Puppy Survival Thread August part 2

[Aria20]

New puppy thread as August has been a busy month! Not sure how to link the other thread?! @MrsHerculePoirot @SweetLathyrus @Spudlet @MsAwesomeDragon @GuyFawkesDay @opalescent @ashmts

Oh, Spudpup you little rascal. Did you catch him in the act this time? He's looking very handsome posing with his rocks though

Yes, but I couldn’t get it out in time. And although I considered leaving him to see what happened, I didn’t dare so soon after a big operation 🙈 Absolute little twit, if he wasn’t so cute I’d make him into a hearth rug 😑

Oh no!!

He is gorgeous!

He is the worst, but fortunately for him I love him 🙈

I have picked over half the garden for stones and will finish the job later… also going to start retrieve training as a matter of urgency so I can get the little bugger to hand things over!

Oh no! You’d have no chance in our garden; we have stones all round the edge of our house!

Sorry for laughing but that picture

Mine also picks up stones but I'm unaware of any being swallowed

Spudlet, I feel your pain (and frustration) we spent a whole day turning over our soil and using a riddle to extract as many stones as we could (and after a heavy downpour did the same the following day) and bingopup now.... Likes to dig at any possible loose bit of wall! With all the delicious treats and quality food he has.... Good job I love the bones of him!

Pup was supposed to have his first from today... They cancelled with 30 minutes notice! Urgh.

Oh Spudpup, you daft dog.

I have gravel round the edge of our patio. At the moment FawkesPup just seems intent on eating the plants 🤦‍♀️

Sorry, that should have said "puppy's first groom"

I've managed to book him in somewhere else next week, but I'm annoyed as I've arranged everything else today around this.

Oh how annoying!
Mine has his first groom tomorrow.

Bloody hell Spudpup! Such a worry.

I didn't realise that getting a vet appointment was as hard as getting a GP appointment! Think Ada has conjunctivitis but none of the vets nearby have appointments until 6th September!

He is such a little bugger, honestly.

I have pulled out 3/4 of a bucket of stones from the garden, so hopefully I’ve at least improved the odds against him doing it again. We’ve been to the local garden centre this morning, which with hindsight was a far too exciting place for his first trip out since the weekend before last, and consequently he was a bit of a little tosser - he’s also found his woof, which sounds as though it belongs to a far larger and more ferocious dog than a very nearly 4 month old Labrador puppy 🙄 So that was fun… [adds ‘speak’ to the list of commands to teach]

He has now passed out in the kitchen, and we will go for a little walk later. His pyjamas are currently drying on the line as he had an accident in them in the vets earlier, so I don’t really want to take him outdoors for a walk until they’re ready to wear.

Now to sort out the insurance claim form 🙄

Gosh spudpup is really a danger to himself isn't he? I hope this hasn't set back his recovery from his op. How long til he's allowed out properly again?

AwesomePup has discovered the trampoline is fun. If it's unzipped he gets in and wanders round, but if it's zipped up he gets on and goes round the edge.

Fortunately it hasn’t set him back at all as there was no surgery at all, so after tomorrow we should be good to take off the pyjamas. I’ll probably keep him on the lead until the weekend and stick to shorter training sessions so we aren’t going mad with treats, but we’re cracking on with things now. Thank goodness for all that puppy growing energy - he’s healed up like an absolute champ. But my goodness, he is certainly a danger to himself, even more so than Spuddog was. I used to work for a horse welfare charity as well, so I’ve encountered some vet-loving creatures in my time, but Spudpup is a whole new level at the moment!

Oh, SpudPup, you absolute noodle! (But with those eyes, @Spudlet will forgive you anything) !

@cheeseisthebest and @Returnoftheowl, I hope the grooms go well. I have to book Sweet Dog's groomer a year in advance for appointments every eight weeks. Sweet pup shouldn't need regular professional grooming because I don't plan on getting him castrated, whichis what ruined SD's coat.

@SweetLathyrus interesting point re the coat changing. Id also heard that could happen.... but having a female pup it certainly seems advised to have them spayed after a season to prevent various uterus cancers (and also dealing with heat cycles/puppies)

Any tips on trying to stop pup turning harness putting on into a game? As soon as it comes out she's play bowing, coming up to us, running away, coming back, bowing etc.?

We abandoned going out at lunch because of it. Then just now we had 15 minutes where she was trying to turn it into a game. I kept ignoring her for 5 mins and then trying again and eventually she came and sat down in front of me and let me put her harness on without complaint.

@tizwozliz is it one that goes over the head? Or like a perfect fit one that doesn’t? We used to sprinkle kibble/grate cheese onto the floor and then pop it on when he was smaller. The over the head ones I’ve heard it suggested to hold a treat so they pop their head through to get it and get it on that way.

@Spudlet sorry about stonegate! We found sprinkling kibble/treats on the floor would get him to drop whatever is in his mouth. Now he brings it and drops it and looks at us if we don’t offer exchange quick enough! I used to stand at the door and watch him and as soon as he had something I would call him and shake the box of kibble (that he can seemingly hear from anywhere in the world 🙄) and he’d run in for us. Now with shoes etc we ignore him and pretend we don’t want it and he will usually bring it and drop it and sit and look for a treat fairly quickly. We’ve tried hard not to chase him, or prise things out of his mouth - he is better than he was although he’s found two lumps of stone/charcoal type rock today from somewhere….

@tizwozliz @MrsHerculePoirot I do a sort of hybrid approach to the harness - I have a treat to get his head in, but if he starts messing around getting nippy, I stand up and ignore him. I did this with attaching the lead to his collar and he soon got the idea that being a bitey sod stopped us from going out - I would leave the room and shut the door behind me as well. He caught on quickly.

He’s been such a bitey gitface today, but I think he’s tired - it was 12.30am when we got home! However, he’s been for a walk and done some proper heel work (he was not expecting this, I think it was a bit of a shock frankly), and some excellent sit stays at a distance. Down stays were tricker but we managed a short one. He’s then come home and we’ve done some ‘dead’ (ie, handing things over) with a toy and a lot of kibble. So he’s now nicely tired.

There are a few fewer stones in the garden now, although I foresee that this will be an ongoing task!

I hope you don’t mind me joining in, I’ve been reading through this thread and there are so many useful tips on here. We have a 9 week old spaniel cross who is like a playful velociraptor! I’m going to try some of the training ideas that have been put in here. We are already doing ‘sit’ and working on his recall round the house. House training is hit and miss but first wee of the morning is always outside so that’s a good start. He seems very happy in his crate too so sleep has been ok so far. 🤞

It's not a problem to put it on once she's decided it's time, she's not bitey about it. She'll come sit next to me and I clip it round her neck and then she'll stand up so I can clip up the rest (it's a perfect fit). It's getting to the point when she decides it's time. First she needs to play bow at it, then bark, then zoom round the garden/house a few times and then repeat the process. I'm sure she'd like nothing more than for us to chase her round the house/garden with it but trying to avoid that for obvious reasons.

At the moment getting harness on FawkesPup is a battle as it's over the head and he just bites it 🙄

Not sure about grooming, I'm going to book him in for puppy groom but tbh I am probably going to just clip myself like my cousin does with theirs. Practical short, clippers than scissors on the fluffy bits and paws. She does a bit a day til they're done. I know he will go woolly in the coat but I'm not that bothered by the looks bit so long as he's practically groomed and his coat managed. Is that bad?!