Page 12 | Puppy Survival Thread - April

Gotenoughthanks · 13/04/2021 08:39

@ilovesushi that's great - well done puppy! And you must feel great after a decent night's sleep!!

I have to leave 11 week old Gotpup for the first time tonight (it's unavoidable and i can't take her with me) and i'm freaking out... She will be on her own for about an hour until DH gets home. She has a crate, so going to pop her in with a stuffed kong, radio on, toilet before I go, but does anyone have any other tips?? We've been routinely leaving her as we wander about the house, popping downstairs, or out the house for very short periods of time (a few minutes), but i'm worrying this is going to freak her out and she'll be so scared

GooodMythicalMorning · 13/04/2021 08:52

'Perfect Fit' harness, youbdend them your dogs measurements, sometimes a photo and the harness comes in 3 bits so it can be tailored to your dogs body. I love my ones.

StillAliveish · 13/04/2021 09:24

@GooodMythicalMorning

'Perfect Fit' harness, youbdend them your dogs measurements, sometimes a photo and the harness comes in 3 bits so it can be tailored to your dogs body. I love my ones.

Yes I've heard of these ones, thanks, I'll have a look!

Hamnan84 · 13/04/2021 10:56

[quote Gotenoughthanks]@ilovesushi that's great - well done puppy! And you must feel great after a decent night's sleep!!

I have to leave 11 week old Gotpup for the first time tonight (it's unavoidable and i can't take her with me) and i'm freaking out... She will be on her own for about an hour until DH gets home. She has a crate, so going to pop her in with a stuffed kong, radio on, toilet before I go, but does anyone have any other tips?? We've been routinely leaving her as we wander about the house, popping downstairs, or out the house for very short periods of time (a few minutes), but i'm worrying this is going to freak her out and she'll be so scared [/quote]
I have left our pup a few times for an hour, I have tried to time it with a nap usually. I know that's not always possible.
I make sure I spend time with him beforehand and play quite a bit. Leave him in his crate with his snuggly toy, the top I have been wearing recently, a stuffed Kong and I leave radio on and just cover the side of his crate (he can see out the other side). This has worked well for us.
Our issue is that I can't go anywhere longer than 50min/hour as he usually falls asleep soon after he goes in his crate and when he wakes he cries to get out immediately.
I am trying to leave him for a few mins after he wakes to try teach him he doesn't always get out right away but I'm not really getting anywhere with that

PugInTheHouse · 13/04/2021 13:34

@newpup123 that's scary re the spay op but glad she's ok now.

I can't offer any advice re leaving pup as we have been rubbish. We tried crate training but recently he has gone backwards and won't go near it. We are going to have to work properly with a trainer now to sort it.

Turquoisesol · 13/04/2021 14:27

I was wondering what’s everyone’s experience with bathing puppies so far? We have had turquoisepup for a week and not tried bathing yet. She is currently only in the kitchen/lounge. So taking her to bathroom would be a while new part of the house for her. But just thinking bath? Shower? Utility sink? Anyone have any tips? 🙏

GooodMythicalMorning · 13/04/2021 14:35

We dont bathe the puppies, too heavy to lift in and out so they go to the groom room every couple of months. If they get muddy we wipe them down but tbh they're not the type of dog to go mud rolling.

Original poster

Doje · 13/04/2021 14:42

We're not bathing either. If Dpup gets really muddy he gets hosed down in the garden. Generally I just keep him in the kitchen until the mud dries. What doesn't fall off I brush off.

OP posts:

Hamnan84 · 13/04/2021 14:46

@Turquoisesol

I was wondering what’s everyone’s experience with bathing puppies so far? We have had turquoisepup for a week and not tried bathing yet. She is currently only in the kitchen/lounge. So taking her to bathroom would be a while new part of the house for her. But just thinking bath? Shower? Utility sink? Anyone have any tips? 🙏

No tips but we bathed ours after a week at the breeders advice. He hated it 😂

Turquoisesol · 13/04/2021 14:56

I did wonder if I could just get a hose attached to kitchen tap so I could get warm water to bath her in garden. Difficult in the winter though. I wasn’t planning to use the groomers as she won’t have a coat that need clipped. But maybe that’s what people do instead of bathing?

