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

if it's any consolation, we are nearly at 6 months with the world's most energetic and enthusiastic cocker :)

one thing that is so noticeable is how long he can go between wees - from weeing what felt like endlessly (and our toilet training took longer than most on this thread at the same age), he's suddenly matured to barely asking to go out for wees other than his walks where he wees and poos a lot (today for example, he had a walk this morning, stayed inside, had a snack mid afternoon, then a walk and only actually asked to go out for a wee just now - apparently they can hold their bladder much longer!)

he also is quite good at telling us stuff now - when he wants a walk, he gets my shoes. He always knows we walk in the morning but his afternoon walk changes time so if he feels he's ready, he'll tell us!

they do calm down massively - we've had no biting for ages really and his chewing has calmed down now his back teeth are in (though he still chews his ears/antlers occasionally)

Once I can walk the puppy without the children I think that will help!

Thanks @HappyThursdays Happypup gives me a light at the end of the puppy tunnel! At least my 4 year old adores him. She cried today not wanting to leave him.

@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore @Literaryseed - I have a 15 week sprocker pup(springer/cocker cross) so I feel your pain. I think spaniels are just nutty

We were also struggling with sleep in the early days but that has massively improved in the past couple of weeks (fingers crossed it’s here to stay) that’ll be the same for your pups too!

We are making a lot of improvements with HummusPup but every minute of the day is spent worrying about her/thinking about her naps/food/training etc...when do they stop absorbing your every thought and just sort of fit in..? This might just be me though - I do have a bit of a tendency to overthink things. More relaxed people probably have a chilled out pup

@SpreadHummusNotHate I'm the same, when he's asleep I'm googling training videos or 'what to do if puppy swallows a stone' and so on.

Those with hyper pups - what were your first walks like? We can go for a walk next week and I'm really nervous he'll be manic and shouting and jumping the whole way.

Glad to know it’s not just me, I’ve lost count of how many time I’ve googled “is ... poisonous to dogs”, and if she actually has a decent nap for once then I’m just wondering is she ok, has she escaped somehow

We are very much still practicing lead training and have not cracked it. You might already be doing this but whilst you can’t go out for walks I would do lots of putting the collar on and off, then attaching the lead, letting him run around with the lead attached, in the house, in the garden etc - just so you don’t have that battle when it comes to the first walk

After the first time pugpup was let loose outside I ended up googling what happens if a dog eats leaves, mud, stones

I had to put my beautiful 11 year old springer put to sleep on Saturday and we are heartbroken without her. If you asked me to describe her I would say, calm, gentle, loving, obedient, excellent recall, well behaved, calm, sweet. She was all those things and more. I trusted her with children, other dogs, food left out etc etc. All in all she was just a brilliant adored family dog.
In a fit of wallowing I went back to a Spaniel forum I used when we first got her and oh my gosh, some of my posts!
The biting,
The food stealing,
The complete lack of recall,
The growling at me when I told her to get off our bed or come out from behind the slide with the red pepper she had just stolen
and the continual full on leaping of the fence and buzzing off next door whenever the mood took her (which was frequently)!!!!
So to all of you, hang on in there, it does get so much better and one day you'll be looking at the best dog in the world and won't believe you once had such a full on little bitey disobedient pest.

Welcome new pups and people have some and some non passive aggressive

@Puppypuppypuppy Happy 5 month birthday PuppyPup! It is today isn`t it? Time is flying at the minute.
Which breed is PuppyPup again sorry? Is he small enough to pick up?
I have trained PolePup that as soon as we see an off leash dog he comes to my feet to be picked up.
We have leash laws here anyway, so you know straight away that an off lead dog = irresponsible owner, and there are so many irresponsible owners that I will not take the chance with his safety.
Pitbulls are legal here too, and popular where I live. Everyone I know, including myself, has had at least one Pitbull attack on their dogs, its just shocking.

Its not just whether the dogs are friendly but whether they are on a proper flea, tick and worming schedule, whether theyve had all their vaccinations as a lot of people here just do the core ones and dont bother about Lyme and Leptospirosis.

I don`t let my dogs greet other dogs at all, we have friends with dogs we know are safe for our dogs to socialise with, though neither PoleDog or PolePup wants to play with other dogs, they are perfectly mannered but disinterested, which I find ideal.

