Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

Hi @Hamnan84 welcome to the thread! We have all been there (are there) with the exhaustion. These threads have been amazing!

Thank you! 😊 We picked up our pup at 8 wks he just turned 10wks yest. I do think he's doing quite well... He goes bed at 10:30pm and wakes at 6am. But the biting tbh is honestly so tiresome now😔 kids are back at school tomoro and I really want to spend an hour in the gym to clear my head but worried as he's started cat napping in day? So when hes been awake for an hour or 2 I know he needs a good hour or 90min sleep but hes awake after 30-40mins?!

We have cherrypup home now and it seems to be going well so far. He's already telling us when he needs out to wee! He's a bit nippy though...

Hey all! Welcome to all the newbies with tiny pups. Those early weeks are so so tough, I really struggled with puppy blues and wondered if we'd made a massive mistake. Our journey was also hampered by the discovery that Georgiepup has epilepsy. His sleep was unpredictable, he was bitey and scared of every noise going.

However we're now at 6.5 months and life is so different. He sleeps thorough the night in the lounge (we ditched the crate at 5m because he stopped settling in it). He goes to daycare one day a week, we've got some lovely doggy friends, and he eats and plays well with minimal biting. The odd catch is when he's excitedly going for the toy that's in your hand. I don't want to jinx our walks but no complaints here just yet. He goes to the groomers regularly and falls asleep on the table and vets is a weekly occurrence while we get his meds right and he's good as gold there too.

So the thorn in our journey is the seizures. He had one today in fact in the garden but we're all getting used to it that it's not even such a big deal anymore. Of course it's not nice to watch but he usually recovers well and we know what to do in the moment. A few weeks this would have had me wrecked all night and the topic of discussion for several hours.

Having this group to sound out thoughts and situations has been a lifeline. 💙

Having this group to sound out thoughts and situations has been a lifeline. 💙
@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat me too 💙

Glad things are getting easier with georgiepup.

Welcome all newbies and I echo what Georgie said, major puppy blues here for the first few weeks which I probably wouldn't have got through if it hadn't been for this thread and all you lot

@17CherryTreeLane the nipping shocked me to begin with but its very normal and does get better. We found teaching "toy" worked, initially getting a toy yourself but hopefully pup will catch on and when you say "toy" will go get one. If that didn't work we would stand up and walk away then go back with a toy (or say "toy" once he'd learnt it) if all else failed we decided he was overtired and it was naptime.

I agree with Sparkle and Georgie. At first I didn't understand the puppy blues people mentioned, we had it pretty plain sailing with sleeping and toileting then at about 15 weeks the toilet training went backwards, he started waking early and I was crying a lot. This group has been my lifeline.

The worst thing early on was the biting, having a small breed I wasn't really expecting it but it was awful. We very quickly taught him 'no biting' and replaced with a toy, if that didn't work then standing up with arms folded and no eye contact. It really helped. He is clearly turning into a crazy hormonal teenager at the moment and is bitey again so the techniques are helping!

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat sounds like you're doing a great job with a puppy journey that hasn't been as you expected.

Thanks for all the reassurance from everyone- I'm sure there are lots of challenges ahead!

The biting is driving us all insane and its getting worse. I'm really struggling 😞 plus the kids now avoid him because of the biting and my husband works 6 days so it's only me dealing with this. It's only been 2 weeks it feels like a month😔

Oh we are the same hamnan.
It is just relentless. I feel like I barely see my children now as they hide in the lounge.
How long does this crazy phase last? The lunging and biting. An no matter how many times we say no she continues more

Out of interest has anybody here done the Susan Garrett ‘Home school the dog training? There’s a few things I want to work on with our 6 month old cocker spaniel and this looks like it covers quite a bit of the keys things I want to learn. Just trying to get gauge any reviews prior to paying out any money?

@Turquoisesol @Hamnan84 it is really really hard with the biting in those first early weeks, solidarity to both of you

What are you doing to try and address it? I found the most effective thing with Plantpup was removing myself entirely from her, your teeth touch me = playtime/attention over. Generally this meant I left the room she was in and pulled the door to so she was in there on her own for 10-30 seconds. Had to be really really persistent with it and some days I’d do it 20 or 30 times but the message eventually got through and she stopped completely by about 13 weeks. It is really really hard work especially when there are kids around as the pups just want to play with them but it does get better 💖

That sounds really tough @Hamnan84. My husband works away every other week so I will be solo with pup and kids too. We’re only two days in but my two year old is quite nervous of hightidepup already due to her biting. So I really want to manage it well.

I read in my puppy book about mutually exclusive behaviours and positive interrupters when biting or chewing or jumping etc. Might be worth a try if you haven’t heard of them?

Mutually exclusive behaviours is to get pup to do a behaviour you want which means that they then can’t be doing the behaviour you don’t want. So when the biting starts get to practicing sit as the idea is they can’t bite when they are sitting waiting for a treat. Tried this earlier and it worked. Though hightidepup is young and I’m not sure it would work in a frenzy. Perhaps something to try at the first sign of biting?

The positive interrupter will take time but the idea is that you train pup with a happy sound like yippie or a kiss sound. Make the sound and then give a treat. Doesn’t matter what they are doing at the time. The idea is that they associate the nice happy sound with happy times so when you make it they stop what they are doing to look for the good stuff. That’s what the theory says anyway! I’ll be giving it a go as another tool to have. Though it’s never easy putting theory in to practice!!

