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

@Riverhousepuppy that's good to hear thank you!
I just had pup on my knee and he was dozing off when I sneezed and startled him. He popped his head up to lick me and then got overexcited and descended into a mania of licking and snuffling and I was laughing which just spurred him on with his puppy lick attack.

PugInTheHouse you can change direction when doing heel work with your puppy. Walk one way and if they pull, quickly change direction. I would love to put this into practice but have three DC in tow each morning for our local walk so just not happening just now unless DH has her out. He had some success yesterday with her at the park whilst I was way ahead in the distance with all DC. She didn't have the usual distractions! I am sure many of us are going through same dilemma just now 😫

Second walk this morning and partner dropped the lead on a main road and pup was off at the speed of light and was only caught when he paused under a parked car. So scary.

Hello to all the sweet new pups! Hope you're all getting some sleep!

With pulling I have found using the front clip on the two point harness is a game changer. I let Puppypup noodle and snuffle along on the back clip for the first bit of the walk but when we switch to the front he's in 'training mode' - so get him to walk to heel with treats at regular intervals. I had taught him 'watch me' quite early on to get eye contact so outside I am using 'with me' which he seems to get and looks up at me regularly. And treats by the side of the leg to make sure he stays in the right place. You do look bonkers though walking along muttering 'yes, good boy' and stooping down to treat!

I don't know whether this is advised but I have found switching it up while we're out and doing short periods of training is better that trying for brilliant walking to heel all the time.

OMG @MyRabbit79 that is terrifying! Your partner must feel terrible too. Hope you're all ok

@Puppypuppypuppy thank you. I'm trying not to be annoyed with partner but I'm a worrier and am always told I worry for no reason and want to take unnecessary precautions, but this is the exact thing I worry about and it happened on walk two! There was an off lead dog nearby as well which added to everything. Going to invest in a belt hook or something like that.

Well thankfully no harm done @MyRabbit79 and hopefully your partner will be much more careful in future. What a start to the week!

Hello all, I have been reading and catching up with how you're all getting on and been meaning to post for ages but time just seems to disappear (I could definitely do with a extra few hours each day at the moment). It is so reassuring to read about everyone else's time with their puppies. Thing are generally going really well with 2catspup, he walks really well on the lead (we have been using the same technique as @Puppypuppypuppy as advised by a dog trainer), is nearly always toileting outside and usually waits by the back door to let us know he wants to go out (always does for poos, wees are a little less reliable), and has learnt a number of commands relatively easily (sit, leave, drop it, lie down, touch, come, roll over). He chews a lot but that is to be expected from a 14 week old puppy and you can redirect him pretty easily to a toy, and he's getting on really well with one of the cats (the other one is sadly still terrified of him).

The real issue we have is getting him to go to sleep at night. During the day he will happily nap on his bed in the kitchen diner or in the sitting room or on someone's lap. He has a pen in the sitting room which is where he sleeps overnight, he tends to start falling asleep in the evening anytime between 7-8.30 and that is usually up on the sofa with us. We then take him out for a last wee at around 10-10.30 (last night it was 10pm) which we have to wake him up to get him to do, but he does so pretty quickly. We've then been sitting back on the sofa with him for 10 minutes or so to get him to go back to sleep and then carrying him into his pen and laying him on his bed and then closing the pen door, standing by the pen for a bit and then creeping very slowly and quietly out. Sometimes he then stays asleep (and will sleep through until around 6.30), but other times he wakes as soon as I've left the room (or within 2 mins of me doing so and gets up and cries so I come back in and we start again. Last night it took me until midnight before he was settled and asleep and I am now incredibly tired this morning, this has happened three times in the last week. Does anyone have any advice on getting him to sleep and settled?

I'd also be really interested to know what your daily routines are like with your puppies, when do you walk them, feed them, when do they sleep? Thanks for any advice, having a puppy is a wonderful but exhausting learning curve!

