Puppy Survival Thread - January - February

[C4itl]

Continuing on the thread from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4105422-Puppy-Survival-Thread-December?pg=28 before we hit the message limit

@Doje I am 99% sure pugpup does actually do it to piss me off. He was jumping up at my dinner the other week, I told him down, he got down and looked straight in my eyes and wee'd on the carpet. He also wees in his crate and we were told they won't do that. He cries straight after, as soon as we change the blanket he'll settle. He rarely does it at night but in the daytime if I leave him or sometimes just because he fancies doing so. He will also wee on anything soft we leave around, blankets, coats, jumpers, dirty washing waiting to go in the machine.

We have a memory foam cushion that goes in the crate, it was possibly £30ish. He scratches at it a bit but hasn't done any damage, as its in the crate I guess he can't get to the corners that easily to chew them.

Poor georgiepup. I really hope he’s ok and they get good news soon.
Petal’s had a good few days enjoying her first walks.
She’s going backwards in her crate sleeping at night as DH has been letting her sleep on his camp bed with him in the kitchen where he’s supposed to be keeping her company!
On the plus side she usually sleeps all night and sometimes takes herself for a nap in the crate during the day and all special treats and stolen items get taken in there so she doesn’t totally hate it!
I’m worried about the separation anxiety aspect. She’s a heavy sleeper so I can leave her and go to another room while she’s asleep no problem and have started to potter in and out while she’s awake and she doesn’t always follow me or bother if I shut the door between us. But depending what you read I’m either worried about rushing the process or not starting soon enough!

And yes @PugInTheHouse - what is it with evening weeing? This morning I waited for hours for her to do one outside and this evening she’s done 4 in the last 90 minutes-2 out and 2 in!

@Puginthehouse that made me proper laugh. I was being kind - He totally did it on purpose. He's in that sort of mood tonight. Thankfully, he's fallen asleep now. In his cold crate, with only a blanket, because he weed on the only bed he's not torn apart!

Tomorrow's another day.....

@petalpup I reckon its like the secret life of pets and they all plan these things together

We have had a really good day today. We had one inside wee just as i was putting my coat on to take him out. I have been putting water down with every meal or snack and also before/after walks and after hes been running around, so he's had plenty of water but its meant I can log it on the puppy potty log app rather than me not knowing when he's been drinking. We also have a water fountain for the cats so I turned it off and each time he has gone to drink from it I have put his little bowl down for him. In addition we have moved him from 4 to 3 meals a day now.

I think it'll be a long haul with him as hes gone form being brilliant to just weeing anywhere and I was complacent as just assumed it was an off couple of days which seems to have steathly turned into an off 2 or 3 weeks.

We have upped his walking time as he has just turned 4 months so hopefully it'll give him more time to wee on his walk also.

@doje they definitely all have days like that, I am told they don't do it on purpose but I don't believe it

Luckily we have 2 crates so 2 mattresses so we can swap if need be. Makes life easy.

WRT beds. We’ve got a couple of bits of vet bed-one in the crate and one spare
A fancy fleecy cushioned cath kidston one Which I thought she’d destroy but hasn’t and absolutely loves it-sleeping in it and playing by burrowing under the cushion. I think it was about £30 on offer in Lidl!
Plus now the kitchen sofa which was always our old dog’s domain so it’s quite nice to have a dog on there again!

Poor Georgiepup - pls do send my love x

I will pass all your lovely comments on x

Seems that lots of us have similar worries with the separation anxiety aspect of things. Plantpup is getting more used to being on her own but like you all I’m torn how cruel to be kind to be with her. If she is overtired I pop her in her crate (willingly!) and she may cry for a few minutes before settling, never more than 5 and if it gets that long I go and sit with her/take her out to work out what she needs before going back in again. She is also starting to play in there for a little while quietly on her own when I’m not there which is good too, but not for very long! It’s hard to know how hard to push it as I don’t want to make her feel worse

Hope we get some good news on Georgiepup soon, I know C4pup's mum was having issues with seizures just before we brought C4pup home, and I checked in with the breeder last night and she's completely recovered, so that offers some hope

I really thought we'd cracked the night time routine getting up at 4AM for a poo and then 7AM for a wee, but the past two nights when I've came down at 4 he's already done a poo Back to the drawing board on that one...he's fully transitioned to Butternut Box now so not sure whether that's having an effect on his toilet routine

I really hope Georgiepup is ok.

How are all your pups with napping during the day? Doboopup can be a great napper so long as nothing is going on and no noise. But with two adults working from home, a home schooling 5 year old and a relatively open plan living space (nowhere else for crate to go), she’s an utter whinging toad if anything is happening without her. We have constant background noise (music/tv) and don’t stop what we are doing....but she needs her sleep as she’s a bitey menace without it. Any tips?

@Doboopedoo the single thing I found that helped my pup napping in the day is ignoring him. I don't crate but i find if I sit with my back to him and don't give him eye contact (very hard!) he pootles around and then settles himself and either plays with toys or dozes off. So even if you are all there you could try just not responding at all. I find it hard to do at first (both not looking at him and not worrying about what he is doing) but it's remarkably effective and I hope it's helping his independence a bit- that he's learning I am not always available to him. He was a Velcro pup but since doing this he's got much better about that and will happily be in a different room. Haven't tried with the door shut yet though! I'm trying to get him to learn there are times I am there for him and times I am not and it's ok to relax either way 😁😁

Thanks for this - I do find if it’s just one of us around it helps and she will settle easier after pottering a bit. She’s been up since 530 and only had about four ten minute bursts of sleep as she has serious FOMO if she hears a door or a voice. Just a nuisance that everything happens in this room and you need to go through it to the kitchen!

