster and he was always so patient and kind with them.

PolePup likes to sit silently by the mudroom door to ask to go out. I didn`t teach that, he just decided that was what he wanted to do. PoleDog also sits by the mudroom door but mutters to himself at progressively louder volume until I take him out.

@Onvacation I started out taking Frenchpup out every 30minutes, now it's more like every hour, or when she wakes up. She doesn't really ask to go (12 weeks) but she does do a little whine that we have learnt not to ignore.

We are still having occasional accidents, and it is hard to get her out when it is peeing it down outside, but mostly she's very good.

GeorgiePup is beautiful! So sweet!

@PoleToPole I'm a bit in love with PoleDog and his muttering that increases in volume until the required response is achieved. VacationCats like to do the same thing. Although they tend to start loud and then get louder.

I'm hoping that VacationCats and Pup fall madly in love. A bit like I'm hoping for an easy to train and calm puppy. DC are not like that, and so I'm banking on VacationPup proving to me (and the world) that non-calm children is not my failed parenting style, but DC's innate high spirts. No pressure VacationPup.

We have a 13 week old collie. Feeling a bit disheartened when I spoke to some trainers today who made it clear he was too old to have been homed to us. We only got him this weekend because the guy who got him from a breeder kept him for 3 weeks before he decided it was too much. That's not something I can do anything about!!
Is it a total lost cause to try to train after 10 weeks???

@Whataroyalannoyance

We have a 13 week old collie. Feeling a bit disheartened when I spoke to some trainers today who made it clear he was too old to have been homed to us. We only got him this weekend because the guy who got him from a breeder kept him for 3 weeks before he decided it was too much. That's not something I can do anything about!! Is it a total lost cause to try to train after 10 weeks???

Of course it isn't a lost cause and that's really rubbish of those trainers to make you think that.

Lots of puppies, adolescent and adult dogs get rehomed and continue training.

My dog was always ill or recovering from accidents when he was a puppy that we didn't do a lot of the typical obedience training until he was over 2 years old and then he excelled at trick training, and we did agility and scent work. If training a older dog was hopeless then we wouldn't have been able to do any of that.

bitey
I thought it was a bit of a dour way to phrase it.
He is nearly house trained. Sits to eat. Sleeps in his crate at night. And is generally a bit of a moron...

@Onvacation PoleDog learnt it as a pup from PoleCats, although now theyre elderly they just MEOW loudly and obnoxiously as they clearly deserve immediate pandering <img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Grin" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/grin-D7Eg_B6y.png"> PoleCats love PolePup, they seem to think hes a kitten who needs grooming and looking after, and he wallows in the attention, but they do love dogs and puppies in general, and PolePup`s breeder had three very grumpy cats, so he was used to cats from the start.
And no, definitely cannot be your parenting, VacationPup will be zen like in his self control and inner calm