PoleDog has a best friend but they just sniff each other and the sit still, side by side. PolePup isn`t at all interested in other people or other dogs, he behaves perfectly for our vet, but ignores her, and shrugs anyone off who tries to make a fuss of him, and then walks away and blanks them too. With us he is the most affectionate dog I have ever met, and he is fiercely loyal.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, if you could pick PuppyPup up and let him watch you greet people and other dogs, he would feel safe in your arms, and then gradually you could put him down, but keep him behind your legs while you greet them, and let him come out in his own time.
If hes too big to pick up, I would avoid meeting people (as much as possible) for the time being until he is more used to seeing dogs going about their business, and then slowly get him walking past them, and then gradually closer until greeting them. Of course that doesnt allow for the off lead bounders, so if there is somewhere you can walk him where people tend to keep their dogs on leads that might be an idea at first.

Socialisation is much, much more about places, sounds and things, rather than other dogs. A few very respected behaviourists I have worked with all agree that it should be 95% places/things and 5% trusted, known dogs.
One bad experience will write off a hundred good ones, and your pup will not end up terrible around other dogs if you pause greeting strange dogs for now.

I dont personally find clinginess a problem, its very natural, after all you are your pups only chance of surviving to adulthood (in their eyes), you are their protection, their source of food and comfort so of course they will want to have you in their eyesight as staying close = safety to them.
In time, as they grow bigger and more capable of taking care of themselves if the worst came to the worst (again in their eyes) they will become increasingly independent. Just give it time .
The more their confidence increases, and the more secure they feel the easier it will be, but you don`t build confidence by pushing them away, or pushing their thresholds past their comfort zone, you build it by keeping them close and being there to support them and reassure them that they are safe when they need it.

PolePup follows me around the house mostly, but is now happy to be at home without PoleDog and left for an hour. Sometimes PoleDog stays too, sometimes not.

@SpreadHummusNotHate (love your username!) PolePup is extremely calm but so confident, but I am also (generally) pretty calm. If homeschooling goes on too much longer my calm may take a holiday .

My day is now starting to revolve less around PolePup, the bulk of his training or any new stuff Im teaching him I do when I get up before anyone else, and he sits on my lap or lies near us while I homeschool the DC. He particularly loves sitting next to me on the bench while I teach piano, which I have had to take over as the DCs lessons are paused that the minute.

@Soppyspanieleyes I am so, so sorry

I toilet train my dogs on lead, and start walking to heel training from the word go, which makes first walks so much easier, and toilet training much faster (though the night times more brutal) as its easier to reward straight away when they pee/poo.
I also start recall from the very start in the garden, its easier when they are small and naturally want to stick close for safety, and not when they are obnoxious teenagers and think they know best .

PolePup will walk reliably to heel on and off lead regardless of where we are now. To be fair I can only walk him off lead on our own land, as there is no chance I`m taking him to any of the off lead dog parks, but even when we are in our woods he stays to heel.
I was very proud of him as five deer surprised us and ran away, and he still stayed at heel. It is much easier with PoleDog for him to learn from too though, really speeds things up.
I am thinking his teenage time will be hell as he is just so good and such a delight now. Luring me into a false sense of security no doubt, I am so used to my Pyrs that a pup who actually wants to learn and do as asked is a huge shock and a dream

@Soppyspanieleyes that made me smile too, my older dog is immaculately trained and completely bomb proof, in addition to his "day job" I do search and rescue with him, he absolutely excels at it and has been much complimented, to my pride. As a pup he was Satan incarnate .
The day after I picked him up from his breeder (he weighed just under four stone at the time) I was taking him out to pee on the lead, and he saw a skunk (just why!!!) and lunged after it as I was turning to shut the back door and distracted for a moment, he leapt off the deck, clearing the steps in one bound. I however, did not clear the steps so gracefully, and got dragged down them and across the yard, through one of my heirloom rose bushes and two shrubberys.
I dislocated my collarbone and was black and blue all over. The only silver lining was that the skunk got away and didn`t tough it out and spray us.

@Soppyspanieleyes oh I’m so sorry, your dog sounds wonderful - thank you for sharing.

We have the trainer today, so I’m hopeful we’ll feel much more positive later on. Plus last night pup was cuddly and lovely, she must have sensed I was at the end of my rope

I spent all night googling whether Happypup might be killed from a piece of chewing gum - I wasn't sure he had hoovered it up before I said leave it and Xylitol is apparently v poisonous to them argh!

@Soppyspanieleyes she sounds like she was an amazing girl x

Having a dog makes you realise how disgusting people are with litter

@Soppyspanieleyes so sorry to hear about your dog, she sounds lovely.

@HappyThursdays its awful isn't it, pugpup picked up a fag butt yesterday, he did drop it but its gross!

