Puppy Survival Thread - August

[MrsHerculePoirot]

Discussion of things puppy!

Old thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4281840-Puppy-Survival-Thread-June-July?pg=1

Morning all

I hope everyone has a good day today. It's a real rollercoaster of emotions isn't it!

I had a friend come over last night and she played with pup for an hour for me whilst I did some jobs. It made a huge difference and I felt really sad when she left.

We also went to meet the doggy daycare lady who will look after pup for me when I have to go into the office. Pup was shy at first but soon found her confidence and chased a 5 year old cavapoo who hid under the table 😂

All the excitement obviously helped too because pup slept from 10pm to 2am. 4 hours uninterrupted sleep was bliss! I feel so much more human today

@MakeMeCleanTheHouse Sorry this is stirring up old feelings for you. Sometimes these old scars jump out and get us when we least expect it. This too shall pass though.

@Wolfcub What were you trying to do with Wolfpup?

No Spudpup for me this morning as I’ve brought DS away for the weekend! I find myself slightly missing the little blot. Hopefully he isn’t running DH too ragged at home…

Morning all.

@opalescent I totally get it. I've get similar. Even down to the way it's affecting mine and DH's relationship as in resentment at bearing the main load, competitive tiredness etc.

@Spudlet that sounds lovely - enjoy the break!

Well I've just packed a very reluctant dh off to puppy class on his own. I'm not feeling well enough to go this morning. I'm hoping he gets something out of and it doesn't backfire 🙈

I keep reminding myself puppy blues are normal. They're not so tiny and demanding of time forever....it's like those newborn baby days where you're exhausted, days last forever but then they're gone in a flash. That's what I'm hoping, anyway!!!!

Hamish was very good last night and has taken himself out to toilet all morning so far. Challenge for this week is to get the kids and DH to train with treats as at the moment I am the food and treat lady and he ignore them.

@GuyFawkesDay same, although opalpup is my first, so it's harder to know what things will look like further down the line!!
Have many people on this thread had dogs previously? Is having an adult dog a completely different experience to having a pup?

Spud rewarding for calm(er) reaction near traffic and loose lead walking on the quiet (no traffic) back lanes.

@opalescent not had dog as an adult but did growing up and other than the times they were ill ours slept as long as we did. And once they'd had a walk napped all morning, walk at lunch, nap afternoon then fun once family is all home and one more walks in the evening then snooze until bedtime!
Toileted on walks mostly, stopped destroying things too. Became those lovely canine companions. And yes, I did a lot of the work as I did 5am walk up to stables and often the evening one too. Fed once a day, biscuit in the morning, main meal in evening and a biscuit at bedtime.

Puppies are basically hairy 4 legged toothy toddlers 🤣. I am back to like when the kids were tiny "it's just a phase" on repeat!!!

@Wolfcub With my (quite old and dusty) trainer hat on, I would suggest finding somewhere if you can that allows you to get back from the traffic while still seeing it - a park that borders onto a road, for example - so you can get to a distance that allows you to get a calm response. Then you can work on getting closer.

Loose lead walking on the way home is always a bugger but you just have to persist, try not to have a time limit on yourself so you can take as long as you need and stop dead or turn back on yourself as often as you need to. I am also finding clicker training good for Spudpup on the lead as it is a good way to mark the precise behaviour you want even if you only get it for a second or two.

You’ll get there

I've never had a dog before, so this is my first experience of dog ownership. We borrowed a friend's dog for a few weekends when we were considering getting a puppy. He was a delight to walk, could go for miles and was just fabulous. AwesomePup has a little way to go to get to that stage, but by the time he's the same age as my friend's dog I'm sure he'll be just as delightful.

@Wolfcub they all have bad days, don't worry about it too much. Last week I was despairing of AwesomePup ever walking on a loose lead, but we've really focused on it in the house and garden this week, then took it out onto the very quiet field behind our house for a few days of practice, before finally taking him out onto pavements with it. He just did a brilliant load of loose lead walking at puppy class, focusing on me even when walking past the other puppies, when last week he could barely take 2 steps without pulling. Can wolfpup walk on a loose lead in your house? Can he do it in your garden? Maybe take a few days practising somewhere with far fewer distractions (even new smells are very distracting) before moving back into the more distracting places.

