Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

[quote HappyThursdays]@Turquoisesol what dog do you have? I think the theory is they should try and nap having been awake 1-2 hours. I think some puppies have FOMO and just push themselves through that though. Does your dog get red eyes? Some of them you can tell by looking when they are exhausted! Some you can tell by their behaviour! [/quote]
The red eyes! Yes, definitely a telltale sign! Stillpup sleeps in this plastic tray we got for his toys! I think he finds it cooling because he likes the kitchen floor too. I might get a plastic dog bed cos he's a bit big for his toy box now! He won't go in his crate in the day.

She is a border collie. She gets really nippy with trouser legs when she is tired. And just generally hyper. She does enjoy sleeping in the kitchen floor a lot too. I wonder if the crate doesn’t appeal for that reason as it is soft in there.

I was just working out that she sleeps 10pm til 6 am at night so only 8 hours sometimes a little bit more. Which means she needs 10 more hours in the day time!

Dpup used to manage about 60-90 minutes awake at that stage.

I think I need to find a walker for the days I'll be in the office. I don't know when I'll be called back in, but I doubt they'll give me much (or any) notice. DH will be working from home until October probably, and thinks he'll be fine, but I am the one who's had the pup with me while I've been working and I think otherwise...

Does anyone have any opinions on harness vs collar for walking? We saw a trainer yesterday who prefers a collar and (don't judge me!) but I've noticed that the guy on the telly that does Dogs Behaving Badly always uses them too. I know they're not be recommended for some breeds, but wondering what people's opinions are?

When I was speaking to my trainer the other day she seemed to prefer collar but I am not sure why. She has a slightly “old school” take no messing attitude

They say that harnesses can encourage pulling? They were originally designed for dogs like husky’s to pull sleds

@Turquoisesol

They say that harnesses can encourage pulling? They were originally designed for dogs like husky’s to pull sleds

That’s just one of those weird things people say... walking harnesses aren’t at all like those harnesses.

It’s honestly mostly personal preference - I prefer a collar because it’s just easier, one less bit of equipment to use... but I’m currently using a harness because I haven’t even started on loose lead walking really and he’s old enough to need walking... so while he’s still pully, a harness is easier on him.

We have bulldogs so harnesses as their trachea are so delicate. I'd use a harness anyway as I just think they're better for the dog as a whole. Its just what works for you though.

It does depend on the breed. Some breeds, like bulldogs, would be better with a harness, but other breeds, particularly gun dogs can have joint problems with harnesses as they put strain on the shoulders when they are still growing so I prefer a collar. I may get a harness once fully grown to do canicross with the idea that harness =pull and collar = don't pull.

@MrsHerculePoirot We got a Yaheetech Heavy Duty 6-panel dog playpen from amazon. It comfortably fits her vet bed and newspaper for emergency wees! It is pretty robust and we are happy with it so far. We aren't using a crate, so it works well size-wise. With a crate I think it would be jam packed. Maybe the 8-panel pen would be better for that.

@Turquoisesol I think most trainers prefer collars.

We use a harness for the car. I would say 90% of the dogs we see out and about are in a harness. Only now, at 8/9 months, are we confident enough of his heel walking that he wears a collar (we use a slip lead now as he doesn't pull anymore). But up till now he was using a harness as he would have and was choking himself something silly in a collar.

Of course if you can get them walking well from the start you probably won't need the harness but we just couldn't manage it. He was just too excitable!

@doje that is exactly why I looked for a walker now. Dp was going yeah yeah it's fine without realising how difficult it really was!

We walk londonpup in a collar and he is 10000x better at loose lead with it. We're getting on really well with loose lead and he's only 19 weeks, we had to use a harness when he got kennel cough and it did slightly regress. We're working up to a slip hopefully by 6 months but he's still learning pressure and release

What is a slip londonpupmum? Is that basically a rope with a loop to pull through? And if they pull on lead it tightens around their neck?
Our biggest problem at the moment is actually getting the collar on. We need one person holding a treat but not letting go so she fixated on that. While another person puts collar on

Why don't you just leave the collar on?

We do sometimes do that actually but I felt a bit guilty that it might not be very comfy for her at nighttime.

Or did you mean on all day off at night ? We aim to take off in evening but sometimes forget before bedtime

Our old Ddog always had a collar on and we do the same for Frenchpup. It has the advantage that if she ever escapes she has her I'd on. It also means that for late night and early morning wees it is easy to slip a lead on, and you can always grab her if she is doing something she shouldn't (like tormenting the cat)

@Turquoisesol yep exactly that! I wouldn't dare use it outside now as he can get excited by things sometimes being so young, but we practice in the house and the garden so he understands if he comes back to me he can release the pressure

Ah ok. Does anyone else just leave collar on ?

I only have the collar or harness on when supervised. A friends dog caught her collar on something and couldn’t get loose. The dog died from the injuries.

We leave his collar on all day, but take it off when he goes to bed. As PP said I've heard they could hurt themselves badly overnight if they get it caught.

Thanks for all the answers about collars. I might do all loose lead training in a collar but for now carry on with the harness when on roads as it feels safer as he can still be pully when excited or scared.

If they’re crated you want to take the collar off in case it catches...

I leave it on, current puppy is so clingy it took me 5 weeks to pee alone - he’s not exactly likely to catch it on anything unsupervised, lol.

Oh and collar/harness

You’ll want a harness for the car, but also - if you’re using a longline at all, that needs to be on a harness and one where the lead clips on the back, or it can cause injuries.