Puppy Survival Thread - June/July

[MrsHerculePoirot]

Discussion of all things puppy...

Old thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4234193-puppy-survival-thread-may?msgid=108567452

I think we need to practise leave, drop and off lots more perhaps

We have taught leave for if she looking like she'll touch or take something eg dirty abandoned face masks on a walk and drop for if she's actually got something in her mouth which we give a treat for if possible if we have some to hand. We use off for if she jumps up on sofa.

Drop is the one we aren’t too good with. I tried the chirag Patel method but it takes some time to work on and not sure i spent enough time on it yet. We tell her to drop her ball when she brings in back but she can’t seem to bring herself to drop it. She does occasionally now (then sometimes snatches it back before we pick it up!). I know I could use a treat, but with the ball I feel the reward of having ball thrown again should be enough really? And treats complicates matters a bit

So I picked up pup this morning. We have been home an hour and I already feel out of my depths! Lol so far she is just sniffing round the lounge. She has had a sniff of the cat but didn’t seem to bothered. Today’s challenge is to see how many successful wees outside she can have.

@Turky199 that's the same method I used. Initially I did have tiny pieces of treat, not even half a treat, ready to play ball etc and so she did get one for dropping the ball and then I'd throw it again. Now she drops it ready for me to throw again without a treat, if she doesn't drop it then I take it as a sign she wants to play on her own/chew it so that's the end of the game... if she then wants me to throw it again she'll come and drop it for me lol. I now only need to use treats if she's stolen one of the kids toys or shoes they've left laying around and she's claimed it!

@Turky199 I never taught my old dog to drop as I wanted retrieves to hand, but I got a really good one of those shaping his behaviour with a clicker. He nearly sprained my wrist, plonking his toy into my hand so hard So you could try that?

Today, Spudpup has been introduced to hot dog sausages… they are very popular. I have begun introducing the whistle with them. We primed the clicker yesterday, but I’m going to repeat the process with hot dog sausages to make sure it’s really well settled before I start to use it in earnest. He also managed some good sits with me starting to lean away from him, and we began to introduce a down. He’s now completely pooped on the kitchen floor, although little does he know we’re off to the vets shortly for 💉😬

Ooh these pups of mine are boiling. They're on the cool mats in front of the fan and only get up for a wee or a drink then straight back down!

Can't wait til Friday til we can take MaePup out for walks. Having her in the sling while walking MaeDog is hot work. But I'm also nervous about how I'll manage two of them! I don't let MaeDog off the lead as his recall with me is poor (but great with DW!). So I'll have him on the retractable and Pup on a little lead.

AwesomePup has been on a trip to a pet shop today, where he tried on a new harness (because he's rapidly growing out of his old one), chose buffalo tails for his new chews, and ate a TON of training treats because he was getting stressed out while we were trying on the harness. He's now digging up his grassy patch (dd's old sandpit) and generally making a huge mess in my yard/garden. He's also properly teething now and we keep finding blood on all his toys, poor pup.

@Wolfcub @Aria20 @Nordstrom @SpreadHummusNotHate sorry you all had a crappy night/feeling awful today. Something in the air!

@Turquoisesol definitely agree - learn the command with 'fair game' items - such as 'leave' command during tuggy. I think managing the environment is the right thing to do whilst v. young. We plan on using leave for avoiding forbidden fruits as well as ending tuggy and drop a ball for fetch. Maybe I am being lazy by reducing the number of commands.

@Spudlet ohhhh I have been tempted by the whilst method! I just think it is a really clear signal for recall. If it goes well and you recommend it, I will come to you for advice! I also have some hotdogs in the fridge too ready to go....

Has anyone gone down to 2 meals a day yet? Today pup has effectively missed lunch as been tired from the heat so just lazing in front of fan. I know when they are less active they will eat less so I'm not concerned just thinking about when to move to 2 meals as standard...

