Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

I agree tabulharasa I thikk no there are some misconceptions about socialisation. My puppy was a little timid to start so I encouraged her to talk to friendly people out and about but I am now realising this can backfire a bit as really you don’t want them thinking they can approach everyone to say hello. Sometimes other people don’t want to say hello

@Turquoisesol Yes, it's definitely quality over quantity! The daycare is more like puppy socialisation sessions. I spoke to them about how they'd manage it and they took him out to the garden and let him get used to it and play on his own, then they introduced a couple of their more calmer puppies/dogs on at a time so he wasn't just chucked in with a room full of crazy pups. I've recently moved areas and I know literally one person with a dog but it's a bouncy puppy so we haven't introduced them yet. I thought the

Oops. To finish the sentence... I thought the daycare socialisation sessions would be better than meeting random dogs I don't know on the street/ at the park initially.

Oh that sounds good. I don’t think there is anything like that where we are unfortunately.

Yes I do worry about other dogs out and about as occasionally owners seem to have not a lot of control of their dogs off lead.

I’m not criticising daycare btw... just they’re not all equal and the one I’d trust to run sessions properly is a 30 minute drive away and I can’t turn my engine on without him panicking, lol

But mine was already past the socialisation window when I got him and has extra things going on from being a rescue so it’s all slightly different.

So the quality over quantity bit was my main point

@Turquoisesol that is one of my main issues with Puppypup and recall - he is great when there are no dogs around but he is so over excited to meet other dogs and has tried to run round with lots who have zero recall themselves. Am booking a session with a trainer to try and get a bit more confidence on the whole recall/ meeting other dogs thing.

My first time on here although have found it helpful just reading posts as not so alone with how I feel. My puppy 11 weeks and very very jumpy and bitey. Also very attached to me and at the moment will only sleep in daytime if I’m in same room. Hence I’m on here as trapped in living room as really need him to sleep so not too jumpy and bitey when my son looks after him while I pop out to hair appointment later, he will bark and whine when for few minutes when I leave the house despite my son being with him. I have been doing the flitting game and he will watch me sometimes rather than follow and I can now use downstairs loo if I’m quick without him being distressed although he will wait outside so I guess some progress. Just find it very stressful though sitting here knowing if I move to make drink or go to loo he will wake up and I want him in his best mood as my son struggles with him when he is very hyper, it’s like he is completely ruling my every minute. Not my first puppy but never had this problem before, my last lovely dog just slept wherever she dropped as a puppy and I could get on with stuff, know I shouldn’t compare but difficult not too when I’m grumpy and fed up. Hoping having a moan on here will help.

@PugInTheHouse @ashmts thanks for your kind comments! I don't think they meant badly though it did get to me - just that a tiny fluffball who a human can outrun is quite frankly never going to be as challenging as a working cocker or a large dog. They barely train their dog but it can't get up to much given its size - it's very yappy though and that would drive me insane! I was doing Happy's concentrating walk this morning (the trainer has us doing a 30 mins slow walk a day where he has to keep focusing on us and nothing else) and part of this is getting him to walk past dogs and not pick crap up off the ground and a woman with a little fluff ball, who I had deliberately stepped away from so Happy wasn't tempted, stepped deliberately into our path and then swung her dog around so that her dog was in Happy's face. Happy to his credit didn't respond because he knows on this type of walk he isn't meant to and she said 'oh he's very friendly, it's no problem at all'! I said well it is a problem as I deliberately stepped away so the dogs didn't meet and you had no idea whether he was friendly or not (he is but that's not the point!) and I got a load of abuse from her!

I just wish people realised that a lot of dogs do need to be trained and can't just be flung out on the street with perfect behaviour!

oh and I was absolutely wiped out with the Astra Zeneca covid jab last night so dp left the door open to the room where Happy sleeps. I have vague memories, in my fever induced sleep, of Happy running up and down the stairs at 3am in absolute delight at discovering he had the run of the house!

I am not sure how well bedtime will go tonight !

@HappyThursdays yes I dont think a lot of the comments are unkind, just frustrating. Certain breeds do have certain quirks that can be quite different from other dogs. Pugpup is small but strong for his size and could quite easily cause an issue. He is very head strong! I have no idea what id do if he was 20kg heavier, probably have been pulled over many times Sounds like Happy is amazing on those walks! I think I might try doing something similar.

I'm not sure he's quite amazing yet @PugInTheHouse but it's been a bit of a revelation. We were just walking quicker and quicker with him and the trainer pointed out, actually slowing down and making him focus more was the trick we had missed! It seems so obvious now but really wasn't at the time! you do look a bit mad as you're talking to them constantly but it does work...

@HappyThursdays my friend with the 2 yo pup is doing the same thing, mainly to stop the constant barking at people in excitement, I remember my trainer mentioning it before but I had forgotten about it.

