Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

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

I had back to back Teams calls at work today so I gave Billy a Pizzle stick and he sat in the dining room and chewed it for an hour then took a nap. When he got up he still had the stick and I could tell he was carrying it around looking for somewhere to bury it later. He tried digging up his bed but that didn’t work so I took him outside and had to make another call. When I came off, he’d ‘buried’ it so successfully under the stones around the side of the house 😂. OK it wasn’t the best attempt but it’s amazing to watch how instinctual they are! He just knew that he needed to bury it to save it for later.

@LadyCatStark that is just so cute!! Never seen my pup try to bury anything lol if she doesn't finish it she just leaves it in wherever stinking

Yes same turquoisepup just abandons chews on the lawn! I do remember my childhood dog burying bones though

@LadyCatStark that is very cute!

🥰 he’s now moved up a level and moved it to a hole that he’s been working on since he arrived (it’s not very big 😂) and covered it with the lightest dusting of soil. Clever boy 🥰

@LadyCatStark mine just digs for the sake of digging or for worms which I then have to get him to drop DH is quite upset with the state of the garden lol all the yellow wee circles and the mud digging patches!

We just went for a walk with turquoisepup who is now 5 months and her confidence is growing. Now the problem I have is that if we pass other people walking dogs she will jump up on them to say hello. And she is getting quite big now, 11kg. So I tend to only let her off the lead when nobody else is around as I understand that this is not fair on people. We spoke to a nice man with an adult cockapoo who pup said hello to and then she Jumped up on the man to say hello which he didn’t mind. He asked me if she is ok off the lead and I said she is she will come back to me and not run off but the problem is her jumping on people. He agreed and said it’s a really hard habit to stop and his dog still does it. So now I am wondering how on earth do I stop her doing this? I would like to one day be able to walk her round the local forest and pass other dog walkers without having to put her on the lead every time we see someone. Does anyone have any experience of this?

@Turquoisesol does she sit when you see other people/dogs? My pup sits now automatically if she sees people/dogs ahead but I have to keep the lead short as they get closer as the excitement gets to her sometimes she will try to jump up. I can't imagine trusting her off lead around other dogs or strangers for a long time!

She lies down in a sort of play bow when she sees other people. And if they engage and say hello I let her go say hi to them. Always on the lead. Maybe I am expecting too much to think I could let her do off lead hellos any time soon

I was just reading an old thread on here and the jist of it seems to be practice practice practise recall with really tasty treats. Sit when people pass. And get yourself to a good dog class. And it probably takes until they about 4 to get it !

Yep always have tiny pieces of hot dog and cheese with me on walks but sometimes she is not even interested in the treat in my hand, her eyes are only on the other dog so I know we are nowhere near ready! We are onto week 4 of 6 with "puppy school" and to be honest wish I'd saved the £85

I have been to quite 3 different classes and they have all been fairy useless !

It's frustrating as you hear how important it is to go to puppy classes but you end up finding better tips or advice online! I really want a well behaved puppy I can take anywhere, I'd love her to pass therapy dog tests but no idea where to go or how to get her trained to that sort of level!

I ordered a book on therapy dog training. I don’t really think my dog will have the right temperament but i am finding it helpful to read how they are trained

Not sure if maybe puppy classes are worth persevering with. Perhaps it’s a long game that needs to be played

@Turquoisesol we have the same thing. Billy is super confident and friendly but he thinks that everyone’s job is to give him attention! It doesn’t help that we live on a small cul-de-sac with loads of children. They all have dogs and they all adore him and run up to him screeching “Billy!” He loves all the attention but they don’t understand that he’s going to get bigger quickly and they won’t want him jumping up at him then. He also doesn’t understand that not everyone wants to say hi to him and he’s most offended when they don’t. Most people do want to say hi though and encourage him to jump up but again he won’t be cute and little for long! We do try to get him to sit when people and dogs come near and I get that it’ll take a lot of practise but not everyone wants to be our guinea pig and not everyone’s behaviour towards him, although very well meaning, isn’t always helpful!

Yes absolutely ladycatstark I think it is a very common problem. People encourage jumping up while they are little and cute and the behaviour becomes ingrained. I now have sympathy for all the dog owners in the past whose dogs jumped up in me !! Turquoisepup actually sits nicely for us in the house to welcome us as we are persistent with insisting she does this. But it all goes out the window when we are out and about.
The ironic thing is that when we got turquoisepup we were really quite worried about her timid nature and I was worried she would be fearful of people. So we encouraged lots of interaction with people to help overcome her shyness. And as much as I don’t want her jumping up, I am glad really that she is more outgoing now, as a fearful dog is a much more difficult thing to deal with.

It’s hard isn’t it! PoirotPup is getting better slowly - he often sits down as people or dogs pass. Not I see them first I call him to me and then make him look at me with an eye contact thing we do and do it slowly until they’ve passed or hold his harness and sprinkle treats around my shoe so his head is down and he is snuggling rather than trying to jump up and be friends 🤦‍♀️ He sometimes sits, watches them go past then turns to us for a treat but it is not consistent….

Today my parents came - we have a gate in the hall and he sits behind it when I open the door. He was so excited to see them and so jumped up, paws on gate so I got my parents to ignore him until his front paws hit the ground and then they really fussed him through the bars before going in. Going to keep small pot of trest by front door and practise that more I think!

And yes our garden is very desolate wasteland looking 🤣🤣🤣 we have some of it penned off from him so we can actually grow stuff 🤣🤣🤣

@MrsHerculePoirot my parents are the worst for allowing/encouraging jumping up as they have two small dogs who they allow to do it to them and I'm like no just ignore her and don't let her do it as we want her to stop!! Also with the kids friends again they don't mind as they have dogs too... it's more training the visitors than the pups I'm finding as she doesn't jump up at me or DH!

@Turquoisesol what was the book you have and do you find it good? I'd love to get mine to that standard but she probably won't be.

5am wake up again here despite last wee later at 10.30 and a good off lead run in the park in the evening. As soon as I let her out she does a wee and a poo straight away so I guess she just can't physically hold it anymore

She will get bigger and sleep longer. Buoy could try tweaking last meal/last wee? But I suspect it depends on many things and tweaking last wee makes no difference to PoirotPup! He has been through a phased but is now back to being ok until we come down about 6.30 thank goodness - I have no doubt it will regress at some point though!

What time do you give last meal? Maybe I could change that and see if any difference but I don't give her breakfast until 7 so it's not like she's waking early to get food. She usually dozes in front room after the early wake up but unfortunately I don't get back to sleep as my 3yo wakes when the dog wakes so it's a full on long day!

7 pm (we are at 7, 1 and 7). I wondered if it might make a difference to when they poo rather than hunger maybe?

Ah ok see that is much later than ours, she eats dinner at 5, 6 at latest because that's what time we eat! I don't think she'd be happy waiting until 7 but perhaps she could have a little snack later. Might try tonight.