@PoleToPole I really can't imagine leaving pugpup for long at the moment, I know I will have to as I will eventually have work meetings outside the house though. My parents are happy to have him at theirs once he is bigger and more trained also so that's good. It will be really good for them to have the company also. I am just working on leaving him when I go for a wee right now without him barking as that would be a bonus .

We have had progress with moving from pee pads to outdoors, he is now sitting at the back door to go out for a poo. He will also poo on walks. Wees not so much as he doesnt seem to have a lot of notice yet for when he needs fo go. I am hopeful though as at least he understands to go outside. It only took 1 day which is great.

Hi all, picking up puppy on Saturday and reading through these posts I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed! I adopted a rescue in 2019 and had him for 6 months before some really serious issues started to emerge and I worked with a behaviourist for further 5 months before realising I just couldn't provide what he needed. I loved him to bits and was heartbroken to say goodbye but it was the best thing for him and he's living happily with a more experienced single lady in the countryside! I'm a bit worried I'm going to make lots of mistakes and end up with a really tricky to manage dog again! How are you all finding socialisation in lockdown? Also how on earth did you all decide on your puppies' names??

Hi Jofi! We had a shortlist and then tried out a few of them on him when he arrived. Some we'd liked just didn't work for him. You have to shout it a lot! I've learnt that socialisation is much more about different places/things/experiences than other dogs. I've been walking literarypup in my arms to the park/along streets etc so he can see new things. The first week we had him I got covid so he was stuck indoors for the first 10 days and he's still adjusted fine.

Good luck! Send us a picture! What I would recommend is be prepared! I've found a lot of online shops are slow with delivery and I wish we'd got a lot more toys and chews in before he arrived.

@Jofischoice we got pugpup at end of November and we were in tier 2 then tier 3 soon after. When we first got him we bought a carrier for him and took him for a few walks, shopping and also to some restaurants. He loves people so much and was so good when out, never wee'd where he shouldn't and always waited till we were home. We often took a meal out for him so he could stay in his feeding routine. He isn't scared of any noises so far even though he's a tiny thing. He wants to play with all dogs, even huge ones!

Names wise my DS2 (12) made a list. He is named after the lead singer of his favourite 80s band

I agree re ordering ASAP, we got the main things from Amazon and Pets at Home in advance but didn't really thing about things like kongs etc. Definitely worth ordering some of those ASAP as they are really slow delivery. I had a Google and there are a few places with some in stock but its very limited.

Lots of success today going outside instead of indoor pee pads, every poo outside which is great in just a day so happy with that. Wees more tricky but he has finally wee'd in the garden so hopefully he'll carry on now. We are working on 'stay' and also waiting before greeting people. I can tell these will be the hardest ones for him.

Thanks for all of that helpful advice @PoleToPole. He's a mini poodle so very easy to pick up and I do so when I can see he is overwhelmed.

@Soppyspanieleyes what a lovely thing to read about your dog - I am so sorry she's no longer with you.

we are having a mare with Happypup hoovering stuff up on the pavement. My eyesight isn't great so often I don't spot it till too late. I am waiting for my new glasses but there's a massive backlog because of Covid.

last night, someone had thrown a whole takeaway out their window onto the pavement and I had to drag him away but he had already got a chicken leg in his mouth, luckily I managed to get it out but he ate a sort of strip of material fgs. And then this morning, I didn't see a tea bag on the street and it was in his mouth before I grabbed it. It's because it's rubbish day today so all the bins are out! ARGH

he does understand leave it but i have to say it immediately and often I don't see he has it in his mouth till too late as his nose is always on the ground about 2mm above the pavement!

@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore everyone makes mistakes. It's like having a baby really! you make mistakes and you learn from them - please don't feel bad that you are because none of us are experts!

So frustrated today, pugpup is in a weird mood and is really unsettled. He had a wee/poo at 1120 last night but still needed another poo 520 so that's not very long for him really. Also he has wee'd on the carpet, in the kitchen and pooed on carpet so far. I managed to stop him part way through pooing and put him outside. I took him out 4 times when he went to back door looking like he needed a wee, he just was running everywhere he's not allowed, came in and wee'd inside (at the back door by his pad but still annoying when we had literally just come indoors.

He is bitey and all over the place, we had such a good day yesterday too. Doesnt helped he refused to walk today as I wasn't going, he just cried outside the front door. Usually DH can entice him out but not today.

Hello please can I join

We are collecting our labradoodle a week on Tuesday

I have had lots of dog experience but mainly rescues this will be my first puppy

We are very excited

Soppyspanieleyes really sorry to hear about your dog's passing. Thanks for sharing all the highs and lows of puppyhood for us all who are new to this

@ScarfAndGlassesgirl Welcome. Climb aboard. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!