Those of you who are working on loose lead walking- how old are your puppies now? Mine is still only 9 weeks. We're popping her lead on each day so she can get used to it. She's not yet fully vaccinated of course, but just wondering whether you started this aspect of training?

AwesomePup is 19 weeks now, so we're miles ahead of you @opalescent. I think in the first couple of weeks it's enough to focus on as much socialisation as you can and house training really. There's such a lot you need to focus on in those early weeks that loose lead walking is a "nice to have" but not an "essential".

@opalescent How are you finding the lead? I put the lead on pup the other day - she is 9 weeks too - and it was like having a jumping fish on a line so I didn't persist with it. I thought about buying one of those long training lines maybe

We've got a long training line and I thoroughly recommend it. Using that for socialisation/exercise trips out means that he can go and have a good run/sniff without getting used to pulling on the lead. We use it on almost all of our walks that are in new places, so he can become familiar with the place before we put the short lead on and expect him to walk nicely (and he will definitely come back because I can reel him in if he doesn't recall himself). It can be a pain to manage at first because you feel like you're constantly telling the lead back in, but I soon got used to it.

We started work on loose lead walking from day 1 but literally just a couple of minutes a day and initially without the lead. Just in the garden, having her follow along and rewarding when she was in the right position.

We were fortunate that we didn't really have to spend any time toilet training, if I was spending time on that and cleaning up accidents I would have concentrated on the toilet training.

My pup is off her food today which we could do without as trainer said she needs to put on weight as can feel her hips! She had her flea/worm treatment yesterday so I'm hoping it's just that. She wasn't even interested in chicken/hotdog on her walk last night or today! She's eaten her wet food but left all the kibble.

@opalescent it's good to get her used to wearing lead/harness in the house while she still can't go for walks but as @tizwozliz said in those first couple of weeks toilet/crate training are priority as they sleep so much there's not much time for anything else and they are still getting used to new family and new home!

Pup is 6 months now and can loose lead walk very nicely but today we went somewhere new and boy did she pull! Like @MsAwesomeDragon we swapped her onto the long line so she could sniff and explore without pulling, I have to be careful with the long line though as even though it's bright orange my 3 year old was tripped by it when pup decided to chase a bird in the opposite direction!

@opalescent @MightyMeerkat - our pups are the same age. Elfpup was born on th13/6.

Don't expect anything in the way of lead walking yet. We clipped Elfpup's lead on for the first time in the garden yesterday and fish on a line really describes it well. They need to get used to it first then holding a treat in your hand really helps! Elfpup is a small breed though so it's hard on my back!

Elfpup had her first walk this morning with Elfdog. Getting her in the puppy carrier was a two person job and keeping her in it a whole other palaver. Still she met our nice postie who made a fuss of her and a couple of dog walkers who did the same. A nasty man in a white van thought he'd blare his horn for no reason which made all of us jump but she didn't seem to be too worried afterwards thank goodness.

She's now had lunch and is asleep in her crate - peace reigns and I should be getting on with a few things but it's so nice to sit down and not be jumped on and chewed.

At least this time round I know it's temporary. I had a bad case of the blues last time .

@Elphame that's encouraging thank you

Does anyone have a recommendation for a harness? So many styles and choices 🤨

I need to find a good place to learn about clicker training and loose lead walking. Both a mystery to me right now

I can't tell you how helpful I am finding them s group, it really is fab. Really good info on loose lead walking, thanks all!
@MightyMeerkat we've popped it on each day for the last 3 days and just let her Sheffield around outside the front of our house. She's often tries to bite it/ play with it. Other times she forgets it's there. I'm hoping it's just good for her to get used to the sensation.

@Elphame what breed are your dogs? How old is Elfdog now?

We have taken pup to the local large village and sat in the main street watching the world go by. Visited the butcher, the baker, (but not the candle stick maker) and came home with huge bones for both dogs.

He's spent all morning attacking the bone, bit me hard when I extricated a small piece from his mouth and is crashed out. DH and I doing very noisy DIY. He seems bombproof in reaction

I've had dog's all my life. They are all different. The hardest ones have been rescue dogs with personality disorders! Lots of destruction and challenging behaviour. I wanted a pup to start from scratch and train well. I now fear I may be the owner who gives a dog a personality disorder.....

Ffs Wolfpup has been chewing the end of his tail and has made it bleed.

Spudlet that's what we were doing, working gradually closer starting in a secluded grounds well off the road

But that said we have to cross the road to get to the poo bin