Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

Starting May off! If someone could link I'd appreciate it....

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat I'm sorry you are having a bad time- you are dealing with a lot with the seizures as well as all the other puppy stuff! I don't really have anything to offer on that but if you find the vet unhelpful might it be worth trying another one?

I neutered now because the vet and trainer both thought it was the right time, and honestly because it will be difficult to do much later without taking time off from my new job to look after him. My friend has a bigger breed and no plans to neuter until he is 2, and similar to you he isn't showing much adolescent behaviour yet. It's clearly an emotive topic- part of me thinks I have gone too early but it is what it is, done now! I think the schedule is when (and if!) it suits you and your pup

Thank you, I'll be ok soon, it's just got to me tonight. DH also said maybe we have to look at it from the perspective of his quality of life, even if heavy medication means a shorter life. That's upsetting to hear of course but he might have a point. It's making me cry just thinking about how the decisions we make now will haunt us later down the line. Probably either route we go down will be the wrong one.

The daycare one is a funny one, it's a speedy handover so I get she just has to get the information across but it would be nice to hear some positives too. It's not even him she's negative about, I feel it's me. I might be projecting!

The vet is overall very good, I just think this isn't something they get a lot of practice with, it's all very unknown especially as he's an atypical case too.

Maybe we need to have a chat to the vet about neutering, more money though

I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow, just having a bad day and I know you guys understand.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat you are doing brilliantly. I am in awe of you. I'm finding this puppy parenting so much more difficult that I ever imagined, and you sound so calm and strong going through what you're going through. Keep the faith sister! 👊

We're 7 months and no where near neutering at the moment. Dpup is really nervy and until he gets more confident I'm not even considering it.

@familychallenge he is so gorgeous.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat you sound like you are doing amazingly well, it feels like our moans are nothing in comparison and you always sound calm and positive, he definitely is lucky to have you. Re the neutering, we would not have done it if pugpup hadn't been showing adolescent behaviour and it was recommended, I don't think there is any rush at all.

Ah bless you all, I certainly don't feel calm and positive but glad it comes across that way.

I also don't think your moans are nothing in comparison, I think we let a lot of stuff go as it just feels too much to tackle it all, he's probably hugely untrained compared to all your pups!

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Sorry, maybe a stupid question... but why is him not being ok to be left alone an issue at daycare? Isn’t that the point of them?

Oh and neutering btw... I’m not even considering it for another year, at least - for anyone thinking they’re leaving it late.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat sorry it’s so tough. It’s like having kids - how you imagine it will be and the reality aren’t always aligned. You’ve got a lot to contend with - hang in there.

We might not neuter at all unless necessary - our vet said they used to donut as standard but don’t necessarily any more for various health reasons so we are going to play it by ear.

Well yes that's what I thought. I think he just has a but of FOMO! If she's leaving them (she has about 12 dogs and there's 2/3 staff) to pop in to the house for a bit then I think he wants to follow. He doesn't do that here because he knows we aren't doing anything exciting!

Chatted to DH last night and I think we are going to start leaving him alone for short periods at home, worst case scenario is he has a seizure but maybe that's ok and something we have to deal with.

Hi all... Have been following these threads and seeing as we are picking up our labrador puppy next Friday I thought it might be time to stop lurking and introduce myself!

I used to own/train/breed dogs when I was younger but haven't been in a position to have one for a long time, and have never owned a lab before! I am beyond excited but also a bit worried that my very rusty puppy rearing skills will have faded totally away through the intervening years!! My daughter has had problems with anxiety throughout the pandemic and I'm hoping to train up the pup to be a bit of a support dog for her.

Hi @MonaChopsis our lab puppies will be close in age as we pick ours up tomorrow! I’m excited and nervous and I can’t focus on work today!

@LadyCatStark I haven't been able to focus on work for about the last fortnight!! Not that I've mentioned that to my bosses!! Have been trying to channel all the nervous energy into doing a pre-puppy declutter. Photos please once you get him/her... How exciting!!

@MonaChopsis @LadyCatStark good luck with the new pups! We have a 14 week old lab/ golden retriever cross. She is gorgeous, very snuggly when calm and super bright but goes bonkers in the evenings. It is a lot more work than I anticipated but my previous experience is of having an adult dog, but never a puppy.

