Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

@Nordstrom congratulations on your puppy!!!! What breed do you have? Xxx

@LadyCatStark thank you! She’s a cockapoo and we’re realising she’s bonkers

@Plantlover23 thank you! 🥰

Our first two nights have gone surprisingly smoothly. I think we’re in for a wake up call soon 🤣. Yesterday I sadly didn’t spent much time at home and DH got the day with pup, but today I’ve taken the day off work (I am freelance) as I want to try and establish a bit of a routine without it being full on. I think I just want to lie on the floor and play with her the entire day though 🤣

How are you all this morning?

Thanks @MsAwesomeDragon . I'm thinking I will persist like this for now.

@ILikePizzaAndWine thanks. She is a Bernese mountain dog.

@MsAwesomeDragon My friend had the doorbell version and said it was a life saver, I'm starting to think I'll get one.

Right now I'm doing a bit of admin at my desk - even though I said I wouldn't work and she's asleep in her crate with the door open, and her playpen around it. I'm hoping this will work for when I have calls or something I really need to concentrate on away from the room, then the rest of the time I can use the laptop in the same room.

You know when you type something and realise you're being overly optimistic? Kind of like my vision of me wearing white after I had my babies

@Nordstrom Oh they are beautiful! Can't wait to see a pic!

Morning, Billy has decided he does not like setting off for a walk from home. He loves it once he gets going but he’ll either sit and refuse to move or try to pull back home. Does anyone have any tips? We’ve tried treats and his ball. I’ve also tried ignoring him in the hope he’ll get bored and come with me but he won’t have it. I think it’s because he wants the whole family to come with him and he would much appreciate it if we all gave up work and school to focus entirely on him 😂.

Glad everyone's pups are doing well! @Nordstrom excited to see a pic 😍
I'm still finding things hard he's such a good boy aswell I'm just not enjoying it like I thought I would I don't feel anything for him yet and feel awful about this 😭 how can I work on our bond x

@MsAwesomeDragon we used bells and they worked really well until she was about 8 months old - she then decided it was a great game to ring the bell and not go out every 10 mins or so. But from about 6 weeks until then they were great and it only took her a day to learn how to ring them

Here she is

Aw she is so cute you are very lucky Nordstrom to have such a beautiful puppy

@Nordstrom

Here she is

Oh my gosh how adorable!

@rnulanmoo

Glad everyone's pups are doing well! *@Nordstrom* excited to see a pic 😍 I'm still finding things hard he's such a good boy aswell I'm just not enjoying it like I thought I would I don't feel anything for him yet and feel awful about this 😭 how can I work on our bond x

@rnulanmoo it just happens one day. One minute you desperately want to send him back and the next you’re buying a miniature statue of his breed to place by your front door... (this actually happened to us this weekend). We’re on week 3 and we now love him to bits!

Nice to see the next generation of pups coming through! Challengepup is fully recovered from his neutering and subsequent infection. I am despite all of it very glad I have had him neutered- I have seen mostly no change but in a couple of key areas a huge improvement , notably roaming after bitches and a general fixation with certain dogs- he's still keen to play and meet dogs overall but he doesn't follow certain ones in a fixated way. He's also just a little less interested in other dogs overall- still likes to say hello but happy to have a sniff hello and move on if they are not interested.

In other ways at 9 months he is still much easier than the early days but has his moments. Recall much better but can be patchy. Affectionate but doesn't like to be left. My biggest issues are that he is still destructive- carpets are a favourite target! And he still doesn't settle well- I've tried capturing calm and we have a long way to go there still! I'm a bit at a loss on destructiveness- he has plenty of walks stimulation toys and even some things he is allowed to destroy like cardboard boxes but he loves a good dig at all my carpets and ripping up his beds! I can't block off all the carpeted areas which then makes me reluctant to leave him in the house and so we make no progress there. But he is lovely in many ways and despite everything I can't imagine being without him now!

