Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

Thanks guys. We just went for a wander round the local forest track and she was perfect there so feeling a bit better that she can be nice. Feel bad for my kids cos they are peering at me wondering why mum looks all tearful ! Must try and put in brave face better.
Yes it’s a group class and maybe the distractions are too much with the other puppies. The trainer keeps actually naming the behaviour as being “horrible horrible behaviour” etc and saying “she is just being horrendous” today etc. And it makes me feel rubbish. Maybe it’s not the right class for her and I shouldn’t persevere with it.

Oh sorry Doje, I didn’t realise you meant the carpet! Yes that is annoying. Turquoisepup is only in rooms with wooden floors but she often scratches at the cupboard and floors in a digging motion so possibly a similar thing. It is very annoying I must agree. We try to distrust the behaviour with a sharp hand clap or such but it isn’t that effective to be honest.

MonaPup is 10 weeks old and we feed 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm. As I understand it they should be fed 4 times a day until 12-14 weeks old, and then 3 times daily for another 2-3 months.

She is growing like a weed though... Literally doubled in size in the last two weeks, and put on over a kilo a week of weight. She has fully transitioned to Orijen large puppy now, and I nice and lean, but oh my goodness I can't wait until Friday when her second vaccinations kick in and she can go on walks!! I'm trying to socialise her but she's getting too big (and too wiggly!) to carry. I actually ended up paying for separate vaccinations so that we could go out a fortnight earlier... Couldn't bear the thought of waiting until the final one was due!

@Turquoisesol

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 🙁

I’d suggest not copying “how it’s done” tbh, rofl

Is it chewing or tugging?

Arrgh! Hadn't refreshed the thread before I posted and missed a whole load of updates. @Turquoisesol, that sounds horrible from the trainer. I would be tempted to send her an email spelling out how it makes you feel, and if she doesn't apologise/up her game, to find another class.

My aim is for MonaPup to be an emotional support dog for my daughter, so I've been doing an enormous amount of training on calm settles and default behaviour etc. Friday we went to a friend's house for the first time, and she politely ignored friend's cat (astonishing as she's still moidering ours), played beautifully with her toys, then settled herself under my chair like a trained guide dog.

Yesterday another friend came to visit and MonaPup tore her trousers, nipped her so hard she drew blood, and was generally a total nightmare. They are puppies. 'Horrible' behaviour doesn't mean they are horrible dogs, or that they will always behave 'horribly'. It just means they are overtired and/or overstimulated. Much like with our actual children, it's all a stage!!

She is basically playing tug of war with the lead. Gripping the lead with her teeth and moving up and up the lead towards the hands. It’s our main issue we have with her behaviour.

@Turquoisesol your trainer doesn’t sound very nice!

@MonaChopsis it really does get so much easier once they can go for a walk and to visit others! Billy has been able to go out for 5 days now and it’s been delightful! It was lovely to go for a short family walk to our new community centre on Sunday through the fields and we had coffee and a scone while Billy lay under the table in the shade and had a few treats. He was so good and I wasn’t expecting it but he has (touch wood) begin to sleep til 7am 😵.

@Turquoisesol

She is basically playing tug of war with the lead. Gripping the lead with her teeth and moving up and up the lead towards the hands. It’s our main issue we have with her behaviour.

Have you tried a longer lead, when she starts, drop it and stand on the end... so it’s slack and just lies there?

Do that enough times and they usually stop, cause it’s a rubbish game if it’s not playing back.

Thanks tabulharasa yes that what I have been doing after researching advice on here in mumsnet. (Thank goodness for mumsnet) It works fairly effectively I think. I mean sometimes I have to literally wait 10 minutes on a pavement looking like a fool. But there isn’t much else I can do and at least she isn’t getting anything for her efforts. I refuse to give her a treat or anything.

The trainers advice was to hold arm out straight and not look at her and wait til she gets bored. But I didn’t really agree with that as I think she still enjoys the game doing that. As long as someone is still holding the lead we are participating in the game. But the trainer thought dropping the lead and leaving her to sniff the floor and nothing else meant she had won what she wanted which she seemed to assume was she trying to stop the training session.

We stand on our leads in our class - deffo a good tip. Having said that the trainer sounds horrible - I’m not sure I’d want to go back tbh. Go with your gut but don’t be afraid to find something that suits your better if you aren’t feeling it.

Ahh @Turquoisesol I’m sorry you had a rough day 😢 it must be a massive shock a group class. Hoping tomorrow (and the next class) is better xxxx

Today we learnt that the kids coming home from school needs to be calmer. All 3 of them (puppy and kids) were ratty and hyper and annoying after half an hour. I had to desperate the 3 of them 🤣

I’ve explained that pup misses them in the day but it needs to be less intense. I can already tell you tomororw will be no different 😬

Yeah... I’m not liking the sound of your trainer tbh.

