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.

Dunno about labs but my golden retriever (Female) is 10kg at 12 weeks. Growing incredibly fast

Is that a typo Bacon? as in, 17kg?

No, he's definitely 7kg.
When he was last weighed by the vet she said she thought he was a bit under.

I've just texted the breeder who said to increase his food intake.

For a pure bred lab 7kg is very small for 14 weeks. 14kg would be typical, and chocolate labs are normally on the chunkier side. I'm surprised the vet only considered him a bit under weight. Do you know how much his parents weighed?

His father was a big boy and his mother normal.

That's a really cool prize, @GuyFawkesDay!

Aldi alert - this dog coat/towel is in their special buys this week.

www.aldi.co.uk/pet-collection-navy-towel-%26-coat/p/714744523834201

It's sold out online, unfortunately.

@BaconAndAvocado that is teeny for a lab! Billy was 5.8kg at 8 weeks and 8.8kg at 10 weeks when he had his injections. So going off a weight gain of 1kg per week I’d guess that he weighed 12-13kg at 14 weeks. At 6 months he now weighs 23.4kg which is almost as much as DS 😵.

Ada doesn't seem to have lost any teeth yet - she's 5 months next Monday - although maybe she's lost some without us noticing. Which ones do they lose first?

@tizwozliz

Ada doesn't seem to have lost any teeth yet - she's 5 months next Monday - although maybe she's lost some without us noticing. Which ones do they lose first?

@tizwozliz - Elmpup seems to have lost the least sharp ones first.

@GuyFawkesDay I have just upped Macs food too. We’ve been moving across to a different type which I thought was heavier. I finally twigged when he was barking at me for food at 4pm yesterday and he’s not normally fed until 5.30pm 🤦🏼‍♀️. Sounds like Mac is close in weight (a sprocker too), he was 8kg at 16 weeks.

@tizwozliz I think Mac has lost 2 now. One top and one bottom, both at the front. He’s 17 weeks now. I read they normally lose all of them by around 6 months but I’m sure like kids there’s probably a decent margin or earliest/latest.

Suppose it probably depends on the parents as well - if they are both slight, that's probably why he is lighter. And lighter is probably better than heavier for labs etc, given hips and elbows.

Goawayangryman
His dad was apparently large and mum normal.
Breeder has said his weight is fine and not to worry.

Yes, I guess you're right re the joints.

And lighter is probably better than heavier for labs etc, given hips and elbows.

Yes, being on the lighter end of normal is preferable but this is what a male labrador weight chart looks like. I'd personally be double checking with the vet.

tizwozliz
No, I don't feel I need to do that at the moment.
He's a happy puppy; eating, sleeping, pooping and playing.

With his new increase in food I'll see how that goes.

The pup was being a bit of a nightmare this morning. Nipping, barking, jumping up. I was feeling frustrated and worried that none of his training seemed to be working. But then I took him on a walk and he was absolutely brilliant with loose lead walking. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

@GuyFawkesDay that toy looks so cool have added it to my basket on Amazon and will see if it goes on offer at any point as I'm still spending far too much on toys/gadgets for pup lol!

A 7kg lab at 14 weeks?! My whippet puppy weighed that at 16 weeks and was too skinny

Oops posted too soon. Everyone has such lovely dogs! I was just wondering how many official classes people are taking? We've done the standard six week puppy class - is it worth progressing to intermediate, in people's experiences?

@FazedNotPhased, we're currently doing a six-week puppy class but I've been disappointed so far. The trainer is O.K. but not great. I also expected the class to include some puppy playtime (as they always used to) but they have done away with that, alas. So we probably won't do the intermediate class, at least not with this trainer.

Starting puppy classes in October half term, but I haven't been impressed so far by the complete lack of communication and response to my questions on whether they will be suitable for my pup (age range is huge). Minded to find some different ones.

@FazedNotPhased

Oops posted too soon. Everyone has such lovely dogs! I was just wondering how many official classes people are taking? We've done the standard six week puppy class - is it worth progressing to intermediate, in people's experiences?

We did basic puppy classes, but we've knocked it on the head as the trainer was vile & a bully (not towards the dogs, only towards the owners!)

@tizwozliz you’ll know when she does as you’ll suddenly spot a gap. Once one falls out the rest follow in quick succession! The little front ones go first and you probably won’t find them but we found 7 of Billy’s bigger ones on the floor altogether. There tends to be a bit of bleeding on toys and chews etc too.

Having said a couple of hours ago we'd seen no sign, her fox now looks much more authentic complete with blood. Not examined closely to see if I can identify which tooth/teeth might be coming out/out

@tizwozliz @LadyCatStark Ours lost and gained all her teeth without us noticing. I'm guessing she swallowed them or lost them at daycare but I never noticed any gaps at all. Teething was also a remarkably easy process, I didn't notice bleeding or excessive chewing etc. I guess they're all different.

@FazedNotPhased We did a 4 week puppy class, then 6 week intermediate class (on Zoom) and I found the 6 week class better. But we then did a 6 week face to face puppy class (delayed due to lockdown) and it was rubbish. I think it really depends on the trainer.

Top left canine is missing. I think her incisors must have fallen out and adult ones come through without us noticing