New puppy - are we doing ok?

[3AndADog]

Hi,
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning having had our gorgeous pup for a little over a week. She’s 12.5 weeks. We have got her sleeping in her crate quite willingly at night from about 11-6am with a really annoying poo break at 12.30ish and sometimes another wee at 3.30ish. We are sleeping on the floor in the lounge and taking her out when she whimpers with minimal fuss and all quiet etc. We are shattered. How do we move forward from here? One night I tried sneaking back to bed in between wake ups and she barked and woke the whole house up because I didn’t hear her in time.
Also we have had the back door open constantly so we’re lulled into a false sense of security re toileting but we now know she’ll poo or wee anywhere if the door is shut with no warning whatsoever! And she won’t go out in the rain if we try to take her out for a preemptive wee.
And oh my word the hyper bitey moments have really upset my kids on occasion. I have taught them to ignore/stand like a tree then treat when she calms down but they haven’t quite got the hang of that yet. I feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of things we need to be training her - she can sit and that’s about it. She responds well to her name if it’s me but no one else. I have been playing crate games with her and she’s quite good. Feel daunted about starting lead training, recall, all the rest when we just aren’t getting any sleep.
Just looking for reassurance really that we’re doing ok and what I should think about next.
We are booked in for one to one training but not til the end of the month.
Thanks in advance

I'm at 18 weeks with our cockerpoo and it does get better I promise, he sleeps 10.30 to 5am eats at 7am, 1pm and 7pm. No water after 7pm except a quick lick before his last wee of the night.

There are still the odd weeks inside but it's usually our fault for getting complacent.

It was bloody hard in the beginning and I too wondered what the fuck I had done, but the biting does get better.

We do still have a velcro puppy, he screams whenever I have to leave (not very often!) But have recently joined puppy separation anxiety with julie naismith (hope I've got her name right!) On facebook.

Hang in there!

Sorry odd weeks = odd wees

We have a 16 week old puppy (well we breed but this is one that we kept). She goes in a crate in a pen during the day so she gets used to being left safely while you you other things/nip out. At night she is again in the crate and pen in a separate room to us. She goes down at 11pm and wakes around 6am.
You need to get yours used to being alone. Start off with a few seconds and build up. If she's locked somewhere safe then no harm will come to her however much she cries.

The book Easey Peasy puppy squeezy is very good and easy to read in a sleep deprived state 😁

I think at 12 weeks I would (and did) pop the puppy in the crate for times when you have to nip out. Start by leaving for 20mins and slowly build up.

It would probably be easier for you to have the crate closer to your bedroom so you can sleep in your bed but still respond to the puppy if he cries to go out. This doesn't mean the puppy will always sleep upstairs but just for now while he's still so young.

Sorry I haven’t been back to reply to new messages. I’ve had a busy day and am now battling anxiety over the pup - she’s been sick a few times over the week and I thought it was eating too fast mostly, as only after meals, but last night she vomited yellow liquid at 3am and then another vomit ( a handful of grey brown mush, like the rest of them have been) this afternoon, 3 hours after eating. We were at the park and she does tend to eat grass. But I’m wondering if she’s been quieter than usual today and lots of sleeping. The vet has asked to see her tomorrow so I’m now really worried about her 😟

Ohhh hopefully it's nothing and she's just got a dodgy tum. Fingers crossed x

Good luck tomorrow. The yellow vomit can be hunger pukes!
My youngest found a rotted windfall apple in the garden. That is an experience I will never forget. Grim!
Hoping it’s nothing serious. We always keep slippery elm and probiotics in. Good luck.

I seem to remember our puppy getting the pukes a couple of times, think the advice was bland food like chicken or fish and lots of small portions.

The vet gave him an anti sickness jab and some tablets to help with reflux.

Puppies are just like babies!

Hope your pup feels better soon.

How are you getting on OP?
I’ve got a cockapoo puppy, 14 weeks old.
Have definitely felt the anxiety and regrets too!
Perhaps we can share stories and tips? Feel like I’ve turned a corner in the past few days.

Hi, thanks everyone. She’s pretty poorly today. Has had some meds from vet, and is just pretty lethargic and sorry for herself. Vet said probably gastro bug, lots of it around, but they like to treat puppies early as it can get nasty in little ones.

