Puppy survival thread. Cold nights in the garden ... yeah...no

[MakeMeCleanTheHouse]

The foghorn is sounding frequently and I suspect that's why I'm up enjoying the ambience of a foggy garden at 4am.

Hoping @BaconandAvocado is fast asleep and all the others with wide awake pups.

Thanks all. She's a bit brighter this evening, and her appetite has come back, so hopefully no lasting damage.

It really was very scary, especially because the vets seemed so concerned. Another sweep of counter-tops was done today.

@Aria20 how big is your dog? I am looking at FawkesPup and wondering whether he will attempt a counter raid....

Good god the box of puppy treats I ordered is so disgusting. Rabbits ears with actual fur, chicken feet, pig snout and loads of little dried fish? Does he eat the entirety of all these or chew them? I've put it outside! vomit!

Rabbits ears and sprats are big favourites here. Not got pig snouts yet but suspect knowing my luck he will love them!

@cheeseisthebest you get used to it 😂 at least furry rabbit ears don't smell! Pizzles and beef lung are particularly smelly and obviously favourites with TerrorPup...

@GuyFawkesDay she is same aa yours wcs/scs but almost 8 months so prob bit taller... I knew she could just about get her nose on the counter and tips of paws but this was pushed right to the back so she must have properly jumped with back legs off the floor! I guess the smell of gammon gave her the power! She's fine this morning

@cheeseisthebest yep they'll eat the whole things I've found some treats last longer than others. I haven't bought sprats yet as I really can't bear fish, also haven't braved hairy ears yet but it's meant to be excellent for cleaning their teeth!

Goats ears don't smell but cows ears and pigs ears..... kitchen or garden only!

@Elmrosie glad to hear Elmpup is feeling better this morning. Must have been so scary for you.

@cheeseisthebest can I ask where you ordered the puppy treats box from please?

Rain horrific overnight here but luckily seems to have stopped for now. Am going to drive to a park a bit further away from us this morning (need to get him more comfortable with being in the car) and try the new long lead. We’ve given him time off the lead when we walk round the fields behind where we live and he’s great but it’s very quiet and I wouldn’t trust him so much in a busier park. Have cheese and chicken at the ready!

Gosh that must have been scary @Elmrosie glad Elmpup is OK!

Billy had destroyed both his living room bed and his crate mat this week 😡 despite having a huge selection of dead animal parts strewn around the house. He did get called a knobhead! I’ve ordered him a raised bed as hopefully he’ll like that and not eat it 🙈.

@LadyCatStark mine has also bitten holes in her crate mat and twice this week have caught her trying to bite on the edge of the door frame!!! She has never been a destructive chewer before...bloody teenager. Bought her a wooden chew in pets at home for £11.99!! which she does like but clearly being naughty is more fun!

Sleeping downstairs was a massive failure, as she could see us she just wanted to be on the sofabed with us and wouldn't settle in her crate at all.

Hi All, hope everyone is doing ok.

I'm curious to know, how many of you are consistently crating your puppies during the day?

I feel like a bit of a failure on this front, as it seems to be very much the holy grail of puppy care. Opalpup (16 week cocker) sleeps in a crate at night, but we never really cracked using it during the day. I can definitely see that it would be useful, as she is eternally underfoot, and often finds it hard to switch off for long naps in the daytime.

I'm half wondering whether we try and get her crate trained during the day now, but we have had her for 8 weeks, and I think it will be hard graft.

Just generally curious to know if we are the exception, or whether daytime crating isn't actually as popular as we are led to think!

We don't crate in the daytime but pup has always been good at going off and settling for a nap. We only encouraged naps in the crate in the daytime when she'd got really overexcited and bitey and was in desperate need of a nap.

@opalescent we use the crate at night very successfully. Sleeps happily there from 10.30pm ish to when we get up any time between 6am and 7am. Like your puppy she has never slept in the day there or visited her crate in the day unless there are treats in there.

