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

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat I'm really anxious by nature too and have found this so hard and overwhelming. I've actually lost weight since we got him before Xmas through worry and am really dreading first walks as I am not experienced in dogs meeting other dogs (first time owner). So I don't have any solutions but you have my sympathy.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Thank you all so much! I think the stresses of life in general are just getting to me (childminder, still working and homeschooling 3dc now plus puppy training...) and the puppy seems a bit self inflicted and why did we do this to ourselves. He’s lovely and I’m sure it will be fine. You guys are the ones who can appreciate that when you love them but still wonder if you did the right thing.

I'm not surprised you're exhausted. I was saying to my neighbour thank god my children are not school age any more as I'm not sure i would have coped with home schooling let alone being a childminder and having a puppy at the same time! I hope your dp/dh is mucking in as that does sound like a lot on your plate

I also think puppies are hard if you have anxiety as they naturally draw attention to you

yesterday Happypup did the most disgusting shit right by a huge queue of people waiting outside for a takeaway coffee from a restaurant that's opened its front windows and made itself into a takeaway place (I think the council will close them down...!). Thank goodness dp was with me and while people were gasping in horror and I was trying to run a million miles away with Happypup, he cheerfully cleaned it up . It was really horrible and I could tell people were really pissed off with us but tbh, once he starts, you can't really stop him so even though we tried to pull him forward, he was already mid poo .

One thing I have realised is pups pick up your anxiety so quickly and if you, at any point, look like you are nervous or jumpy, they will start behaving differently. HappyPup knew something was up after that shit and it's because I was anxious. But it is difficult getting confident with them, especially when they are still learning and bound to behave in a way you don't want to at some point. Today when I took him off lead I said 'Be Sensible Happypup' (as he ran at 30mph in the opposite direction ) and a fellow dog walker just laughed at me!

Other dog owners will feel your pain, be consoled by that!

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat I can't believe frisbee woman said that! People are such arseholes sometimes. I think you're doing well even having pup off-lead, I still won't let her off without DP around and she's 19 weeks. I suffer with anxiety too and it really ramped up when we brought her home. I was getting obsessive about training and were we on schedule and if we don't socialise by the time the window closed we'd all be doomed. Well. It all worked out fine and I should not have put so much pressure on us all, although I'm starting to feel anxious again as she's starting to pull on the lead and bark at birds constantly so walks aren't as pleasant. There's always something. Also totally agree with @HappyThursdays, they pick up on your anxiety. We had a hell of a time the first 4 weeks and I think she was so hyper and hard to handle because I was so hyper and anxious.

@PugInTheHouse Bed downstairs in her crate between 10 and 11 (she goes quite happily), we're still up at 3am for a toilet trip, and then she sleeps till we wake her up (can be any time from 7.30-9.30). We started Zoom training last week and I actually asked the trainer how long we should expect to do this and she said she'd expect her to hold it for 1 hour per month of age so she's doing well going 6 hours sometimes. The other night I got up at 3 and she refused to go out, just too sleepy. Thought that might be her going overnight but then last night I got up at 3 and she needed a poo and a pee! So you just never know. It's such a learning curve.

Ah thats good then, we are the same pretty much, I keep thinking he ought to be able to go longer but I guess 7/8 hrs is good at 15 weeks. Usually sleeps downstairs for a bit then upstairs to crate 10/11pm. He goes till 6/7am usually but occasionally we can't get him to wee or poo as hes too tired so he may wake just before 6. He went nearly 9 hours last night without a wee or poo! At the weekend I would like to sleep in but it's never happening lol! I always think when he goes back to sleep about 830am ill have a snooze but by then I'm wide awake

@puppygalore how is your pup doing after his nasty tummy experience? on the 3 meals to 2, totally coincidentally, Happypup was sleeping over the time we would normally do his lunch the last few days. When he woke up, I thought it was a bit late for lunch so just gave him a snack and we've progressed to the 2 meals a day almost by accident. Today I took him for a long walk at 10am and when we got back, he went straight to sleep and woke up mid afternoon so I gave him a rabbit ear to eat as a snack and he seems ok. He also gets a lot of treats on his walks as we still treat for recall which is also probably making him less hungry.

