Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

How did you get on duvetdrama? With turquoisepup we wait til she is asleep by our feet. Then take her out (bribed with a treat) for a last wee. Then put another treat in to crate for her to go in there. She is still fairly sleepy at this point. I tend to think if I was to try and put her in before, when she is still in awake mode, she wouldn’t settle
Not sure if that’s helpful to try or not

Hello, can u join your thread? I’m a regular but name changed in case I end up adding a photo of pup.

We got him last Friday, so he’s been with us for 3 days. So far, so good. He pretty much slept all the way home from the breeder, then took to his crate well and slept through the night with a few wee breaks. Next few nights have been similar.

DH and I taking it in turns to sleep on the sofa while the other one is on toddler duty!

Doodle pup is so smart, he’s already mastered sit, come, knows his name and we are working on touch and the start of recall

One question is around biting / mouthing. He is very gentle so far and hasn’t chewed me at all yet. A few times I’ve felt his teeth on my skin very gently so I’ve been doing a dramatic “ouch!” But that’s it, he isn’t chewing on my hands etc. My question is - should I be letting him? I am concerned that if he has no feedback on how hard he bites then will he ever learn bite inhibition? Conversely, if I start giving him my hands to chew will I then have to make him unlearn it? Or is the 8/9 week phase still very gentle and in a few weeks he’ll turn in to a land shark…?!

@DoodlePup for us the first few days wasn’t too bad and then as he got older, not used to us and more confident it definitely upped. I wouldn’t encourage it tbh - we still now occasionally have to remove ourselves if he gets too excited but much more rarely! We’ve spent weeks distracting, redirecting, preventing in the first place to teach him it isnt rewarding and how we like to play instead!

*more used to us
Not
Not used to us!!!!

@DoodlePup we don’t let our puppy chew our hands because it always escalates quickly to hard biting. We redirect him to one of his chew toys.

Thank you thank you!!

My other question is that twice he has growled at us - once when I tried to move him from his crate for a wee, and the other time when my husband tried to move him off a cushion for a wee. He was sleepy both times so I think we disturbed an over tired puppy who was telling us he wasn’t happy

Is that all it is, or is growling at this age something to be worried about?

A growl is just a grumble but you shouldn't ignore it. He's letting you know he doesn't like that (both times you're moving him?) so I would just stop doing that. Use a command and call him instead. It's nothing to worry about, it's great he's using his voice and if you ignore it or punish him for it he'll find another way to show you his displeasure which might be a bite.

Doodlepup we always (rightly or wrongly) entice turquoisepup out for a wee with a treat when she is sleepy. It saves having to force her.

Hey new friends! Can I jump in?
On Sunday we bought home beautiful, loony Luna!
First night with her crated tonight. (Yesterday she fell asleep with DH on the sofa cos the crate hadn't arrived!)
We have an en suite and we've put the crate in there with the door open and she has a clear view of me only about a metre away in bed.
She's been yowling and whining so much its breaking my heart
We've done lots of reading - are we doing the right thing to let her whine/bark whenever she wakes and get herself settled? I'm worried she's going to get herself so scared

Please does anyone have any tips?? Please tell me it gets better!!

Awww. I would absolutely go to her and comfort her. She's a baby and it's all new for her. She'll be used to snuggling up with her mum and litter mates. She's gorgeous 🤩

She's gorgeous. I've got AwesomePup in his crate right next to my bed. We leave the lid open and I stick my hand over the side of the bed into the crate to stroke him to sleep. He also has a bit of fleece with the advent of his litter mates on (we could probably lose that now- it stinks!), And a snuggly toy with a heartbeat. I think my puppy might be spoiled, but I don't want to leave him to cry any more than I ever wanted to leave my babies to cry (I had them in my bed with me - I'm not that bad with the puppy yet).

I would comfort definitely and not leave to cry too. They’re only tiny and used to sleeping with mum and litter mates.

We also entice out with treats rather than lift. I’m assuming it’s the last wee of the night you’re needing to wake for - we tried to gently wake and then used a treat to entice out… and back again if needed!

I agree but everything I'm reading says to not comfort as it rewards the barking etc?? But then I hate controlled crying etc in babies and this is no different really.
If I don't acknowledge the barking etc she settles and sleeps for about 10 mins before waking up and whining/barking again.
I'm trying to reward her when she's quiet with treats but it just seems to make her worse.