I don’t understand how she can be so bad (I agree she does seem bad) but have such a good reputation as being such a great trainer.

@Turquoisesol if she isn't helping you or the dog, and making you unhappy, then however good her reputation she isn't helping you! Mine is relentlessly positive about both my efforts and the dog - his stated goal is to get us and the dog living happily together - and he has given me such a boost. Most of the stuff you read online is sensible but for me building confidence and having someone to ask stupid questions has been the valuable part. He wouldn't be for everyone but is focused on good enough and enjoying your dog and relationship building. There are loads of trainers out there, so I'd be inclined to find someone who helps. My buddy has tried 3 till she found someone that helped and it's made a huge difference. I haven't had that many hours either, but I would def do fewer 1-1 hours than a bunch of puppy classes for the same money. And even the best dogs can be absolute sods on the right day!

@Turquoisesol maybe ‘old school’ trainer.. 🤷‍♀️ Where are you based roughly?

We are scotland

I probably would prefer someone who came to the house just for a few sessions. Maybe I will research tomorrow

If you’re central belt I can recommend a trainer...

No we aren’t central belt unfortunately. Ashmts gave me details of her trainer so I might do a couple of online sessions to talk through any issues we are having

@Turquoisesol Definitely get in touch with her, although she's based in London I'm in Scotland too and lack of face to face hasn't been an issue.

I've not caught up with the thread. Think I'm going to have to bow out for a bit. Pup had an accident on Sunday. DP was out playing with her ball and had a plastic cricket bat and he thought she was chasing her ball so was swinging the bat about but she ran back without him seeing and he hit her It was a total accident and he feels terrible but she lost consciousness. We sped up to the emergency vet and they kept her in for observation but think she looks okay. They said she was alert and acting normal but she's definitely not her normal self. He's a wreck, he's had to phone in sick to work this week cos he's so upset. I'm trying to keep it together for his sake but I'm worried sick. When she came home it was like she didn't recognise us. She does seem to be perking up a bit, the vet said she might be drowsy cos they gave pain relief so hopefully it's just taking time to wear off. It was horrendous though. I got this panicked phone call and he just said he'd hit the dog and I was going to hate him I thought she was dead. Worst day of my life.

Oh @ashmts I'm so sorry! That sounds AWFUL!

Sending so much love, and I hope Pup makes a full recovery soon. xxxx

Oh no sorry to hear that. How scary.

Oh @ashmts that sounds totally traumatising for everyone. I will cross all my fingers and toes that Ash-Pup gets back to her normal self as soon as possible xx

I’ve had a mild concussion, didn’t lose consciousness, didn’t need any actual treatment.

It was the weirdest week of my life! I was clumsier even than normal, really confused - like couldn’t make decisions, even dead straightforward ones, couldn’t remember words for stuff and had mad mood swings where I’d suddenly be crying... over nothing.

I went to the GP because I was a bit freaked out by it, going, I hit my head quite hard yesterday and now I don’t feel right, he’s there going, yeah, concussion and I was arguing with him, because I was for some reason sure concussion would be more dramatic, lol... anyway, turns out they’re all concussion symptoms.

I just had to go away and rest till it got better.

So the point of that was, she may well act weird for the next wee while and it doesn’t mean anything sinister is happening. Obviously go back to your vet if you’re worried, but also expect her to be a bit off.

Oh gosh ashmts I am so sorry to hear that 😢 I feel so bad for your poor dh too, it must have been so upsetting for him. Hopefully everything will settle. It sounds hopeful that she can make a recovery to her normal self. Wishing you all well xx

I am sorry to hear about that awful shock ashmts, and so sorry for your dp. Accidents do happen, I managed to drop pup about a week ago, she was in my arms and wriggling energetically and I was trying to hold onto her one handed whilst closing a gate. She fell about 2 feet and landed on her back, then screamed and screamed. I thought she must have broken her spine or her legs etc - but she was fine after a couple of minutes and the vet gave her the all clear. The accident you describe is totally understandable - in that it could happen to anyone, even the most conscientious dog owner. I am sure she will be okay when over her mild concussion.

Tourquoisesol - I've been to puppy training classes in the past with my other dogs and hate them with a passion. A lot of trainers are definitely better with dogs than with people (and not all that great with dogs tbh). I'm training new pup myself - am not expert but I can follow a youtube tutorial and read books. Don't feel obliged to do the class thing