Puppy Survival Thread - March - April

[PugInTheHouse]

Just starting a new thread before we run out on www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4141698-Puppy-Survival-Thread-January-February

Welcome to everyone trying to survive the puppy days!

Can I just say, about jumping and biting - we wear clothing that is not too enticing (fluffy socks and jumpers, skirts - I am resigned to dull fleeces/jeans/wellies), and we don’t greet her unless she is feet on the floor, preferably sitting. When we come into the room, she is not our first object of attention. If she jumps up, she is ignored until she calms and sits, then she is gently love bombed. Same for when she is quiet and calm at other times in the house. She is ignored when she barks, unless it becomes clear she needs to go wee!
I have worn ski socks to protect toes and ankles.
If she gets bitey - mostly when she was younger - attention stops. I allowed her to mouth my hand only when she was having a cuddle and was not rough play, and I could feel her adjusting pressure in her jaw so as to not hurt me. She learned what was gentle and what was too much.

I don’t think you can stop them biting altogether, as they mouth - seems to be an affection thing? And yes to having toys handy.

Ours being a very excitable pup, we stopped play in the house to foster calmness in her, but she does have chew and squeaky toys, and treat dispensers she can interact with by herself when I’m cooking or doing something else.

@DoubleTweenQueen we have been a bit shit at reinforcing good greetings. Because he's small and cute, we let him jump all over us but we're going to have to nip it in the bud sooner or later. Your post has motivated me as it seems (obviously) so linked to calmness in the house. That'll be the next thing we tackle for sure!

@DoubleTweenQueen we have the dog toys where they have to solve puzzles like these Nina Ottosson by Outward Hound Dog Worker Treat Dispensing Dog Toy Brain and Exercise Game for Dogs https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075KDZ1J1/ref=cmswwrcppapifabcc_RQAPSN5AV2MSQZZQC51K?psc=1

They are v good for cockers and springers!

His recall has gone though almost completely, outside of the garden so we are back to square one and he is 7.5 months now!

@DoubleTweenQueen Have you tried any agility work? Me and pup both seem to find it very entertaining! Obviously need to be careful of her joints as she is only 4 months so we use broom handles for jumping over, box lids for standing on and plant pots as a slalom (which she mostly just ploughs into )!

@Mehmaid I have made the mistake of not sorting out grannypup's tendency to jump up for fuss. She's 9 months now and her paws are muddier and sharper. I wish I'd worked on this when she was small cute and biddable

@grannycake you have a BT as well don't you? I know they tend to be much more 'paws up' than other breeds so definitely something we need to work on. His claws are already razor sharp Seems like we must nip it in the bud before it gets worse

It's never too late to improve manners! (Dogs or humans!)

@HappyThursdays and @LorelaiVictoriaGilmore Thanks for the ideas! I'm sure I could put together some sort of course in the garden.....

Ive just bought a book called easy peasy puppy squeezy as I have most things down and managed to encorperate roll over but she still pulls like mad when she wants to be somewhere!

She played me this morning though faking needing a wee, walked behind me down the stairs then ran back up and jumped into bed with hubby so I just got in with them. We got to sleep in til 9 and got woken up with her wagging her tail in her sleep

We are working on 'wait' when she runs ahead of me on her walks as I want her to stop when I can see a danger ahead over time.

She sleeps well during the day here now either on the sofa or the floor and can entertain herself! She does however get her quacky rubber duck out and slaps me with it a lot when she wants entertaining or her one she has removed the quack when she is in a grump!

I do have a fear her being as good as she is will dissappear from posts on here though! Does it always happen? Her recall is about 99.9% and can get her past other dogs easily especially if she has her ball but does it always stop?

@mehmet Have you seen the border terrier training group on Facebook It only started a few weeks ago but I have been trying a technique demonstrated to encourage them to stay or at least check back to you when off lead and it's been very effective. It's called Club border - dog training for border terriers

@Qwertyyui I don't think it always does but Happy's was also virtually perfect before it went. It still shocks me to the core the day we called him back and he kept running! It was honestly so terrifying and it took us ages to catch him! He is a confident dog so I always thought it might go (we've had dogs before). The quieter/less brave ones in my opinion tend to stay a bit more obedient in their teenage years but not sure there's a rhyme or reason to it

@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore
Love the idea of the puppy agility! I’m going to try that!
I’m also terrified about the teenage stage. My Springer is 5 months and his recall has been brilliant up until now. Im dreading the day he just ignores me!

@HappyThursdays pheebs is quite a mummys girl and does check in a lot. She still doesn't really like people she doesn't know (scuttles around them then sniffs the backs of their legs... weirdo) and is slightly skitty if a dog barks at her (though comes back for reassurance and checks with me she can say hi or walks past them quickly looking at them with disgust) so maybe she might carry on as she is. She is 8 months soon. She knows 'no' and 'ahah' when she detours towards a horses field gap.... she also checks back to see which fork in a path we are taking and if we change the walk to mix it up she does get anxious and enjoys her walk less sometimes (especially if she has been barked at or seen something she isn't used to)

We live next to a country park so any darting she could do luckily is never near a road as I do worry if she ran she is not car sensible (she would kill herself trying to cross the road to get to the beach NOW which is why she knows to wait until I tell her to get out the car after I have swapped from her seatbelt to the lead and never undo the seatbelt clip until I know she is secure!)