I’ve been so worried that all the other stuff seems irrelevant now. I just want her to be better and biting everything and tearing around like she was a couple of days ago!

@ConfusedbyCovid glad to hear things might get easier in a couple of weeks, but like I said I just want my puppy to be well again. How does yours sleep?

Morning, OP! We have a new pup as well, a cockapoo who's turning 12 weeks tomorrow. I can sympathise with so much of what you've said! I have definitely had a bit of what I've heard called 'puppy blues' since getting her, even though we have wanted a pup for so long and thought we were prepared!

She has so much energy and loves charging round the garden, and is desperate to go out for a proper walk. Her breeder didn't have her first jab done, so she had her first when she got to us almost two weeks ago, then her second is on Monday and then we can finally go for walks the following week, thank goodness.

Really hope that your puppy feels better soon. Ours has had a slight allergic reaction to the grass, of all things so she has cream for me to put on her tummy. I can really sympathise with the worry when they seem to get something wrong with them!

Take care, all the best to you and your pup

Good luck

It gets easier

I love my pup to bits, but he was in the crate in the kitchen every night from the start (11-6:30) as I wanted to start as I meant to go on. He cried once or twice, briefly but soon got the hang of the routine

And like kids, dogs seem to like routine

The weeping only in the garden (and not whilst out and about) is normal for young pups. They are too excited/lack confidence. My 5 month old pup did his first wee in the park this week

Good luck and hang in there. You’ll find your balance snd your routine

@3AndADog just to give you a personal experience- my puppy is 15 weeks now; so still very early days too!
We had her crated in our room from night one (we tried the kitchen, but she cried). We had her crate right by our bed initially. After a few days we moved it further away. A few more nights late we put it out on the landing. Then moved it to the top of the stairs. Then 5 nights ago we moved it to the bottom of the stairs.

She has been fine with this gradual change. Of course things could change at any moment with her still being so young, but we have found the gradual transition worked well.

Our pup seems to be much better and we’re back to crazy puppy days! She’s sleeping much better, about midnight to 6.30 last night but she still takes a while to settle down - we put her in last night, she barked loads, we took her out and did a boring toilet trip and she didn’t go, but willingly went back into her crate when she realised we weren’t doing anything exciting. Is this ok do you think? I’m mindful of not letting her think we just come if she barks. But she’s really finding her voice!

Hi. Had our pup 6 weeks now, he's a 16 week old shih tzu. It's definitely 2 steps forward, one back with sleeping, toileting, nipping!
I can see how it gets easier though and I now have many many different chews for when he gets nippy!
The separation stuff isn't something I was prepared for, what was the fb group someone said about?

Our puppy was six months before got toilet training.

The thing that stopped the occasional accident was sending him to someone else’s to stay while we went on a weekend break. We came back and fully housetrained! They did nothing new but he just got it as I guess didn’t associate their house with wees!!!

It’s annoying as labs / retrievers are much quicker to house train so feel inadequate but I suspect it will improve quicker than you know it and will be a distant memory!!

I ditched the crate too - it didn’t work for him or us. I just bought him a bed.

Just been on the beach with pup and she was playing with a couple of other dogs, lots of running round in circles and playing chase, but she was very barky, I was mortified, I don’t know if this is normal or a sign of Something - she didn’t seem scared but I don’t know enough about dog play to be sure of that, or that she wasn’t being aggressive? can anyone shed any light?

Barking does not equate aggression and some dogs are very markt/yappy… it can make other dogs respond aggressively though, but rarely towards a puppy

Sounds like she’s confident snd not scared of other dogs

If you’re not sure if dogs are being aggressive, then (most of the time) they are not

With a genuine incident there is no doubt (you’ll see raised hackles, growling, maybe pinning down and biting. Very different from running in circles and barking )

Sounds like she was just playing, and saying “chase me”

If the other dogs did not like it they would have made it clear

We literally with my first a year ago took her out every 20-30 minutes with lots of praise when she did do something outside and she soon got the hang of it. Also created when ever she got tired or whenever we went out and can now be left freely. She is the same though with the listening. Only really listens to me.

We have just got another that's a boy and toilet training him is much harder but he's happy in a crate with our other laid next to him. I don't leave the door open as he doesn't yet grasp the fact that that's where he is supposed to go to go to the toilet.