@Doboopedoo pugpup is the same, will sleep in the crate if I don't move at all. If I do need to get up and do stuff if not working then its easier to let him follow me and then he'll settle when I sit back down. If I'm busy with work he'll settle in the crate for ages or sleep on the sofa next to me. Its quite frustrating as hes a nightmare being left alone awake also so I feel quite stressed at times!

I'm having the same issue, C4pup will settle in the kitchen if I'm sat at the table or if I get up to go into the living room, but if I get up to go upstairs he goes crazy even if he's been asleep and i've crept out

I’m glad I’m not alone....although these pups need to realise sleep is important! I wish I could nap all day in a safe cosy place

We have the same issue here, Jofipup only seems to settle if there is just one of us in the room, or we are all sitting and doing nothing, but then he gets crazed and bitey when he hasn't had enough naps! We are taking it in turns to go into the kitchen and settle him but it doesn't always work. Can't wait until I can go into work again as it's so difficult to work from home with him around.

How are all your pups in the car? I've been working up to it with Jofipup and tried our first five minute trip out without someone in the back with him today. He was fine on the way there but whined on the way back - not sure if he was unhappy in the car though or just tired as he does tend to whine right before he settles to sleep. Don't know whether to take a step back with the training or keep trying.

Sending love to Georgie and Georgiepup, what a nightmare situation. I really hope they have some more information soon, uncertainty is the worst!

@Jofischoice C4pup changes each time we go in the car, sometimes he sleeps, sometimes he just lays there awake but then other times he whines and barks. I've started taking a chew into the car with me to give him if he starts to bark.

He has a car harness that buckles into the seatbelt so I'm not too concerned when he barks anymore as he can hardly move around, he was originally in one of those car basket seats but he started jumping out and could run around the back seats as it wasn't the most secure thing!

C4pup has refused to nap since 10:30AM this morning, we normally go for a walk around 3PM and what a surprise he's just decided to sleep!

@Jofischoice plantpup is very hit and miss with the car. She had a bit of a baptism of fire with it as we had an hour drive home from the breeder and then two 30 min trips daily all last week, plus trips to the vet. Every time it’s only been me in the car with her so she’s been in a soft car crate. To begin with she cried and cried and barked and pawed at the crate but by the end of last week she cries for about 30 seconds - a minute and then settles now. Not sure it’s the best advice or method as it wouldn’t have been what I’d chosen given the option but it seems to have worked out ok in the end for us

Do any of you have tips on what you do when your puppy gets zoomies or goes a little crazy? It’s generally when she’s tired but plantpup can be fully feral at that point. Running laps around the room, growling, biting absolutely everything. Not her normal behaviour at all and it’s very hard to stop her once it starts as trying to pick her up just results in growling! Will she tire herself out eventually? Or do I need to be putting a stop to it to calm her down?

@Plantlover23 I can totally empathise, when Jofipup gets overtired he is zoomy and growly and bitey. Our virtual puppy class trainer recommended scattering some kibble for him to find, or something to lick or chew on as these are all calming activities. So one of us will go into the kitchen with him and offer one or two of those things in his pen and then we close the door and sit outside and chat to him... I'd say it works about 70% of the time, sometimes I think he just needs to zoom it out.

Hello hope it’s ok if I join think I’ve commented earlier on. It’s been full on with kids at home etc. We have a 24 week old golden retriever who is lovely. Currently teething abs driving me nuts. Think I’ve bought every enrichment/teething toy going. Freezing kongs etc. He’s still quite mouthy and full on in an evening. However does sleep in crate ok (all night thank goodness)

We are doing zoom puppy classes. We were told to reward nothing, so I’ve been telling him how good he is when he’s just chilling throwing a kibble or 2 down and then starting boundary training. I also rarely bowl feed him it’s all scatter/kong etc

He’s a nightmare on the lead though and this is something I could do with physical help with. Hope everyone is having a nice evening with their puppies

We had our first walk with another dog today. The other dog was not impressed, barked and growled in pugpups face, pugpup does not take the hint and just wanted to play so I had 20 mins of him pulling on the lead and barking wanting to play with the other dog, I was paranoid he'd break the harness but probably at 5kg this wouldn't happen. It is so hard as he has never experienced other dogs other than a fleeting hello on his walks.

I am hoping we can meet up once a week and it will help him? I tried our usual commands (no touch when he isn't allowed at all near a moving object, then wait and go say hi when he is allowed). He did take his attention away from the dog to me but then went straight back to it.

Any advice about how to tackle this?

On a good note he is exhausted now so having a good sleep and I am not stressing wondering he will need a wee

Re the zoomies, we have never thought to stop pugpup doing them, he just zooms around and makes a little obstacle course out of everything in the room, so round one of the DCs sat on the floor, under the chair, jumps over DHs legs and does that several times. I just thought they needed to get them out of his system. Sometimes he then gets bitey after, sort of lauching at you bitey so I just hold him close to me and stroke him to calm him down then try and either get him to have a sleep or to chew on his antler.