I’m also dreading the teenage phase! Petal is pretty independent already which is great for being able to leave her while we’re in another room and we’ve started going out for short periods but I just know she’s going to decide fairly soon that charging across the field to another dog or person is much more rewarding than us even if we’ve got the best treats and toys in the world!

Getting into a good routine now the kids are back at school. She’s still only having short walks-20 -30 mins max but she’s off lead and charging around so she crashes out nicely for a few hours after each one. I can’t wait to be able to take her on a proper long walk. Preferably with a pub at the end!

Really good day today! Last session with the trainer this morning and she’s really pleased with him. Recall, attention, games, activity was all amazing. He’s timid around other dogs but starts daycare with her this week and she has some puppies so we hope to build his confidence. I think he’ll be fine with a bit of experience.

Then straight to the groomers who also said he’d been really good, so excited at everything and they think as a adult dog he’ll really become calm there as he’s not bothered by anything they do, he just loves seeing them and getting the fuss. Vet yesterday also said how good he was there, he has weekly blood tests and takes it all in his stride.

Bedtime is also great, he sleeps in the lounge and we end up waking him for meds. He’d go longer if we could leave him.

We’ve had such a shit start to puppy life that having a good few days has lifted me immeasurably! I’ve had weeks of being tearful that I could actually burst with pride now.

Sorry I’ll shut up.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat That’s a really lovely update! Yay!! :)

HummusPup just swallowed some chewing gum on her evening walk luckily we were round the corner from the vets and rushed her straight round. They’ve made her vomit it up but just deciding whether to keep her in and monitor glucose levels all night

My nerves are in shreds sitting outside waiting for her. Why do people litter?!?! At least I spotted her eat it just didn’t manage to get it off her in time before she swallowed it

Oh no Spread, hoping puppy is fine. thats my nightmare. I dont understand why people litter either.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat that is the loveliest update, so pleased for you

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat that was so lovely to read, glad to hear things are going well. I feel like it is definitely the age for them starting to settle down.

@SpreadHummusNotHate its such a worry isn't it, I have been doing some clearing out at home today, so far I have retrieved a fruit shoot lid, a Chinese checker ball and a dart flight out of pugpups mouth. I said to DH last night I wonder how many times we will end up at the vets with him over his life time because of him eating things. The amount of litter is horrendous isn't it, the summer will be even worse no doubt. I keep practicing dropping things that are edible and he will leave them 90% of the time as long as I tell him to leave it first. If I don't tell him to leave it he usually eats it 90% of the time, probably more.

@PugInTheHouse that's why our trainer doesn't teach a 'leave it' cue. She trains her dogs to ask permission before they pick anything up because she says otherwise she'd be constantly saying 'leave it' on walks as there's so much litter where she lives. Time will tell if it actually works, but I dropped a chunk of onion yesterday when cooking dinner and pup stood up but didn't even move towards it. We have a lot of work to do to get her to do the same outside, but if it works it'll be brilliant.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat You really have had a tough time, I'm so glad to hear things are better.

The vet made her throw it up and said she seems fine but they decided to keep her in overnight to monitor her glucose levels just in case because she’s only a pup. Poor thing was so sorry for herself afterwards

A sleepless night ahead here I think - hopefully we can pick her up first thing in the morning and she’ll be her bitey self again.

She’s normally pretty good at dropping rubbish straight away but maybe because it was gum it had a bit of taste to it. She wouldn’t even swap for a bit of hotdog just swallowed it. We are definitely going to have to up our leave it training!!

@ashmts that does make sense, pugpup doesn't pick stuff up very often outside now, we used leave it or drop it and swapped for treats, now he generally doesn't bother. Our issue is in the garden or house, he finds things he runs away with them. He won't drop the things either even if we ask but I have stopped trying to get the stuff from his mouth and just walk away and as soon as he thinks I am going to the fridge he drops them and comes inside.

@SpreadHummusNotHate as they have made her sick hopefully all will be fine. When pugpup at the caterpillar he was coughing/choking during the evening as it had stung his throat but completely back to normal by the time we went up to bed, he was even back sniffing round where he found it

Oh god yes the furry caterpillar - poor pugpup

HummusPup isn’t too bad for stealing stuff round the house but only because she rarely gets the opportunity. On occasion she’ll manage to grab a slipper then runs around the whole house with her prize looking very pleased with herself

Weepup was absolutely wired today...like a constant zoomie-it was humorous and exhausting in equal measure! We sort of left her to see if she would settle in bed in the living room but she just keeps going and going, eventually had to give in and out her in crate where she crashed out instantly! Would just be nice if she was asleep beside us. She has also today learnt to leap into couch and don’t know how to stop it...all tips welcome! She doesn’t even want to jump up and just lie down, just run about daft then jump off again