Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

Billy has also been chewing on small stones. We can’t remove them all as they go all around the base of the house. I was worried at first and tried to take them off him but it’s impossible with all the other things I have to try and keep him off 🙈. He doesn’t swallow them, he just deposits them all over the grass for the lawnmower to get stuck on!

Think this list is good for reference: www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/factsheets-downloads/factsheetpoisonoussubstances09.pdf

I mostly understand they can have bulbs, apple seeds (we have an apple tree) and too much ivy... snails aren’t great, esp prior to vax I think as can carry some of the diseases (from what I read anyway!).

We can always drop a kit of kibble and he’ll drop what’s in his mouth. Also good to encourage him to bring things to us for reward treats in longer term I tell myself 🤣

Next doors dog is digging under our fence every time its out at the same time as ours It's going to be in for a shock if it comes through to be met with m3 playful dogs. The neighbours don't seem to care though.

Question for you all if you would be so kind. My dog goes a bit crazy if I stretch (throw my arms up and arch my back kind of stretch) it gets her really hyper and excited and starts jumping up and trying to bite me.
Is this specific to my dog or do others do this?

Ugh I think I have a case of puppy blues. I'm no newbie to dogs (have 3 others) and I did know what I was letting myself in for. It's 2 weeks in and I am bored of the hyper supervision required to stop her from killing herself, and the having to stay home all the time. It feels like I have volunteered for additional lockdown

Counting the days to 12 June when she can go for short walks

Jumping on as lifepuppy came home yesterday at 10 weeks old. Black Labrador. I swore I would never get a puppy but sick of flat nose from rescue since we lost our Collie 5 years ago

Lifelong just spent ages trying to work out what flat nose meant! Flat no’s ?!
Congrats on new puppy

Yes sorry auto correct, flat out No from all rescue centres

ah that makes sense, I too was trying to work that out.

Congrats on your new puppy lifelong. AwesomePup is 8 weeks and we collected him on Friday. He's a lab too, so we'll be able to compare notes on how the training is going.

AwesomePup now knows that he will get a treat if he does something good, so he randomly comes up to me and sits looking into my eyes hopefully. He's only had one indoor pee accident today, which seems like good going to me on day 4.

@LimitIsUp puppy blues are really hard. I think I cried for about two weeks - same as you hyper supervision, lack of sleep (because always listening out or on floor next to puppy) and then not being able to go anywhere without massive planning. Being able to go for walks was like ending another lockdown 🤣 hang in there....

His toilet just seems completely random so trying to get a routine. He's a bigger for peeing as soon a he comes in from being out for hours

If he hasn’t weed before you come in you could try holding him on your lap - basically not letting his feet on the ground then going out 5 or so minutes later and trying again - repeat as necessary. I’ve seen that recommended... might be worth a try. We went out after waking up, after playing, after eating and drinking and about every 20-30 minutes when awake...

Hope everyone had a good bank holiday. We let our pup off the lead for the first time today on a walk. Nerve wracking but good. Felt like a complete leap of faith - will she just run and never come back? So glad we did it. She had a brilliant play in a stream with some other dogs then came home and slept and slept.

We’ve had a great bank holiday thanks @ilovesushi. We had a street party on Sunday and I carried Billy out to meet some of the neighbours and today we had a BBQ with some friends. He certainly doesn’t lack confidence around people!

We had friends round in the garden yesterday afternoon, and AwesomePup absolutely loved all the attention. He slept through the night too!!! Last wee at 11pm, woke up at 6am, which is about the time we'll need to be getting up on work days anyway. I'm so impressed with him.

Thank you MrsHerculePoirot - I am counting the days

My 9 year old just hugged me and said I smelled like the dog. He didn’t mean it unkindly but 🙁. I think maybe the fact that her kibble smells quite strong and I carry it around permanently for training doesn’t help. Have anyone found odourless dog treats please 🙏 bit worried I will smell of dog forever more

@Turquoisesol nope sorry 🤣 I went to get my nails done and took my mask out of my pocket to find it had been in there overnight with some stinky dog treats.... that was pleasant ... NOT!

I’ve got a bag that goes over the shoulder and another that clips onto my jeans for treats now... I mean I still end up with treats in my pocket and so have to keep washing everything, or wearing different clean clothes and showering before meeting anyone ever!!!!

ByBenji Biltong treats smell absolutely lovely, but they also cost a small fortune...

@Turquoisesol Pet Munchies chicken training treats are good, they are natural small bits of dried chicken so are pretty much odourless, maybe a bit pricey though if you were to be using them all the time.

Tried letting weepup loose today in the room whilst working from home. Have had her in playpen up until now. It was a bit of a disaster-she chewed the rug under my chair, tried to chew the blanket on the sofa and the actual sofa....made me a bit down because I’m going to have to go into work soon and I’m anxious about how it’s going to go with DH left alone with her. I thought she’d have calmed down a bit by now but just wants to play with things she isn’t allowed and is totally persistent.
When she is tired she will not just lie down for a sleep, instead just continues to get more hyper. I wish she’d just lie down at my feet for a snooze!

AwesomePup is worrying me tonight. He's breathing too fast, so I'm downstairs with him so I can keep an eye on him. DH put him to bed tonight instead of me, so he might be feeling a bit stressed, or Google tells me all sorts of horrible things it could be. I'm like the mum of a precious newborn, I don't know what's normal yet so I'm stressing over everything. He's sleeping now, seemingly peacefully, but his breathing is still a bit faster than I'd like it to be.

@MsAwesomeDragon

AwesomePup is worrying me tonight. He's breathing too fast, so I'm downstairs with him so I can keep an eye on him. DH put him to bed tonight instead of me, so he might be feeling a bit stressed, or Google tells me all sorts of horrible things it could be. I'm like the mum of a precious newborn, I don't know what's normal yet so I'm stressing over everything. He's sleeping now, seemingly peacefully, but his breathing is still a bit faster than I'd like it to be.

I was completely panicking over nothing. He woke up, had a big drink, had a pee (in the house), nibbled my fingers and toes, and has now settled to sleep as normal. I rather suspect it was just a bit of stress over being in the crate without me (DH was there, but that's not the same)

@WeeM how old is she now? Plantpup was a bit like this in the beginning and I think a lot of it was to do with the fact where she had freedom to go was quite restricted up until about 15/16 weeks - mostly we spent a lot of time in the kitchen until I was fairly sure she wouldn’t wee on my sofa! Once I started to give her more freedom around the house she would go for things like blankets, cushions etc I think just because it was all so new. The novelty wore off quickly though! So I would suggest just gradually giving Weepup more freedom and the fun of all these new things should just wear off over time With the not napping, this was a problem for Plantpup too! One day at about 18/19 weeks she just zonked on the carpet and ever since has been able to settle fine anywhere when she needs to. Just another thing that comes with time I think!