Turquoisesol · 13/04/2021 14:57

She has a big aversion to being brushed so not sure she will like being washed much 😕

MaryIsA · 13/04/2021 15:02

Bathing...it's important not to overwash - dogs don't really need a bath unless they have rolled in something very very stinky. It affect the oils in the skin.

Mud brushes off.

Ours is a type that needs grooming every 6 to 8 weeks so so she has got used to having a bath. At 15 moonths she'll know sit in the bath while we use the shower. Hates it but does it and the groomer got her used to it too.

To start with though we used warm water, in the bath tub, and lots of cheese.

She'll happily launch into a freezing river or the sea - sits there shivering in a warm bath.

MaryIsA · 13/04/2021 15:03

Also we are going to get an outdoor hot tap dog shower so we can hose her off when she comes back stinky from rolling in seaweed.

But they really don't need a bath unless they need one if yousee what I mean.

17CherryTreeLane · 13/04/2021 15:04

We tried bathing cherrypup yesterday. I wouldn't recommend it! We tried doing it in the bath and he really, really hated it!

The only reason we tried it was because he was a bit pongy after a long journey with other pups. Never again.

Turquoisesol · 13/04/2021 15:06

Thanks. You have suitably put me off attempting a bath !

ashmts · 13/04/2021 15:08

@newpup123 Glad to hear pup has recovered from her spaying incident

@Turquoisesol We just use the bath and rinse with the shower (over our bath, we don't have a cubicle). She doesn't particularly like it, but tolerates it. Use treats and lickimats etc to give positive associations. You don't need to bathe them frequently though, you could start soon to get her used to it but I wouldn't do it too often.

@Hamnan84 Our issue is that I can't go anywhere longer than 50min/hour as he usually falls asleep soon after he goes in his crate and when he wakes he cries to get out immediately. I am trying to leave him for a few mins after he wakes to try teach him he doesn't always get out right away but I'm not really getting anywhere with that
Without being too critical, it's not really surprising you're not getting anywhere with that. Isn't yours only about 10 weeks old? You're meant to take them out to the toilet right after they wake/eat/play, so he probably needs the toilet. Or he needs company. He's only little. They learn to be alone by becoming more confident, and they get more confident by knowing they can trust you to meet their needs.

Mega issues here. The dog is obsessed with her ball and has now become obsessive about chasing reflecting light (so sun off a phone screen/ her ID tag). We really need to get on top of this and find some way of distracting her, it's starting to interfere with her normal activities. Any suggestions? I'm not sure if we need a trainer or if we should be looking for a behaviourist.

Gotenoughthanks · 13/04/2021 15:13

@Hamnan84 Thank you, didn't think of the top, but will try.

@PugInTheHouse good luck. We have had Gotpup in her crate overnight and for enforced naps since day 1, she will sometimes whine and try and climb out for 1-2 mins, sometimes just conk out immediately, but at least i know she's safe whilst i go out...

@Turquoisesol to add another dimension, we haven't bathed Gotpup yet but she is fascinated by the outdoor tap, leaping up trying to catch the water out of the tap and she chases the water coming out of DD's little watering can in the garden as she sprinkles so i think different dogs react differently- go for it and get a helper to hold!

17CherryTreeLane · 13/04/2021 15:23

@Turquoisesol funnily enough, similar to what others are saying, he's ok with the hose in the garden. I think we just went too quickly. Zack George on YouTube has a good video showing how to do it gradually.

Original poster

Doje · 13/04/2021 15:41

DPup is now not ok with the hose! Too many freezing hose downs after a walk. It's all a lot less muddy though now and can be dealt with without a hose so hoping he'll forget by next winter!

