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!

I know it's really hard. I have had a word with dp tonight because I think he's giving Happy too many treats and the walk he does is too short now that he's mainly on lead. He keeps saying he isn't (giving him more treats) but I came back today to find a pack of 2 edible bones and one gone and the only treats he's meant to have are the ones we've measured out. I know my kids won't have bought them and I know dp was at the shop where they are sold today!

It's v hard when you aren't both aligned! He has to realise that Happy is covering a lot less distance once on lead so needs to go a bit further but he is doing the same walk just without the off lead bit and it really is a third of what he was doing before.

It's hard to get it right with food but getting it right now is so key for the rest of their health.

I think you're very diligent owners @PugInTheHouse so don't beat yourselves up!

@HappyThursdays thank you. And yes its frustrating as I had no idea till today. He knows know so hopefully he'll up it, I'm only working Thursday so I can take him out more anyway this week.

Well tonight was a first... Sparklepup refused to have his bedtime wee. Doesn't fill me with hopes of a good night sleep He just took himself to his crate and refused to go outside.

We were previously in a routine of 1-2 hours awake and then 1-2 hours in crate for a nap. But since he's not been going in his crate during the day, I don't think he sleeps as much. He used to go in the crate from 7pm-9pm then be up with us for an hour playing but now he just crashes at 7pm and then when he stirs around 9.30pm we let him out for a last wee and then he goes in his crate til morning.

Do others find they just sleep all evening?

@Sparkle79 if pugpup is really sleepy then he won't have a wee, it never seems to make any difference to how long he sleeps. Before our last few nights of struggles he would sleep from about 8pm in the evening then would only wake when I took him for a wee.

Tonight he has been asleep on and off from 7ish so it'll be interesting whether he settles again tonight. He actually seems better settling upstairs if he has been asleep downstairs and I just wake him for a wee before bed. If he's been awake more in the evening he takes longer to settle.

@Sparkle79 yes- mine typically crashes around 7pm and it's game over. Depends how deeply asleep he is if we get a period of playfulness. I've had to coax him outside for a last wee many times. Once he's out he usually wees but unless he's desperate he doesn't poo. Had a few poo accidents up till about 5 months but now seems able to hold it, but very few wee accidents even then. He seemed to get better control over weeing very suddenly but poos took a while longer.

That’s now... so um, nope... no sleeping all evening here, lol

@tabulahrasa hope pup settled eventually! And @PugInTheHouse hope you had a good night. @familychallenge good to know yours sleeps from 7pm too. Well he didn't wake us up. He went over 12 hours with no wee He very rarely poops late anymore, he usually only does about 3 a day now just after his 3 meals so last one is usually around 6.30pm. Honestly can't believe how obsessed I am with his toileting. Was never even this obsessed with kids

@Sparkle79 yes great night thanks, he slept from about 830/9 downstairs then upstairs at 1030pm. Settled straight away and woke up at 645.

C4pup has went completely backwards with his weeing through the night and is waking up ridiculously early every morning. Looks like I'm back to getting up in the middle of the night to let him out again

@PugInTheHouse With Butternut you can choose certain recipes that are lower in fat, I think it's the chicken and the turkey ones. The fish might also be low in fat but we don't get that one as I read loads of reviews and they said that one smelled really bad. Also, as well as their weight you can put in whether they need to lose some weight and they adjust the portions according to that, although I'm not sure whether they suggest bigger portions like every other company...

@c4itl thanks, we will definitely look at it, I think we may just try the vets food for a couple of months to see if we can reduce his weight especially as I can measure out kibble to use as treats then I think we will go onto something like that to maintain his weight. I really like the thought of the fact they measure it out according to weight and breed.

@PugInTheHouse it's definitely a lot easier! I still mix it with dry food just to keep the cost down though, I really need to find a better one though as the one I use isn't the best...this dog eats better than me and he can't even refrain from weeing on the floor as a thank you

@C4itl I know, they are little monsters. Pugpup gets so much love and attention and when he doesn't get his own way he loves to have a wee on the floor to express his disgust! Fingers crossed he has been ok with that.

I am wondering what is next to go wrong, we seem to be doing well at night again and the wees are ok. Walks good. Only thing that isn't is leaving him alone, I went upstairs for 10/15 minutes on Monday and he barked solidly the whole time. Had intended on leaving him this week for lots of short times but he has this bloody cough so I am not so keen to let him bark for ages when I leave him as it seems to aggrivate it. I swear he has planned this knowing what I was going to do!

“hope pup settled eventually!”

To be fair to him, when I actually go to bed, he’s fine, but he gets overtired and hyper before that...

He’s quite anxious, so just never rests enough as he’s always on alert, we’ve hit a bit of a barrier with crate training... literally, he discovered the door actually shuts him in and had a panic.

I tried beds in nice quiet spots, they’re just another toy to drag round the room, lol.

I might need to start taking naps, just to make him sleep, rofl.

Happy had a great off lead play today with his best mate. When they are together, their recall is 100% because they race each other back to see who will get the treat first  so they are allowed off lead and he spent 30 mins running around in a huge circle!

@PugInTheHouse we use only kibble for Happy and it is so much easier measuring it out and keeping bits for treats. Hopefully Pugpuppy takes to it and you can reset his diet if you need to. Happy was always going to be a big cocker - did they give you an estimate of his adult weight when he was tiny off his birth weight/early days weight as that's what our vet works off. So they always said Happy would be 16kg so if you put his weight in charts now it would say overweight but based on a 16kg adult, he's not too far off.