@2catsand2kids maybe try taking puppy straight to the crate after final wee while he's still sleepy but not asleep? then he's learning to settle himself there rather than on the sofa with you, only to move again? I did do a fair bit of sitting on the sofa with lights out shushing puppypup in his crate in the early days.

We have the same issue with cats - Puppypup is actually curled up on the next to one of them right now but the other one will only come down for her meals and more or less lives upstairs.

Puppypup's 'routine' (he is just five months).

8 - 830 I come downstairs (have already showered etc) and let him out for a wee. I come down earlier if he makes a noise but he usually sleeps until at least 8.
Breakfast for him and cats
Usually does a poo after breakfast
I start work at 9, he's noodling around playing with toys/ the cat
I will take him out for half an hour/45 mins around 10, depending on meetings.
When he gets back he usually sleeps for a bit.
Lunch around 1 - he still has three meals a day.
I either take him out again at 1.30/2ish for another half hour/40 minutes or DH will take him when he gets home around 3/30 4.
One of his walks will involve going to the park and being on the longer lead - so this will be a bit of a longer session. Our garden is not secure yet and is v small so his time outside and what he can do there at home is limited.
Sleeps after his walk.
During the day I will play with him/ do bits of training as and when. I also set up some things for him through the day like snufflemat, lickimat, a box with newspaper.
Eats again at around 530.
6 - 8 is when we're all around so he gets some more play, bits of training. At about 8 I usually give him a chew and try and encourage him to settle on his cushion or on the sofa.
He'll dose off around 9 usually and aim to get him into his crate between 10 and 1030 after going out for a wee. He has a few bits of chicken in his dish in the crate and a couple of treats.

We are having a nightmare with the cats (well with the pup as its not their fault). When they are in the room and not up high he just chases them, obv we hold onto him majority of the time but now and then they'll sneak in and he just goes. For the first time todwy one of them hissed at him.

I am really gutted, don't know what to do, its been 8 weeks, every bit of research I did said it'll take 2 or 3 weeks but we are no further forward really then we were after a week or two.

Any ideas at all?

we don't have cats anymore I'm afraid - have you got babygates up so the cats can still get around but PuppyPug can't? there is a cat that thinks our garden belongs to him and he's the only thing that makes Happypup bark and go mental.

no we don't have gates but basically the cats have most of the run of the house that pugpup can't get to other than the lounge which is open plan lounge/kitchen/diner and where I work in the day, they have always slept upstairs during the day anyway and pop down now and then for their food/to use the litter box. If they come down during the day they scratch on the door and come in, I always hold onto pup then so that's always ok.

In the evenings they come down but usually he is asleep or calm at that point so it's not so bad. We started off by putting their food and litter in the hallway so they didn't have to come in where he was but when they seemed to tolerate him more (eg sleeping on our bed when he is on the crate next to them) we moved it back in as obviously we want them to be with us also.

I am just going to keep training him to not chase them but I am really upset about it all TBH. I am so gutted one of them hissed as they have not done that before, he is the more nervous of the two but has generally been ok and goes quite close to the crate and is happy to watch him if hes sat with me calmly. It feels like a huge step backwards. We had a feliway in the lounge but maybe we should put upstairs where they are mostly and also one downstairs?

Thanks for all the replies re pulling, can anyone recommend a brand for the two point harness? Do we also need a double ended lead?

Pup is back at daycare today for the first time in two weeks, bit worried about the feedback I'm going to get when I collect her cos I'm well aware she's more of a handful than she was a couple of weeks ago! It's also very useful to have the input and support of the daycare owner though, I'm so grateful for his help. Maybe being back around other dogs and getting a good play will sort her out a bit.