@MorningInspiration Whistles are fabulous! They carry further than a voice, they always sound the same (unlike our voices, which show stress and other emotions), and dogs hearing is set to hear high pitched sounds really well. Spuddog was whistle trained and it was excellent. I knew his hearing had gone when he no longer came to the whistle, bless him.

My advice is get a proper gundog whistle - an Acme one. They come in different pitches but it doesn’t matter which you go for, as long as you stick to the same one. They always sound the same, and cheap pet shop ones don’t always. And keep your best treats for whistle training - like primula cheese or hot dogs 👍

Second jabs done today - the vets was fine but the car ride there and back was an experience. For such a small thing, Spudpup can really hit some high notes, VERY loudly 🙉 People were turning to stare as we screamed our way by… really hoping he gets over it soon as it makes for pretty stressful travelling and we’re going on holiday next month!

@Spudlet if you use the whistle do you still call their name first? Got visions of ten dogs running to me in the park

I was wondering about going down to two meals. I notice after we get back from morning walk she is following me around expecting lunch. And she is going to have to learn lunch is no more!

We use whistle for recall and it is really good. She responds better to it. I have t had any other dogs come to me when I use whistle, but if someone else has one it is confusing for pup. She looks at me confused and sometimes runs back to me and I have to treat her for coming back even though I didn’t use whistle. Somewhere I read that they get used to your whistle and the way you blow it, but that hasn’t happened yet. She still responds to any old whistle someone else uses

@CleverQuacks how exciting what breed? How old?

@MarleneDietrichsSmile she is a shihtzu and only 6 weeks old. I know they usually shouldn’t leave mum til 8 weeks but due to a variety of reasons the vet recommended she be removed from mum early. She is absolutely tiny (vet has her on a high calorie diet cos she needs fattening up)

Little baby , hope she is doing well

@Aria20 You would initially but eventually you should just be able to use the whistle. I never got any additional dogs, although we didn’t tend to go to too many really busy places so I guess it could happen? They generally get pretty good at learning their own signal IME.

I think dogs are unlikely to recall to a stranger normally. They know whistle means go back to owner. More likely your pup will come back to you if they hear a random whistle?

Is quite like to try a whistle, does it matter when you start the training? My pup is 15 weeks, have I missed the boat on this?

Ah bless her responding to other whistles @Turquoisesol. If she's hungry after her walk, could you keep some of her breakfast back to scatter around when she gets back from the walk? I'm thinking my pup will prob expect lunch too as she'll see us still having lunch. She finished her dinner very quickly today after not having lunch and I've ended up giving some extra (well what would have been lunch) so I guess she's not ready to miss lunch completely!

I got Spuddog at 18 months old and whistle trained him, so deffo not too late at 15 weeks. They’ll keep learning their whole lives long, if you keep teaching them

@duvetdrama mine is 22 weeks and I'm thinking of introducing the whistle so I def don't think it's too late - hope not anyway but I guess they learn new things/tricks whenever so it shouldn't take too long to get them used to the whistle

Yes, that's true! Silly question of mine. I'm so focussed on the 14 weeks socialisation window that I'm forgetting dogs can learn at any time. Definitely going to try this

@Spudlet thank you so much for your advice and even including the whistle brand! This is what I need (all whistle look and sound the same to me but to morningpup very different I am sure). As for the vet and travelling, the first time we had morningpup and driving to his forever home he reached notes I didn't think were possible. I nearly cried as it was heart wrenching, so you have all my empathy!! Hopefully when he associates car rides with fun walks he will calm down.

Also for everyone sharing their whistle successes too! (P.S. I had the same Q about every dog within 100ms responding to my whistle too ). I am convinced!

Also how cheap are the proper acme whistle?! When you mentioned they were proper gun dog whistles @Spudlet I was expecting £££ but I found one specific to retrievers on their website and it was cheaper than amazon! Thank you

(Ps my spending on my pup has not improved so genuinely thrilled with the price - spoilt pup )