Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

Thanks for the reassurance it’s going to improve! We have a puzzle feeder ball which keeps her really busy chasing it around while we eat. I definitely notice it’s worse in the evening so I guess that’s the tiredness coming into play. I’ll check out the flirt pole. I think going out for walks will help too. Only 3 days until vaccinations!

To be fair to hightidepup she is very good most of the time and quite a chilled independent puppy on the whole. We’ve had her three weeks yesterday and I already love her so much, despite all the hard work! Isn’t it mad how dogs can steal your hearts.

Checking in to the new thread.

We are having some major work done in the garden this week. I've been worried about how Frenchpup would react.

There are currently 4 men in the garden with chainsaws, Frenchpup has been asleep all morning!

Part of the reason for the work is to secure the garden, so from Friday she can be outside on her own. She loves being outside just laying on the grass chewing a stick so this is going to be life changing for us.

Thanks everyone,we are back with one very tired pup. We went to a field near us which is enclosed on two sides and let his 10metre lead trail behind him as a safety net. He did pretty well but isn't 100%reliable. He also stole another dog's tennis ball (again!) and we had to reel in his lead and extract it from him. A good experience generally though, and he also discovered the joys of eating rabbit poo.

[quote legosnowqueen]@MyRabbit79 good luck today, I'm embarrassed to admit that we've not done off lead walking yet at 7 months...our local areas/parks are full of other dogs & the enclosed fields that you can hire in the wider local area are not very accessible by public transport (we don't drive).[/quote]
We have a similar issue as we don't have a car but found this random field on an industrial estate we can walk to. When we got talking to other dog owners people told us about all sorts of places we didn't know existed.

@HappyThursdays thank you! Your little one looks wonderful! Challenge pup is lovely in so many ways and definitely easier than the early puppy days, not least because I am much more confident in both our bond and that the training is working (slowly!) but the wilfulness and the second round of chewing- not me so much but the furniture!- is a bit tough to manage! He's never been great at settling down but watching him pace the house chewing everything and scratching the carpet while visibly exhausted does test my patience! I feel I can see the dog he is going to be, and we are getting towards far more good than bad days. At the end of the day he's a happy healthy loving dog who loves people and other dogs and going out, which is really all I could ask for. I and my carpets just have to survive this phase and keep on with the training!

@MyRabbit79 that's great, will keep our ears to the ground. Glad it went well for you

@ilovesushi wellies are your friend if you have an ankle nibbler. I have clean indoor wellies for the DC if needed and I wear boots. It’s a pain because we’re usually barefoot in the house but when Redpup gets bitey it has to be done!!

@Hightideattheseaside, I've had to do a lot of work with the DCs to get them to stop screaming / yelling when lemonpup nips. It overexcites him.

We do one uh-a warning and then stop playing and walk away. The DCs still don't always manage it though. It is interesting that lemonpup won't bite me. I have always been the strictest with this issue

He was a star!! It went so well. She's only teeny tiny and he was galloping around the garden until they brought her out and then he just seemed to know he had to be gentle. She's a feisty little thing, far braver than he was at that age. She pawed and nipped him a fair bit but he largely took it and gave her gentle pounces back. He disciplined her a couple of times when she was biting his ears but it was all appropriate and how he's learnt from other dogs in the past. They are so gorgeous together.

It’s so tricky isn’t it @LemonCake79. I think it’s easier to train dogs than children!

Glad the visit went well @GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Regarding meeting other dogs hightidepup won’t leave my in laws Labrador alone. Poor thing is 13 and not impressed with her at all. She grows and barks at her but hightidepup doesn’t bat an eyelid and keeps on at her licking her face and trying to bite her ears.

We keep her on a lead now and don’t let her bug the old girl but I worry for when we start taking her out that she is not going to pick up on signs and end up getting bitten if I can’t intervene in time.

Oh @HappyThursdays and @Hightideattheseaside I love your pics! They didn't load the first time I read your posts. Absolutely gorgeous 🤗

Sounds like largely the off lead progress is going well, I always feel hyper critical Of us after a walk and then DH reminds me how young he is and how much progress we've already made. You'll get there and wonder why you stressed. I bet there are already things you've forgotten you had to stress about.

Hi, I posted a few times on the previous thread - my puppy is nearly 10 weeks and we have had him since 8 weeks,

Just wondered what people’s experience is of puppy going out in rain? He has not wanted to go out at all today, it is raining really heavily so understandable, and each time he has come in he is trembling after only a couple of minutes and needed warming up in a towel. He has, however, done a few wees when taken out but not done a poo for ages, like he does not want to go in rain! Consequently am worried he will just poo in house! Anyone else had this problem? Been lucky with weather since we brought him home and have been outside a lot!