She generally sleeps in the day of her own accord in various places. For times when she is really getting under our feet (preparing her/our food especially) we use a settle mat. So she is with us in the kitchen but out of our way laying on her mat. Took quite a bit of training to get to this point but so worth it. She is 5 and a half months.

@opalescent I would do what works for you. The only time I crate in the day is when she is overtired and won't nap if the kids are around so sort of around 5pm for an hour maybe. But this isn't every day as we sometimes go for a walk around then anyway. She sleeps well in the crate over night and I don't find I need to use it in the day when it's just me home as she'll sleep wherever.

When we leave her she generally has the run of front room or kitchen and sleeps, she doesn't like being left in the crate for some reason!

Thank you all, that's really helpful to know.

Our puppy doesn’t sleep in the crate overnight but sometimes he has a nap there during the day. In the evenings we occasionally have him go in the crate for half an hour or so if he is a bit overtired or excited. We give him a treat to chew on and that allows him to calm down.

@opalescent Mine is 1 now and sleeps in the crate overnight but won't voluntarily go into her crate very often (only if she's exhausted). It took weeks for us to even get her to go in at night, and longer to get her to go in during the day even for brief periods. Daytime naps are always on the couch. However, I am a massive fan of crate training and really think it's worth the effort. When we started to leave her in the house we could leave her in the crate and have the reassurance that she was safe. She's also had a few vet trips where she's had to stay a few hours, and we were able to put her in her crate after her spay to relax. I think there are a lot of benefits to crate training. In my experience it actually got easier as she got a bit older as she was more confident being alone, and also more tired from the longer walks so happier to lie down and nap.

Opal I don't use the crate in the day. The crate is only for bedtime or leaving him if I go out (and once when I was decorating and desperate). I very occasionally use the play pen during the day/evening if he's so ridiculously overtired that his behaviour is horrible and he's refusing to nap. But he's five months now and when he was very tiny the play pen would have been needed for all naps as they all had to be enforced - he has no off switch at all

Don't use crate for naps here either. I wouldn't worry.
Pup woke me up at 1.30 cos he needed a poo then wouldn't settle back in crate but it was freezing last night and he's lost a lot of his warm fur! He was wide awake in the night, jumping and nipping, just totally ignored him and he gave up but the nipping is wearing us all down a bit.

@opalescent our puppy sleeps in his crate at night and will take himself in there during the day too if he wants some quiet time (although he likes to nap right in the middle of the floor too!) I do sometimes enforce a nap in the crate if he’s over excited or over tired and he’ll usually just circle round, then plop on his cushion and fall asleep. We have it in the utility room now so we can close the room door and leave the crate open, so he can’t just wander round the whole house and destroy things. Works well when I need to nip for a shower or something. We’ll use that space when we start leaving him too, as there’s plenty of room for his bowls, cushions and toys in there as well as his crate.

Started off putting ours in the crate (open door) and run during the day, for naps, but really, she likes to sleep on the floor by my feet and is more rested that way, I've realised. Only problem is that she wakes up and follows me whenever I move!

She sleeps in there at night, though, every night. I'm not giving her free rein because she jumps on the sofa and that's really bad for her growth plates. Plus I will need to contain her when I go out sometimes and she needs to remain familiar with the crate/ pen.

We use crate at night and pen in day. Pen is open, though we do put him in there when he's hyper/bitey or overtired and he seems to like it now. Generally he naps in his bed in the living room or on the fold out bed in the study behind DH as he works. This is his fave spot as he can also peer put the front window and nosey at the world. He settles to nap really well and just parks his bum and sleeps wherever. Often at my feet or on the kitchen floor, or on the mat by the back door too. During the day he's Mr Chill but nights he wants mummy aka me

Crate (closed) overnight. But still in our room. On a mission to transfer to downstairs at half term. I will sleep on the study next to the kitchen for a night or two if needed.

Beautiful start to the weekend here and a new walking route discovered