Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

Londonpup has collar on all day but we take it off at night! I don't think he'd catch it on his crate but it's also just to let the skin breathe around his neck

Can I join the thread?!

Collected our 9 week old miniature schnauzer on Friday. He's a gorgeous little thing, though I am totally exhausted with night wees and the expected (but not really fully comprehended) constant vigilance needed when combining said puppy with my DC (aged 4.5 and 7). I seriously feel like a first time parent again except I feel like I'm even more crap at this!

I was an armchair expert between books and lurking here and reading all the units on the Dog Training Advice and Support group. Have bookmarked kikopup and all, but my state of mind now is like that dream where you have to go back and do your final exams again except you haven't studied in 20 years😱

Thank God I read about the puppy blues during all that prep!

I totally adore him though. How could I not?!😍

Aw so cute!

Yes redlemons it has come as a bit of a shock to me and my children are older (youngest is 9). But suddenly I can no longer devote all my time to them - bath time, reading books in evening etc. And also trying to only let them play with pup supervised is a constant management which I hadn’t fully comprehended 😳

Yes to all the above too! Also read everything but the reality is a bit different!

Stupid question of the day - we’ve got some green beans left from dinner. Do I need to cut them up to put with his kibble or just put them in whole?

So cute! I love schnauzers they look like little old men ☺️.

Yep it's a total shock it took me a good few weeks to even eat normal again haha! It gets better once you establish a good routine and you notice your pup learning more and more!

@RedLem0ns oh my gosh!! How cute is he?? It's a total shock. We've had ours 4.5 weeks and we're still getting used to it! My youngest is 7 and she's really good with him, bless her. I still have moments where I wonder what we've done but the relationship he has with DS (9) is (mostly!) worth it

@MrsHerculePoirot, we have this one from ZooPlus but only use 7 of the panels as it's fits the space well with that set up. It's very good because you can alter the shape of it as needed.

Check it out: #zooplus zooplus.page.link/fJ3R

We can fit a large crate in with room for playing. We only shut the door at night, in the day he hope in and out when he likes.

Much better day for lemonpup and eating. I had a good chat with a school mum who breeds dogs. She recommended being very strict with times and taking away food after 15 mins. She also suggested mixing cheese (on the Parmesan setting) though the food, changing his bowl to the exact same one the breeder used and feeding him in his pen.

I'd come across all those tips on the internet but there are so many differing suggestions it was helpful to hear it from a real person. Anyway, he's eaten three of his four meals today. He wouldn't touch the lunchtime kibble despite me soaking it but I'm so relieved he has eaten well. I'll worry about kibble another day. He was so happy with himself after he ate his first meal of the day.

It’s so nice to know I’m not alone😭

@LondonPupMum I didn’t eat till 3pm today! I’ve done an online shop this evening for the first time since I had my youngest! Honestly it’s the logistics of it all more than anything.

Question for you all- puppies in cars. What are the options for a puppy who is still not at the stage of having crate door closed and mostly wants to be either sitting on my lap or at the very least in some sort of contact?! Is doggy seat belt harness thing an okay option for the front passenger seat so at least he can see me and I can give his ear the odd rumple when stopped in traffic?

I feel if I could crack tempting him with kongs it would help with car journeys too but he’s not loving them yet. I did give him an antler chew the other day which he LOVED but then I panicked because I was hearing such conflicting info about them online so I hid it🙈

Thank god he seems to be great with toilet training (through no skill of mine!). I look very much forward to the day I look back on all this wistfully with the puppy broodiness my dog-owning friends seem to have (because they’re not having to do it)🥰

Yes at the moment I find myself thinking how on earth does anyone willingly get another puppy after the first experience. I know people who got a puppy then a year later get another! I think after the first year I will be so glad to get a bit of normality and routine back

@RedLem0ns it's funny you say that, I never did online grocery shopping before puppy but now is never go back! So much easier 😂

@RedLem0ns Adorable!

@LemonCake79 Good news that your pup managed to eat something! I have extremely fussy cats and children when it comes to eating. Complete relief that the puppy happily wolfs down anything put in front of it.

@Frenchfancy How are you finding managing your puppy and cat(s)? I am taking it very very slowly with sushi pup and our cats. All meetings have been short and heavily managed with lots of praise and rewards for calm behaviour. Sushi pup and the tabby had a meeting in the garden today. Sushi approached, tabby puffed up, then sushi lay down in a submissive position on the grass. I gave it a minute then called her in and gave her a treat. Later both sat out in different parts of the garden ignoring each other. TBH I think sushi didn't actually notice the cat. The other cat is very rattled and rarely comes out of the upstairs bedrooms.