Hi, can I join please? Have just got our 8 week old puppy a couple of days ago. So far going well, just working on toilet training - he came having already been trained to go on newspaper, but am trying to get him to go outside - which seems to be really tedious process of taking him out every half hour and trying to get him to do a wee/ poo then rewarding him. If we miss a time he needs to
go, he is generally going on paper in the puppy pen inside - only 2 wee’s in the wrong place so far. Any advice about how to get this stage sorted ASAP would be welcome!
Also, when he’s awake ( he sleeps a lot) I feel a bit guilty if I am not paying him enough attention, though at same time I can’t always be doing this. I’ve got some time off work now but will be working out of home (dog sitter lined up) and also from home, so need to be able to work when he is around.
Any advice on any of this, or experience appreciated.

@celestebellman I'm a few days ahead of you, we picked our puppy up last Friday. The advice I was given (and is working I should add) is take them out every 20-30 mins, which it sounds like you're doing. If they don't go after 5 mins or so, pick them up, bring them inside and keep them in your arms/on your knee for 5 mins then try again. We don't give rewards for going to the toilet as we don't want ours to force herself to go in anticipation. She's been very good, I can count on one hand how many accidents we've had but I'm sure there will be more. It is tedious, but I'm sure it will pay off in the long run!

Ah OK, thanks @MrsRandallFraser, that makes sense about not giving a reward, though there is so much confusing advice! It is extremely tedious though, trying to watch them the whole time. I’m also trying to combine with leaving him for short periods so he gets used to it (eg when I do the school run) - though he has been fine with this so far.

Giving rewards for toilet seems to work ok for most pups, it's not a bad thing to be able to train them to go on demand either so ensuring you are saying your chosen word before, as they go and after when giving the treat is good. This way at night when you want them to go, or before going in the car etc then you can say 'go wee' and they will. Pugpup is nearly 7 months and we haven't treated for wees for a while now, we just started only treating every 2nd or 3rd time and then not at all.

sorry that sounded as if it's not ok to not give treats for toileting, obviously it is.

Yeah toilet training is pretty all consuming initially but the advice to take them out, then bring them in after 5 minutes and keep them off the ground is good.
You want them to be going as soon as they get to the toileting area.
We didn’t really give treats, just said ‘wee wees, good girl’ just as she’d finished.
Then you know you’ve got a while before the next one when you can let them play or whatever. Always taken them out when they wake up.
You’ll get to know the poo signs v quickly. Wees tend to be harder to spot but sometimes if they get bitey it can mean they need a wee

I had a garden playdate with a friend at the weekend and I'd mentioned on the phone Pup and I were going for training the next day. When they came over the first thing she said was 'You can see why he needs training'. I was dumbfounded! He was so good!
Her and two kids - strangers to my puppy - came into the garden and there was no jumping, no barking, no biting, just a bit of a giddy pup!!!

She's a cat person though people...

In other news, I'm really enjoying Dpup at the moment, and loving our walks and little training sessions. His recall's shot to pieces, and he pulls like a train 50% of the time, but he's pretty lovely. 😍

I agree, a couple of weeks ago toileting was all I could think about and now it doesn't even cross my mind! He tells us when he needs to go and I can't remember when we last had an accident. We treated him, but mainly because I was so desperate to get it nailed! We know another couple who didn't and their pup is toilet trained just fine. We pretty much never treat now. Getting them to wee on command can be really useful, like for the last wee before bed when you want them to go, even if they don't feel they need it. Unfortunately we used the cue word "wee wee" which in hindsight I might have changed to something a bit less embarrassing!

Hi Al,

I'm back again with a question about pug puppy (now 11-weeks old). He managed to slip off the sofa (whilst we were with him but turned away!) and hurt his hind leg. Lots of drama and tears (from me and my daughter rather than him I must add) and very expensive vet bills, but he has now been told to have 4-weeks rest in a crate (except for toilet outings). He's a very active boy who normally loves to run around so it's all torturous for us to constantly restrain him. He had been in a crate at the breeder, but us being way to soft on him, have allowed him to sleep on the sofa with either me or my daughter. Obviously, this is no longer allowed. I bought a lovely large soft playpen-with-a-roof type of construction that is filled with the cosiest blankets, pillows, toys etc etc any puppy could wish for (plus has his cosy soft bed in there). I have been giving him lots of treats and his food in there, my daughter has even been sitting with him in there (once she even slept with him in there ). Yet... every time with put him inside he acts like we're trying to torture him and screams the house down and it takes HOURS to get him to settle in there for the night. Grrr! We now only put him there at bedtime and the rest of the time he is on laps/wish us. I can manage supervising him during the day, but really need him to sleep in there at night. Any advice is very much appreciated

All*

Oh that must be tough XelaM.
I don’t know if you have read it but I was just looking at one of the guides in the dog training advice group on Facebook. I think it is called brain work and has some good ideas for games to play with them when they are on crate rest.

Guide 7 - exercising your dogs mind