@2catsand2kids We don't have a set routine, DP is a shift worker so although we tend to stick to a rough routine it can vary. On daycare days she gets up about 7.30/8, toilet trip and then straight to daycare. She gets fed all her meals there. On days off she gets up any time between 8 and 10, depending on what we're doing. Toilet trip, breakfast, potter about the garden/bit of training and then a nap. She'll then usually get a big walk around noon. Then back around 2pm (we drive to walks, she's not walking the whole two hours) for lunch. Another nap. Up for the toilet/chew some toys/do some training/be a wee pest. Dinner around 6/7pm. Chew in her crate while we eat then out for cuddles on the couch. She'll usually drop off around 9pm and we wake her when we're going up to bed (usually 11ish) for another toilet trip and then straight into her crate. She'll get let out for the toilet about 6am then back into her crate till it's time to get up. Reading that back it's all very calm! It was not this way at 14 weeks. She's now 20 weeks. When she was younger walks were shorter, naps were shorter and less predictable, and she stayed up later and needed out at 3am, not 6am.

@blowinahoolie I have never had any of my Pyrs able to go through the night without a toilet break before five months old, and I go to bed late and get up early. They were all able to when they got older, they really are still just babies at 14 weeks old. Please dont do as your DHs sister says, its cruel to leave a pup in their crate trying to hold it when they need to go, and distressing to them .

Welcome new pups! Petalpup and Jofipup are both stunning!

@AnnaVR I bet you cant wait! For feeding, I would speak to her breeder and see what her schedule is currently, and also what her daily routine is at the minute so that you can keep it as similar as possible to help her settle in. Grooming there are lots of great YouTube tutorials (search for "beginner labradoodle grooming" or something similar), I always groom my own dogs the equipment is cheap on Amazon and its fairly quick to get the hang of. Walking I would check with your vet as it can be very individual and breed specific, and your vet should be able to help you come up with a regime to build it up

@CarolEffingBaskin BaskinPup is adorable! I have had some crated fosters in the past, but I never crate train my own dogs and I think it makes things about a thousand times easier. A conservative estimate of course .

@PugInTheHouse I have had a few fosters who just will not stop chasing the cats. Every time they went to chase them, I would firmly but kindly, in a sort of guiding tone of voice say "no, no cats" and put them straight on a lead clipped around my waist.
They would stay on the lead until calmed down/less zoomy, and then off the lead. As soon as they start chasing the cats, the same thing and straight back on the lead.

After a few on and off the lead times, try walking pup past the cats whilst on the lead, distracting him with treats/toys/whatever works, and praising effusively "yes, yes well done!" when he walks past ignoring them. If his eyes stray to the cats, firmly, but in a guiding sort of voice say "no, no cats" and then "yes! well done" as soon as his attention is back on you.

Keep doing that and gradually build up to getting him to walk past the cats off the lead whilst being distracted, and then when they dart, just used the "no, no cats" and he should immediately turn to you looking for the treat/toy.

It can take a bit of time, but it is very effective as they learn that ignoring the cats = reward.

Thanks @poletopole pugpup doesn't have a collar as due to his breed we were told harness only so he only has it on when we go for walks. Perhaps I should put the harness on in the evenings for a bit to practice?

No worries, it might not be something you want to try, but it has worked well for me @PugInTheHouse. Could you leave his harness on him during the day?
It is very stressful isn`t it? It does sometimes take longer than a couple of weeks, I think sometimes people either forget or like to say it took less time.

Yes I will leave it on I think, we need to do something as we are not progressing with it, my
assumption was stupidly that the cats would get used to him but its clear that won't happen whilst he's still so hectic. Anything controlled training wise indoors or when its quiet he seems to pick up very quickly but when there are higher value distractions he is not great

@PoleToPole I have never had any of my Pyrs able to go through the night without a toilet break before five months old, and I go to bed late and get up early. They were all able to when they got older, they really are still just babies at 14 weeks old. Please dont do as your DHs sister says, its cruel to leave a pup in their crate trying to hold it when they need to go, and distressing to them

Have to say this is my take on it too, just because they maybe can physically hold it because they don't want to soil the crate doesn't mean they're comfortable. We only started leaving her longer at night when she was reluctant to go out in the garden when we went downstairs and obviously just wanted us to leave her to sleep. That's only been in the last couple of weeks. But then I suffer from bad UTIs and DP and I have both worked with patients with bladder/kidney diseases so I'm very paranoid about urinary health!