I have never worried about pugpup in the rain as he loves it however we have 60mph winds here today so I am a bit worried. I think I may have to take him out on his harness and lead?

I wondered why it had all gone quiet on the other thread, it made me laugh that it ended by talking about anal glands, it's a definite conversation killer!!

It totally is @Hightideattheseaside because it's easier to be consistent with dogs.

We didn't have the problem with rain but he wasn't too keen on the wind. We got him in November so toilet training in the depths of winter wasn't fun. Eventually exposure to it all helped and he got used to it. He didn't have accidents in the house but sometimes it took a few attempts before he relaxed enough to go. Gentle encouragement and some yummy treats might help.

Also Georgiepup will naturally go under something for a wee if he can, currently under the garden table is a fav. Could you set up a little shelter right by the door for her?

Pugpup keeps ringing the bell to go out and just play in the rain and wind, I had to go out with him to lay anything movable down on the floor so nothing falls on him, the perils of living on the coast!! He is a broken pug, I only got a pug because all the info says they don't like wind and rain so I thought perfect dog for me as I'm a fair weather girl

PoirotPup (11.5 weeks) kept whining to go out earlier - think the wind blowing everything made it lol exciting. He looked like he couldn’t decide if more exciting or more scary 🤣🤣🤣 not bothered by rain so keeps coming in soaking wet then thinks the towel is a great game 😂

Quick question on the toilet training theme- do they all eventually start to “let you know” they need to go out to pee?

Redpup doesn’t tell us in any way so we just bring him out every 2-2.5 hours at the min as that seems to be his current interval, but DH was wondering aloud today if we’ll have to keep a written record of his wee times on a post-it on the fridge forever!

Is the bell a good option or teaching him some other way of letting us know??

@RedLem0ns I never taught Plantpup a way of asking me to go out, she just sort of figured it out and now cries at the door to go out. I considered bell training her for a while as some other posters have done which is a good option. I only decided against it in the end as she always cries and as I live alone there is rarely any reason I wouldn’t hear it (no kids playing, loud music etc!!)

We went to a secure field yesterday and practised her recall to get ready for off lead - she recalled to the whistle every single time I was over the moon! Going to go a few more times and try to get a friend with a dog to come along so we can practise recall away from the other dog then venture out somewhere!

Plantpup is getting spayed in a few weeks, does anyone have any recommendations of things I can do to prep for it?

I have got a onesie for her to wear rather than a cone. She is having keyhole surgery so recovery time will (hopefully) be shorter. They did mention something about that they generally keyhole spay dogs 10kg+ and she’s currently 8kg...but I’m just going to let that slide and try not to stress about it for now. If she is too small they will do conventional surgery. I have quite a few puzzles etc for her she already has - any other suggestions for keeping her occupied that don’t involve jumping up and down off sofas and beds like a woman possessed?

@RedLem0ns we didn’t get the bells as someone said they just use them when they want to go out rather than because they need a wee.... it dawned on me today that PoirotPup just whines to get let out, regardless of if he wants a wee or not so I suspect it wouldn’t have been any different 🤣🤣🤣

@Hightideattheseaside just curious about how you manage your pup and your in laws lab. We have a similarish situation with my mum's elderly dog. My feeling is we manage them, and split them up if sushipup is getting too boisterous and older dog is snarling, growling etc.
My mum's dog is sweet and gentle but has no commands not even sit, so is impossible to call away. I end up doing all the managing and am finding it very stressful! My mum's view is just let them sort it out. My worry is it will end badly. She popped round on Saturday as I had to go out and when I spoke to my son later he was nearly in tears about how awful it had been. He was basically left to animal wrangle as neither DM not DH seemed to think two highly stressed dogs were an issue. Ahhh!!!!

Thanks for the rain tips - poor pup was running back to the door every time I took him out, pawing and whining to be let back in. Eventually he went under the trampoline to do his poo - so I guess that’s covered over, had not really thought about it, we don’t have any other area of cover and couldn’t even find an umbrella!

My nutty puppy let my DP come in the bedroom after getting up for a pee without barking and he’s in a different room from me right now happily getting fed by him...

I mean, he’s barked at him for other things and I’ve literally spent all day bribing him with hotdogs so my DD can walk around (she’s a student so not usually here)

So only small progress, but it is finally at least some progress.