@Turquoisesol

Oh we are the same hamnan. It is just relentless. I feel like I barely see my children now as they hide in the lounge. How long does this crazy phase last? The lunging and biting. An no matter how many times we say no she continues more

Have you tried teething gel? Mine was biting first and last thing and teething get helped massively.

We were mostly trying to say no firmly and redirect to a toy. But that wasn’t working so have been clapping loudly to get her attention to get her to stop. She seems to do it when she is overtired so have started putting her in her crate for time out so she isn’t overstimulated

Haven’t thought of teething gel. Guess it’s worth a go

We struggled with biting a few weeks ago. He still does it, but it’s not as bad as it was and we’ve learned why he’s going it, namely being tired, hungry or annoyed at us if we’ve been in his space too much! Enforced naps worked for us really well. I’d been noting down his schedule for a few weeks and now it’s pretty ingrained. His teeth are still super sharp though abs when he does nip it’s painful!

We are also having problems with digging in the garden now. Is this a puppy thing? Or likely to be an ongoing issue for us?

We also did what HighTide mentioned and got him to do a command/trick to take his attention away. We taught him sit as soon as we got him at 8 weeks and a few other simple things like spin/hi five and it really helped to take his attention away from biting.

He definitely understands 'no biting' then 'uh oh' if he still did it. The worst thing was the lack of consistency from DH and the kids, once they got on board it improved much quicker. The trainer also did a little yelp that is supposed to sound like its litter mates but I struggled to get it to sound right and it didn't really work. As they get older I find even just a 'death stare' works

Sorry to hear you are going through the same thing but also glad I'm not alone! I said to the husband today I think he seems nasty when he does it but maybe it is normal then? We have tried saying "ah" then stopping play but he just gets a toy and plays like he doesn't give a damn! He just won't stop.

So I have been paying close attention to when floki bites today. He always gets snappy when he's tired so I understand that. What I don't understand is when he's not long woke up and he sits next to me and wants fussed and I stroke him and he just mouths and bites my hand? There seems to be no reason for that? I have noticed when we say "ah" when he bites he sometimes then lunges in to bite again immediately as if to say, I know but I'm doing it anyway? I wouldn't have thought he would think that way but it's almost a nasty reaction.
We say ah and stop play completely but he doesn't seem phased at all and when we do return to play he just continues.
I don't want to use crate as punishment as I need him to love it in there.
His other issue is crying when he wakes from a nap, immediately even if he's not had long enough nap (yep tried taking him for a wee and he doesn't need one and always toilet before crate/nap anyway)

@Hamnan84 definitely try standing up with arms folded and look away, very quickly our pup moved away at sat down when we did it, he clearly didn't like not having attention. Even when he was biting at our feet/slippers he would stop.

It definitely seems nasty as they look like they are possessed but its definitely normal. I was totally unprepared for how bad it would be. It really will ease soon as long as you consistently don't allow it.

@EmzBPupMum

Out of interest has anybody here done the Susan Garrett ‘Home school the dog training? There’s a few things I want to work on with our 6 month old cocker spaniel and this looks like it covers quite a bit of the keys things I want to learn. Just trying to get gauge any reviews prior to paying out any money?

I haven't, so can't help there, but have you tried her podcast? It's called Shaped by Dog and is really helpful.

@Hamnan84 something that really made sense to me was when I read that the biting was just their way of playing, and you have to show them how you want to play ie with a toy. Teaching DPup 'get a toy' was the best thing we did. He would snap out of a bitey frenzy, grab a toy and then come back and play with the toy. Now he always approaches us with a toy all ready to play. Do lots of excited 'where's your toy?, You got a toy, a toy!!' etc.

Night two and I’m failing miserably! Puppy is wide awake wanting to play. She woke at 12:45 took her for a pee and back in crate. Then she was going mad. So brought her out again and she wanted to play. Then did a poo inside and still up for more play.

Should I have taken her straight outside again when she didn’t settle after the first pee?
She had a long sleep after her dinner so should I have woken her up and played with her more?
Should I have fed her last meal earlier?

So many questions, sorry! Thrown back to three years to having a newborn! I’m just a bit clueless as to what to do with crying and whining after toilet if in the night. I tried to lie next to her crate but no joy.

@Hightideattheseaside

Night two and I’m failing miserably! Puppy is wide awake wanting to play. She woke at 12:45 took her for a pee and back in crate. Then she was going mad. So brought her out again and she wanted to play. Then did a poo inside and still up for more play.

Should I have taken her straight outside again when she didn’t settle after the first pee?
She had a long sleep after her dinner so should I have woken her up and played with her more?
Should I have fed her last meal earlier?

So many questions, sorry! Thrown back to three years to having a newborn! I’m just a bit clueless as to what to do with crying and whining after toilet if in the night. I tried to lie next to her crate but no joy.

Don't worry it will get better at night, pup just doesn't realise its night yet. Whenever ours cried at night we took him straight out to his toilet spot and waited for him to do something then straight back to bed. I didn't let him out if he cried immediately after going toilet as it teaches them to cry to get out. Our pups last meal is 5ish, so he eats 6:30, 12 then 5 ish