Anyone else read Gotpup as Game of Thrones Pup? I imagine her in some fiercely armoured outfit. 😄

OP posts:

Petalpup · 13/04/2021 15:47

@ashmts I’m sure I read that chasing shadows and lights can become a real problem so I’d go straight to behaviourist if you can to nip it in the bud.
We don’t bath. Have got a shower attachment in the garden if she gets really muddy otherwise we just shake/ wash her bed once it’s fallen off there. Presumably she was bathed at the groomers but don’t think it’s necessary regularly. Old dog only had a handful of baths in 14 years!

MyPuppyLulu · 13/04/2021 16:01

Hello! Can I join in please?

We've just got our first puppy, 8.5 week old Lulu (photo attached) who is a mix of a few small breed dogs. I've never had a puppy before, but DH grew up with border collies.

She's really young (ideally she would have stayed with mum a bit longer, but mum rejected her, so we ended up taking her a week or so earlier than planned) and a bit needy. She's been with us since Friday.

We have a crate for her, but she currently cries when left alone, so she's sleeping in her basket next to one of us in the living room. She's sleeping approx 9.30pm to 4.30am so doing well! She likes her crate (we feed her in there and tidy her toys away into there plus she has a snuffle mat in there, so its a happy place for her), so in a couple of days we will try her in the crate with one of us next to her. She just feels too young to leave alone just yet. That said, she seems to be visibly growing in confidence daily!

She's hard work, but she's so very easy to love!

StillAliveish · 13/04/2021 16:16

@Turquoisesol stillpup actually loves the bath! We put him in the bath and use the shower attachment. We've bathed him twice, the first time was the day after we got him because he was sick in the car and lay in it and the second was because he rolled in his own poo! It probably helps that DS chainfed him treats the whole time!

Wow @MyPuppyLulu, that is one seriously cute pup!

StillAliveish · 13/04/2021 16:34

I've just gone back through the whole thread and seen we have a few border collie pups on here! We have a border collie x springer spaniel so hopefully we can all help each other

Hamnan84 · 13/04/2021 17:09

[quote ashmts]@newpup123 Glad to hear pup has recovered from her spaying incident

@Turquoisesol We just use the bath and rinse with the shower (over our bath, we don't have a cubicle). She doesn't particularly like it, but tolerates it. Use treats and lickimats etc to give positive associations. You don't need to bathe them frequently though, you could start soon to get her used to it but I wouldn't do it too often.

@Hamnan84 Our issue is that I can't go anywhere longer than 50min/hour as he usually falls asleep soon after he goes in his crate and when he wakes he cries to get out immediately. I am trying to leave him for a few mins after he wakes to try teach him he doesn't always get out right away but I'm not really getting anywhere with that
Without being too critical, it's not really surprising you're not getting anywhere with that. Isn't yours only about 10 weeks old? You're meant to take them out to the toilet right after they wake/eat/play, so he probably needs the toilet. Or he needs company. He's only little. They learn to be alone by becoming more confident, and they get more confident by knowing they can trust you to meet their needs.

Mega issues here. The dog is obsessed with her ball and has now become obsessive about chasing reflecting light (so sun off a phone screen/ her ID tag). We really need to get on top of this and find some way of distracting her, it's starting to interfere with her normal activities. Any suggestions? I'm not sure if we need a trainer or if we should be looking for a behaviourist.[/quote]
Sorry didn't realise it was too early to leave him

Hightideattheseaside · 13/04/2021 18:17

What a cute pup @MyPuppyLulu! Hope she moves to her crate ok.

We had a better night with hightidepup. She slept for three hours at a time in her crate. Thanks for all the reassurance the other night.

But She seems to be not that interested in her food today. I’m going off recommendations of adult size and the weight she is now which is 200-250 gms a day. I try and mix it up and feed her in different places and scatter feed, in a toy etc and we use her food for training which we do throughout the day, but apart from breakfast she’s not really been that interested. Should I be concerned? She seems happy otherwise and poo is so far regular. It’s soft but formed. Is it worth a check in with the vet? Not sure if my anxiety is getting the better of me. We’re only in day 4 so maybe she’s just still a bit unsettled?