@HappyThursdays great that he had a good off lead play, always easier when they are with another dog as they will follow them really.

No they didn't give us any info re the weight, the breeder said from about 5/6 weeks that he was going to be a big dog so I knew he was unlikely to be an average 8kg adult. I will drop the breeder a message to see if she has some info re the stud as he was a big lad too.

Luckily he really doesnt care what he eats so I think he'll be fine, he isn't really fussed over high value treats particularly, as long as it is something.

@tabulahrasa I might need to start taking naps, just to make him sleep, rofl.

I was WFH yesterday with pup (she would usually be at daycare but she can't go back until she's recovered from her op) and at one point mid-morning she wouldn't settle so I shut the blinds and sat in the dark so she'd go to sleep and give me peace It bloody worked as well, got an hour of work done out of that.

@HappyThursdays What does he weigh just now? The vet has told us we could build ours up a bit but she's 10kg at 7 months which doesn't seem too bad for a girl? I mean I'm not a vet but she looks fine to me. Her mum was quite slight so I've been expected her to be quite little.

@PugInTheHouse I would definitely contact the breeder. She'll also have his birth weight and know the size of daddy pug because like you say, he might just be a larger size dog. They normally have an idea of what his adult weight will be and then you can use that to work backwards - might give you some reassurance! Yes, I felt a bit sad when he was off lead with his friend as he was having such a lovely time but it's the first time he's been off lead since he bolted. I wish I could explain to him 'if you listened and came back 100% of the time, you'd be off lead more' but of course, you can't and so he remains on lead or sometimes with a long lead (but tbh even that is difficult as he runs so quickly, if he's determined to go, I can't even put him on that!).

@ashmts we were always told Happy would be a 16kg cocker. So the vet said that and his breeder. He weighs 14.7kg now at 8 months (well he's 8 months tomorrow) and that's a little big higher than where he should be (14kg) and tbh, you can see it as he's a little bit rounder than he was say a month ago (but you can still feel his ribs etc.) so we are cutting back his food a bit. It is directly related to being on lead again I think. Female cockers are often a lot smaller. He has a girl cocker friend who is 10 months and 11kg and looks tiny compared to him! There are a few charts but this is one I often look at! en.belpatt.fr/puppy-weight-chart/Cocker-Spaniel

@HappyThursdays how much sleep does Happypup get now? Just wondering what is 'normal' now they are older

@HappyThursdays Thanks, according to that chart she's bang on the lower end of average so I won't worry too much. I bet she's gained weight this week, we've been doing wee walks round the street and all she's been doing is eating. Think I should get shares in dog boredom busters. I've given her salmon for the first time this week in her Snack Snake, she loved it. I also found some dog Bisto type thing that we can sprinkle on her food or mix with water and use in Kongs. She's never been that keen on her kibble so that's helping a lot, I put it in a snuffle mat last night which she usually ignores and this time she ate the lot.

it does vary @Puppypuppypuppy and bearing in mind he is a mad working cocker so a bit like the Duracell bunny - we take him out for a poo/wee walk (so a 10 mins round the block) at 730pm and once he's back from that, he flops out, wakes up when we go to bed (as he sleeps in the living room/kitchen so we stay there till we go upstairs) and then wakes up around 630am. We don't take him out for a late wee, he generally goes from 730-630.

during the day, it does depend what's going on and he sleeps less than he used to - he'll flop down while we're working now. it's hard to add up his day time sleep but if he's had a day when he's slept less, he's then falling asleep for the night around 5pm, we wake him up at 730pm for a poo/wee and he'll last till 630am.

Poor little thing @ashmts but it sounds like she's done really well and is recovering nicely. And you deserve a medal for coping with a cooped up girl!

@ashmts Her size sounds fine - she's always been a slight thing hasn't she and if that's in her genes, then it seems completely to be expected! I bet you're glad you've got the spay out the way. If she had been on heat you would have ended up keeping her inside anyway!

@HappyThursdays it must be so frustrating with the off lead stuff. It's funny that you mention about the long line, the trainer said to me not to use the long line if he isn't in the mood to do as he's told, only use it if we need the extra safety really (like today my boys were doing cricket training so although he had the whole pitch to run around I didn't want him chasing hard cricket balls, we also didn't know how he would react). I was glad she told me as I assumed it would be good if they were being non compliant. She told me to test him on the short lead to see if he'll come back to me first then just let him off if he's fine.

it is really frustrating, as much for him I think. Yesterday we went for a walk on lead and quite a few dogs that 'know' him, came and jumped all over him. Problem is if I don't then let him off lead, you risk the chance of them getting a bit lead reactive as they can't play fight on lead when the other dog is off lead. But if I let him off lead in an uncontrolled environment, and he sees a squirrel 500m away, he will tear off and then he'll be too far away to hear me (it's the going too far that worries me).

I let him off yesterday, even though I hadn't wanted to, because so many off lead dogs were all over him and I thought the risk of him running off was less than the risk of him getting so pissed off on lead that it became an issue. As it turned out, he was very good but it made me v jumpy as it wasn't ideal!

he does know what to do - but it's just making sure the recall is bomb proof which I know deep down it just isn't yet. I can't wait for his new training. Btw the park was full of adolescence dogs on long leads .

I wont let our dogs off as we live in a place where there are sheep and horses everywhere, but weirdly not many places that are secure.

Took ddog and dpup2 out today without dpup1 as I didn't know if I can take her out on her season. She was completely fine though.