@PugInTheHouse I think 2-3 weeks is totally unrealistic for cats to get used to puppy! You would be very lucky I think if that was the case.

We've had Puppypup for three months now and our boy cat ranges from watching him play to tolerating/ sitting with him to actively trying to swipe him. The only thing that's worked for us is proximity on the cat's terms, so letting the cats come in and be with him when they want to but really well supervising them when this happens and not letting dog chase cat. Puppypup is massively bouncy and our boy cat is quite an old gentleman now so I think once he's calmed down a bit they will get on much better. Our girl cat is mostly upstairs and we just go up and make a fuss of her and make sure when she is downstairs she can avoid puppypup if she wants to.

@ashmts we have a ruffwear harness which I ordered online - was v uncomplicated measuring-wise compared to some others, It goes over the head and them clips round the middle and Puppypup is happy wearing it.

@Puppypuppypuppy thank you so much, I was actually really worried we had messed this up completely and it would never be ok.

Thanks for all advice and welcomes! Sorry Pug we don’t have cats, so can’t help there. Next door have two and I’m dreading BaskinPup ‘meeting’ them in less than perfect circumstances!

Great to hear from someone else who doesn’t crate, thank you Pole I have to say, it seems to be going wonderfully, and is one less thing to do I suppose! We are also lucky at the moment that there are several of us at home so there’s always somebody to supervise her.

BaskinPup has had a busy/exciting day today. She’s worked out already that poking the bells on the back door means she can go out to the garden. Which is great, but she doesn’t really want to go to the toilet, she just loves playing out there
We’ve had some success with ‘sit’ today, but obviously very early days. We’ve discovered she loves chicken so we’re using that for high value treats for training etc. We’ve also taken her in our car, in her car seat, for the first time. She wasn’t keen to begin with, but DD was very good at stroking to calm her and giving her treats when she was quiet. She then met 2 new people when we were collecting DS from school (the reason for the car trip). Now absolutely shattered from all that excitement so she was getting a bit bitey, so I’ve popped her down for a nap.

It’s all seeming a bit... easy if I’m honest. We didn’t get much sleep last night but that’s fine, the toilet trips were very quick even if there were 3 of them! We’re all utterly in love with her!

PoleToPole thought as much. Doesn't seem right to me leaving a puppy at 14 weeks old to hold in for 6 hours. DH struggled to stay up until midnight the other night so put her in crate at 11pm and let out for pee at 3am. We are sticking with this routine and will review it bas time goes on. Thank you for input as you have giant breed dogs and understand

I was worried about posting and coming across as sanctimonious, which really wasnt my intention <strong>@blowinahoolie</strong> but giants really are a different kettle of fish. I do 11pm, 3am too, and then when I get up too, thats the routine I have always followed for pups and it seems to work out well.
I grew up with giants, but DH found it a heck of a shock when we were first together as it really is a lifestyle, perhaps more so that a lot of other dogs, but HooliePup sounds like she`s doing brilliantly so far

I completely agree @ashmts, its an awful feeling needing to go and not being able to, I think urinary health is too often overlooked and not given the attention it needs in both people and pets.

BaskinPup sounds like she`s taking great strides @CarolEffingBaskin, and I know what you mean about it seeming too easy too, PolePup is ridiculously laid back and calm, but very confident. Compared to my Pyrs, (who were all obnoxious nightmare pups ) he has been such an easy pup so far. Hopefully I will not be eating my words when he hits the teenage phase!!!

@PugInTheHouse if you do give putting him on the lead in the house a go, it should help limit the higher value distractions too, and it can be useful opportunity to practice lead walking at the same time.

I have never yet met a puppy of a breed without a high prey drive who could not learn to coexist with cats, given time, if the cats were already in the house when the pup arrived, hang in there, it is still early days even if it doesn`t seem like it. It will get better.