@familychallenge I'm of no help, but I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one with a destructive pup!! He's actually really good with most things, other than his bed and the carpet! He has two particular spots he loves to dig at and it drives . me . nuts.... I could happily let him roam freely if it wasn't for this! It seems to be when he is tired, but hasn't worked out that he is, so he just wants attention. We've just spent the last week at different people's houses and he's not done it, so I know it's a habit more than anything. I've tried blocking it off, but it's in his favourite falling asleep places so he gets agitated if he can't go there. I think I need to just 24 /7 follow him around for a couple of days and reward, reward, reward when he isn't digging, but I don't have the time for that!! Any other ideas welcome!!

As for beds, I've removed them all, other than the one in his crate, which is upstairs and he doesn't go there often during the day. Again... he just does it when he wants attention! It's like dealing with a naught toddler. 😆

Guys I have been in tears on and off most of the day. After a difficult dog training session where turquoisepup behaved so badly. It’s quite a lonely place to be on days like that 😕

Doje maybe my standards aren’t as high as yours but if my pup had a couple of places she particularly liked to dig I would probably just let her! Digging holes in the garden seems fairly innocuous if other training is going fairly well ?

Oh @Turquoisesol poor you! What happened?!? If it’s any consolation PoirotPup is a dick for at least half, usually 3/4 of our weekly training session….

Lol @Doje exactly the same! Solidarity! I can almost time it to when he is overtired or a bit agitated. It's the bottom stair carpet particularly (which I cant block off and where he has already loosened it) and his bed. I need to work on settle but it's hard to do go to bed when I have taken the beds away because he chewed them! I'm going to try with just a fluffy blanket on the floor as a marker for his place I think. When he's been especially agitated I have tried putting him on his lead and forcing him to sit and he does settle quite fast but I'd like him to learn without that! Once he settles he is grand, sleeps really well, it's just while he fights it that it is painful for all of us!

I’ve read a suggestion of giving dogs a pile of old towels/blankets for them to ‘dig’ inside … I haven’t needed to use it (touch wood!) but it was suggested elsewhere…

@Turquoisesol you poor thing! It's awful when that happens. I think most of us have had bad days and bad experiences and encounters where people have criticised the dog and it's proper rubbish. I felt like I had failed me and my boy the last time it happened. We are all doing the best we can! Chin up, remember when it's been good and look forward to the next good day! A wiser and older dog owner said to me not to expect consistency for a while yet, and not to be too complacent after a good one or too down after a bad one! Good luck for tomorrow!

The digging is at carpets, not gardens. Have already accepted my lawn is stuffed but having already replaced downstairs carpets with hard floors I don't want to do my bedroom too!

Thanks @MrsHerculePoirot I might try that, I have loads of old blankets. Will even give him a duvet if it saves my carpets!

Main problem was just constantly chewing the lead. The dog trainer took over to show me how it’s done and turquoisepup ended up biting her hand and it bleeding 🙁

@Turquoisesol I know it isn’t funny but that made me laugh a bit - I can imagine the trainer being all like ‘let ME do it…’…. Was it first session? Is it a class with others?

I’ve had a one to one trainer do a few sessions at my house - she is amazing and PoirotPup generally good as gold at it all at home and in garden. I also do a class with 5 other puppies and he cannot sit still, constant pulling to get to anyone else or the other dogs… he’ll then occasionally smash some thing but CANNOT walk at all, let alone next to me, when we do the walking thing. Every week one of the trainers takes the lead to show me how to do it and he’s no better 🤣 at home and down my road he’s totally fine, but in an exciting field no chance…

Ah that sounds like a rough day.

We have about 90 from 100 pack of puppy pads left. Lifepup just shredded them

@Turquoisesol was yours excited by other dogs? Mine is much better in 1-1 training. But when we did a first class with others he stole the trainers bag of treats and ran round manically with it ignoring us all! Only positive thing was that he didn't manage to get into it and eat them all and did give it back eventually but he was very disruptive. Sorry you had such a bad day - hope the trainer was ok!

@Turquoisesol it's my carpet he's digging! Well, the garden too, that's full of holes! But it's the carpet I have a problem with.

I might try the blankets thing, see if that helps.

Sorry you've had a tough day @Turquoisesol. At least it's better than being perfect in class and then the usual shit-bag as soon as you've left! That's Dpup's usual trick!

Seriously though, have a good night's sleep and then start again tomorrow. We've all had rubbish days but it gets better quickly. Have a glass of wine tonight and forget about it for now.