@ashmts how is her tum doing? we have gone back to just plain kibble and warm water after a few horrible poos. He usually does a hard one first thing and they deteriorate through the day - sometimes I can see it's as a result of activity but sometimes it isn't. We are starting to wonder if it's chicken as sometimes we top his kibble with it so we're cutting it out and seeing what happens.

@puginthehouse I actually can't remember what Happypup was doing at that age. It's like having a baby - as they get older, you forget what they were like when they were younger . I remember his toilet training was way behind every one else's puppy who was the same age on this thread and now he can do almost 12 hours overnight so it does come with time! 7/8 hours at his age sounds amazing!

@HappyThursdays it's looking a bit better, thanks for asking. Still a bit flakey but doesn't seem quite as bad. I'm not happy with the vet's advice though, I don't think throwing a few treatment options at it without working out what it could be is good practice. My sister's friend is a vet so I asked her to run it past the friend and she basically agrees, thinks it should be topical steroids instead of oral and wouldn't have advised us to change diet at first presentation. I had already wanted to change vet but I asked DP to book and he forgot and booked this appointment with the old vet so I think we're going to try to swap and get a second opinion. Just don't get good vibes off the current vet, never have done. Sorry to hear Happypup's tummy is off, hopefully cutting out the chicken helps but it would be such a shame for him as I bet he loves it!

@PugInTheHouse I'm lazy and love a lie in! That's why I still get up through the night, I reckon she could go till 6am but I am not a morning person so I couldn't deal with starting my day at that time.

@ashmts I start work at 7 so in the week its fine but at weekends it's not haha! Trouble is, even if he wakes at 3 or 4 for a week he still won't sleep much past 7. I thought it must be food related waking about 7am. He has his last meal at 8pm though so not entirely sure thats it.

C4Pup has his last meal around 4-5pm and sleeps 10 till 8, although he does poo during the night and seems to wee as soon as he wakes in the morning so I don’t think meal times really have much impact on waking up time as there seems to be a lot of variation between everyone!

Kinda annoying as I know he’s doing it as soon as he hears us getting up in the morning, if he could wait another 2 minutes for me to run downstairs he’d be dry all night...I tried waking up 20 minutes early a few times this week but it didn’t make a difference, maybe puppy sized ear muffs are required?

@HappyThursdays Dh does his bit when he’s here, however he’s a shift worker (police) so that just adds to the chaos sometimes 🤦🏻‍♀️

@C4itl yeah we get about 830/9pm-7am but we wake him for a wee 1030/11 when we go up to bed, occasionally he won't go which means he'll wake up 8ish hours later for a wee but sometimes I just find that easier than hanging around waiting for ages trying to get him to go. If I have to get up i dont mind as he always goes straight back to sleep so its not too tricky.

He basically squeaks and bangs the crate so I know he needs a wee, he almost always makes it, once or twice when he's had a wee a bit earlier than normal before bed he wakes up desperate and I havent woken in time so he's wee'd in his crate and then barked at me.

This will be night 4 for us with HooliePup. She is 12 weeks old. Goes into crate at 10pm and I am waking her at 2am for a pee. She then wakes around 5am for another pee. Youngest DC get up between 5.30 and 6am. I sleep on the couch next to her crate so she feels secure. Hoping to sneak away in first 30 minutes after she settles down tonight...she didn't cry much last night at all when DH put her in the crate🤞

Both DH and I are exhausted but feel she is worth it.

That's great she is not crying too much bless her, it is exhausting isn't it but mostly worth it

@HappyThursdays she's totally fine now, thanks for asking! Her tummy has been fine since but I've hooked up the old baby monitor in her room again just in case. Our lounge will never be the same though, I have cleaned and aired it every day since but it's still got such an awful lingering smell only time since March I've been glad of not having any visitors round!

