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.

@GuyFawkesDay we've just had a bit of a growth spurt at 7.5 months but I'm hoping we're pretty much adult sized now?!

Sounds positive @MsAwesomeDragon

So I've now bought a towel dressing gown, JR pet products, a fishy pet treats, ostrich bone, whistle on the back of this thread

Oopsies, I am a dog shopaholic too. Got some more rabbit ears and sprats today.

FawkesPup has had a good play in the park and before his mate Bob got there I let go of the long line and we were recalling him between me and the two kids really well. Then Bob arrived and it all went to pot but they had such a lot of fun!!

Now crashed out, I am having a quiet cuppa before starting on the housework again....

@MightyMeerkat we have a drying bag for Snooppup. It’s great and keeps the car clean too. Bit of a wrestle to get him in it but then he’s fine and settles down.

We've now managed quite a few hours holding down the rice and chicken. His appetite is back, and he's looking very hopefully towards DH who is eating crisps. No luck as yet, because DH is following the vets instructions to stick with just rice and chicken today.

I'm a bit of a dog shopaholic too. In the past week I've bought him a wide selection of chews (the ostrich bone is still his favourite, but it makes a mess on the carpet), a couple of toys and a light up collar for walks in the dark.

I'm a dog shopaholic too. Pup now has a kitchen cupboard full of food, treats and new toys! Going to add a coat and drying bag to the shopping list now. Oh and a light up collar and hammock for car!

Some sort of night time illumination is next on my shopping list, just not quite sure what yet

I've bought a clip on light for the harness which I think was £2 each on eBay. I do wonder if a high Vis coat is a good idea with him being black and we walk early morning. Not sure I fancy wrestling him into an equafleece unless it's the coat version!!

@MsAwesomeDragon which light up collar did you go for? I've been looking at them but mixed reviews also looked at clip on lights but people said they fell off easy

Light up collar ✔
Car hammock ✔

We use a USB rechargeable collar. It wasn't expensive

Glad to hear he’s feeling a bit better @MsAwesomeDragon

Mine has been sick too, in the car again. I made sure he’d eaten at least an hour before so he wasn’t too full, but he must not be a good traveler at the minute. Does anyone else’s pup suffer in the car?

I’ve got a waterproof coat for our pup, just off Amazon as he’ll definitely grow out of it before too long. I need a drying coat or bag too so need to get onto that. Although, inspired by what @GuyFawkesDay said, may be I should get my sewing machine out and an old towel! Must have a bit of Velcro hanging around somewhere that I could use!

We went for this one www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08P2Z4K24/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_1YEEK75P4K3A03TZ4CGV?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21 . It fitted what we wanted, which is basically to make him visible in the dark, as we walk before 7am and after 8pm, when it's dark now. It's huge when it arrives but it can be cut down to the right size. We had a light up tag to attach to his collar but it only stayed on 5 minutes then switched itself off, which seemed rather useless as it switched off while he was away playing at the park then I couldn't see him, even at dusk rather than full dark.

A drying coat is next on my list, but after paying for the emergency vet today I don't think I can afford it til next month. We'll stick with ordinary towels for now.

@MsAwesomeDragon that is good he is looking interested in food again. As with kids I think that is usually a cardinal sign;)

Re the car we are ok but not if lots of corners, road humps etc. I can get easily get 3 hours out of her on the motorway. Round here it is shuffle shuffle sleep on handbrake pant a bit shuffle shuffle try to snuggle my hand whilst I am driving. Weve had vomit on very long, windy journeys.
Bit like my youngest child actually. Except he doesn't pant or wee on my leg.

A question on exercise. We have a golden retriever with all their large breed joint issues and I am trying to stick to the 5 minutes per month for lead and long lead walking. BUT I am certain she gets much more than the equivalent of that running round the house like a loon. How, practically, do I ensure she doesn't actually over-excercise. And also. I have hard floors. I've seen her sliding around on them limbs splayed. This cannot be good for her growth plates. Im thinking of getting cheap rugs. I really don't want her to develop dysplasia. What have others done?

Ooh, following for information on not doing too much exercise too soon. I am sure Bella does far more than she should just round the house and garden, and now we are going out, it's obviously even more!

We did our first family walk with Bella today, which went well. After letting her off went so well with an older dog, we risked it (in a field well away from the road) on her own today, and she did brilliantly. Stayed near us and came back when called. Really happy with that.

I need to go doggy shopping this week. We need a towelling coat thingy and some chews. Bella has, however, been totally spoilt with her own heated outdoor shower! It's really muddy round where we live, so we need to be able to get the mud off before she comes in.

@Lifeishitsometimes ours is a lab and has all those joint worries too. We're mostly sticking to 5 minutes per month for walks, but we do go over sometimes when he's just playing at the park on the grass, as I don't think that's as bad for his joints. We don't let him go up and down stairs very often (we did teach him how to come down when we had the bathroom done though, cos we couldn't have the stairgate up). I don't know how to stop him running round like a loon in the house though, and he jumps up and down onto the sofa/chair, and jumps up/down into the boot of the car most of the time. I'm hoping the amount of sleep he gets is good for resting his joints and minimising the damage he does by jumping on things.

I fancy an outdoor shower for pup too, but DH isn't keen on getting one. It's quite muddy here, but DH seems to think he can just use the normal hose, but that's surely going to get very cold in the winter!

Our boiler is bust! No indoor hot water so dirty pup. Oh well

I worry about too much exercise as well. My puppy has a lot of energy and he sometimes races around the house like a mad thing. He also has a lot of downtime, long naps each day and time spent chilling out, chewing his favourite toys, etc. He loves his walks and would happily go much longer than he ought to, so I try to be fairly vigilant about limiting them since he doesn't seem to have an off switch. It's a balancing act unquestionably.

It's really hard the exercise thing. Our pup is so, so much happier with more, but I know it's not good for her long-term. She is so much calmer today for running round and playing. A much happier, less frustrated ball of fur. But hey ho, I don't want hip or elbow dysplasia for her.

Oops. Had a name change. I was lifeisshit... But it isn't, actually, at the moment

Yep, hard to know! Though my friend overdid with their SCS pup and he had to have antiinflammatory drugs and rest for two weeks. Doesn't help he's overweight either.

FawkesPup charges about like a loon. Jumping up all the time. And we have wooden floors. Am sticking to 15-20 minutes walks but don't count the grass park potter we do in the evening as it's just a quick sniff in the park to try and settle him.

But today he was playing with his friend Goran hour, there was no "walking" involved 😆

None of the running around in the garden is considered exercise for the purposes of the 5 minute rule is it? I understood it to only mean walks where pup doesn't have the option to stop when they've had enough

I read an interesting article that basically concluded two things: one, dysplasia is only minimally genetic and probably quite a lot to do with environmental factors and two, pups born in the spring and summer with access to gardens and soft surfaces are statistically less likely to end up with it.

I reckon I'm going to toe a middle line. 20 mins lea (directed) walking per day and unlimited house crazies/ calm socialisation with other dogs. Otherwise we might all go a bit nuts.

And buy some of those plastic indoor rugs.

Tonight after a rule-breaking 30 minute walk, pup greet and a paddle.... Normally at this time... Bloody savage to the point the kids have really had enough. Actually, me too.