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

@MyRabbit79 poor you, how scary. Hope he's better soon and good luck keeping him calm and rested.

Thanks everyone for all the OH solidarity. Glad it's not just me! I wonder how many divorces are a result of getting a puppy

@Plantlover23 thank you, that is good to know. Redpup disliked his other two harnesses which were through the head too.

@Sparkle79 - putting two and two together I think all the bickering with my husband is probably result of stress with redpup.
Redpup is amazing though, would not change him for anything. Still think is the best decision we took.

@myrabbit79 how was pup overnight? Hope you got enough sleep too.

@jiberoo, give it a go! I though it'd be ok with the raw thing, but I did find it pretty gross to deal with first thing in the morning! I know there are more palatable options though, mine was just a chunk of offal frozen at the butchers.

@Doje he seems better today, thanks for asking. Partner has just taken him to walk to the end of the road and his little tail was going mad. He thought it was playtime at 5am even though he was half asleep.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Any news *@myrabbit79*? I totally know how you are feeling, we’ve had some awful waits for vet and hospital visits and we’ve even left him overnight. So I get the worry of a sick dog but I hope it turns out to be nothing for you. Please feel free to message me if it would help x

Leaving him overnight must have been awful, sorry you had to go through that. I'm glad both our pups are a bit better now. It's so stressful isn't it!

Arghh. My trainer has freaked me out a bit. Pup is due her second jabs on 11March (can’t wait!) and I assumed I could take her out the next day but the trainer said it could by another seven to 10 days on from then! What’s everyone else’s experiences? Sorry if this has been asked before!

It was two weeks for us after the second jabs, sorry

@Mediumred I think we were a week after second jabs for short walks in the street, and another week after that before we could take her out to places that there might be a lot of dogs, like parks. Wait and see what your vet says but sounds like your trainer is probably right, sorry! It seems so long when they're climbing the walls.

@Mediumred 1 week till we could take ours out. Vet said just make sure he doesn’t eat poo till 2 weeks after lol

@Mediumred I've been told one week after second dose

We were also told seven to ten days I'm afraid.

Oh thanks, @GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat, @ashmts, @LondonPupMum and @Doberwow, at least now know I suppose, it’s just that she was nearly nine weeks when she had her first jab, then the vet said four weeks until the second one, which is still more than a week away, she and I are both climbing the walls, sure it will help her behaviour at home too, but I guess it will pass and we will get through it. It’s just I was sure my colleague had been told she could take her pup out straight after her second jab.

Pup has been socialising a bit by going out in her bag but twice she has really fussed as I rushed home and she had needed to go to the loo, plus she’s really getting too big to go in it or to be carried far!

@Mediumred we were told two weeks, but it got to around 10 days and we took him out and he was fine. Our trainer says you should get them out ASAP even when they haven’t had their second injections as the socialisation is more important than the tiny risk of them catching something, but I personally wouldn’t have taken him out before his second jab just incase. It feels like forever when you’re waiting to go out!

@Mediumred I was recommended one week too!

Different places do seem to suggest different things - some say the risk of being unsocialised is greater than the risk of catching something but I was personally too nervous to take any risks so we didn’t walk until the week had passed. Still loads they are allowed to do though - we went on a walk in my arms every day, to pet shops, to the train station etc. It’s surprising how much being carried but still sniffing everything tires them out! It is hard when they’re getting heavy though!

Has anyone had any luck/any tips for training their puppy to be dried with a towel? Plantpup currently thinks it’s one big game and just tries to bite the towel and just generally goes a bit crazy. The guy who runs her daycare mentioned it to me today as she did the same with him...nipping the towel, being a general pain. So I told him we would work on it! I am going to try desensitisation to the towel with treats etc but wondered if anyone had any (ideally rapidly working) top tips?

Felt irrationally embarrassed by the fact she’d been like that with him today so would like it sorted sooner rather than later

@Mediumred it was a week after 2nd dose for us, then we could only do pavement walks and another 2 weeks for anywhere else. We have a river nearby so the vet mentioned the risk of rats wee and the fact the jab only covers 4 types anyway. We were so gutted at waiting another week as we’d done no socialisation and she was 11 weeks. She wasn’t keen on traffic at first but now at 15 weeks, she is fine and unfazed. In fact, the only thing that spooks her is other dogs barking in the distance

We have a carrier for pugpup and we went out quite a bit at first but we went into tier 3 then tier 4 the following day so couldn't do too much. We took him to restaurants and shops in the couple of weeks we could after getting him. We have lots of foxes near us so vet advised not to allow him on the ground at all near us, then 1 week after 2nd jabs for pavement walking then 2 weeks for parks etc.

@Plantlover23 we have the same issue, we bought him a bathrobe instead haha

Awful night with GeorgiePup 😴

Two mornings of 5.15am wake ups now and last night he cried for the toilet an hour after we’d gone to bed (he had been just before bed).

This so wasn’t something we’d considered. I thought dogs loved their sleep

So Doberwow is now nine and a half weeks, he gets horribly bogey and fighty, grabs on things, biting, won't be distracted.

Any top tips please?

That should say BITEY not bogey 🙄

@Doberwow. There’s some great advice in this on the Facebook page dog training advice and support.

He’s probably worse when tired, try and get to nap.
Do a time out, go out of the room, just a few seconds should reset him
Distract with toys, frozen tea towel, frozen carrot, yakker chew. Raw chicken wing.
Wear thick boots at all times.

@Doberwow we have a 4 step process. 1 try to distract with a toy 2.if that doesn't work walk away / out if the room 3. If he's still bitey it sometimes means he needs a poo. 4. If he's still bitey he goes to bed (usually it means he needs a nap but sometimes he just needs a couple of minutes time out) I know how it is, we still have times like this but as you get to know him better you will work out when and why he gets like this.

@MaryIsA interesting moment last night after trying the frozen tea towel, it defrosted a bit and he unraveled it then tried to hump it

Does anyone have any plans to get pup used to the kids going back to school? Sparklepup has only ever known them to be home (not our intention but lock down was announced just after we got him) and being a collieX he likes us all to be together. He doesn't even like it when they go in the garden or upstairs. He's going to be distraught next week.