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

8am? That's a really long lie in our house. Our day begins at 6am seven days a week. Having a puppy in that respect with small DC has been easy as you are already used to uncivilised hours to be awake.

C4 try moving the last feed of the day to 3pm. Ours has her last feed around this time. She does her poo at around 6am when going out first thing.

Any tips on coaxing a fair weather pup who’s not keen on a rainy walk? 😆

I would honestly say 8am is late for a dog to go out for first morning pee. We also take her out at 3am.

Hi! Joining in as i've been through this myself.
@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat - I wouldn't usually advocate deliberately hyping up a puppy, as they can be manic enough! But, if your pup shies away from a rainy walk, I would make everything immediately before the walk distractingly exciting. Put on your best mad dog lady voice - high pitched with fun movements whilst putting on the lead, treats in your pocket, keep him looking at you, lots of "good boy! what's this!? where are we going!?" jolly jolly jolly, all the way out of the door and down the road. Other people might think you're potty and give you a wide berth, which is always a bonus at the moment!

@blowinahoolie - Our dog (2 years old) seems to have the bladder of an elephant. Either that or she's a bit lazy in the evenings / morning. Rarely interested in going for a wee after about 8pm and often doesn't go out in the morning until about 8am. But I accept it's different for pups that are learning.

@blowinahoolie I would honestly say 8am is late for a dog to go out for first morning pee. We also take her out at 3am. With the best will in the world, the other day you were advocating leaving them far longer than that with no toilet break so you have to appreciate everyone is different and we're all learning. Let's try to keep this thread free of judgement unless absolutely warranted. I love a lie in and don't consider 8am a long lie (and I am jealous of the WFH life that makes that possible on weekdays!).

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat What do you mean? Will pup not leave the house or do they refuse to walk once you're out? Ours was a bit like this when she was younger, I'd have to pick her up and carry her for a bit on walks cos she was jumping up my legs to get up. It was a very cold winter here though and I think her wee paws got cold, and once she'd been up for 5 mins she'd walk again. Do you have a waterproof coat for pup?

Seems like there's a few different things I could try based on all of your ideas, I guess it's just a case of trial and error until I find something that's right for us

I can guarantee we'll get into a routine and then Spring will come around, the clocks will change and we'll be back to square one...

@ashmts My next door neighbour has a puppy too but they let him sleep in their bed, I see them getting up at 10am on the weekends and wish I was them

Hopefully one day that will be all of us!

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat We struggle to get C4pup out on a walk if we're walking in our street, I think it's because he can see the house and probably thinks 'why on earth would I be out here when the house is right there '

We've found that he walks a lot better if we take him somewhere away from the house, whether that be carrying him to the next street over, or taking him to a park etc. He'll happily walk along for ages then, rain or shine. Might be worth a try!

"Let's try to keep this thread free of judgement unless absolutely warranted."

You were asking for advice. Others including myself have chipped in. As you say, we are all learning and I took advice from another poster about my own pup which seems to be correct re timings of pee trips for her age. Good luck and hopefully you find a solution soon 🙂

Sorry, I meant C4!

C4 was asking for advice so I tried my best to say 8am was perhaps late for the pup for first morning pee. Only acutely aware of this precisely because another poster with much more experience than me pointed out you can't leave them long.

I agree 8 am is late for a puppy's first wee of the morning, even more so if they haven't eaten since 4:30pm. Frenchpups last meal is at about 6:30 - 7pm. She sleeps through the night from 10pm, and we wake at 6am with our alarm. She sometimes goes through til 7am at weekends but by then is bursting for a wee.

I apreaciate your pup has a wee at 3am but they are going 4;30PM until after 8am with no food which is a very long time for a pup.

Dpup's first wee here isn't till 7.30am, but his last meal is about 6pm, so a little later.

All is calming down a little over here. (12 weeks now). We've not had a wee accident for a week now. Being able to go out for walks has really made things easier. It's so much better going for a walk than just hanging around in the garden waiting for a wee, whilst stopping him pick up anything and everything.

What I feel we're missing is something he can sit and gnaw on. I'm forever taking stones off him and would like to replace them with a 'legal' chew - any good recommendations?

@blowinahoolie no worries, I'm willing to try anything

It seems a later meal and an earlier wake up could be the solution, I'm sure C4pup won't agree when he's glaring at me at 4:30

@Doje - Our dog likes Coffee Tree Wood (they do it at Pets at Home and on Amazon). It might be a good option for a pup, as it isn't a food so won't interfere with what you're doing there. Now ours is a bit older she also likes antlers and hooves, but I think that they might be a bit hard for a pup's teeth.

Blowinahoolie- how does your pup manage without eating from 3pm all the way through to the next day? Pugpup is still on 4 meals as hes a tiny one, we will start moving to 3 meals in a couple of weeks but he has 2 meals after 3pm haha.

Has anyone had times where their pups have been toilet trained for ages but then go backwards? Since yesterday morning pugpup has only had 1 wee that hasn't been on the carpet or in the kitchen, I have no idea what is going on. He is asking to go out for a poo every time. I dont think he is unwell.

We are transitioning from pads to garden however there is still a pad at the back door like normal just in case, and also so he heads there are we know. He sits and waits for me to let him out for a poo so he definitely isn't confused about what to do.

yes @PugInTheHouse we went permanently backwards till around 20 weeks where it just suddenly clicked. Dogs are funny things - you think they aren't taking stuff in but then all of a sudden it seems to fall into place.

we are now almost at 6 months and have now moved to 2 meals a day with a substantial snack at lunch time. There is huge debate as to what time the last meal of the day should be I understand (who knew!). We are aiming for between 4-5pm. We then do a walk round the block around 730pm for him to do a final poo and then he goes to sleep. We still wake him for a wee at 9/10pm when we go to bed though there have been times when he's simply too tired to get up.

honestly, I was desperate with toilet training at one stage but I think their bladders mature quite quickly at a certain point and I'm sure it will be different for every dog and then it suddenly seems to fall into place (just waiting for it all to regress when he gets his shot of testosterone and wants to mark everywhere!)

re chews, Happy never got on with Kongs or lickimats (he just eats the whole mat fgs, even the tough one) - but he has always loved ears. We usually get rabbits ears without the hair and muscle and cows ears with the hair and muscle and those have been the best chews for him. We still have an antler but it barely gets a look in now - I suspect it's because all his back teeth are in so he's less 'chewy'.

(also @PugInTheHouse Happy hates weeing in the pouring rain so that may be a factor for Pugpup. Pre 5 months, if it was raining, he would choose to go inside, even though he knew he shouldn't. I still go out with him for his wees in the rain otherwise he sits at the door looking sad!)

Petal seems to have found her appetite after not finishing most of her meals for the first week, then having a bit of a dodgy tum at the weekend so having fish and rice for a few days.
I’m just weaning her back on to her kibble and looked at the amount the packet says she should be having and it’s nearly twice the amount the breeder told me to put her on. I’m leaning to going somewhere in the middle and seeing how she gets on.
She usually has breakfast around 7, lunch 12.30ish, dinner around 5 and a bit more at bedtime!
So far we’ve been very lucky with nighttimes and she tends to need to go at around 3 or not at all. Fingers crossed this continues!

I was thinking of making a January - February thread for this before we hit the message limit, is that okay? I'll post the link here afterwards