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

@Aria20 yes he looooves them! He can even smell them when the tin is still closed 😂 I mix a full tin ( because I wouldn’t want to have to store them!) really well with his kibble to make it last longer and feed him outside 🤢 he always licks the bowl clean.

Timely, I have a recipe for some tuna training treats and actually have a silicon mould arriving today. I've also seen a recipe for some biscuits made with banana and peanut butter that I might try. I'll let you know how I get on. Both are 3 or 4 ingredient recipes

@MakeMeCleanTheHouse Billy most definitely understands no. He understands it now as a warning too for example yesterday he was preparing himself to jump up at the kitchen counter so I said ‘noooo’ in a warning voice and he didn’t.

One hilarious thing that he’s started doing is going into the living room after his breakfast and nudging the TV remote with his nose to ask me to turn the TV on. This morning I was treated to Paw Patrol 😂. As someone who works with preschoolers who have SEND, I’m amazed at how he’s worked our cause and effect!

@LadyCatStark mine loves the tv too. She barked at me yesterday and then turned her head towards the tv... I put it on thinking she must be barking for some other reason but no she lay down next to me quite happily watching the tv! I then treated her to "dog tv" on you tube which she seemed to really enjoy watching two dogs running around at the beach alongside classical music

[quote LadyCatStark]@MakeMeCleanTheHouse Billy most definitely understands no. He understands it now as a warning too for example yesterday he was preparing himself to jump up at the kitchen counter so I said ‘noooo’ in a warning voice and he didn’t.

One hilarious thing that he’s started doing is going into the living room after his breakfast and nudging the TV remote with his nose to ask me to turn the TV on. This morning I was treated to Paw Patrol 😂. As someone who works with preschoolers who have SEND, I’m amazed at how he’s worked our cause and effect![/quote]
That's cute. Last night AwesomePup wanted to go to bed, so he went and nosed his lead because he knows we normally go for a run in the field before bed. I think he was quite relieved when I said he could just go to bed, lol. I think he's quite clever really.

If Ada was within nudging distance of the remote control, she'd grab it and run off into the garden with it!

@LadyCatStark wow wait to actually get pup to eat - tin of sardines mixed with kibble - licked the bowl clean! Hope she doesn't get a dodgy tummy from it though! Do you only give it once a week?

Dougie is 14 weeks tomorrow, he goes to bed proper about 10.30pm, but still wakes up between 4am and 5am! 5.20am this week felt like I was being spoilt. Any tips to get him to sleep longer. If he gets up in the hour of 4 we put him back but then he whines!

How big is pup @Aria20 ? A full tin over the course of a day is too rich for Ada and she ends up vomiting (before reingesting ) No effect the other end luckily

@Aria20, yes every Tuesday 😂 we’re creatures of habit! It’s never made him ill but he has a strong stomach.

@MsAwesomeDragon they really are super clever! My work really centres around non verbal communication and it’s amazing how many techniques (if that’s the right word) Billy uses. For example, if I pick up the garage keys and cup that I use to measure out his kibble, he runs straight to the side door of the garage as that’s where we keep his food. At work we call that (the keys/ cup) and object of reference.

@tizwozliz she's 9kg and the tin was only a small tin with 2 sardines in so hopefully not too bad/rich for her. She's asleep now and didn't bark when we were eating even though it was a bbq so the whole tin mixed with some kibble obviously satisfied her! She had an early dinner today at 4.15 as she hadn't eaten much the rest of the day so will offer her small amount of kibble later or she'll be starving over night.

I've been making frozen treats using the silicone paw things - banana, peanut butter, cranberry and yogurt

He's been a pain in the arse today including shitting on the floor of a room I'd just decorated and where I'd just washed the carpet. It's a good job he's cute and loveable

We definitely use no. I think it would take a very special and controlled human not to

@Wolfcub frustrating when they do that. Pup excelled herself at pissing off DH yesterday by chewing up one of the kids foam darts into tiny pieces and then digging a big hole in the grass to bury it! He was fuming! She has been good today (so far) and DH enjoyed our morning walk which involved frisbee throwing which pup loved.... she loved it so much though not even the best treats recalled her with the frisbee... luckily totally empty playing field so it wasn't a problem.

@GuyFawkesDay and @MakeMeCleanTheHouse sleep will come - there was definitely a time where PoirotPup would have been totally a menace if left to sleep alone out of the crate. Now he is totally fine - it’s a bit like with babies/kids you’ll suddenly know when they’ll be ok I think.

@tizwozliz I think with the positive interrupter the idea is to then entice them with something more interesting or distract and then block off access to the pond for example - as in its a short term interruptive as opposed to a stand alone thing that will prevent them doing whatever you want.

There are some phrases web inadvertently taught - so for example if were eating and he comes to table with sniffy nose I say “not for you” and then he will go and lie under the table now 🤣 we also sometimes use the slow long “noooo” and then distract with something else.

@Aria20 I read somewhere someone was having trouble with their dog not eating and they put their food in some random empty tub (maybe ice cream or something recycling type) and their dog started stuffing their food down again - bit random but it made me think of you so thought I’d share!!

We had salmon for tea, there was some left over (plain) so I flaked it up and put a teaspoon worth into his dinner. He virtually inhaled it 🤣

He's been superb with the toilet and training today. Recalling to the whistle from the garden whilst I'm out of sight in the house, sit and watch me are definitely there and he sits automatically a lot too. Going to really work on recall so that when he can go out we can hit the park on a long line and practice all the skills away from home.

Do dogs have developmental leaps like kids? I remember when the kids were tiny they'd have awful sleep before big milestones like crawling, walking etc. The fact that things seem a bit more concrete today makes me wonder!

Can I ask a crate question?
Our puppy sleeps in his main crate at night (in our room), but it's just too big to lug downstairs in the daytime.
As a result, the crate is really only used for sleep. If we need to contain puppy downstairs, we use a playpen that DP constructed, but she doesn't really like it.

I do have a smaller, travel crate, and I'm wondering whether to try using that at night in our room, and using the big one downstairs for daytime crating.

I suppose my questions are:

How big does a crate need to be, for a puppy to comfortably use it at night? The travel one is easily big enough for her to fully stand up, turn around and move around a bit.

Do you use your crates much downstairs in the day?

And, do you put water in with your pups overnight?

Treats were a success, going to portion them up and freeze.

Ooh they look fab! What mould did you use? They look perfect for a treat bag

I bought a mould from amazon
like this - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SWC2N9S?ref_=pe_27063361_487360311_302_E_DDE_dt_1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Tin of tuna in spring water, 1 egg and some oat flour blended together and baked.

Re crates don't put water in there. Our pups crate is quite big for the size of him. It's downstairs, sometimes he naps wherever we suits but we do put him in there for naps too and he's happy.
I do massively appreciate how long lucky I've been with his sleep.

Meant to say I don't put water in there.

Sorry few extra random words in there but you get the gist!

@opalescent I don't put water in either as when I did once she sat in it and knocked it over. Also if they are drinking throughout night they are more likely to be up needing a wee more frequently. I do encourage her to drink after her bedtime wee though and first thing in the morning.

Our crate is downstairs in my oldest son's room, she only sleeps in it at night. In the day she usually naps by me in the front room, or in the kitchen on the tiled floor if she wants to be cooler or we are out as we leave her in the kitchen if we're all out.

Thanks @cheeseisthebest

@Aria20 thank you, yours sounds like a similar set up to ours 😊