[quote MonaChopsis]@LadyCatStark I haven't been able to focus on work for about the last fortnight!! Not that I've mentioned that to my bosses!! Have been trying to channel all the nervous energy into doing a pre-puppy declutter. Photos please once you get him/her... How exciting!![/quote]
Haha me either to be fair! I set up all of his things on Tuesday when I bought the last few bits but poor DS thought we were lying to him about picking him up on Saturday and we were going to surprise him when he got home from school on Wednesday. He was so disappointed when he came home to an empty crate all set up with blankets and his teddy!

I’ll pay the puppy tax tomorrow don’t worry 🥰.

Thanks @ilovesushi! My previous experience with puppies was breeding collies on a working farm, so all the dogs were outside from puppies on. So I'm a complete novice at for instance toilet training!! It's going to be really interesting to experience the difference between 'dog as part of the family' and 'dog as worker'.

I think the former will be more non-stop work at the beginning... I've booked a couple of weeks of annual leave and am hoping that will see me through the first period of carnage!!

@MonaChopsis you sound like a pro! We were lucky as the breeder was completely brilliant and our pup was toilet trained when we got her at 8 weeks. Couple of small accidents by the back door when we've not spotted her staring at the door handle hoping it would open to let her out!

Welcome! We’ve got a 13 week old lab here! 5 weeks in - it’s getting easier. We haven’t had any accidents at all. We still take it in turns to sleep downstairs with him because we can’t have him upstairs so might need to work on that next!

I probably underestimated the bitey phases - but we’re getting better at dealing with it, trying to stop it earlier.

I had serious puppy blues for a few weeks early on but he makes my heart melt now we’ve all worked each other out more and feels like we’ve always had him! The only other thing I hadn’t anticipated is not being able to just leave him - I did know that on paper but the reality of not always being able to pop out to shops etc I think still hit me early on!!!

Wow so jealous @ilovesushi! Hightide pup is mostly there but still has accidents if I’m not on it.

Nice to hear so many labs joining the thread! Can’t wait to see photos . I’ve added a recent one at 13 weeks and getting too big for her bed. I’d love to see some more pup photos of everyone else’s! Nice to put pup faces to the names.

We had our first try on the long line today on a dog busy park. Apart from nearly tripping over it a hundred times I think it worked well. Hightidepup is a super ball of energy that is so desperate to jump over every dog and human she sees and she doesn’t listen to me or focus on treats at these moments. Which I find hard to coordinate anyway whist keeping her under control. We’re booked into training classes starting on the 18th June. In the mean time do you think I should just get her to sit when we see other dogs on the lead? Most of them aren’t interested in her so I only let her interact if they come over. Is this the right way to go do you think?

@Hightideattheseaside What a gorgeous pup! So shiny and beautiful! Your garden is looking great too!

@ilovesushi thank you, she is lovely and her coat has really improved since I switched her food. The garden on the other hand looks like a scrap yard... I just picked the one nice spot!

@Hightideattheseaside that’s what we’re trying to do. Trying to find quieter grassy spaces with longline but trying to get him to sit and mainline treats as others go past unless they really clearly want to me him. He just wants to jump on them an play 🤦‍♀️

Challenge pup doing much better today after a bad night- very unsettled and lots of whining and very clingy. He's had a couple of short walks and lots of food- weirdly he has not been drinking or peeing much (although he did manage to pee on his suit) but we are going for a post op check tomorrow so will ask them about that. He's quite miserable in his suit and dying to get at his stitches but definitely on the mend, he had a zoomie this afternoon so I think the hardest thing will be limiting his activity while he heals!

Enjoying a trachea chew in the hated suit!

@PugInTheHouse he has also gone for his tail and his legs a few times given he can't get to what he really wants to lick!

@MrsHerculePoirot Beautiful labrador puppy! What a gorgeous red colour! Little sushi is a light gold colour though getting darker already.

How big are you and @Hightideattheseaside anticipating your pups will get? Sushipup's mum was quite petite, but we didn't get to meet the dad, so who knows!