Puppy survival thread September and the pups just want to eat all the leaves!

[cheeseisthebest]

Omg I never start ongoing threads like this!
Back to school for my lot tomorrow. Taken pup for an evening walk tonight, desperately trying to tire him out! He's struggled to nap today as felt too hot.

Thanks @Aria20 l will look out for this

@BaconAndAvocado we have a lab and every lab I know uses a harness. I think the advice is to use a Y shaped one as that puts the least pressure on the chest. We’ve used perfect fit harnesses from the start.

@opalescent I seem to remember PoirotPup going through a phase of being unsettled later in evening and we played around with walks/meals etc. I don’t think it made any difference and eventually he just went back to settling around 8-9 again depending on what was going on.

@tizwozliz PoirotPup would LOVE to meet everyone and every dog. People he is better at, but dogs (when he is on lead) still a work in progress. I’m really working on me being the funnest person - so I have a special tug toy only for walks, primula cheese (thanks @GuyFawkesDay for tip!), and we’ve been playing loads at home and signed up to the absolute dog sexier than squirrel thing. We’ve also swapped daycare to one where he goes to someone else’s house so he doesn’t get to think he can just play with every dog. We’re using some of the frustrated greeter stuff from DTAS and use a tip by our one-to-one trainer where you sprinkle treats around your shoe so nose down and sniffling by around and you can have hand on harness. If we see dog early enough and far enough away we can manage it now even if they pass us mostly but if we don’t he can still try to superman to the dog!

I'm doing puppy classes as I can get recall, sit etc out the house o our own but if there's other dogs about....nope! Particularly puppies to play silly buggers with.

Though I did have the hairy child doing rotation of sit, boop, lie down, up, sit, paw earlier. Stay is the next big one to get sorted. And settle.

I've been out a lot today and missed my hairy child!!!

@tizwozliz My pup is like this too. Rushes off and shows her belly to every dog and person in the park!

@opalescent my pup sleeps from about 7pm, getting up occasionally to have a drink, go to toilet, chew or for a game of tug. We go to bed at 10.30pm. Sometimes she stays awake a bit later but I've found she gets very bitey so it's best if it's quiet and she can snooze.

We are struggling with lie down. Just can't get him to do it.

@cheeseisthebest we still aren't there without treat based bribery at all. Am thinking of getting a clicker otherwise this dog is going to end up like a barrel!!!

And he also likes to approach everything and everyone 2 and 4 legged and show them his tummy too. Puppy class may well turn into a total sh#tshow!!!

I'll swap a down for a sleeping pup. Going backwards again on that front.

@cheeseisthebest We struggled with down too but I realised I was holding the treat too far in front of her. Once i started holding it in my hand and lowering it right in front of her chest, it forced her to put her head down to follow it. Once my hand reached the floor, I kept hold off the treat until her belly was on the ground. Then praise and reward. She does it every time now. We're struggling with stay - she's way to excited to stay still for even a second.

I couldn’t get down with a treat in my hand. I did it where I got a book and sat down at the kitchen table reading it. As soon as he laid down I said “yes!” And threw a treat across the room so he had to get up to get it. Continued pretending to read and as soon as he laid down again repeated. He quickly got the game and then I added the cue “down” as he lay down. Now I am able to say down and he knows what to do. I used to play that game when he got a bit too much so it was win win tbh! Make sure to do it when pup is maybe getting tired but not overtired and likely to maybe lie down and snooze soonish - not when they’ve just woken up and want to jump crazily everywhere!!!!

We are having a uddle on the sofa. Me and the dog who is "not allowed on the sofa"(My rules and the family have been waiting for the crack)

@MrsHerculePoirot I'm not on Facebook so can't join that group would you mind sharing some of the suggestions for frustrated greeters?? My pup got worse since we went on holiday and SIL had her for the week as I think SIL let her greet everyone lol.

@MakeMeCleanTheHouse haha mine was poorly so feeling sorry herself a couple of days ago and kept getting on sofa and getting herself comfy with cushions, I didn't have the heart to move her so allowed her to snooze there while I was working. DH was not impressed to see her thinking she owned the sofa when he got home and quickly turfed her off!

MrsHerculePoirot
Is Perfect Fit a brand?

I think I would honestly prefer a harness abs I know Newboy will be a big bruiser eventually and a harness will be less painful for him?

We had a "normal" Newboy night, I.e. waking every 2.5 hours.

Don't feel too bad as DH is taking over tonight. I feel like I've got a big night out planned, so excited. Think I'll go up to bed at 8 😂

Yes, perfect fit is a brand. They're harnesses that come in 3 pieces so you can mix various size combinations to get a 'perfect fit' and then swap out bits as they grow. They're helpful online with sizing advice but I'd see if you can find someone local to you who fits them if possible.

@BaconAndAvocado we have perfect fit harness too. They work out about 35£ for all 3 pieces but given you use it every day it's worth it for their comfort to be honest. I use mine with a halti training lead which you can adjust the length of. I use both ends attached to the front and top of the perfect fit harness for when I want pup to walk nicely to heel and she doesn't pull. Then I unclip the front end and adjust the length of the lead once we get to the park so she can sniff and she doesn't have to walk to heel.

Thanks all.
I've just seen that our local Pets At Home stocks them so I think I'll take pup there for a proper fitting, nearer Release Day.

A reminder to myself that she can focus on me on rare occasions!

@tizwozliz gorgeous photo she's getting big!!

It's funny, she stretches out on the sofa and I think omg she's massive and then she curls up in her bed and still looks like a little pup.

We're going away next week, she'll get to sleep in the same room as us so I'm crossing my fingers for some undisturbed sleep!

@BaconAndAvocado what type of dog do you have again?

Lovely picture @tizwozliz 😊

567pup threw up in the car yesterday! It’s his third journey to exactly the same place but he obviously was either stressed or had eaten too much before we went. Luckily I had many towels, blankets and training mats in the car.

Seems to have developed an interest in stones and have retrieved 2 from his mouth today. Too big to swallow but I definitely need to keep a close eye on him when he’s outside.

@tizwozliz she looks really happy!

MrsHerculePoirot he's a chocolate Lab.

tizwozliz that's a great photo. Beautiful boy/girl!

@LadyCatStark - yes, she appears to love her walks which is why it's so frustrating that she takes a lot of persuasion to go on them!