@ilovesushi sounds like you are further ahead than us and we are 4 months in. We have taught pugpup not to chase them when we tell him not to but if we don't spot them coming down the hallway he still will, we are putting a stair gate in tomorrow in the hall as he will chase them up the stairs now but he can't get back down safely so it's really dangerous. We have made huge progress as one of them will sit near him on the floor now, the other cat will sniff the dogs paw if I am holding him but that's about it. It is frustrating but we are seeing small improvements as time goes on. I definitely thought it would be quicker to be honest.

The humping has got worse, he is obsessed with trying to hump my leg and is extremely frustrated when I won't let him, it's like he's possessed.

Oh no @PugInTheHouse 😂 oh well not long till neutering? What are you meant to do in that situation?

Luckily Londonpup only tried to jump toys in early weeks and he hasn't for quite a while now but I won't hold my breath

@LondonPupMum yes pugpup did a little bit of air humping early on but hasn't since. DS2 said he felt sad for him and that I should just let him I believe the advice is to distract them with something else but to be honest nothing works quickly, he just keeps coming back to my foot/leg. Its quite comical though as hes so determined!

Oh dear @PugInTheHouse. Petal’s not averse to a spot of humping. I always thought it was more of a boy thing but she’s proved me wrong.

We’ve had a fab few days. My mum and dad came to visit-first time we’ve seen them since august! She was great with them and their older dog. He did have to woof at her a few times when she got a bit over excited but she seemed to learn what he didn’t like fairly quickly. We did the pub and the garden centre which were both fairly successful but like some of the others she is getting a bit more vocal now when she can see a person or dog that she wants to play with but can’t so we’ve got some work to do there.

Re collars-hers is on all the time. I’m half heartedly looking out for a perfect fit harness for her in case we need to revert to a long line when she hits teenage attitude but happy with her walking on collar for now. Loose lead is coming on, especially on the way home from a walk.

Mine starts trying to hump my leg while I’m on work zoom meetings and trying to appear professional in front of clients... it’s literally the only time he does it

@ilovesushi, my eldest is very fussy and I must admit it's brought back some of the feelings I had when she was younger and the 'advice' everyone leapt in to give. I actually think she would have starved herself if we'd been as harsh as some people advocated.

He's wolfing down the wet food now. No luck whatsoever with kibble though. He just sniffs it and walks off. I think I'll just keep trying though and see that as a problem for another day.

Hello again everyone!
It's 2 steps forward 1 step back here.
Current step back is she refused to let us shut the crate door last night. Crate is in our room, we were there, but she barked and whined. Eventually I took her downstairs to family room, she crashed out on floor and I spent a very uncomfortable night on the 2 seater sofa

Hope everyone else had a better night than us!

How long does she cry for @happypuppymummy? I take it it isn't a case of leaving her for five minutes?

Morning all. Sorry to hear you had a rough night @happypuppymummy. I found that hightidePup settled better with no one in the room. When I tried to sleep next to her crate downstairs (no room in our room) she was ok at first but then started fussing a lot and wouldn’t sleep. So after a couple of nights I made sure we played loads to get her super tired popped her in and sat just outside the room to see if she would settle and after two mins she crashed out and I didn’t hear a peep until I got up for the middle of the night pee. Could be worth a try if it keeps happening?

Can I ask what people are using to keep pups entertained while they are working? Unless I’m playing with HTpup she finds mischief!

I haven’t stuffed a Kong yet. Not sure what to use. Chews don’t last too long and I don’t want to give her too many. What are other people doing? I can’t wait to be able to take her out for walks!

@Hightideattheseaside if you go to the long website it tells you how to use one. I had no clue and found it helpful.

This shows you which Kong to use (I had totally the wrong one so no wonder puppy couldn’t use it!).

www.kongcompany.com/en-uk/learn/size-guide

Then this has ideas for how to fill it: www.kongcompany.com/en-uk/learn/stuff-a-kong

I’ve just used liver paste/peanut butter to seal the small hole. Then dropped in loose kibble so it easily falls out then smeared some more liver paste/peanut butter/mashed banana around the rim of the bigger hole and put it down. He can lick it, then shake out the kibble.

As they get better at getting the food out you can add more so it’s more tightly packed, freeze them etc... add different flavours. There are whole fb pages dedicated to them!