She’s just a baby. She just needs comfort I think. Have a read of this fb group / the second guid is all about puppies and there is a bit on sleeping and also something on crying it out and dogs/puppies there too… I wasn’t up for controlled crying with my kids either so this group has been really perfect for me. (m.facebook.com/groups/374160792599484/?multi_permalinks=4720643401284513&notif_t=group_highlights&notif_id=1623349859220154&ref=bookmarks)

Don’t think the link works - but it is called Dog Training Advice and Support… be careful with the name to make sure it’s the right group!

What a beautiful puppy @PollyPepper! We slept beside the crate for the first few nights and gradually moved away. Ours is 4 months now and sleeps through the night, but we were up once or twice a night to start with.

Not sure how tonight's going to go mind you. A dog barked at him through the fence in the garden earlier. He got such a fright, he came tearing in, jumped on the couch and hid behind me. When I tried to pet him, he lunged at me, which is so unlike him . He's currently in his crate, barking at DH.

Thanks all so much. I buckled and got her out, she is in her basket on the floor at the bottom of the bed at the moment. I am weak!
I'll have a look at that link, thank you @MrsHerculePoirot

@PollyPepper

Thanks all so much. I buckled and got her out, she is in her basket on the floor at the bottom of the bed at the moment. I am weak! I'll have a look at that link, thank you *@MrsHerculePoirot*

You are kind. There's a difference I think. Good luck with her, I hope she rewards your kindness with a decent amount of sleep tonight.

@PollyPepper you are not weak you are loving! She’ll feel much more secure I think and long run you will reap the benefits of that. She is gorgeous btw! First few days/weeks are all about getting to know each other, making the bond and feeling secure. I’m pretty sure you can’t spoil a tiny puppy!

I’m pretty sure you can’t spoil a tiny puppy! Me too!! Puppies need love and security before they need training. She'll remember that she was scared and you made her feel safe again, and that's priceless.

Oh thanks so much guys, I feel so much better. Last night wasn't actually too bad, she shuffled about and got on our faces a bit but that was about it. No barking/howling and no toilet accidents!
I've come into work this morning and everyone is saying how I've made a rod for my own back and she will run rings round me now But I liken it to crying it out with babies, which I loathe, and yes agree @MrsHerculePoirot and @MsAwesomeDragon you can't spoil what is essentially a baby.
I'm glad I did it. Interestingly I woke up a few times and she had put herself in the crate herself!

@PollyPepper like with kids just smile and move the convo on and then do whatever you want to do. She’s likely to just move about a bit but you’ll all get better sleep and she’ll feel totally secure I think!

She’s so gorgeous @PollyPepper ! I slept next to HightidePup for the first few nights on the sofa as her crate is down stairs. After the first few nights I moved back to my bed. She would wake a couple of times for a pee in the early weeks. After I put her back in the crate I used to sit next to the crate with my fingers poking through stroking her nose (not saying anything) until she settled and then inched away back to bed.

She’s fab at going in it now at bed time. I always entice her with a treat for the last wee then pop a couple in her crate for her to snuffle out. Now she comes in from the garden straight to the crate and we don’t hear a peep until morning.

@17CherryTreeLane sorry to hear Dpup got a fright I hope he settled ok in the end. How is he today?

@PollyPepper Just to reassure you further, Georgiepup is a bit older (8.5 months) and we've always gone to him, even now he occasionally barks at night (we have noisy nocturnal neighbours) and we still go to him every time. In return he's the calmest, coolest guy. We can leave him on his own, he doesn't suffer with any separating anxiety.

I'm not saying this is the case with every dog, I'm just trying to reassure you that it is possible to have a dog who is 'spoilt' and won't turn out clingy. I think they are separate issues tbh and much of it is luck.

“I've come into work this morning and everyone is saying how I've made a rod for my own back and she will run rings round me now”

Pfft

That’s my opinion on that, lol

Firstly, dogs are more likely to have separation issues if they’re insecure, so you’re better to just let them be with you to start with then when they’re older start working on moving them.

Also... dogs are trainable forever, if at any point something doesn’t work and you want to train them to do something else, you can.