We are lucky with sleep and kept pretty much the same night routine since I realised early on that trying to keep her going beyond 7pm was just asking for trouble. So those of you experiencing zoomies, maybe you could try just putting them to bed if they are crated? Pup only does it when she's tired, and as she's such a big girl I can't have her flying around the lounge knocking into us all. If she's not able to be directed into the garden, I wait for a lull then lure her to bed. It certainly fixed our zoomie sessions and she rarely does it these days, so I think she was overtired! (My little boy accidentally called it 'the speeds' so it stuck, and when asked her breed says she's a 'Labradog' which is just too cute.) So she'll have her tea 6-6.30 nowadays then bed at 7, stays asleep til I go back to her around 9.30 for bedtime wee. Sometimes she doesn't want her tea (weird for a Lab I know!) so I'll still put her down at 7ish and then she has food just before her bedtime wee. She'll then sleep through til 8 or maybe 8.30am. I'm experimenting tonight and we did bedtime wee early, at 8.15 so she might be up early in the morning but hoping not back to pre-6am wakings.

Managed to escape at 1.30am from the couch, only to let her out crate for a pee at 2.15am. she tends to get excited and pee a bit though before her real pee outdoors. It's like she can't hold it in. Would setting her time to 1am help? I wonder if she maybe can't last until 2am. DH puts her in crate at 10pm. Oh the dilemmas!!

@Orangesarenottheonlyfruit- our beloved flatcoat died in January. Great dogs! We miss him so much. After much deliberation we have a 14 week old lab/ retriever/ beagle cross. It's going really well but seriously hard work even though my kids are now teens and helping alot.

@Tropicalsunshine oh a fellow flattie lover! Yes they are fab although the puppy stage is endless!
Got our new pup yesterday. She's brilliant so far. Lots of wees outside and mostly settled in her crate. I remember that this early stage is the phoney war though and it'll be tougher in a few weeks.
Homeschooling plus puppy is an interesting conundrum. On one hand the kids are really helpful with her, on the other it's very hard to concentrate on maths when there's a cute fluff ball begging for attention!

Hi all,

Struggling this week and it's only Monday! FrankinPup (13 weeks) has decided in the last few days that he hates day time naps and prefers being overtired and bitey. Whines in his crate (which he goes into no problem at night with no fuss and no whining at all) but won't settle in there in the day and won't calm down if we try to get him to have a nap with us there on the sofa.

He's also decided this week that he wants to go into the garden and not come back when called but doesn't need the toilet, doesn't want to play and when we shut the patio door as if to say 'ok bye then stay outside' he'll whine at the door to come in but not actually come in 😫

All this whilst trying to teach 200 kids remotely and I'm tearing my hair out a bit 😂 he's been fed, walked, been to the toilet but has decided that this week is the week to be a shithead. Is it a developmental thing or is he just testing us?

we didn't crate Happypup @Frankincense88 but we did enforce naps if he looked like he was going to get overtired.

in your shoes, I would be putting him where you need him to nap and then not disturbing him so that he does sleep - is that possible? at 13 weeks, he really should be napping more than he's awake and if he isn't, his behaviour will deteriorate! He sounds really overtired.

and one thing I did learn early is what a pain in the arse they become when they are overtired!

@HappyThursdays Yep, it's just my husband and I working from home so he has a quiet place he can sleep undisturbed. He's usually pretty good but the last few days has decided that sleep is for the weak and he doesn't need it 🙃

That said, he has been sleeping in his crate for the last hour after playing with me in the living room so hopefully it was just a couple of off days!

fingers crossed!

I think this cold weather spell has impacted them. Happypup asked for his (indoor drying) coat yesterday!

the vet told us they don't do a good job of regulating their own temperature till 6 months so I think if they get cold, they aren't great at getting warmer without our help

(not that I'm saying he's cold but I've noticed a change in his behaviour too)

@Frankincense88 we enforce naps in his crate in the daytime - put him in with a treat/lickimat and there is usually some whining when he's finished but then he falls asleep after a few minutes, for up to two hours at a time.